Good green jobs for all conference a big success

The Good Green Jobs for All conference went off without a hitch on Saturday. There were close to 600 people registered who came from labour, environmental, community and social justice organizations. There was a lot of positive energy, excellent speakers and good discussion.

OPSEU was a platinum sponsor of the conference and I was privileged to be part of the planning committee. All those evening pizza meetings paid off.

Allstream Centre - the GGJ4A conference was one of the first users of the renovated Automotive Building at the CNE. The Allstream Centre is a silver LEED certified building.

OPSEU display

There were a lot of great moments at the conference. One of the best for me was the end of the day speech by Clayton George Thomas-Muller, an organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network, currently working on the Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign. It was a comprehensive analysis and rousing call to action.

Muller called for shutting down the tar sands and challenging the economic development model of capitalism itself as part of a road map to a greener, more equitable society.

Other keynote speakers included Tonika Morgan and Peter Tabuns. Each of the three workshops had panel presenters to help focus the discussion and to formulate a short list of priority campaigns.

I took part in the Infrastructure workshop. Priorities included support for Transit City and Metrolinks, education & training and some focus on how to make the Pan Am games (which had been awarded to Toronto the night before) work for the community.

All participants were asked to fill in the blank - "A good, green job is...." and then have their pictures taken. Check it out.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much coverage of the conference in the media but here's one story from the Canadian Press.

Hundreds brainstorm on making economy green at Toronto conference

How to stimulate Ontario's economy while protecting the environment at the same time was the focus of the Good Green Jobs for All conference in Toronto on Saturday

About 550 environmentalists, members of the labour movement and people interested in social justice attended the sold-out conference which featured speeches and workshops.

Statistics Canada said Friday Canada's struggling economy shed 43,200 jobs last month for a national jobless rate of 8.6 per cent, up from 8.4 per cent in September. Ontario's unemployment rate rose a tenth of a point to 9.3 per cent in October.

Climate change deniers gaining ground

I think we can all feel this as we read the papers, watch tv and listen to the radio. Big Energy's relentless campaign to protect its profits at the expense of the planet has been gaining traction in the US over the past year. Canada is no better I fear. Damn the science. To hell with the scientists. We are living in truly scary times.

The climate change talks in Barcelona went almost nowhere last week - at least not as far as people were saying they needed to go in order for a new deal to be hammered out next month in Copenhagen. So we may need another year before a comprehensive deal can be negotiated.

George Monbiot takes a look at the regrowth of the cancerous climate change deniers.

Death Denial

There is no point in denying it: we’re losing. Climate change denial is spreading like a contagious disease. It exists in a sphere which cannot be reached by evidence or reasoned argument; any attempt to draw attention to scientific findings is greeted with furious invective. This sphere is expanding with astonishing speed.


A survey last month by the Pew Research Centre suggests that the proportion of Americans who believe there’s solid evidence that the world has been warming over the past few decades has fallen from 71% to 57% in just 18 months(1). Another survey, conducted in January by Rasmussen Reports, suggests that, due to a sharp rise since 2006, US voters who believe that global warming is the result of natural causes (44%) now outnumber those who believe it is caused by human action (41%)(2)...

It certainly doesn’t reflect the state of the science, which has hardened dramatically over the past two years... The debate about global warming that’s raging on the internet and in the rightwing press does not reflect any such debate in the scientific journals.

"Stand up for me"

Hat tip to Jackie Larkin for this video. From Moms Against Climate Change.

Our Times Magazine: Climate Change is a Union Issue

Check out the latest issue of Our Times, Canada's Independent Labour magazine at the bookstore if you can. The focus of this issue is on climate change and features a couple of different unions, including OPSEU. There's even a couple of pictures of me in it.

Barcelona climate change talks...

The last five days of negotiations before the December Copenhagen climate change talks got underway this week in Barcelona, Spain. The entire African delegation walked out of the talks and have just agreed to end their boycott. Meanwhile, no expenses are being spared by Big Energy to ensure that the Copenhagen talks go down in toxic flames.

My contract at OPSEU has come to an end...

This is an email that I sent out to green supporters in the union. Being the blogging type, I will continue to post interesting stories when I see them.

Gary

========================================

Dear OPSEU Green Stewards and Green Staff,

Just wanted to let you know that my contract at OPSEU is over (after a couple of renewals) and that I'll be returning to my job in the OPS in November. It has been an honour and privilege to have had the opportunity to help OPSEU move forward with our environmental program.

The support I have received from members, staff and elected leaders has been tremendous. My heartfelt thanks to everyone. Greening OPSEU is a process, so keep up the good work in whatever capacity that you are contributing.

In solidarity,

Gary Shaul

garyshaul@gmail.com

Fishing trawler sunk by giant jellyfish

From the bizarre file, so bizarre that I had to check snopes.com to make sure it wasn't a hoax, a 10 ton Japanese fishing trawler capsized when pulling in its catch of giant Nomura's jellyfish.

A 10-ton fishing boat has been sunk by gigantic jellyfish off eastern Japan

Each of the jellyfish can weigh up to 200 kg and waters around Japan have been inundated with the creatures this year. Experts believe weather and water conditions in the breeding grounds, off the coast of China, have been ideal for the jellyfish in recent months.

One of the largest jellyfish in the world, the species can grow up to 2 meters in diameter. The last time Japan was invaded on a similar scale, in the summer of 2005, the jellyfish damaged nets, rendered fish inedible with their toxic stings and even caused injuries to fishermen.

Relatively little is known about Nomura's jellyfish, such as why some years see thousands of the creatures floating across the Sea of Japan on the Tsushima Current, but last year there were virtually no sightings. In 2007, there were 15,500 reports of damage to fishing equipment caused by the creatures.

Experts believe that one contributing factor to the jellyfish becoming more frequent visitors to Japanese waters may be a decline in the number of predators, which include sea turtles and certain species of fish.

Climate change protesters take message to House of Commons

Hats off to the more than 150 protesters who made their way into the visitors gallery in the House of Commons yesterday to protest the conservative and liberal parties decision to go to Copenhagen empty-handed. This is the kind of obstructionist approach which will ensure that no deal can be reached in these historic talks which are a follow-up to Kyoto. Shame on those MPs who sided with Big Energy instead of the people of Canada and the world.

Activist Jeh Custer after being roughed up by security

'A disturbance in the gallery'

The daily back-and-forth, however, was overshadowed by the shouts and demands from a group of climate-change activists who had quietly taken over the north gallery. Their protest started as NDP Leader Jack Layton began asking his questions.

“Bill C-311,” shouted one protester. “Sign it, sign it, sign it,” the others responded. It was a well-orchestrated affair; as some protesters were dragged off by Commons security guards, others would pop up and start shouting again, drowning out Mr. Layton.

Bill C-311 is an NDP private-members bill that demands the government act on climate change at the upcoming Copenhagen conference. It has been delayed in committee by the Conservatives and some Liberals...

Six protesters were detained and have been barred from Parliament for a year.)

Apparently two were also injured as Parliament Hill security threw them out of the gallery.

International Day of Climate Action

Today is International Day of Climate Action where groups and individuals around the world are supposed to take some action on the environment. There are plenty of actions and events listed for Ontario including Toronto, Ottawa, London, Hamilton, Peterborough, Sudbury, North Bay and Thunder Bay.

350.org is the main mover and shaker for this day of action.

Scientists say that 350 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere is the safe limit for humanity. Learn more about 350 – what it means, where it came from, and how to get there.

Climate action video

Webconferencing used for new H&D advisor interviews

OPSEU's new webconference network got a good work out between October 13 and 20. As part of the union's commitment to our Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Policy, the union has long had member-volunteer advisors and investigators to assist other members with human rights issues. This work is co-ordinated by OPSEU's Equity Unit.

Being an advisor or investigator can be very tough work sometimes. Many cases stem from long-standing conflicts or issues resulting in the need to collect a lot of information. Some issues continue to fester even after a formal complaint is filed. It is often a very emotionally draining experience for the members involved and this impacts on those who are helping out.

So it's only natural that there's a turnover of our investigators and advisors. The union brings on new members to play these roles every year. I was approached several months ago by Libby Zeleke and Catherine Bowman from the Equity Unit about the feasibility of using webconferencing for the interviews (even before the network was officially up and running). I took on the challenge. In the end, I think it worked out quite well and saved a considerable amount of greenhouse gas emissions, time and money.

Dora Robinson (Region 3 Women's Committee, Libby Zeleke, OPSEU Equity Officer

Not that there weren't some technical glitches now and then with the audio, but for the most part, the

system performed as expected. Each day, applicants from a different region were interviewed. The project included 13 panelists (3 per day) and about two dozen applicants. The web conferences were support with help from the regional secretaries in 9 or 10 OPSEU offices and support staff at our head office. Thanks to those staff who made it possible.

Canada going to Copenhagen empty handed...

Liberals snub NDP climate-change bill
This is pretty shameful behavior on the part of the federal Liberals in my opinion. Just at the time when Canada needs to step up to the plate and show some leadership on this "file", the libs join the cons to help scuttle the Copenhagen talks.

Federal Liberals say they won't support the NDP in its effort to push a private member's climate-change bill through the House of Commons on Wednesday...

But New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton said the delay would undermine efforts to have the bill passed into law before the Copenhagen summit in December.

Layton wants the bill's tougher greenhouse gas emission reduction targets to be in force when Canada sends delegates to the summit, where international leaders hope to forge a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the global greenhouse-gas treaty ratified by dozens of countries, including Canada.

