Journey of a Baby Soul Seed

Curbside Shopping

2008-08-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of recycling goods and reducing my consumer tendencies for brand new items as much as possible. We have been frequenting garage sales in order to outfit our new place in Perth with 'loved' goods (and great on the pocket book of course!). We don't expect to fill our whole house with 2nd-hand goods but we are doing our best to have it be the majority! I'm a fan of 'freecycle' a global, online community for recycling goods for free, based on geography. (Check it out in your area - Freecycle.org) and have found something new I'm so excited about......

Since moving to Australia, we have found out about 'bulk rubbish pickup'. Each community will have a curbside service where twice a year, they pick up bulk household items and garden waste. Well today we had the most amazing day today "curbside shopping"!

It started with attending a couple of garage sales north of Perth and where we picked up a few small items (laundry basket of wicker, toaster, picture frames). We noticed that everyone in the neighborhood had massive piles of "junk" and yard clippings outside of their house on the curb. We started looking around just to be curious and ended up spending 3.5hrs combing the neighborhood. We affectionately called it "trolling" -fishing for good deals and were joined by a number of cars (with trailers!!!!) also doing the same thing! We ended up finding a wicker table base and wicker chair to add to our wicker bench (also found in a curbside pile earlier in the week) to make a set for our patio area!!! (hehehehe - I'm full of giggles about this whole process and how normal it is here!). It's freakin' GREAT! I'm in recycle-repurpose heaven!

Then we found a washing machine! We went into the yard and rang the doorbell and the woman was playing ABBA music and I thought, "This is a sign!" (i.e. Sweden connection with our leasing agent for our house and now a free washer). She came out and told us there was nothing wrong with the washer and they had been using it up to a few days ago and they had recently upgraded. Someone had come along earlier in the day and cut off the power cord so we will have to replace that. She even had the manual for it! She was a sweetheart and hugged me when we left as we had stood there for a while chatting. I think I reminded her of her daughters who both live abroad. She even offered to introduce us to their younger friends from the UK.

So we continued on and found a beautiful wood corner unit that will hold a TV and other things. It had doors on it (not attached - we had to dive into the pile to find them with the help of the owner). He offered to keep the unit in the open garage and we could pick it up closer to the weekend when we have my friend's truck.

By this time, Andreas was delirious and I was laughing so hard at his enthusiasm! Never in my life did I think we'd be curbside shopping in Perth together. Our final scores for the day were a giant wicker basket (notice a theme here! Happy it's not plastic) and a working, fairly new, bag-less vacuum.

We had so much fun! Andreas got really into it (much to his surprise) and even asked if we were offsetting our emissions by not consuming?! An interesting thought.

I certainly didn't mind spending a few hours and about $5 in petrol looking and collecting. It felt good to recycle things so they wouldn't end up in the landfill and will have a new home and loads of good use.

Don't get me wrong, I certainly didn't set out to make a habit of getting excited about large piles of curbside 'trash' but seriously, curbside shopping is way more appealing when the words 'dumpster' and 'diving' don't even come together in the same sentence. This is much more civilized and way cleaner! (not that I've ever truly dumpster dived...)

We have my friend's truck next weekend and plan to go out again as we missed out on numerous tables, chairs, plants, plant pots, a Webber BBQ, about 8 boogie boards (aka Shark Biscuits) and a great black metal futon frame! Most just needed a little TLC, a good wash with a garden hose, some soap and water and VOILA! Brand new life......

Our Final Thesis - Sustainable Mining?

2008-07-07T00:30:00.000-07:00

For anyone interested, the thesis work of my group and those completed by our fellow classmates are available to the public through the Blekinge university website. Click here for the full list of the 2008 work.

Our thesis is titled (click on it to visit the web page to download the document):
Sustainable Mining?Applying the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development to Mining Projects

Abstract:
Precious and base metal mining projects can serve as a stepping-stone in moving the mining industry towards achieving compliance with a scientific-principled definition of global socio-ecological sustainability. Using the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development to assess the current reality of mine project development has resulted in identifying gaps between current best practices and a desired vision of sustainability constrained by science based principles. These gaps provide opportunities for sustainability driven innovation. Evaluation of mining project phases and their impacts on ecological and social systems using the four Sustainability Principles highlight specific opportunities to create value for social, economic and ecologic systems. Companies choosing to develop mining projects using the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development can expect to achieve many business benefits, including improved reputation, increased transparency and stakeholder trust. Strengthening these aspects will provide robust support to companies as they manoeuvre to define their role in a sustainable society. This thesis examines how current processes for mining projects can be developed to support a successful transition into a sustainable society.

