Beating billboards by branding B.C.

Squamish First Nations have recently announced their decision to construct massive billboards on Reserve land located near high-traffic locations like the Sea to Sky Highway and Burrard Bridge.

This strategic business move has forced Vanoc into a corner, caught between an attempt to monopolize advertisement during the Games, keeping their word with their corporate sponsors and pleasing downtown municipalities who do not want corporate advertisements spoiling the view.

Whether or not the Squamish First Nations’ decision is aesthetically ethical is beside the point: they’ve found a loophole in the system, and there is nothing Vanoc can do about it.

What Vanoc can do however, is make the best of the current situation.

Why not take advantage of having billboards in prime high-traffic locations? In fact, why not make the best of both worlds and showcase B.C.’s beautiful landscape in these high-traffic areas?

Let’s brand the province’s brand.

Nature Valley, Aquafina, Happy Planet or some other biological health brand that uses nature in its marketing ads should seize this opportunity to make known their name by displaying… well, nothing.

Rip out the interior of the billboard, leave the exterior frame, slap on a name in the bottom right hand corner of the billboard and voila! This magnificently pure and pristine landscape, found only in beautiful British Columbia, is brought to you by (insert name here).

Not only does the see-through billboard attract passerby’s attention to the landscape, but in such a commercialized society, the ad becomes an anti-advertisement perfect for a brand that’s looking to stand out from the clutter.

And most importantly, everybody wins. The Squamish First Nations, Vanoc, the corporate sponsors, the municipalities, even the province of B.C.

Plastic Bags Blow

Plastic Bag Facts

Above is a slide show that is really great to see some statistics and images that demonstrate why we should not be using plastc bags.

What happened to the good old days when stores didn’t automatically give out plastic bags with a purchase? In my grandmother’s time bringing your own shopping bag to the grocery store was common practice. Perhaps bags became a status symbol proudly displaying where one bought something, or perhaps we became too lazy to carry our own bags around. Businesses gain quite a bit of free advertising out of giving away bags, so they don’t really mind, but what good are all these bags? Worldwide we consume about 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags each year, and many of these end up in landfills or wildlife habitats contaminating the environment for years to come as they photodegrade.

Many cities are taking the initiative to either ban or tax plastic bag use, and many businesses strongly encourage bringing your own bag when shopping at their store. Within the past couple of years, shops began offering reusable bags for purchase. This means they can still take advantage of the advertising that goes along with giving you a bag, plus they make a buck off of every one that you buy. I began to collect various different ones but soon realized that there were too many to count after a while and that every single store seemed to have a version of reusable bag for sale with their logo on it. These bags are great, but if you want something nicer, there are many places selling classier, higher quality, and more expensive reusable totes. One thing I strongly recommend is getting a fold-up bag that you can carry in your pocket or purse so that you will always have one with you when you buy something.

Another thing businesses are doing more and more is switching to biodegradable bags. Although these are immensely better than regular plastic bags, they are still not as good as using a reusable bag for your shopping. Biodegradable bags still require energy to be produced, and they usually won’t be used more than once before being discarded because they are not as durable or sturdy. While trying to create a greener image, businesses will always do what they think people would like to see, but biodegradable bags do nothing more than make consumers feel better about not bringing their reusable bag to the store.

For more information, and some resourceful ways to become bag-free, visit these links:

http://www.reusablebags.com/facts.php

http://www.wearewhatwedo.org/news/display.php?id=1245

http://www.myownbag.com/activism.html

http://environmental-activism.suite101.com/article.cfm/say_no_to_plastic_bags

http://www.socyberty.com/Activism/Plastic-Bags-Banned-Around-the-Globe-to-Save-the-Earth.296789

The Bottled Water Battle

To start with here is a hilarious video of Penn and Teller telling you why bottled water is BULLSHIT:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=XfPAjUvvnIc

People are finally becoming wise to perhaps the biggest worldwide scam in history: bottled water. While the stuff comes free-flowing out of a tap in your home or any restaurant, people are willing to pay exorbitant prices for a bottled, arguably worse, version. Just because the bottle has fancy words on it and claims that it is “pure spring water” does not mean it is any different from that which you can get for free right in your own home. Many brands of bottled water are simply tap water in a bottle. Luckily, people have finally begun to realize that in order to produce a bottle of “pure” water, double that amount of water and one quarter of that amount of oil is required. This is depleting much of our groundwater supplies. Then there are the bottles; just what happens to those after they become empty? Most of them, even though they are recyclable, end up in a landfill. The solution: stop drinking bottled water and fill up a bottle from a tap! As simple as this sounds, it is not always easy for people to kick a habit.