The bill has passed through two readings in the House of Commons since it was introduced by NDP member of Parliament Bruce Hyer, receiving support from the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois.

Liberal environment critic David McGuinty, however, said the committee needs more time to study the implications of the bill.

More time? What about the implications of failure to reach a global climate change deal in Copenhagen? Big Energy must be grinning for cheek to cheek.

Climate change course - Train the trainer

On October 14 & 15, OPSEU's new course - Climate Change - It's a union issue - went through the train-the-trainer process so that members and staff from around the province can deliver the course to local leaders and members. I am pleased to report that the union's Regional Education Committees (there are seven) can now add this course to their quarterly weekend education program.

The course covers the causes and impacts of climate change with a strong focus on climate justice and actions that can be taken in our union, workplaces, communities and personal lives to make a difference.

In all, there were 4 members and 4 staff who attended this two day training session. On Day 1, Education Officer Kay Singh and I worked through the generic course with participants. Education Officer Barb Thomas provided support by tracking issues as they came up during the course. Our goal was not just to train the trainers, but to help take it from a "boiler-plate" to course that is more OPSEU- and Ontario-specific and in conformity with the general format of other OPSEU courses. It was a very interactive two days and there was a lot of positive energy and excellent ideas shared to tailor this to our union's needs.

Front row: Laurie Sabourin, Kay Singh, Rhonda Gibson

Back row: Peter McKenzie, Janet Heyman, Christopher Frampton, Greg McVeigh, Don Doucette, Gary Shaul

(photo by Barb Thomas, Marie Thomson from Region 1 was also in the training session)

On Day 2, the trainers were divided into pairs and assigned different parts of the curriculum to deliver themselves.

Brainstorming results

The generic course was developed by Jackie Larkin in 2008 working with staff and members of OPSEU, PSAC, CUPW, CUPE, Steelworkers, BCGEU, BC Federation of Labour and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). It can be found here, on the CLC website. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with environmentalists from across the labour movement.

Planet in Focus opens tonight

The Planet in Focus film festival opens tonight. OPSEU is a proud festival sponsor. I hope to see a number of films including tonight's opener Finding Farley.

For a full festival program, check out their website.

Urgent: Bill C-311 - Climate Change Accountability Act

This just in from Karen Hawley at NUPGE.

Hi folks,

As members of Climate Action Network-Canada, NUPGE is in meetings with MPs this week - urging the Liberals to vote against the Conservative motion to delay the reading of this important climate bill.

This is an urgent matter. Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act, risks not being passed before Copenhagen because the Liberals are playing politics. Canadians need to push the Liberals to do the right thing today.

There is a vote TODAY at 5:40pm on a Conservative motion to extend the bill's time in committee. If the Liberals support this motion to delay, the bill will not be voted on (or passed) before COP 15 in Copenhagen.

If the Liberals do not support the Conservative motion to delay, the bill will automatically go to the House of Commons for a vote, just before Copenhagen. If bill C 311 is passed in the House of Commons, the Conservative position on climate change will not be Canada's position internationally.

The NDP and the Bloc have been amazing at both working cooperatively with the other parties and pushing as hard as possible for C 311 to pass before Copenhagen.

The Liberals have already voted for this bill (or previous permutations) five times, most recently in April. This bill has been heavily debated, there have been hours upon hours of expert presentations and there are no amendments to the bill despite ongoing opportunities to amend - there is not a rational reason to delay this bill. We need to push the Liberals to do the right thing today.

In solidarity,

Karen

Tar sands: First hand account

I just came across this series of articles from last month on the rabble.ca blog. They're written accounts of blogger Emily Hunter's trip to the Alberta tar sands country in September. Fascinating stuff. Check it out.

"To see it even more, I took to the skies with a chartered plane. What I saw will be etched on my brain for the rest of my life. It looked like it was the year 2100 and the world had gone wrong, except that it was 2009 and right here in Canada. It was as far as the eye could see, an unrecognizable moonscape. Earth didn't exist here any longer..."

Beware of the serpents...

Now to the creepy crawly department. While not directly related to climate change, this is a story about consumerism applied to pets. It is about fragile wildlife habitats and how human activity can cause BIG trouble. It's a story that's captured my imagination since I first heard about it last year.

Florida Has Had It With These Non-Native Snakes!

Five giant invasive snake species — Burmese pythons, northern and southern African pythons, boa constrictors and anacondas — could endanger some of America's most important parks and wilderness areas if they are allowed to multiply, according to a report released on by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on Tuesday...

The snakes have escaped or been released into the wild by people who purchased them as pets when they were small and manageable.

The environment of south Florida has proven to be a favorable environment for the snakes to thrive and breed. It is estimated that tens of thousands or Burmese pythons now live throughout the Everglades, a wildlife refuge home to the Florida panther and other endangered species. The snakes are competing with native alligators, crocodiles and other predators...

They're not just competing. A mature Burmese python will eat alligators - although not always with great success. Just ponder this for a minute.

Blog Action Day on climate change

Who knew? I found on rabble.ca that today is Blog Action Day 09. The goal is to have as many blogs say something about climate change as possible. What can I say?

1) On October 14 and 15, I worked with education officers Kay Singh and Barb Thomas to deliver the train-the-trainer program for the climate change course which was developed last year with a number of other union partners. We had a great bunch with participants who will be able to deliver the course to local leaders and members in most parts of the province. The course covers the causes and impacts of climate change with a strong focus on climate justice actions that can be taken in our union, workplaces, communities and personal lives to make a difference. More to come on that soon.

2) Today was the second day of OPSEU's process to replenish our harassment and discrimination investigators and advisors. These are member volunteers who assist other members and the union with internal complaints. This year, the Equity Unit decided to try out webconferencing to reduce travel outside Toronto. Each day, applicants from a different region are being interviewed. The project includes 13 panelists (3 per day), about 25 applicants and help from the regional secretaries in 9 or 10 OPSEU offices and support staff at our head office.

While there have been some minor technical glitches, all interviews conducted so far have been successful. Libby Zeleke, OPSEU Equity Officer (working from head office) is co-ordinating the interview program. I'll report more fully next week once the interviews have been completed.

Bangkok Climate Change Talks wrap up

Part of the prelude to the Copenhagen climate change talks taking place in December is a series of working group meetings which are supposed to be doing the prep work for the big one. The Bangkok Climate Change Talks - held from September 28 to October 9, wrapped up last week.

Despite the official hype, it doesn't look like things are going that well. In fact, there was a walk-out by about 70 delegations when Canada "suggested replacing the Kyoto Protocol with an entirely new global-warming pact".

"The conversation, in our view, at the point in time was effectively over and the G77 left the room," Joanne Yawitch, a South African negotiator at the Bangkok talks, said in an interview...

The developing nations were perturbed that Canada and other industrial countries would consider copying parts Kyoto into a new treaty. "You can't do a cut and paste on a ratified treaty," Yawitch said.

Canada is doing its part to protect Big Energy but we're certainly not alone.

From the U.K. Guardian:

"The rift between rich and poor has intensified because rich countries have not put serious money on the table to help poor countries adapt to escalating impacts of climate change," said Oxfam's senior climate adviser, Antonio Hill. "The US has been silent on the scale of finance it will commit to."

The next set of talks are scheduled in Barcelona from November 2 to 6.

Web conferencing update

On Tuesday & Wednesday evenings this week, OPSEU conducted two focus groups using web conferencing. The purpose of the conferences was to get input into the OPSEU Census which is part of the convention-mandated Social Mapping Project. The first session went off without a hitch. The second session had a few glitches but overall achieved its objectives.

Beginning on October 13, OPSEU's equity unit will be conducting web conference interviews with members around the province who have expressed an interest in becoming OPSEU Harassment and Discrimination Advisors.

Other requests are beginning to come in for webconferences including the Retirees Division.

Good green jobs for all conference

Here's a copy of the email and letter that was sent to our Green Stewards network and Toronto area local presidents last week.

=========================

Dear Region 5 Green Stewards,

Last fall’s "Good Jobs for All" Summit was attended by over 1,000 people. Green economic development was identified as one key priority campaign area (along with EI reform and temp agencies). This led to the formation of a “green jobs” working group which has worked on a number of issues. With OPSEU’s support, we are organizing an innovative and exciting, one-day "Good green jobs for all" conference on November 7.

Please share this email with your local and regional networks.

Given the directions that both the tanking economy and the environment are headed, the time for a new approach to economic development and job creation is long overdue.

The Good Green Jobs for All conference will provide an opportunity for union, environmental and community leaders and activists to share information and strengthen the relationships needed to build the kind of vibrant and powerful movement required to help steer our economy in a more sustainable direction to ensure that "all boats are lifted".

Saturday, November 7

9:00 - 4:30

Allstream Building, CNE at the Princes Gate

(formerly the Automotive Building)

Registration

OPSEU will cover the $75 registration fee for members which includes lunch. There are two ways to register:

1) Download the registration form at www.goodjobsforall.ca) and mail or fax it to Labour Council, or

2) Send an email to afonseca@labourcouncil.ca containing the registration information.

In either case, be sure to make your first and second workshop selections and register as soon as you're sure you can attend.

In solidarity

Gary Shaul

Greening OPSEU

416-443-8888 x 8723

Cassandras of Climate - Paul Krugman

These days, dire warnings aren't the delusional raving of cranks. They're what come out of the most widely respected climate models, devised by the leading researchers. The prognosis for the planet has gotten much, much worse in just the last few years.