Enjoy and feel free to provide feedback.

The Plight of Avocados

2008-07-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

My post 'bubble' (see previous post) adjustment continues.....

I had a very intense conversation with my fiance the other night after I commented that I didn't enjoy how our town is laid out so that there is no public infrastructure for transport. We went to one of the local grocery stores and didn't find what we needed, an avocado. So we decided to drive to the other grocery store and by the time we got there (all of a 1.563 min drive) I was really hot and bothered that we HAD to drive to get there.

When did we stop asking questions to ourselves about the choices we had to get there? Could we have planned better and walked, enjoying the warm weather? DEFINITELY! Could we have pumped up our tires and enjoyed a leisurely 5 min bike ride together, enjoying the smells of the blooming trees and the giggles of the kids using the water park on the way to the store? DEFINITELY! We had the choice and we were so used to doing it this way (driving everywhere) prior to me going to school, we never bothered to challenge ourselves with contemplating other methods....So believe me we contemplated. I think it's been a bit of a wake up call for him but I continue to speak my truth and show by example, hoping as a couple we can find some common ground.

So my fiance brought up the point about organic food being more expensive and so we had a conversation about the 'real' cost of the food and how traditionally (or should that say industrially) farmed food does not account for the cost of damage to our soil nor the toxic accumulation of pesticides and their health implications resulting in dis-ease and pressure on our health systems. These are NOT reflected in the price.

He asked me a good question that I'm still thinking about...."Would you buy a non-organic avocado in the grocery store you have already driven to or would you drive to another grocery store in order to buy an organic avocado?". I said I would have been happy to ride my bike there to buy it for him!

It's an important example of how we are so muddled and swamped with evaluating the global health pros/cons of our actions these days. A friend said that everything we do is hypocritical so why bother? I personally think there is a happy medium with a whole systems perspective out there....it's just not an easy nor quick answer.

My suggestions to my fiance:
1. Dematerialize how much fossil fuel we are using by riding our bikes
2. Commit to buying organics because they often represent food produced without the use of bio-accumulative, petroleum based insecticides/pesticides (substances which accumulate in our ecosystems)
3. Commit to buying organics because they often represent farming practices that do not systematically destroy the soil's productivity and stop the loss of valuable top soil
4. Evaluate the frequency of eating a fruit that is not found locally

Really, it comes down to doing the best you can personally with the information you have. I have made a commitment to myself to watch less TV, blog more and READ more. My next read is a book that is relevant to this blog post and will hopefully provide some food for thought about my carbon footprint. I will let you know the verdict.

"How to live a low-carbon life : the individual's guide to stopping climate change" by Chris Goodal l.

Post 'Bubble' Comments

2008-07-06T22:51:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted anything on my blog and so I thought that now is better than ever to make a few posts about my continuing journey in sustainability.

The first is about my experience leaving Sweden and the "bubble" as we affectionately referred to our Masters in Strategic Leadership Towards Sustainability programme. The bubble was soft, fuzzy, warm and filled with supportive, collaborative, and caring people and invaluable dialogue about the sustainability challenges we are facing right now. We all talked about how cold and rough the exit from this bubble would be but it's only over the last few weeks since I've really been feeling the pain and butting heads with friends, family, and myself as I was introduced back to the REAL WORLD! No more ideal student in Sweden life:

biking everywhere (and feeling like I'm not going to get hit by every car!),
having a local Saturday market/social gathering,
no TV (read: not bombarded by N.American media crap), and
being spoiled by being surrounded by 63 fellow classmates that supplied a constant feed of ideas, dialogue and most importantly understanding and support.

The first and most abrupt post 'bubble' experience happened during my trip home through London Heathrow. It started by filling out the landing card, "What is your profession?" Hmmmmm.......how do I summarize the 4 system conditions (to achieve a sustainable society) in about 3cm of space?? No short answers here. Searching for a familiar term...I settled on "Peacemaker" or maybe I could have written "Societal Muse"? Hahahaha. I liked that one!

First Challenge: How do we recent graduates define ourselves? It is not a profession that is widely understood, like if you said, "I'm a doctor", "I'm an astronaut", or "I'm an exotic dancer"..nope. Most often, when I'm asked what I do and I respond, "Sustainability Practitioner" I get a very blank look. Thankfully I'm good at talking and if they are willing to listen it's a win-win situation!

So, I rolled up to the desk that contained the totally uptight security supervisor. Standard questions, "Where have you been?" etc. So I start by saying I've been going to school in Sweden etc and so he asks what topic?