Recently, we are seeing many cities take the initiative to ban bottled water or require restaurants to serve tap water to patrons, and the non-alcoholic beverage sector has seen a dramatic decrease in sales, especially in their bottled water markets. School boards in cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver are also considering bans in favour of smarter options such as fountains and water coolers. In London, there is a proposal to install tap water vending machines in all rail and tube stations. City councils, which consume very large amounts of bottled water, are also looking to get rid of this unnecessary use of taxpayers’ money.

As people switch from bottle to tap, they still want to feel like they are getting “purified” water, so brands like Brita have seen an increase in sales. In order to try to compensate for a decrease in sales, bottled water giants such as Coca-Cola (Dasani) and Pepsi (Aquafina) are improvising by providing products like VitaminWater and Aquafina Plus. Coke is also in the process of releasing a new brand of bottled water named “Kinley” which will have a new look in an attempt to revitalize their bottled water market.

Bottled water is not healthier, more pure, or tastier than tap water, so why would you waste money while harming the environment by drinking it?

 

For more information on this, visit these great sites:

www.insidethebottle.org

www.tappening.com 

www.wewanttap.com

 

Oh, the weather outside is frightful…

Snow hits the usually sunny Las Vegas in a winter phenomenon. Image courtesy of: telegraph.co.uk

Canada has far surpassed becoming a winter wonderland, as the excessive amounts of snowfall have left travelers stranded at airports and even put some lives at risk.

One woman was buried in deep snow for three days in an isolated field near the Hamilton airport before she was found alive. The woman was suffering from hypothermia and was sent immediately to the hospital to recover. Police told the Hamilton media that it was a miracle that she survived such “horrific” weather conditions.

These obscure weather patterns mystified scientists south of the border as well, as hell really did freeze over. The city of sin, Las Vegas, experienced snow fall of up to and over 3 inches, canceling all flights into and out of the Nevadan city as a result.

“Sometimes you have to travel to the mountains to see the snow, and now you don’t have to,” said Jose Villeda, a 38 year old Vegas resident about the rare occurrence. It is commonly known around Nevada that the mountains experience annual snowfall, but the Las Vegas strip itself had never experienced more than 1/2 inch of snow, until this frozen phenomenon occurred.

The latest flurry of extreme snowfall and high velocity winds has people scratching their heads in puzzlement. Canadian residents especially, are baffled by the near blizzard conditions that has them swimming under several inches of snow so early into the winter season.

“Bad weather is affecting everyone across the country. Any storm systems beginning in the West are being directed by the jet stream in the East,” said Johanna Wagstaffe of the CBC Weather Centre in Toronto.

So what could be causing these uncommon arctic snowstorms? Many meteorologists say that our good and controversial friend, global warming, is to blame for this extreme in snowfall.

Most of the less knowledgeable audiences assume that global warming strictly involves the warming of climates. However, global warming advocates state that global warming actually entails short-term swings in climate, either hot or cold.

The India Times reports that Arctic ice volume has hit its lowest point ever in recorded history. These melting ice caps result in colder fronts being brought to the countries in the Northern Hemisphere over the winter months, while also bringing extremes in climate change.

This would explain the records being shattered all across the globe in terms of highest temperatures being hit during the summer, and unexpected snow storms in the winter.

However, with every argument proving global warming there is one against it; as some meteorologists state that the earth is going through a natural global cooling period, and it is this cooling period that is being mistaken for global warming.