What's driving this new pessimism? Partly it's the fact that some predicted changes, like a decline in Arctic Sea ice, are happening much faster than expected. Partly it's growing evidence that feedback loops amplifying the effects of man-made greenhouse gas emissions are stronger than previously realized. For example, it has long been understood that global warming will cause the tundra to thaw, releasing carbon dioxide, which will cause even more warming, but new research shows far more carbon dioxide locked in the permafrost than previously thought, which means a much bigger feedback effect.

As Krugman notes, we must rely on government, not big business to lead on climate change. It's all well and good that individuals are taking action to reduce their carbon footprints. However, that is a small part of the solution.









Methane gas is being released into atmosphere faster than thought, compounding the problem

Northern Sea Oats

Northern Sea Oats or Chasmanthium latifolium is a unique and terrific clumping grass for the garden. It is most suited to sunny well drained soils but can also be found in shadier spots where it can accept somewhat drier conditions. What makes Northern Sea Oats particularly interesting is the two-dimensional sead heads that hang from the top of the plant at the end of summer and autumn. Turning a purple/red these combine shape and colour for spectacular effect.

This will be my last post with Greening OPSEU. I have had a terrific time with the OPSEU and hope that the gardens will be enjoyed for years to come as they mature and develop into an important local concentrator for pollinators and seed bank for local genetics.

United Nations climate change summit...

Harper defends climate-change efforts amid criticism Canada's lagging

Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended Canada on Tuesday against accusations from a growing chorus of international critics that the country is lagging behind on climate-change efforts.

"Canada's come a long way from where we were," Harper said Tuesday outside New York's City Hall, where he'd paid a courtesy call to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The prime minister was quick to pin the blame for any climate-change foot-dragging on his Liberal predecessors.

This AP article didn't make mention of the fact that Harper declined to attend the UN Summit - well he was planning to pork out at dinner but he was too busy to speak to the UN. But it's really great that he found a few moments to blame the Liberals. While there is a lot of truth to how the liberals betrayed Canadians' interests, Harper was a climate change DENIER at the time so he's not one to talk. In true do-nothing style, Harper went on to pass the buck and pin everything on a continental deal with the USA.

Prepare for grand embarrassment in Copenhagen. Let's see what Harper has to say at the G20 climate change meeting later this week.

Flash-mobbing for the environment...

The Canada Climate Action Network, as part of the TckTckTck campaign, held "flash-mob" protests across the country on Tuesday to coincide with the UN Climate Change Summit.

Canadian youth to join global call for action on climate change

"Flash-mobs" are pre-planned brief events, part performance art, that appear to materialize spontaneously and amaze onlookers.
In Toronto, participants will hold up their cellphones at 12:18 p.m. and call Prime Minister Harper's Office. In Ottawa participants will form a human clock as a reminder that the time for action on climate is running out.

The Age of Stupid...

Tonight is the world premiere of "The Age of Stupid", the new, and long awaited film about climate change which is making its debut in advance of the Copenhagen meeting on global warming. It will be shown in 550 theatres in 45 countries. I'll be attending and will give a review later in the week. Here are the details for Toronto if you're able to attend.

The Age of Stupid

'The Age of Stupid' is the new cinema documentary from the Director of 'McLibel' and the Producer of the Oscar-winning 'One Day in September'. This enormously ambitious drama-documentary-animation hybrid stars Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living in the devastated world of 2055, watching 'archive' footage from 2008 and asking: why didn't we stop climate change while we had the chance?

Youth to tell goverment what time it is....

The Global Climate Wake-up Call

Happening today.

Green vacations...

Also from Green Living...

10 Incredible Eco Travel Destinations

These days, so-called ecotourism or green holiday options are advertised everywhere, but what makes for a truly legitimate eco-vacation? The authors of Clean Breaks (August 2009), Richard Hammond and Jeremy Smith, have done the digging for you and selected 500 eco destinations and experiences from around the world. “We studied the green claims made by many hundreds of operations worldwide before selecting those that we felt both offered the best experiences combined with genuine environmental and social commitments,” says author Hammond. “We show how you can see the world in a responsible way through minimizing your environmental impact on your journey and at the destination—by choosing carefully how you travel and the nature of places that you stay at. We also hope to show how you can have a positive impact in other ways—by contributing to the conservation of wildlife and local heritage and supporting local economies.”

Green laptops....

From Green Living. If you're planning to purchase a new laptop, have a look at this article.

Eco Laptops

Purchasing a new computer can be baffling enough without considering its carbon footprint. Luckily, a number of third-party researchers have done the homework for you.

“There isn’t one computer that’s excelling in all the criteria, so with every model there will be tradeoffs,” says toxics campaigner Casey Harrell of Greenpeace International, which publishes the Guide to Greener Electronics. The Guide ranks the top manufacturers of personal computers, mobile phones, TVs and game consoles according to their environmental policies, and the most recent edition was released in July. “The latest scores aren’t anything you’d want to take home and show your mother.”

Implications of the Van Jones resignation...

As reported here last week, Obama's "Green Jobs Czar", Van Jones, was forced to resign from the Obama administration a few days ago for having once called republicans "assholes". Rabbi Michael Lerner from Tikkun has an interesting analysis of what this could mean for progressive politics in the United States.

Van Jones's Resignation: Bad for the Country and Bad for Obama

Jones's resignation is bad for the country and for the Obama administration. It's bad for America when progressive views are an excuse to purge someone from the administration while extremist right-wing views of past administrations were always given a "pass."

Van Jones's forced resignation is a huge defeat for the forces of sanity and humanity, and represents a deep failure of the Obama-ites to understand the nature of the challenge they face from an increasingly fascistic Right wing.

Jones was the first African American environmentalist to have become a national figure (his book became a national bestseller), and was brought into the administration to help enlist minority communities in the struggle to save the environment from decades of abuse...

The bigger issue remains: how Obama responds to the assaults from the Right. The pattern he sets by allowing his assistants to force Jones to resign (or set by Jones himself in the unlikely case that he made the decision without such outside pressure) is one of capitulation -- and that will only guarantee yet more extreme assaults from the Right. Wilhelm Reich in the late 1920s analyzed the growth of fascism in Germany, and one of his important observations was that the fascists managed to intimidate people because the Left was not in the streets challenging them. Luckily, we are not yet at a point where the Right is scaring people in the streets of American cities, but they are doing so through the media. What is needed is a vigorous challenge in the media from liberals and progressives, and the obvious place from which that should be coming is the Obama administration. If, instead, they wimp out, as so many congressional Democrats have done for the past many years, the Right will be encouraged and tens of millions of decent Americans will become fearful and withdraw from public involvement, allowing a path to power for some of the most hate-oriented forces in American society. Historians may well look back at the Van Jones resignation as an important step in that process of shifting the society, so recently rejoicing at having gotten back on track toward progressive values, toward a renewed McCarthyism or worse...

Eco-checklist

Kudos to Brother John Hesch, Local 565 Green Steward who recently sent in this Eco-checklist. Please feel free to share these ideas with others in your locals.

At our recent LEC meeting, I was asked to provide the LEC with five (5) things that every employee can ask their Supervisor about the organization's environment commitment.

1) Are we part of a recycling program for office consumables? (i.e. toners, cartridges, batteries, old computers and printers, etc.) If not, why? I know it was suggested to our employer back in January that each office should have a box for recycling batteries. To date, I have not seen one.

2) Are the washrooms ECO friendly? (i.e. - hand dryers vs. paper towels, organic soap, low flow toilets, etc.) Yes, this is more of a property management issue, but as a tenant in the building, we have the ability to liaise with our landlords to ensure that they are environmentally responsible too. (i.e. waste diversion, cleaning products, hydro, etc.)

3) Are we actively encouraging ECO friendly habits? (i.e. - Are people being told / asked to turn off lights, computers, radios, fans, etc. when they leave the office? Are people being asked / told to bring coffee mugs, travel mugs, water canteens to the office to cut down on the number of paper cups and plastic bottles in the trash? Does the company host/promote litterless meetings?) I left our office at 11 pm the other night and two manager’s offices had radios, lights and computers still on, overnight.

4) Are we actively attempting to reduce our overall energy consumption? (i.e. - fluorescent lights, motion activated lights, IT notifications to turn off computers at the end of the day, IT installing power bars to reduce "ghost energy usage" etc.) Without a doubt, the consumption of energy is one of our biggest contributors to our carbon footprint. Whether you know it or not, the lights in our building burn 24/7. There is no need for this. A huge amount of energy is wasted every night and even more so on the weekends. Our organization just spent a great deal of money to retro fit the office including new paint and windows. Why aren't we spending money to reduce our energy usage?

5) Lastly, a common element in every company that is actually green, not just one that says it is on paper, but is actually green in everything they do, is a carbon footprint assessment. The David Suzuki Foundation actually recommends in their guide "Doing Business in a New Climate" that calculating a carbon footprint is the first step in going green. Think about it, how can we possibly know where we're going, without understanding where we are right now. There are companies that will calculate this information for us, some will even do it for free. All we have to do is ask.

But most importantly, what is your Executive Committee and/or Management Teams doing to lead the way, lead by example, and encourage ECO friendly habits to their staff. I was in line at the coffee shop in our building a few weeks ago and saw one of my Supervisors buying coffee in a paper cup. Jokingly and as a friendly reminder, I said; "Where's your mug?" and pointed to my travel mug which I was in the process of refilling. The response, and the ribbing I took from others about the comment later, made it clear to me that the ECO program at our office is not much more than words on paper.

So just to re-cap and summarize, employees should be asking about:

1) Recycling Office Consumables
2) ECO Friendly Washrooms
3) ECO Friendly Office Habits
4) Reducing Energy Consumption
5) Calculating our Carbon Footprint

and then looking for their Managers and Supervisors to lead by example and encourage others to follow suit.