"Sustainability" I answer.

He snaps his head up (read: totally panicking as he has no idea what I'm talking about OR thinks I'm being a smart ass). "What is that?", he replies.

I say, "It's about studying how we are stuffing up the planet (thanks to Annie my thesis partner!)".

SILENCE.....

"So why didn't you take the train from Copenhagen, it's more sustainable?", he replies in a smartie-pants way that makes me want to hit him.

*SIGH* (Patience is a virtue I remind myself loudly). Then a locomotive train full of thoughts flashed through my brain in the next 0.5 seconds:

where the hell does the train from Copenhagen go to get to London?
I curse some more in my head,
think of Sara Parkin (Forum for the Future Director) and her story about the media searching under her kitchen sink,
think so I look like the asshole because I flew from Copenhagen to London instead of taking the more sustainable option of taking some unknown train from Copenhagen to London...perhaps through Paris? hmmm.....how about asking me some important questions like how I choose to live my life outside of flying, that I offset my flights with carbon credits etc..

"I didn't have time", I blurt out, not feeling like challenging him to explain to me where the train goes.... He looks smug and I still want to hit him.

The next voice in my head sings, "Welcome to life outside the bubble!". This is a place where the definition of Sustainability is twisted, confused and mixed with a lot of fear and judgement. So many people are scared about what it means for them. Will I have to give up my car? What about my vacations? How about my favorite cream puffs imported from Italy? Are the polar ice caps going to melt? Will I be able to afford to eat?

Many people believe it [sustainability] is only about climate change, pollution, environmental issues or my personal favorite, finances (i.e. - if your business is sustainable, then it is financially successful). It's a jungle out here!

Second Challenge: Have enough patience to navigate through the thick, invisible cloud of doubt, fear, judgement, and "I'm-out-to-save-myself-so-screw-you" attitude to be able to explain how we are all connected, that sustainability is a whole-systems challenge and that the recent increase in food and gas prices to $4 a gallon (or $1.509 a litre in West Vancouver tonight) is only a small piece of the larger picture for example.

I am doing my best to stay calm and listen to the concerns my friends and family have. They are valid and even if they don't completely listen as attentively as I would wish to the suggestions I make, at least they are asking! For certain it's not an easy topic and if you are out there listening.....send your supportive vibes as we all work together to grow our bubble like a raindrop, spreading and collecting more and more little drops into a big and beautiful resource!

Officially Half Way

2008-01-17T13:10:00.000-08:00

I'm halfway through my Master's in Strategic Leadership Towards Sustainability and so excited to get out there and start working once I'm finished!

I'm working on a take-home exam that involves writing a proposal for developing a community sustainability plan and I'm getting excited! I sincerely hope to engage with interested and like minded people in the Okanagan who want to co-create a vision what success means and help the businesses and communities of the Okanagan area move towards sustainability success!

Debunking the Third World Myth

2007-12-03T12:15:00.000-08:00

One of the most interesting videos I've seen for a long time....

Opinion on the heels of Human Needs

2007-10-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

On the heels of Human Needs exhibit, I found an interesting article in my local paper, The Oliver Chronicle, about a proposed Wine Village development which is moving closer and closer to becoming a reality. As this occurs, it seems that the public discontent about it is growing......

I cannot comment about it from a sustainability perspective as I think Oliver has yet to do a lot of work in defining it's vision of success of sustainability. Only they can do that and perhaps one day I might be able to contribute to that process.

For now I can comment on the article from a Human Needs point of view as I am fulfilling my human need to participate, stand up for what I care about and have the courage to have a voice.

My Response to the Editor:

Dear Editor,

I would like to write in response to the recent article published in last week’s Oliver Chronicle about titled “Not everyone thrilled with ‘wine village’ deal”

I believe this current example is an important reflection point where “gaps” within our current process of public consultation, information dissemination and joint decision-making in Oliver can be highlighted.

I would like to ask Mayor Ron Hovanes and Les Lawther several important questions based on a few of the basic human needs we all share; Participation, Understanding, Creativity and Identity.

PARTICIPATION
1) In what ways might the current process of information sharing and decision making made within the Town of Oliver council and Oliver and District Community Economic Development Society be contributing to undermining the residents’ capacity for participation?

For example: if Town Council meetings have consistently low public attendance while important decisions are being made about the future development of land and community, have there been investigations made into how to enable a larger percentage of participation? A welcome solution might be evening time, well-advertised, public meetings in a third-party building such as the community center or high school auditorium to better enable interested Oliver and area residents to participate.