According to the National Climatic Data Center, 2008 will be America’s coldest year since 1997, but only due to La Niña and precipitation in the central and eastern states. Solar quietude also may underlie global cooling. This year’s sunspots and solar radiation approach the minimum in the sun’s cycle, corresponding with lower Earth temperatures. This echoes Harvard-Smithsonian astrophysicist Sallie Baliunas’ belief that solar variability, much more than CO2, sways global temperatures.

So is it that our carbon emissions are actually the cause of these extreme weather patterns, and the inhabitants of this planet are too ignorant to act upon their own mistakes? Or are we overreacting over a cooling pattern that the earth’s cycle naturally encounters?

Only time will tell who is right, and who is left out in the snow.

Earth Day

Today marks the 38th Earth Day, and what do we have to show for ourselves? We have an Earth in danger of becoming a completely inhabitable place for our species, and a culture so focused on consumerism that we barely notice that we are destroying our only home.

This year, Time magazine has decided to make a strong statement by changing their traditional border from red to green. The New York Times also offers readers information article focused on the environment such as Michael Pollan’s “Why Bother.” Many other major publications have put out special issues to raise awareness about these important issues and to show that they too are aware of the gravity of the crisis we find ourselves in.

While we may all acknowledge that today is a special day, a day to respect the Earth and think about the environment, it is imperative that we make sure we do more than just simply recognize the problems. We must take action before it’s too late, and what better day to start than Earth Day? I recently watched Leonardo Dicaprio’s film “The 11th Hour” and gained a new respect for the actor. Unlike Al Gore’s film which focuses solely on him throughout, this film includes many experts to describe the problems and offer their advice and solutions. If you are looking for things that you can do as an individual, I would recommend the website that accompanies the film: 11thhouraction.com. Another great site to take a look at is earth911.org where one can find out where to recycle everything from aerosol cans to light bulbs.

At a time like this it is important not to forget about the Earth after today and return to our old ways; we must strive to make every day Earth Day so that future generations have something wonderful to celebrate, and so that our generation may solve this climate crisis before it becomes too late.

Capitalizing on Climate Change

More and more I’m beginning to feel like capitalism truly rules all that goes on in our lives. You would think that a global crisis such as climate change would not fall victim to such a practice, but, like everything else these days, people are beginning to realize the profit to be made by capitalizing on this trend to make one’s life greener.

If a company can claim to be helping the environment, they most certainly will milk that claim for all it’s worth. Sometimes they actually are helping to avert the crisis, but too often they are simply making false claims only to drive up their profits while furthering the crisis. Almost every organization imaginable has a program or promotion aimed at gaining respect for the good job they are doing to help stop global warming. It seems that the science is not enough to make them change the way they do business, but once they realize that this may actually attract more customers they quickly hop on the environmental band wagon. This makes it difficult for consumers to know which products are truly environmentally friendly, and which ones are just a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

There are so many examples of this capitalizing on climate change. Even in my local shopping mall, they are slowly realizing that shoppers are using cloth bags more than ever. They have begun a campaign to draw more customers by offering a free cloth bag for filling out a shopping spree entry form and delivering it to the customer service desk. Along with this, they have placed people at each entrance to survey customers. Among the questions in this survey: “Would you be willing to pay more for a product that is environmentally friendly?” and “Are you more likely to shop in a store that is more environmentally friendly?” Clearly, the mall wants to know if this new environmental theme is going to bring in a profit, or turn customers away. By filling out the form and getting a free bag, the mall now has all the information they need to bombard you with junk mail and advertisements. The thought was nice, but the intention somehow seems a bit askew.

Another example is the “Ethos” water sold at Starbucks, and soon many major retailers. By purchasing this “ethical” water, you are donating  few cents to a good cause; at the same time you are depleting water resources and creating large amounts of CO2. There is really nothing ethical about ethos water, the only advantage to buying it seems to be the ability to flash the bottle around and act superior to people that got their water from a tap (the truly ethical thing to do).

Perhaps this capitalism on climate change will continue until it is no longer easy to distinguish which companies are truly “green.” We can only hope that people are smart enough to realize when they are being treated as passive consumers, and not as intelligent beings that care about the fate of our planet.