Yours in solidarity,


John Hesch
Green Steward
OPSEU Local 565

OPSEU's native plants in bloom

Now that September has rolled around, I thought I'd take a few pics of the plants - flowers and vegetables. I'll have to wait until Jon returns from his trip abroad to identify the flowers. Flowers are in the preceeding post.

Terrace garden - filled in quite nicely. Native plants on the left, veggies on the right.

Side view. Front bed didn't do quite as well.

New garden bed started this summer in rear of building.

Wild grasses in bed on front lawn. Due to the number of Norway maples, other plants do not grow very well.

Indigenous wildflowers

Lesmill veggies

In addition to expanding the scope and variety indigenous plants this year at Head Office, we experimented with growing food. While the soil proved to need some nutrients, there is a small harvest that is now becoming available.

Squash

Cherry tomatoes

Yellow Peppers

Cayenne peppers

Zucchinis

Chard

Lettuce

Dozens of new animal species discovered in Papua New Guinea

Lost world of fanged frogs and giant rats discovered in Papua New Guinea

A team of scientists from Britain, the United States and Papua New Guinea found more than 40 previously unidentified species when they climbed into the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi and explored a pristine jungle habitat teeming with life that has evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted 200,000 years ago. In a remarkably rich haul from just five weeks of exploration, the biologists discovered 16 frogs which have never before been recorded by science, at least three new fish, a new bat and a giant rat, which may turn out to be the biggest in the world.

The discoveries are being seen as fresh evidence of the richness of theworld's rainforests and the explorers hope their finds will add weight to calls for international action to prevent the demise of similar ecosystems. They said Papua New Guinea's rainforest is currently being destroyed at the rate of 3.5% a year.

Check out some more pictures here.

Ontario & Quebec to meet on climate change

Climate tops agenda for McGuinty, Charest

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Quebec Premier Jean Charest meet today amid fears of a federal climate-change plan that would allow Alberta's oil sands to keep polluting while hindering industry in Central Canada.

McGuinty and Charest are meeting alone before tomorrow's joint Ontario-Quebec cabinet session to discuss Ottawa's controversial scheme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Officials in Ontario say there is concern Prime Minister Stephen Harper will cap emissions from manufacturers here and allow energy firms to meet more flexible "intensity" targets that would allow output – and pollution – to grow...

"Intensity targets" are the linchpin in the Big Energy's plan to allow greenhouse gas production to rise. Ontario and Quebec are right in challenging them.

In the last joint Ontario-Quebec cabinet meeting, on June 2, 2008, McGuinty and Charest announced an interprovincial carbon-trading market. Under their system, companies that produce fewer emissions than their caps permit could sell their unused quota on an open market to big polluting firms that exceed their emissions cap.

This is the "trade" part of "cap and trade". The big question is "what's the cap"? How will this plan actually reduce greenhouse gas production to 20th century levels?

I will be following this story closely.

Big Food vs. Big Insurance

While this isn't directly environment-related, if you're following the US debate on health insurance reform, this is an interesting article by Michael Pollan.

Big Food vs. Big Insurance

No one disputes that the $2.3 trillion we devote to the health care industry is often spent unwisely, but the fact that the United States spends twice as much per person as most European countries on health care can be substantially explained, as a study released last month says, by our being fatter. Even the most efficient health care system that the administration could hope to devise would still confront a rising tide of chronic disease linked to diet...

Cheap food is going to be popular as long as the social and environmental costs of that food are charged to the future. There's lots of money to be made selling fast food and then treating the diseases that fast food causes. One of the leading products of the American food industry has become patients for the American health care industry...

International labour prepares for Copenhagen

Hat tip to Nancy Pridham, OPSEU Region 5 VP for this story.


Trade Unions Push Priorities for Achieving a Strong and Fair Climate Deal at Copenhagen Summit

Brussels, 9 September 2009: With only three months left to achieve a deal to fight climate change at the Copenhagen climate summit, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has launched a new website on climate change and sets its key policy demands, aimed at ensuring that an ambitious climate change outcome will be strengthened with a call for undertaking “Just Transition” policies....

A new section on climate change has been developed on the ITUC website to support trade unions in their efforts to press for the shift towards a more sustainable society and a “green economy” that sustains decent jobs and livelihoods for all.

Good green jobs for all conference - November 7

Keep this date open!

The GOOD GREEN JOBS FOR ALL CONFERENCE is scheduled for Saturday November 7th beginning at 9:00 a.m., at the newly renovated Allstream Centre at the CNE (formerly the Automotive Building near the Prince's Gate. Sponsored by the Good Jobs For All Coalition, it will bring community, labour and environmental activists together to determine how we can work to achieve an economy that benefits all our communities – an economy based on sustainability, equity and social justice. For information go to www.goodjobsforall.ca

I have been participating in some of the planning meetings. There will be some interesting speakers and engaging workshops. Please try to attend.

Shopping mall "walks to the walk"

Tip of the hat to John Hesch, Local 565 for bringing to our attention the greening initiatives being taken by the Oakville Place Shopping Centre. One of their programs is called "Saving the planet, one plate a time". This initiative provides re-usable plates to food court patrons and helps to reduce waste. Other moves taken by the mall include a move away from pesticides on their grounds and the use of greener cleaning products.

p.s. - Best of all, Oakville Place is not an asset of Cadillac-Fairview which is currently being boycotted by the labour movement for its unfair labour practices at the Toronto-Dominion Centre where they locked out and then fired their maintenance and skilled trades.

Aquaculture now provides half of all fish worldwide

Half Of Fish Consumed Globally Is Now Raised On Farms, Study Finds

"Aquaculture, once a fledgling industry, now accounts for 50 percent of the fish consumed globally, according to a new report by an international team of researchers. And while the industry is more efficient than ever, it is also putting a significant strain on marine resources by consuming large amounts of feed made from wild fish harvested from the sea, the authors conclude."

And that, in essence is one of the central problems of fish farming. Smaller fish, which have been a mainstay in the diet of hundreds of millions of people around the world, are being turned into food pellets (with lots of antibiotics and other chemicals added) for larger fish, like salmon, so that there is a regular supply of cheap fish in western supermarkets and restaurants.

I've been reading Bottomfeeder: How to eat ethically in a world of vanishing seafood by Taras Grescoe this summer. I heard him speak last spring at the library. It's a fascinating look at seafood, and fish in general and the environmental catastrophies which are being caused by the fishing industry. We've all heard about the demise of the eastern cod. And the western salmon. As the oceans are sucked dry of fish by mega-trawlers which not only catch millions of tons of "unwanted" fish, they are destroying the ocean bottom as well, killing coral reefs which provide homes to so many other species.

Chilean fish farm

Grescoe explores these, and many other related sad tales of the ways in which corporations are ruining the livelihood of fisherpeople and the environment. There are more sustainable ways in which the fisheries can be maintained and aquaculture developed. However, big "FISH" is not about to sacrifice any short-term profits by building these additional sustainability costs into the price of salmon and shrimp any time soon. There's just too much money for their stockholders to earn by taking as many fish as possible now. Consumers expect their cheap shrimps even if it means continued degradation of the world's mangrove forests.

In the appendix of Bottomfeeder is a list and description of which fish should and should not be eaten. Below is a summary of that list.

No, Never
Bluefin tuna. Overfished. Mercury. (4.43)
Cod, Atlantic. Fished by pirate vessels. Bottom-trawled. (4.42)
Halibut, Atlantic. Mercury. Bottom-trawled. (4.53)
Chilean sea bass. Longlines, bottom-trawls. Mercury. Pirate vessels. (3.96)
Grouper. Longlined. Mercury. (3.60)
Monkfish...

Depends, Sometimes
Abalone. Illegally fished. (2.00)
Anchovy. Overfished. (3.11)
Catfish. Antibiotics. (3.87)
Clams. Dredged. (2.00)
Cod, Pacific. Trawled. (4.01)
Crab. (Blue crab, 2.60)
Haddock. (4.09)
Lobster...

Absolutely, Always
Arctic char; barramundi. (4.26; 4.35)
Halibut, Pacific. (4.13)
Herring. (3.23)
Jellyfish. (2.00)
Mackerel. (3.65)
Mullet. (2.13)
Oysters, mussels... and many more.

Van Jones forced out of Obama administration

The right-wing, "conservative" nutbars succeeded in forcing the resignation of Van Jones, President Obama's "green jobs czar".

Van Jones is Dead. Long Live Van Jones!

I had heard a lot about him (Van Jones); read his speeches; was incredibly impressed with his courage and articulate vision in taking on some of the world’s most serious problems: poverty, environmental racism, and climate change. More importantly, he understood the relationship between those issues, and that they could be confronted in the most efficient and just manner if seen as one problem: bring the manufacturers of green energy equipment into the poor and despairing ghetto where the jobs are most needed, educate poor minorities to do these jobs ( thus providing hope), and then construct the solar panels, windmills, and geothermal machinery that will be needed to power our future in a sustainable way. Everybody wins. Right? Van Jones invited the people of this country to begin dreaming again --- to dream that a future based in justice and sustainability was possible. He said, “Dr. King didn’t get famous giving a speech that said, ‘I have a complaint.’”...