UNDERSTANDING
2) How can you better facilitate understanding of the Wine Village Plan?

For example: Lawther is quoted in the recent article as saying "There was the Rural Oliver Accord, there was the Wine Capital of Canada master plan, the wine village was incorporated into the OCP (official community plan)…"

I would like to know where could I read the amendments to the community plan? Is the community plan easily accessible to the public through a variety of mediums; paper copies in Town of Oliver office, electronic copy online, mailed out to residents who are known to have an interest yet might be physically unable to retrieve a copy for themselves*? *Obviously, it is not realistic to expect this service be provided for all amendments and I am using is to make a point.

I am currently studying in Sweden and I am a resident of Oliver. When I tried to find internet access to the Official Community Plan through the Town of Oliver website on the page titled “Land Use Planning > Development Primer > Official Community Plan and Zoning” I found information on how to apply to make changes to the plan but no link to the plan itself.

Perhaps contributing to enabling residents to better understand the process and changes might lead to more participation?

CREATIVITY AND IDENTITY
3) How can you better enable the residents of Oliver to work together with you to CO-CREATE a vision of success for the development of the Wine Village Plan?

For Example: In the Town of Oliver “Destination Wine Village Resort” presentation given on June 12, 2006 there was mention on page #3 about “SmartGrowth Principles” supporting the Wine Village Accord.

These principles are as follows:
1) Each community is complete
2) Options to the car are emphasized
3) Work in harmony with natural systems
4) Buildings and infrastructure are greener, smarter and cheaper
5) Housing meets the needs of the whole community
6) Good jobs are close to home
7) Agricultural land and small town character are maintained and enhanced
8) Everyone has a voice

These are all very important principles that were collectively established by local stakeholders as being important to our area. Perhaps the resistance and disharmony over the proposed Wine Village Plan could be solved through clearer and more public communication on how the co-created principles of SmartGrowth will be included in the Wine Village Plan?

Additionally, allowing for public participation and concern to be voiced or contributed to the plan will allow for a sense of identity within the residents of Oliver in regards to the proposed Wine Village Plan.

Sincerely yours,
Tracy Lydiatt
tracy@soulseeds.ca

All We Need Exhibit

2007-10-08T11:10:00.001-07:00

All We Need explores the world as a global market through the human efforts to dream, imagine and live a happy life.

The exhibition shows, in particular through the fair trade example, alternatives in consumption and life styles. It provides reflections and proposals for action on the essential questions touching the future of mankind: which are our fundamental needs, and how can we satisfy them without endangering neither the survival of our planet, nor human rights?

Human needs on a lonely planet

Human needs are the same everywhere. Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef, recipient of the « Right Livelihood Award » also known as the « Alternative Nobel Prize » has identified nine basic categories of human needs:

* idleness (Relax)
* subsistence (Survive)
* freedom (Choose)
* affection (Love)
* identity (Belong)
* protection (Protect)
* understanding (Understand)
* creation (Create)
* participation (Stand Up)

For the exhibition, a tenth basic need has been taken into consideration, the need for transcendence (Dream), through which human beings try to overcome the material reality of everyday life by imagining a better world and an existence beyond human life.

While basic human needs are everywhere the same, the way in which humans try to satisfy them varies considerably with the cultural background and, obviously, especially in relation with the standard of living.

The inhabitants of the Northern hemisphere persist in researching their happiness through a multitude of goods of consumption. Alas, too often, this puts at risk the rights of other inhabitants of the Earth. Behind all those products, there are stories and destinies, which tell about limited planetary resources and unfair trade. It becomes clear that beyond the point of saturation, the superabundance of goods is damageable to the general quality of life.

The exhibition suggests a series of alternative concepts, ideas and answers to the eternal question of how to live a happy life. A life without asceticism or renouncement, but guided by a spirit of equity and planetary justice and by realizing that humanity has in fact only one Earth. Thus, the journey through the world as a global market becomes a voyage of discovery about the eternal aspirations of humanity towards universal happiness.

I wanted to post the rice piles photo last and ask you to take a minute to understand what you are looking at. The rice pile on the right of the woman represents the amount of people in South America who live on about $1 a day. The rice pile on the left of the woman (which is actually slightly larger than the other one) represents the amount of McDonalds customers per day.

Sometimes it is easy to make choices when we are not confronted by the direct affect or volume of our combined common choices and how they might affect the ability for other people to meet their needs......I hope this post has helped bring some awareness and brought a moment of pause to your day.

We are all interdependent.