Earth Hour

This Saturday, March 29, 2008, cities and citizens all across the globe are encouraged to participate in Earth Hour. This hour-long event, which is to take place between 8pm and 9pm, began in Syndey, Australia in 2007 as a mechanism to inspire people to take action on climate change. People in Sydney were encouraged to turn off all their lights for one entire hour to save energy. The goal was to inform citizens on the impacts of wasting energy. It was said that the energy saved during Earth Hour, if sustained for one year, would be the equivalent of taking over fourty-five thousand cars off the road. Eye-opening for sure, and the event was well participated as over 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney business turned off their lights in 2007.

The year Earth Hour is going global. Cities all across the globe and doing what Syndey did last year and encouraging their citizens to be aware and take action regarding climate change. Recently I heard a local radio advertisement for Earth Hour. It outlined what to do, turn your lights off for one hour, but the kicker for me was the punch line, which was something to the effect of “do your part and help stop climate change by turning off your lights for one hour on Saturday March 29th”. When I heard this, I thought it was a joke. Sure Earth Hour is extremely beneficial as an initial method to inform the world of what turning off your lights can do, but the point is just that, information. Citizens, by turning off their lights for one measley hour on Saturday, should feel like they have contributed to fighting climate change. They should, however, take that as an initiation into the cause.

The problem with much of environmental activistism of late has been that it only scratches the surface. I’m sure that the goal of Earth Hour is to have this type of conservative behavior sustained throughout the daily lives of participants, but the fact of the matter is that it wont be. Many of those who take part in tomorrow’s Earth Day will turn off their lights for an hour and then go back to their indulgent lifestyles feeling as if they have contributed to fight against climate change, when in fact they have not. What would make Earth Hour a success is citizens realizing that they do not need to use as much lighting as they normally do in their daily practices. What would make Earth Hour a success is citizens continually looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint and live a more sustainable life. It is simply not enough to, for one hour a year, turn of your lights and sit without luminance because when it comes to climate change, you are still in fact in the dark.

For more information on Earth Hour 2008 visit: www.earthhour.org

Photo courtesy of: http://miscmum.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/earthhour.jpg

The 3 Rs

For my first post, I would like to post this edited version of an article I did for The Peak newspaper because I feel it is a good introduction to the problems in our world that I am most concerned about. Here it is, enjoy:

The biggest problem facing our generation today is climate change, so why do most people seem so determined to ignore it? It is really not that hard to change our ways, but we are so stuck in our habits that we don’t even think about it. Some people are too quick to judge this trend towards “going green” as nothing more than the latest fad to follow. It may have become a fad, but it is a necessary one that we should all follow in order to save ourselves and our planet.

Recently, I have become increasingly aware of small changes that I can make in my own life to become more “environmentally friendly.” I have begun to take the bus at much as possible, I bring a travel mug when buying a coffee or tea, I bring bags when I go shopping, I bought a stapler that doesn’t use staples, I try not to buy disposable things, and I recycle as much I can. Since I have started doing these things, people around me have taken notice and have started to copy me. Sometimes all it takes is a good example to get others to change their ways as well.

I can remember growing up watching Sesame Street and learning about the three Rs. This information still applies today – even more so than before. Please dig down and remember the days of Bert and Ernie. First we need to reduce. This means don’t use as mush water, electricity, disposables, and heat. Also reduce the amount that you drive a car. To do these things: take a shorter shower, turn off your lights and appliances, use reusable dishes and mugs (even when buying your daily Starbucks), lower your thermostat, and ride the “loser cruiser” which I would like to change into the “who’s the loser now? cruiser.” Next we were told to reuse. This means don’t create as much garbage (see part one: less disposables), reuse everything that you can, and don’t be so quick to throw things out just because they are old. Somebody else can usually use your “junk.” Lastly we were told to recycle. I’m sure you all know what this means, but I’m at a loss for why not everybody does it. Are you all just too lazy? Or too ignorant? It is quite simple: put all recyclables in a recycling bin or in your blue bin at home. Also, try to buy things in recyclable containers as apposed to disposable ones.

I really hope people can realize what we need to do to avert a climate catastrophe. Please, if you value our planet the way it is, become the good examples in our world to start the revolution!