One might wonder why Obama did not do more to protect Van Jones. But when Jones referred to Republicans as “assholes” as a euphemism for ruthless, he was beyond protecting. It didn’t matter that Jones said he would have to become an asshole himself to fight for his policies. The soundbite was history. Nothing to do but cut him loose. But the deeper reason he had to be cut loose was that Obama would have had to tell the truth to protect him: yes, Van Jones is for economic justice; he is for conservation and alternative energy; he’s for prison reform; he’s for a re-structured economy based in sustainability, not exploitation and profit; he’s for a serious investigation of 9/11; he believes that ‘clean coal’ is absurd, etc. Obama could not protect him, because to do so he would have had to endorse Van Jones’ beliefs. He was not about to do that.

Greening OPSEU is back...

Summer is always a good time to try and recharge our batteries. This summer I took several trips to spend time enjoying the natural beauty that Ontario has to offer. To see more photos from my vacation trips, click on the links. To enlarge the pics below, click on the pic.

Lake Superior

Bears on the highway.

Algonquin Park

One of my favorite shots of the summer.

Pond beside the campsite.

Manitoulin Island

Flocks of sandhill cranes.

Green Union is on a break...

See you after Labour Day.

The throwaway society & seas of plastic

Talks Capt. Charles Moore on the seas of plastic



Excellent presentation by Captain Charles Moore from the Algalita Marine Research Foundation about the proliferation of plastics in our oceans. Tip of the hat to Dora Robinson for this video. Moore discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (twice the size of Texas)while sailing in the Pacific Ocean.

Check out this video for more information.

Winds of change rock Wolfe Island

More windmills. More controversy (among some). More NIMBYism (among a few).

And if opinion might be split locally about the merits of the Wolfe Island Wind Project, there can be no argument about that appraisal. The turbines are a dominating – some say overbearing – omnipresence.

The project is the second-largest in Canada and a submarine cable to the mainland delivers enough wind-generated juice to provide power for tens of thousands of homes.

Owner Canadian Hydro boasts that wind power "creates no air pollution or greenhouse gases (which contribute to climate change), leaves behind no hazardous or toxic wastes and uses no water."

Part of the problem with the wind model that's been rolled out in Ontario (and probably most other places) is that energy generated is not used locally but "shipped" elsewhere. If local residents knew that their own power was generated locally, there would be more support. Which brings us to the larger problem that many of the areas with the best wind are not densely populated.

1st Ministers Conference

A good op-ed from Rick Smith of Environmental Defence about the importance of not letting Alberta & Saskatchewan off the hook at the expense of the rest of the provinces in righting climate change.

Clean energy, not photo-op, should be premiers' priority

If the premiers all agreed in general terms about the level of pollution cuts needed and the system to accomplish this, then Ottawa's job would be relatively straightforward.

But Alberta and Saskatchewan, instead of wanting to make pollution cuts, actually want to increase their contribution to global warming by exploiting the tar sands.

All the talk about technology reducing tar-sands emissions is sadly that – just talk. If new technology like carbon capture and storage can in fact be proven effective, it's years away, which is time we don't have if we are serious about battling global warming.

Unfortunately, Harper is all too sympathetic to tar-sands development, meaning he will be predisposed to building a national pollution system that makes Quebec, Ontario and other provinces pick up the slack for growing tar-sands pollution.

If we are to meet national reduction targets, then having one sector grow its pollution can only come at the expense of other sectors making even deeper cuts to accommodate it.

Blue vervain or Verbena hastata

Blue vervain has been blooming in the OPSEU garden for the past month and just keeps on giving. It grows only to a couple feet tall, making it useful in the garden but it will form colonies by slow growing rhizomes and will seed about so don't try to force it into a formal design.

The ideal location for blue vervain is slightly moist soil in full sun but we are having good luck even on the sandy soils around OPSEU. It is very adaptable and despite sandy conditions it has not showed any signs of drying up.

Though Verbena should not be taken in excess as it is mildly toxic, it has been used medicinally in teas as a mild sedative to calm nervousness or insomnia as well as for colds and fevers where it helps induce sweating.

Regina premiers' conference coming up...

Climate showdown with premiers Aug. 5-7 in Regina

Regina (31 July 2009) - Progressive groups, including the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees' Union (SGEU/NUPGE), are gearing up for a "Climate showdown in Regina" coinciding with the summer meeting of Canada's premiers and territorial leaders.

The talks on climate, energy and trade issues are scheduled Aug. 5-7 in the Saskatchewan capital. Som of the key groups involved include the Council of Canadians, Greenpeace and the Sierra Club of Canada.

Stomping for local grapes....

Grape Stomping Protests Support Grape Growers

Environmental Defence and our partners in the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance are stomping grapes to support Ontario's grape growers...









But we're not just squishing grapes. We're calling on the Ontario government to make sure that wine sold as "Cellared in Canada" has grapes that are grown in Ontario. Right now, "Cellared in Canada" wine only has to have 30% content from Ontario grapes. The rest can come from overseas. That doesn't make sense for Ontario grape growers, or for the environment.

We want the Ontario government to:
• Increase the Ontario Content in "Cellared in Canada" immediately to 50%
• Increase the Ontario wine market share to 51% at LCBO outlets [Ontario's wine stores] throughout Ontario
• Increase access to more retail stores across Ontario to sell more 100% grown Ontario wine.

US-China climate change agreement

U.S. and China sign memorandum on climate change

The United States and China, the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases, signed an agreement on Tuesday that promises more cooperation on climate change, energy and the environment without setting firm goals.

Presto. I supposed it's easy to agree without targets.

"It is not an agreement per se for each side to commit themselves to some particular target. It sets a structure for dialogue," said State Department spokesman Ian Kelly.

The memorandum listed 10 areas of cooperation, including energy efficiency, renewable energy, cleaner use of coal, smart grid technologies, electric cars, and research and development.

I guess we'll have to see what, if anything, comes of this.

Culver's Root or Veronicastrum Virginiana

It is good to be back in Canada and I am looking forward to getting back to the OPSEU garden after a few weeks of vacation. One of the plants I am most looking forward to seeing is the Culver's Root. I'm not sure if these plants will bloom this year so I'm excited to find out.

Culver's Root is a terrific addition to the back of a border planting. Here in the OPSEU garden there are three patches of it behind in the upper terraces. This is a long lived perennial that is often found in prairies, thickets and open woods. The leaves are whorled around the stem creating an intense structure that is unique among native plants in the area. Reaching heights of seven feet, this is not a plant for a intimate garden but neither is it a bully. Culver's Root does not need stalking like most other tall perennials.

Prairie Dropseed

Prairie dropseed of Sporobolus heterolepsis is one of the most garden worthy grasses in the world. This native grass stays fairly short compared to most full-sun clumping grasses and it does well on alkaline or calcereous soils. In the OPSEU memorial garden it is the most abundant species - creating structure throughout the year, providng a full ground cover to deter weeds and reduce evaporation of moisure from the soil.

Prairie dropseed is rather slow to develop but also long-lived, establishing a sustainable meadow. So while there is no dramatic flower, the form makes it a perfect foil in the garden. Turning a golden colour over the winter the grass also tends to have a scent of toasted cilantro.

Watch for it this fall.

Disastrous drought threat grows in the prairies

Parched Prairies: Latest drought a sign of things to come?

Cracked soil and cloudless skies have fuelled fears that 2009 could become etched in the minds of farmers as one of the worst recorded droughts in recent history.

Dave Sauchyn, a University of Regina geography professor, says two major droughts in a decade is a "disconcerting" indication that climate change prediction models could be right – that the worst is yet to come....

Six of the top 10 costliest disasters in Canadian history have been droughts, and their effects spread far beyond the agricultural sector. It can take decades for the land to fully recover.

Canadians want to reduce ghg footprint without changing shoes

Carol Goar illustrates Canadians' penchant for wanting to live a more sustainable lifestyle without making any significant changes. NIMBYism, consumerism and habitual behaviour are among the hurdles that need to be crossed. Without dismissing government's role and big carbon's influence, as long as people keep driving to the store to buy what they want, Goar asserts that these attitudes let government off the hook. I think she's got a point, but that there is more to the story.

Just Fair-Weather Friends of the Environment

As long as it isn't expensive, noisy, inconvenient, uncomfortable or labour-intensive, we're eager to save the environment.

Little wonder our greenhouse gas emissions keep climbing. Little wonder Canada produces more municipal waste per person than any other country. Little wonder we rank among the world's top consumers of fossil fuels. (The oil-rich Gulf states are worse.)

Our 20-year quest to preserve the ecosystem – without changing our lifestyle – has led to a succession of unrealistic plans, missed targets and ineffectual initiatives...

It is possible to get along without central air conditioning, a leaf blower, a snow blower, an espresso maker, a plasma TV, a winter vacation abroad, apples from South Africa and avocados from the Caribbean. People managed for generations.

However, we should also acknowledge that our government, and residents, won't solve the problem alone. True, we are energy hogs, but it's a global problem which will require co-ordinated, co-operative efforts across borders. We could be setting an example while doing our "small" part (I think Canada accounts for about 2% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions).

Unfortunately, our economic system, by its very nature, does not lend itself to "reducing" or "reusing". It is a system that relies on expansion, growth and private profits. Huge wealth is amassed for a very small minority whose influence is well beyond its numbers. It is a system that passes off the real costs of doing business (cleaning up their messes) to the public while decrying taxes.

Even as the world economy is going through a huge contraction - caused by a combination of the "growth/recession cycles" of capitalism, greedy deregulation, rapacious fraud and raiding of the public treasuries - the mainstream public discourse, with very few exceptions, unimaginatively remains limited to entrusting the same people who've gotten us into the mess to tinker around the edges.