The Natural Step - A New Game

2007-09-11T01:37:00.000-07:00

I am learning The Natural Step framework and how it help us plan in complex systems, moving us towards an attractive, sustainable society in the biosphere (aka- the Earth). Currently our society is unsustainable and is not a series of disconnected negative impacts (global warming, Katrina, famine, poverty etc.) but underlying systematic errors in societal design exist and need to be addressed.

So, we must redesign our society and consider the relationships between issues.

Currently, our societal model has a cylindrical shape; where as long as social and environmental damage accrued is equally balanced with economic benefits gained, the entire system remains "in balance". This model is incorrect and is unsustainable.

We define unsustainable by: steadily accumulating waste (in our biosphere-aka The Earth), and diminishing resources. Therefore the resource-potential for health and economy is systematically decreasing at the same time as the population increases.

More accurately, we are in a funnel where non-sustainable development is seen as entering deeper and deeper into the funnel, in which the space to succeed becomes narrower and narrower.
If an organisation "hits the walls" of the funnel, it might appear as any or all of the following:

(i) increasing costs for resources, waste managements, taxes, and insurance premiums;
(ii) increasingly strict legislation;
(iii) loss of good reputation;
(iv) over-corrections when concrete negative impacts surface;
(v) lost investments due to sub-optimized measures and blind alleys and
(vi) loss of market share to those who develop cutting-solutions.

To avoid hitting the walls of the funnel, organisations must stay on the cutting edge of solutions towards strategic sustainability.

So how do we do this? We learn how to play a new game.

Re-design our society within basic constraints of sustainability is the only way of solving our problems upstream at the principle level, where complexity is at it's lowest. To do this, we must become a new type of chess player. First we need to learn the basic principles which govern this sustainability game and then use them to plan our first moves strategically, and have a framework to rely on for making future decisions.

It's much like playing a game where we can co-create solutions together because we are all very intelligent individuals, so by default, we are so much smarter when we work together to solve problems!

Pre-strawbale building workshop

2007-07-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

T-minus 3 days until Andreas and I head over to the Kootneys for a strawbale building workshop! I'm secretly so excited as I've always dreamed of being involved in building my own house but never thought it would be true!

We are participating in this workshop to learn more about building with straw and get some hands-on experience as well as connect with other like-minded builders/future home owners. I'm so excited as I've always been envious of boys and how they seem to just "know" how to make things. I think it's a secret right of passage for boys into manhood where someone pulls them aside and says, "Hey boy, it's time you learned how to make something. Then you will be a man."

So envy be gone....I'm learning too!

We will be involved in building a modified-post and beam house that is non-load bearing. We have been doing a lot of pre-reading and I was interested to learn that if the 200 million tons of "waste" straw produced in the United States each year would be baled and used for building, 5 million 2,000 sq.foot houses could be made! This statistic is from 1994 so who knows how much more efficient we've become since then?

Building with straw is a "new-old" idea as it's been practiced in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia for over 100 years. It seems that the idea is re-emerging on the North American building horizon and I'm happy we'll be part of it's emergence. Sustainably speaking building with straw decreases the amount of cement used (major CO2 polluter), reduces pressure on our timber resources, provides "breathable" walls for higher quality indoor air, uses passive solar techniques thus drastically reducing the heating and cooling capacity needed and most of all, uses a sustainably produced "waste" material (the straw itself).

So, needless to say, I'm excited! Stay posted for more updates and photos.

The Wind

2007-07-11T11:41:00.001-07:00

A beautiful, funny, creative view!

Paul Hawken speaks at Bioneers 2006

2007-06-25T10:02:00.001-07:00

You are not alone! Watch, celebrate and share the word. Together we can make a difference.

Hope and Humility in this busy world

2007-06-25T09:59:00.001-07:00

I think that many of us get overwhelmed sometimes about the state our planet is in and I wanted to post this video as a reminder to celebrate today while planning for the future.

We want cool cars in this HOT world

2007-06-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

I have been contemplating a different vehicle for quite awhile. Right now, I have a very dependable 1998 Volkswagen Jetta GT. I LOVE this car; its safe, heavy, dependable and gets about 600km per 55 liter tank of gas. My only beef is that this car runs on GAS and at some foreseeable point in the future this commodity will either:

a) be so expensive that I cannot afford to drive or
b) the emissions of my car will no longer be allowed (if the government gets its act together!)

So I have been working on a longer term plan but have not yet decided on any particular direction to move yet. Options I'm considering are:

1) buy another VW but a TDI and converting it to SVO (straight veggie oil)
2) buy a Toyota import truck from Japan (they make diesel, light duty vehicles) and covert it to SVO
3) Save up and buy a brand new hybrid vehicle (come on VW, make a hybrid!!!!)

