This Saturday, from 10:00am - 2:00pm at WISE Hall (1882 Adanac Street at Victoria Drive), will be your last chance to buy fresh, locally grown fruit and vegetables from the Winter Farmers Market. I'll be there, stocking up on everything I can get my hands on. You can check out the list of vendors here.

If you can't make it out on Saturday, don't despair. The first summer market starts May 17th. Head to http://www.eatlocal.org/ for more information.

Photo by knightbefore_99

30 Days of Sustainability, an annual month long celebration aimed at fostering ideas and values for green living, kicked off on Earth Day yesterday. Now in its third year, the program offers a range of sustainability related events, from work shops and information sessions to sustainable design and art exhibits, all of which run until May 22nd.

Although yesterday's launch, which was held at the Pendulum Room of the HSBC building downtown, was mostly a smooze-fest (an invite only event featuring Mayor Sam Sullivan, TV personalities and a swarm of well-dressed eco-designers all consuming organic wine and cheese), the remaining 29 days promise to be much more entertaining.

Here are just a few of the many events worth checking out in the coming weeks (fancy dress clothes not required):

Over the next few months, Beyond Robson will bring you a series of interviews with important individuals in Vancouver's environmental community. First up is Will Cole-Hamilton, co-owner along with his wife, Shannon, of the organic food store Mainly Organics and the art house movie store Cinephile Video.

In addition to running two socially conscious businesses, Will and Shannon recently founded a non-profit organization, the Learning Climate Educational Society, aimed at donating a copy of An Incovenient Truth to every highschool in Canada. Since February of 2007, they have raised $25,000 and donated nearly 2,000 copies of the film to schools across the country. I spoke with Will at a coffee shop near his two stores on Main street.

Students for a Democratic Society issued a press release yesterday, which is available on the Georgia Straight website, alleging incidents of police brutality at the April 4th, Knoll Aid 2.0 protest on UBC campus:

"Today a peaceful celebration in defence of public space at UBC was violently quashed by the RCMP. This press release was written on April 5th at 1 a.m. with limited available information. All the events discussed herein have been either captured by camera or can be corroborated by multiple eyewitness accounts."

The above video documents some of the allegations -- students are pushed, pulled and shoved to the ground amidst boos and chants of "Peace-ful, pro-test!"

According to RCMP Constable Annie Linteau, a total of 19 people were arrested and are currently facing charges, among which include assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.

(More video of what lead to the incident after the jump)

If you happened to be out strolling the streets from 8pm to 9pm on Saturday, you may have noticed a number of stores either turning off their lights or closing shop entirely in support of Earth Hour.

Mainly Organics, an organic food store on Main street, locked its doors for the hour, but its sister store on the same block, Cinephile Video, stayed open. With some parts of the store cast in almost complete darkness, employees doled out hand crank powered lanterns and flashlights to assist customers in browsing their film selection.

(more photos after the jump)

Slowly but surely, household composting is gaining traction across Canada. According to a recent StatsCan report, we've now passed the quarter mark nationally, with 27% of individual households actively composting in some form or another. While BC is slightly above average at 30%, our rate of participation is put to shame by PEI and New Brunswick, which, thanks to effective legislation and organic curbside recycling programs, have 91% and 69% of their households composting respectively.

Although Vancouver has a collection program for yard trimmings, no such program exists for kitchen waste. Until we get one, we'll have to settle for composting it ourselves in our own backyard. Luckily, there are lots of useful resources available from the city to help you get started.