Waxman-Markey bill undermined Obama on climate change

This is a good piece by Jim Hansen that talks about the limitations faced by Obama as Congress ties his hands, how that impacted the G8 talks this week, what is needed to truly make a dent in global warming and climate change and how to achieve those goals - a "fee & dividend system". The Waxman-Markey bill passed the House of Representatives in late June - 219 to 212.

G-8 Failure Reflects US Failure on Climate Change - Jin Hansen

With a workable climate bill in his pocket, President Obama might have been able to begin building that global consensus in Italy. Instead, it looks as if the delegates from other nations may have done what 219 U.S. House members who voted up Waxman-Markey last month did not: critically read the 1,400-page American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 and deduce that it's no more fit to rescue our climate than a V-2 rocket was to land a man on the moon.

For all its "green" aura, Waxman-Markey locks in fossil fuel business-as-usual and garlands it with a Ponzi-like "cap-and-trade" scheme. Here are a few of the bill's egregious flaws:

• It guts the Clean Air Act, removing EPA's ability to regulate CO2 emissions from power plants.
• It sets meager targets -- 2020 emissions are to be a paltry 13% less than this year's level -- and sabotages even these by permitting fictitious "offsets," by which other nations are paid to preserve forests - while logging and food production will simply move elsewhere to meet market demand.
• Its cap-and-trade system, reports former U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs Robert Shapiro, "has no provisions to prevent insider trading by utilities and energy companies or a financial meltdown from speculators trading frantically in the permits and their derivatives."
• It fails to set predictable prices for carbon, without which, Shapiro notes, "businesses and households won't be able to calculate whether developing and using less carbon-intensive energy and technologies makes economic sense," thus ensuring that millions of carbon-critical decisions fall short....

The fact is that the climate course set by Waxman-Markey is a disaster course. Their bill is an astoundingly inefficient way to get a tiny reduction of emissions. It's less than worthless, because it will delay by at least a decade starting on a path that is fundamentally sound from the standpoints of both economics and climate preservation.

Hansen goes on to talk about an alternative to "cap and trade" which he calls "fee and dividend". He's critical of some leaders of larger environmental organizations who are willing to support anything in the name of doing something - even if that "something" will not be very effective. He calls for us to get off of coal and dirty petroleum within 10 years while working on a transition away from oil altogether in an effort to prevent catastrophic, irreversible climate change.

Hansen was one of the fearless voices who spoke up during the Dubya era.

Jim Hansen is director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, but he writes on this policy-related topic as a private citizen.

Garden sharing catching on...

"Friendly university graduate student looking for a small piece of land to grow and share fruits and berries."

Meet "Senior with chronic bad back, looking to share my backyard. Sharing the produce would be a God sent blessing."

A match made in heaven? No, a match made online.

Garden-sharing program bears fruit

Sharing Backyards started in Victoria three years ago when a volunteer took a garden-sharing list from a community garden bulletin board and posted it online, designing an interactive website that let people post their requests on a map of the city – indicating "lookers" with binoculars and "sharers" with a tree inside a plot.

The free program has spread to more than 20 cities across North America. Project leader Christopher Hawkins aims to inspire 500 new urban vegetable plots by early next year.

G8: PM representing big carbon

Not that it's any surprise, but Stephen Harpers continues to shill for the oil and carbon industries by maintaining our reliance on fossil fuels. Canada continues to snub medium and short-term targets while claiming that we'll get reductions of 70% by 2050 - a target which they have no intention of achieving. Consider this a sneak preview of what's to come at the Copenhagen talks in the fall.

Canada snubs G8 emissions target

The Canadian government refused yesterday to adjust its plan to combat global warming even though its objectives fall short of the new commitment from the G8 group of industrialized countries to slash greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century.

Not much of a surprise here considering that just two years ago, the PM was a climate change-denier who was in the pockets of the oil companies.

Critics, from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to environmental lobby groups, said developed countries didn't show adequate leadership at the G8 summit here.

Resulting in an "out" for developing nations like China and India.

"Canada's current 2020 target, which is equivalent to just 3% below 1990 levels, falls far short of the emission cuts needed to avoid dangerous climate change," Climate Action Network Canada said in a statement...

Brazil also questioned the G8's leadership, saying the 2050 target was "not credible" unless it was accompanied by targets for 2020 -- the year when the UN says emissions must peak and start to move downward.

And round and round we go.

Check out Kelly Chrichton's report at Rabble.ca for more.

I scream, you scream, we all scream...

For Ice Cream

With more and more ice cream brands going organic, and incorporating healthier ingredients such as soy, yogurt and even rice (instead of heavy cream), there’s plenty of good reasons to indulge your sweet tooth.

Along with my all-too-eager husband, I tasted dozens of varieties. We stuck to brands that are available nationally, although there are dozens of small producers in every part of the country that produce excellent ice cream and let you keep your food dollars in your community...

Great Barrier Reef: Going, going, ....

Great Barrier Reef will be gone in 20 years

Charlie Veron, former chief scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, told The Times: "There is no way out, no loopholes. The Great Barrier Reef will be over within 20 years or so."

Once carbon dioxide had hit the levels predicted for between 2030 and 2060, all coral reefs were doomed to extinction, he said. "They would be the world’s first global ecosystem to collapse. I have the backing of every coral reef scientist, every research organization. I’ve spoken to them all. This is critical. This is reality."

I can just hear Stephen Harper whimpering at the G8 about how nothing can be proven until it occurs and that the global economic system is more important than any reef or jungle.

Face the G8

The G-8 Summit begins tomorrow in Italy.

From the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) - Play the G-8 Summit game.

As noted in an earlier post, Canada ranks last among the G-8 countries in making progress on climate change.

Then there's the 5th Junior G-8 with kids from around the world. Let's hope the adults are sensible enough to listen to what the kids have to say.

OXFAM is calling for drastic action on climate change.

The globe's richest powerhouses must get serious about how First World pollution is spreading disease and hunger in the poorest countries, a new report says.

Toronto: Green bin mess?

A weekend expose in the Toronto Star of Toronto's green bin program revealed that some of the organic materials are being landfilled and even incinerated and the some of the compost produced in the process is toxic to plants due to high salt content.

Bags of green bin waste are stored at Toronto's Bermondsey Rd. recycling depot, awaiting their fate. (June 3, 2009)
Now the province is jumping in to supposedly fix the mess.

Province steps in to fix green bin mess

"We have to fix these problems," Environment Minister John Gerretsen said.

"I want to change the regulations out there and I want greater oversight from the beginning to the end of the process," he added, in an interview that followed the Star's revelations over the weekend about Toronto's organics program.

Notwithstanding the allegations raised, the city maintains that it is running a fine program.

Yesterday, the head of Toronto's organics program sent the Star a letter asking "our citizens" to continue to have faith in the green bin program.

"Despite some minor growing pains, Toronto's green bin program is one of the most effective in North America," wrote Geoff Rathbone, general manager of the city's solid waste management services.

Canada: Burn baby burn

This is not good news and all the more reason for OPSEU to continue to step up to the plate to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption.

Canada last among G8 on climate change action: report

Canada has been ranked last among the G8 nations in an annual climate change report funded by the World Wildlife Fund and the insurance firm Allianz SE...

Last year, Canada placed seventh. This year, it traded places with the U.S., which moved up a spot thanks to climate initiatives announced by the Obama administration.

Germany, the United Kingdom and France topped the list, partly because they have already achieved their Kyoto targets.

Perennial Flax - Linum lewisii

There have been so many changes in the garden it is hard to know where to start. But I am going to take things one step at a time with a flower of the week posting. Today we're gonna start with one of my favorite plants in the garden and that is the perennial flax or prairie flax, Linum lewisii.

Prairie flax is a wildflower common to dry slopes and ridges. It is a terrific native for xeriscaping and dry sandy locations. In fact this plant will stand taller in the sandy, well drained soil. New blooms will arrive every morning fading by mid-afternoon so look for it when you come in the morning. This plant will seed around under good conditions.

A New Front Meadow

Since starting at OPSEU at the beginning of June, it has been a steady job weeding and getting the memorial terrace garden at the front of the building prepared for planting. You could imagine that I was thrilled to finally get to the point where I could pick up the plants and get them in the ground.

Well the plants are in and due to some providential thundershowers seem to be settling in without any problems. I would like to thank everyone who stopped by to look on the garden and pass on their words of encouragement.

One element of the process that was a lot of fun (despite the terrible traffic on the hwy. 400) was picking up the plants from the nursery. Wildflower Farms on hwy. 12 just west of Orillia is a terrific place for anyone interested in starting their own native plant garden.

http://www.wildflowerfarm.com/index.php?p=home

A quick tour of their garden made clear how much attention and care this small company puts into their plants. The care taken to ensure the pedigree of each plant is unique in the industry. 90% of the plants are Ontario natives grown from seed and every plant has been grown with a good deal of tough love.

In the demonstration garden the owners leave all the plants to their own devices without any irrigation or fertilization giving the owner a terrific understanding of how each plant responds to the Southern Ontario environment.

Gary has recommended one way of introducing the garden could be to present a wildflower of the week on the blog. I’ll start later this week with our first plant. Of course anyone who wants to stop by to ask some questions or even get their hands dirty is more than welcome.

See you in the garden,
Jon

Busy Saturday...

Yesterday was a busy day in the city and I took part in my share of activities.

I began the day with my weekly visit to our local farmers market at the Artscape Wychwood Green Barn run by the STOP Community Centre. I picked up my favorites - some fresh Georgian Bay whitefish, Ontario strawberries and fair trade Mexican coffee.