This is such a tough decision to know how to move in the most informed and best-for-the-planet direction. I find myself plagued with many questions:

Do the environmental costs of procuring materials for producing a new, hybrid vehicle outweigh the benefits that this technology contributes to the reduction of green house gases?
Will the costs of shipping over a diesel truck from Japan be balanced by running it on a renewable and "waste" material (i.e. SVO)?
Can I find a VW TDI that fits in my budget and is safe to convert to SVO?
Do I want to deal with also building my own infrastructure for collecting and processing the veggie oil? (As a friend of mine pointed out, "You don't appreciate how much 55 liters is until you have to collect, filter and pump it yourself!)

So many things to consider and I haven't made my way through these questions successfully...yet....so stay posted and until then this is what I have decided to do:

Offset the carbon dioxide emissions of my Jetta using Cool Drive Pass (click to travel to their website). This cost me approximately $50/year based on driving on 15,000km/year. Very reasonable I think!
Burn Fat not Oil by riding my bike as much as possible
Walk if the destination is 30mins or less
Keep searching for answers and start a savings account for whatever direction I decide is best for my values and driving needs.

CoolDrivePass is the outcome of Professor Hadi Dowlatabadi’s (a climate scientist at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia) ideas for finding cost effective greenhouse gas solutions for his family car. After sharing his ideas with interested colleagues at UBC, they formed the Cool Drive team and created CoolDrivePass.

As listed on the David Suzuki Foundation page on Carbon Neutrality, here are more resources for your perusal!

Carbon offset calculators (and vendors) - Vehicles**

CarbonZero (includes trains & buses)

zerofootprint

cleanairpass

cool drive pass

Climat Mundi (includes motorcycles)

Carbon offset vendors - Gold Standard**

My Climate

Sustainable Travel International

Climate Friendly

Atmosfair

Carbon offset vendors - General**

My Climate

Climate Friendly

Atmosfair

Sustainable Travel International

Offsetters

CarbonZero

Climate Care

The Carbon Neutral Company

The Climate Trust

Solar Electric Light Fund

Native Energy

Better World Club

Uniglobe's Green Flight Program

Carbonfund.org

CarbonCounter

Climat Mundi

Vancouver Renewable Energy Cooperative

zerofootprint

targetneutral

Evaluations and Recommendations of Voluntary Offset Companies - Tufts University

A Comparison of Carbon Offset Vendors

Renewable energy certificate (REC) vendors **

REC Programs in USA

REC Marketers and Related Entities in USA

Pollution Probe - Consumer Guide to Green Power in Canada

Renewable Choice Energy

Wind Power by Pembina

Bullfrog Power

Canadian Hydro

Green Tags Ontario

Wind Powered Computer Network Hosting

Bonneville Environmental Foundation

Greenmax

Environmental Defence - Green Power Options in Canada

Tips for reducing your energy use

The 20/20 Planner: A Practical Guide to Reduce Energy Use by 20% at home and on the road

US DOE Comparison of Vehicle Mileage & Tips for Reducing Vehicle Emissions

An Inconvenient Truth - Take Action

Greenpeace Canada - Energy Saving Tips

Sierra Club - Energy Saving Tips

Lick Global Warming

Cool Companies

Some Eco-Clothing Favorites

2007-06-04T22:09:00.000-07:00

So, after the post about Walmart, I thought it only fair to share some of my eco-clothing favorites...some old and some new.

Twice Shy (Vancouver-based)
Proving that “sustainability can be sexy”, they have organic cotton t-shirts with designs silk-screened by featured artists each month.
Oooohhh...me likey!Splaff Shoes (San Diego based)
“Make good use of bad rubbish” with these sandals created from recycled tires and hemp.
Sans Soucie (Vancouver based)
Making non-functional textiles into functional clothing such as the recycled nylon hosiery line filled with funky dresses and tops that are completely wearable.

Love, Deming Clothing Company (Vancouver)
Uses eco-friendly fabrics such as bamboo, soy, hemp, yak wool and silk to make formal business wear and even funky leggings.

Oqoqo (Vancouver)
This organic label sold at lululemon uses boolux (bamboo), soy, hemp and other organic materials to make jeans, tees and chic sweaters.

Terra Plana Shoes
Using chrome free leathers and recycled materials such as old car seats and recycled soles, these shoes are amazingly chic, with styles from high-heeled boots to skate shoes.

Consumerism = Voting but even at Walmart?!?

