A Week of Environmental-ness

Posted by Agasel
Filed in City
May 31, 2007

Being environmental is so pervasive in our mainstream culture. Only a few years ago, I used to be looked upon as a bag-lady, tree-hugging hippie. Now, I'm one in a crowd. When I used to ride my bike everyday, friends were flabbergasted and inspired. Today more people than ever ride bikes to my workplace. I had to get a bike rack installed there.

I drive my car now. I used to only use it on weekends, because work is so close to home. But lately I've been seduced by the ease of going from one side of town to the other, with wind blowing, great music, and lots of personal space (unlike on transit).

Looks like the government wants me to do my penance. From June 3 to 9, they've declared it Canadian Environment Week. It's meant to spotlight how easy it can be to include environmental activities in our daily lives.

The Commuter Challenge allows individuals to rack up the number of kilometres they travel sustainably, and see how much pollution they prevented from entering the atmosphere. Checking out the winners from last year's Challenge, individuals and companies won prizes like iPods, Mountain Equipment Co-op gift cards, and Home Depot cards. In 2006, about 38,000 people entered the Challenge. Amazingly, more than 800,000 kg of eCO2 emissions were saved. That's like 704 passenger vehicles driving for one year!

Better Environmentally Sound Transportation (BEST) and Capers have announced that June 5 is "Bike to Market Day". Tell the cashier you rode your bike, and you get 10% off your purchase. Hope you have panniers or a basket, otherwise good luck balancing your cloth bags.

Photo courtesy of chrzaszcz at Flickr

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Actually the assumption that environmental issues are so pervasive in our mainstream culture is inaccurate. While it is true that the polls show that over 60% of Canadians think that climate change is the top issue facing Canada in the XXI century, less than 30% will actually undertake personal measures to deal with climate change that will detract from their current status quo. Just trying to put your post in perspective.

Posted by: R. at May 31, 2007 3:19 PM | Quote Comment

How about a Canadian Environment Year instead. This could be a yearly event :)
No, seriously, I think it's a good idea, thanks for the post. I will participate, even though the weather forecast does promise me a week of bus rides instead of bike rides.
Talking about what you can easily do without breaking a sweat: I have finally found some great re-usable bags made out of recycled plastic to overcome my plastic bag addiction. They sell them at those great super stores (hintadi-hint-hint) and you even get some points for using them every time you shop. I take them with me wherever I go now, and my plastic bad holding my plastic bags is getting thinner and thinner.

Posted by: Fabian at May 31, 2007 3:54 PM | Quote Comment