(Farmers market is outside for the summer)

Next stop was the annual "Strawberries and Asparagus Festival" which was also held in my neighbourhood. The event was moved into the Phil White arena from the Cedarvale Park due to weather conditions. It's an awareness raising events for residents about how they can reduce greenhouse gases and take other environmentally friendly steps like creating a native plant garden. There was lots of good music. Fresh strawberries and asparagus on a bun with secret sauce for everyone.

Later in the day, I dropped by Foodshare's annual open house and caught the end of a very well attended panel discussion that included Executive Director Debbie Field, author and food activist Wayne Roberts, Judy Rebick and a couple of others.

At FoodShare we work on food issues "from field to table" - meaning that we focus on the entire system that puts food on our tables: from the growing, processing and distribution of food to its purchasing, cooking and consumption.

Both Debbie and Wayne have previous ties to OPSEU from the 1980s.

2008 Open House

Common theme for the day? Fresh, whole, healthy food.

History slipping into the sea...

An interesting read.

Channel Islands

Climate change threatens Channel Islands artifacts

Perched on the edge of this wind-swept Southern California island, archaeologist Jon Erlandson watches helplessly as 6,600 years of human culture – and a good chunk of his career – is swallowed by the Pacific surf...

The sea has long lashed at the Channel Islands , also known as the North American Galapagos – stripping away beaches, slicing off cliff faces and nibbling at hundreds, perhaps thousands, of cultural relics.

Past coastal erosion for the most part was a natural phenomenon, but the problem is feared to grow worse with human-caused global warming and higher sea levels.

In a race against time and a rising tide, Erlandson and other keepers of history are hurrying to record and save eroding artifacts, which hold one of the earliest evidence for human seafaring in the Americas...

A warming planet is speeding the melting of polar ice, threatening to expose frozen remains like Scythian warrior mummies in Mongolia . Thawing permafrost is causing the ground to slump on Canada ’s Herschel Island , damaging caskets dating to the whaling heyday. Accelerated glacial melting may flood pre-Incan temples and tombs in the northern Andean highlands of Peru...

On the road....

I don't usually travel in my role as OPSEU's green co-ordinator. It's kind of counter-intuitive. In fact, until last week, the only place I travelled to was Peterborough to see Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last spring. I do drive to work (which I don't usually do at my downtown government job), mainly because public transit would more than double the length of my commute.

However, as part of the training end of our plan to implement webconferencing, I thought it would be a good idea to visit some of the regional offices that are closer to Toronto. I initially set a maximum distance of about 90 minutes from Toronto which covers 6 or 7 offices. On Thursday I visited Guelph in the morning and Owen Sound in the afternoon (slightly out of my perimeter). On Friday, I went to the Hamilton and Niagara regional offices.

I was pleasantly surprised that we were joined by Region 2 Executive Board members - Mike Grimaldi and Deb Tungatt for the Hamilton session. Eddie Almeida joined in via webconference from the Guelph office. Thanks to all for taking interest and making the effort.

This coming week I'll be visiting Orillia, Whitby and Peterborough to conduct some more training with our regional office staff who are providing support for the program. I've been conducting the training by telephone for the offices that are further away.

Since I was already up in very picturesque country on Thursday, I decided to take the long way home from Owen Sound. Below are a few pictures. I missed a couple of shots as I was driving but I saw a flock of vultures picking away at a dead raccoon and a porcupine at the side of the road among other things.

I also discovered a very good Italian restaurant in the "middle of nowhere" (actually it was on the outskirts of Mansfield - ski country - at the corner of Road 17 and probably Airport Road).

Walters Falls

River flowing from bottom of the falls

Bruce Trail side trail from Walters Falls

More of the Bruce Trail

Wildflowers along the trail

Niagara escarpment rocks

Red clay somewhere along Country Road 17

OPSEU in motion - Profile

Grievance Officer Mark Barclay on his electric bicycle

Whenever the weather is half-decent, and sometimes when it's not, Mark's electric bike is a common sight at the front door of OPSEU's Head Office.

Another webconferencing update...

Plans to roll-out an Ontario-wide webconferencing network in OPSEU are proceeding well. New laptops have now been shipped to 18 out of 20 of the union's regional offices. I've been busy designing materials and and delivering training sessions to regional office and head office staff who will be supporting the program.

The scope for the first year will be on membership committees who have been directed to try webconferencing at least once in their current meeting cycle. However, the network will also be available for other working groups, training sessions, certain kinds of interviews, computer support and other initiatives.

OPSEU is using a webconferencing system called E-Pop which allows participants to meet online where they can see, hear and talk each other while sharing documents such as powerpoint presentations, word files, excel spreadsheets and other things such as webpages and video.

Detailed information about procedures and policies for using webconferencing are forthcoming through the usual union communication vehicles. Stay tuned cause you'll probably hear about it here first at GreenUnion.

Good, green jobs conference planning

I attended another planning meeting this evening for an October conference on good, green jobs. The conference is aiming to pull together environmentalists, community leaders and unionists to strategize around building a movement for good green jobs in the greater Toronto area. The conference and green jobs committee developed from the Good Jobs for All coalition conference held last fall, attended by over 1,000 people.

The agenda and planning is coming along well and I'm learning a lot and meeting new people.

This evening there was a speaker from the Mayors Tower Renewal program. He informed us about the pilot project running in 6 apartment buildings in four parts of the city - Kipling/Finch, Peanut Plaza, St. Jamestown and in Scarborough.

There are many challenges, not the least of which are finding willing apartment owners, providing local training & employment to local youth, and trying to develop local economies through local procurement of materials for the projects.

FoodCycles

Here's something I came across today in the Toronto urban agriculture category.

Plant the Hot Stuff: FoodCycles Seeds the Field

FoodCycles is an urban farm social enterprise based in the Greater Toronto Area that raises worms, produces nutritious, vibrant soil compost and grows food.

FoodCycles will be holding its first City Farm Work Bee from June 20 to 24th in Downsview Park at the corner of Keele & Sheppard. Check the website for more information.

(Photo Via Sunny Lam, FoodCycles)

Bottled water disaster...

Check out the following slide show about bottled water.

Water disaster

Hat tip to Sandra at OPSEU's Guelph office.

New zero-emission vehicle from Mitsubishi

Now this is pretty cool.

EDITORIAL: Zero-emission vehicles

A car that has neither an engine nor a muffler will debut on the Japanese market next month. Developed by Mitsubishi Motors Corp. the "i-MiEV" is the world's first mass-produced zero-emission minicar that does not need an internal combustion engine because it runs on a motor charged with electricity.

Expensive yes. But hopefully a sign of things to come.

PYWC - International Youth Day Event - August 7/8

The Provincial Young Workers' Committee is encouraging OPSEU's young workers to attend this year's International Youth Day Event to be held at the Toronto Regional Office on August 7 and 8.

You can find more information here.

I had the opportunity to participate last year in their event last year which focused on climate change.

Veggie planting time....

OPSEU's native plant garden is diversifying. This year, we planted a number of vegetables and fruits in part of the garden including tomatoes, cukes, zucchini, beans and blueberries. So drop by later in the season for some yummy treats.

The garden is taking great shape with Jon now working away several days a week. A lot of new plants will be going in the ground over the next couple of weeks.

Peru update: Decrees suspended for 90 days

Update from Amazon Watch

Peru Congress Suspends Two Divisive Decrees

Six days after National Police violently attacked indigenous people in Bagua, Peru protesting free trade decrees that threaten to open the Amazon to oil, mining, and logging operations the Peruvian Congress issued a 90-day suspension of legislative decrees 1090 and 1064 yesterday in order to restore dialogue. Indigenous peoples are seeking revocation not suspension of all 10 decrees, and it remains to be seen if the action will lead to a re-start of talks with Amazonian indigenous peoples.

"Let's talk. After you cool down in about 3 months, then we'll steal your land and decimate your way of life and culture."

International human rights organizations are also calling on the Peruvian government to cancel arrest warrants for and guarantee respect for the rights of indigenous leaders who were hundreds of miles away from Bagua during the confrontation. No dialogue process will be possible if the representatives of the various indigenous peoples fear for their safety.

"Good, we can talk to who we want. It's not like these indigenous leaders are elected or anything."

Update: Meanwhile, just 42 minutes ago, this report came in.

Police fire tear gas in Peru protests

Riot police have fired tear gas to keep protesters away from Peru's Congress as thousands march in favor of Amazon Indians who want it to overturn laws they say threaten their lands.

Some 4,000 students, labor unions and other native Peruvians from the country's Andean highlands to its jungle lowlands joined the mostly peaceful nationwide protests.

Peru: Scores dead in battle for the Amazon

The jungle massacre: Peru's tribal chief flees country

The leader of Peru's Amazon Indians will be flown to exile in Nicaragua after seeking asylum following violent demonstrations that killed scores of police and protesters...

Human rights lawyers have since accused the President Alan Garcia's regime of an orchestrated cover-up. Official figures put the death toll at just 32, including 23 policemen. News reports say the number of deaths is closer to 60, and vast numbers of missing people have yet to be accounted for.

Police open fire on Amazon Indians blocking the road in Bagua Grande in Peru's northern province of Utcubamba on Friday. (AP)

Trade unions are organising a strike across the country today, hoping to fan public outrage over the incident, which began when police fired tear gas and automatic weapons into noisy crowds of protesters...

The crisis follows months of escalating controversy over Mr Garcia's attempts to implement a free trade agreement with the US. New laws, brought in to increase the number of oil and logging concessions in the country's 67 million hectares of rainforest, appear to allow for the sale of tribespeople's ancestral territories.