2007-06-04T21:06:00.000-07:00

An interesting and arising consciousness on the shopping horizon is our ability to use consumerism as a vote. It is not a new idea as many people have been toting this line for a long time, through several generations starting in the late 60's and early 70's. The interesting part is that it has begun to permeate down into the layers of general consumerism; meaning the consumer who values the mileage of their buck more than anything and will buy anything, regardless of where and how it is made because it's cheap.

I was recently surfing through the web, looking for "local" (read: North American and hopefully British Columbian) sources of organic clothing. I came across an article from WISH magazine with a very comprehensive list of "eco-clothing" available across Canada. To view their complete list, click here. The one tidbit I found of great interest is that, according to WISH magazine, WalMart is quickly becoming one of the largest buyers of organic cotton and that their GEORGE line is beginning to make organic cotton wear for newborns.

Hmmmmm.....mixed feelings about Walmart aside, perhaps it's encouraging to see such a large company involved in the fashion industry jump on the organic band wagon. If this statement is true and Walmart is beginning to offer organic clothing, it's an interesting irony that surely will give many of the hyper-aware consumers something to think about!

Do we celebrate that the largest and most notorious "big box" store has begun to offer organic clothing in their stores, no doubt at a very reasonable price or do we avoid and chastise for their continued "encouragement" of being a consumer by offering continual price roll-backs and all that implies (i.e. capitalism), fueling the mentality of "Who cares, it's cheap!".

A delicate balance to say the least. I will let you be the judge of this one.

Although I personally prefer to support smaller enterprises as much as I can, I must say I am encouraged to read more information on Walmart's website about their actions towards sustainability. They definitely have the consumer podium with approximately 100 million customers a week and if they can put organically sourced clothing into the hands of those consumers who have the "Who cares, it's cheap" mentality, wouldn't that cause an interesting event?

You would no longer have to be a hyper-aware consumer to support the organic movement....you would be doing it almost without even knowing or even having to be connected to the consciousness of being values-based consumer.

Very interesting......

As always, I'm not here to preach. You decide to whom and how far your buck goes. If you are curious to read more on Walmart's sustainability actions or their organics, here are some links for you:
Visit Walmart's page on their sustainable journey
Visit Walmart's page on organic food products they are offering for sale.

Grow your own lawn furniture

2007-06-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

I have been consumed in research for building a house with my partner. We are deep into research on "greener" home ideas and I stumbled across this little one today.

This would be such a great product if you had a fire pit or were in need of permanent, "green" chairs (design and color!) for workshops or regular gatherings. Think about how you feel if you were going for a walk and in your local park came across one of these! The sheer novelty of it would be something of interest to everyone.

It seems like the only major investment of this product is the dirt required to fill the cardboard framing ~ 240 liters of dirt. Perhaps a great place to put your yard and grass trimmings, leaves or any other clean fill.

Click here for the original post.

My only concern, as a girl, would be wearing white pants and those pesky grass stains. What a cool idea though!

Here is another great post on how to grow your own couch!
Click here for the original post on how to grow your own couch!

Pickles from India and other food musings

2007-05-27T00:40:00.000-07:00

Food has been a huge emerging theme in my life lately. Usually it's a given that it's always there, that we have plenty of it and basically take it for granted. This new awareness around an unconscious relationship to food has been trickling into my awareness over the last few months. With it brings an awareness of a large disconnect we have in North America with our food.

So I can hear you saying, "What disconnect, we have so much food and can get anything at anytime!?".

I would have agreed even several months ago but now I'd like to challenge that statement. I do believe we are disconnected to our food and my awareness of this began after I planted my first vegetable garden and spent many hours in the dirt working with the seeds and plants. Once having proudly planted my little cucumber, tomato and pea babies (to name a few) I found myself wondering where my grocery store food had come from. Who had planted, nurtured and harvested my organic strawberries? Who's fingers first pressed the seeds of my romaine lettuce into the dirt? What was in the dirt? Was it taken care of or filled with pesticides and chemical fertilizers? The questions go on and on......So many of these questions were never in my mind before the birth of my little garden. Now they are a central theme every time I go shopping at my local grocery store.

The second "awakening" to my food disconnect occurred one evening when I was watching my partner eat out of a jar of pickles. Nothing special, just your everyday, run-of-the mill gherkin pickles......produced in INDIA! Those red words printed on that bright yellow label shook me to the core. WHY were we eating pickles from India? Was it not possible to source local, Canadian cucumbers to produce these pickles? Who grew the pickles in India? How were they grown? Then the whole enormity of the amount of petroleum that was burnt in order to transport those pickles from India to Montreal and then to our local grocery store is honestly, in one word: disgusting! Have we really strayed so far from common sense that we are willing to ship tiny little cucumbers, grown in India over two continents to be processed and then sold across a huge country like Canada? Have we begun to lose our "homegrown" roots where people took pride in the preparation of preserving foods such as pickles. Why don't we see locally grown, produced and canned pickles on our shelves? I vote for Grandma's home canned pickles. Would anyone like to start a Grannies for Canning movement! I'd be your best customer......

Finally, my last observation around our disconnect with food is the fact that we have a proliferation of food preparation TV shows and magazines, so much so that there is an entire network (food network) devoted to it. How else are we going to connect with our food other than by watching how to prepare every kind of fabulous tasting dish by watching it on TV and then going to the grocery store to buy grapes from Chile, pickles from India, peppers from Mexico, bananas from Ecuador and corn from the United States? We are SO spoiled and totally disconnected from our food.

So why take the time to write this entry? Really, it frustrates me at no end to see apples rotting on our trees because our local market is flooded with foreign product. It upsets me to see Indian pickles on my table in a time where global warming has never been a more relevant issue. I'm saddened to see the general unconsciousness we have about the sources of our food and a lack of awareness of it's "actual" cost (actual cost = the price + the cost to our environment burning fossil fuels and the cost of health care due to dis-ease related to pollution for example). If you connect with any of these reasons or have your own beefs, please read on.....

So not one to complain without offering solutions, here are a few suggestions I'd like to make:

Ask your grocer questions such as; can they source similar products locally? Will they bring in more organic foods, locally produced if possible. If they can, express an interest in buying locally produced food over imported food.
Consider the actual cost of the food you purchase instead of just the price. Pickles from India might be $1.50 cheaper in price but cost all of us MUCH more in the long run.
Attend local farmers markets and do anything you can to support their growth and development.
Buy organic fruits and veggies in season. Supply and demand: move this type of food off the shelf and the grocers will be encouraged to bring in more.
Buy local! This food is skinny on carbon dioxide. Save the planet.
Plant a tree, plant a flower, heck plant a garden! Who needs a lawn anyway?
Ask your Grandma to show you how to can. Preserve your own food when it's in season.
Buy a food dehydrator. Trusting how your food is processed is so beautiful.
Get involved and ask questions. Grassroots movements are abundant and important.

Baby Soul Seed..waaa?

2007-05-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

So I've already had a few people ask me, "Why the name Soul Seeds?", "What is a baby Soul Seed?" so here goes......

It all started when I had my astrology chart read by a fabulous lady named Jinny Rodrigo (Sacred Stone Astrology) and she told me I was born in the balsamic moon phase. She told me that the balsamic moon time is a rich and fertile time where physical or mental "seeds" can be planted. Perhaps I will not live to see the seeds I plant fully mature but the seeds I do plant will grow, prosper and perhaps be of benefit to others.

So with that in mind, I went looking for a word to join seeds. I think that soul is such an appropriate word to join us in this journey.

soul (sohl) -noun: the animating principle; the essential element or part of something

Soul for this journey is essential. Sustainability is an important issue that affects everyone because we all share and depend upon this earth system for sustenance and survival. There is an extraordinary amount of work and education around sustainability to be done. It will take some animation at minimum. Thankfully I can say that I am animated and PASSIONATE about this topic.

Take a few ideas (seeds), mix in some soul, sprinkle with positivity, fertilize with hard work and water with passion = Soul Seeds!

And finally the baby comes in because I'm new at this...a fresh face eager to learn more. And perhaps I can make that analogy since my master's program is 9 months long so I feel like I'm giving birth to a new career baby!

Welcome!

2007-05-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!

I have been working hard on setting up my new business in Oliver which is a cozy home for my Reiki pursuits and eventually will also encompass my sustainability work once I have completed my Master's degree in Sweden - scheduled for June 2008.

Writing and designing the content for my new website www.soulseeds.ca I found I was longing for an outlet to type my thoughts and ideas into! Taking inspiration from. my dear friend Tamara and her blog The Straight Poop, I am using it as a platform to chronicle my journey towards sustainability. Sometimes I think, who cares or how much of a narcissist are you Tracy? A Russian friend of mine, Andrei said "Everything must be documented" so I'm taking his advice. Perhaps someday, someone will come up to me and say "I really like what you are doing, can you please show me how?"

At that point in time, perhaps life will shift in a new direction, along with the blog. For now, it's mostly so my head doesn't explode from ideas, passion, thoughts, and (tiny) fears and doubts.