In April, Aidesep supporters began blocking roads and rivers in rural areas of the country. A crucial oil pipeline across northern Peru has been shut down since the end of the month, costing the state oil company an estimated US $ 120,000 (£75,000) a day.

Indigenous people, who account for almost half of Peru's 28 million inhabitants, have for years had a tense relationship with the ruling class, who are largely descended from Europeans. Mr Garcia's has attempted to dismiss his Amazonian opponents as brutal savages, accusing them of "elemental ignorance".

"They just don't know their place. Can't they just learn that they lost, we won and their elemental culture has no place in the modern world".

Who killed the electric car?

Hat tip to Chris Moore who sent me a power point which I am unable to post so I'm linking to YouTube.

Green Jobs Conference

I attended another planning meeting for a Green Jobs conference to be held in the fall. The planning committee is a sub-committee of the Good Jobs for All coalition which was founded in the fall of 2008 by Toronto Labour Council and community partners.

More details to follow.

Webconferencing

I was very pleased to see the first 6 of 20 laptops go out the door to regional offices in Regions 6 & 7 (northern Ontario). June will be training month for regional support and OPSEU Direct staff who will be administering the program along with myself and our IT department. Big thanks to everyone who has helped move this forward.

I am designing and delivering the training program and sessions - something which I have a lot of experience with in my "regular" job at the Ontario Ministry of Education (which I'm on a leave from).

More reports to come.

Wonders of the Don Valley

These photos were taken by brother Manzur Malik on his i-Phone after our lunch at the Duncan House on Don Mills Road. The frogs were croaking. The birds were singing. It's a lovely little spot.  This is part of the natural habitat within a couple hundred meters of OPSEU's head office on Lesmill Road and part of the inspiration for our native plant habitat project.

Click the photos for a better look. 

OPSEU's native garden takes big leap....

I'm pleased to report that OPSEU has hired a summer student to help develop and maintain our native plant gardens at head office. Jon Woodside is a recent graduate from Ryerson University's Landscape Design program and from the University of Guelph. Pictures and more stories to follow.

Buying green furniture....

Not the colour green of course but sustainable.

Greener Bar Stools

As with any green shopping, there are a lot of different questions to ask in order to establish how environmentally-friendly an item of furniture is. What is it made from? Are the materials sustainably-sourced? Are the materials recyclable? Is the finish non-toxic? Does the manufacturer have a social and environmental responsibility policy? All this can take time, especially if you’re purchasing something you’ve never bought before. I’ve recently been trying to find some eco-friendly bar stools and would like to share what I’ve found here...

Geothermal: Possible downside

I came across this article today based on some observations made at the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant in Iceland.

Geothermal Is Not So Clean

Not long after the station started producing electricity, Reykjavik residents became aware that they had to clean silverware every three to four days instead of three to four months because it was always covered with black soot.

Truck drivers who drove daily to sand mines in the western part of Hellisheidi found that the rubber in the suspension and steering systems of their vehicles became hard and prone to breakage after only a year, whereas normally it would take three to five years for this to happen.

People suspected that the Hellisheidi plant was responsible for the damage, but at first this was never discussed openly.

Then in September 2008, people saw that the moss vegetation adjacent to the Hellisheidi plant was severely damaged.

Those are the symptoms. What is the problem?

Although no definite conclusions could be made because the effect of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) on moss has not been researched, there are strong indications that sulphur, derived from H2S, is the cause of the damage at Hellisheidi and nearby Nesjavellir.

The damage stems from the steam produced at the plant. Most of this is water, but 0.4 percent of the steam contains gases of various kinds - 83 percent is carbon dioxide (CO2), 16 percent hydrogen sulphide (H2S), and the remainder other gases. Trace elements in the steam include sulphur, mercury, boron, arsenic and aluminium.

The solution?

Johannsson says it is technically possible to reduce H2S levels from geothermal plants, but this is costly. "Various methods are known which are used all over the world," he says. "The disadvantages of these methods are that pure sulphur, sulphuric acid or gypsum are left behind and there is an over-supply of all these products on the world market. However, Reykjavik Energy are trying out an experimental project of pumping the H2S back into the geothermal system."

Well, if one is looking for another reason to promote native plants, here it is. 

Newest pest can cut you

An aquatic invader is camping out on the banks of the Trent-Severn Waterway, and from the sounds of it, is getting very comfortable...

The new undesirable in her sights is called the water soldier, Stratiotes aloides.

It resembles an aloe vera or spider plant, but with one significant difference: "It is very sharp..."

"From what we have seen, it has become an impediment to boaters," (Francine - ed) MacDonald said. "It could be a huge problem for swimmers."

Like spider plants, water soldiers have offsets, little plants that detach and take root at new locations, so moving water offers the perfect method for them to spread.

Unfortunately, so are careless gardeners. Water soldiers and many other invasive species can be purchased at Ontario nurseries.

"If you are going to use exotic plants, keep them contained, don't enable them to escape" by planting them in flood plains or near waterways, said MacDonald.

OPSEU has begun Year 2 of introducing native plants to its Headquarters at 100 Lesmill. 

Webconferencing update...

What's been keeping me so busy lately? Web conferencing for one. 

OPSEU's plan to develop the infrastructure for a province-wide webconferencing network is moving ahead for full implementation by the summer. Highlights include:

• acquistion of one new laptop and peripheral equipment for each regional office for use by members
• plans for training OPSEU staff who will be supporting the program 
• development of support materials

The OPSEU Executive Board proposed, and Convention 2009 agreed, that each OPSEU committee would attempt to use webconferencing for at least one meeting this year. 

I'm back....

Things have been so busy around the office these past few weeks since Convention that I haven't had an opportunity to update the blog. Please be assured that there will be lots of new content coming in the near future.

College Support Divisional

I had the opportunity to make a short presentation to the Colleges support staff annual Divisional meeting on Saturday. The main focus of my talk was about OPSEU's webconferencing plan. 

Gary, Divex Chair Betty Cree, Staff support Mike Culkeen

ecoFont

One of suggestions made at OPSEU's Green Stewards' meeting at convention last week was for people to begin using Eco-Font. I had never heard of it before. It's pretty ingenious. The main purpose is to save ink and raise awareness about conservation.  It's free for individual users at the ecofont website. 

Zero Mile Diet

From last year's Globe and Mail.

Growing the zero-mile diet

Green Living's Winners and Sinners

The best and worst eco moments of 2009... to date.

Cafeteria re-opens at OPSEU head office

Today's the big day everyone's been waiting for - the re-launch of OPSEU's cafeteria - The Solidarity Cafe - under new management - Anne-Marie Todd-Mowatt & Jeff Mowatt. The old cafeteria was closed last July after a truck rammed the exterior kitchen wall on a quiet Saturday afternoon. The new caterers have a number of environmentally friendly policies and practices. These include:

• locally grown and seasonal foods including cheese
• other local suppliers
• fair trade coffee
• use of real cups and dishes to minimize waste
• bio-degradable food containers
• green cleaning products

It is also expected that the cafeteria will begin using herbs grown right at head office. 

Green Union provided them with a couple of OPSEU water pitchers for drinking water. 

They make dynamite butter tarts! 

Just use less....

No, it's not "useless". It's use less. There's a reason that "reduce" is the first of the three Rs.

Hat tip to Jackie Larkin for this video.

Green meeting at Convention

We had a very well attended and successful green stewards meeting at Convention this year. Held on Saturday at lunch (while everyone is trying to check out), about 60 members attended the meeting.

Members were provided an update on OPSEU's greening initiatives over the past year. Reports were made by myself (Gary Shaul), OPSEU 1st Vice-President/Treasurer Patty Rout and Environment Committee members Sandra Snider and Jennifer Giroux.

Throughout the meeting, members shared their own stories about greening projects in their workplaces and communities.

Participants were all provided with an OPSEU silver bullet drinking container as a token of appreciation for their attending the meeting.

Our green stewards email list grew by about 50 names provided at the meeting and at our display table.

A fuller report and pics will follow.

Green Union on a break

As we're going into OPSEU Convention, I won't be posting until next week.

Greening sex

Someone(anonymously) left this article pinned to my office door so I thought I would share it with you. Could attract a whole new layer of readers with this one. :)

From today's Metro, Greening your intimate life

10 ways to make sex good for the planet, too
Sex can improve your memory, strengthen your sense of smell, reduce stress, and boost your immune system. If you toss in a little green, sex can be good for the planet, too.

Here are 10 ways to make your sex life a little more eco-friendly.

1. Go green together
   
2. Consider your birth control
   
3. Massage with natural oils
   
4. Bask in the light of beeswax, soy or vegetable candles
   
5. Frolic on organic bamboo sheets
   
6. Consume less energy
   
7. Explore your racy side
   
8. Lube it up naturally
   
9. Tinkle afterward
   
10. Bask in a green afterglow
    

You'll have to read the article if you want the details.

Buyer beware: Greenwashing abounds

Green trees

According to a report in today's Toronto Star, 

The labels on 98 per cent of those good-for-the-earth-and-your-body items you fill your shopping basket with are lying, a new study shows.

Of the more than 2,000 self-described environmentally friendly products in North America examined by the environmental marketing firm TerraChoice, only 25 were found to be indisputably "sin free." The rest were greenwashing, a term environmentalists coined to refer to misleading environmental ads or claims...

Greenwashing is especially prevalent in the promotion of cleaning products, cosmetics and children's toys and products, McDougall said...

The Competition Bureau of Canada set out new guidelines for environmental claims last year, but gave industry a year to bring advertisements and labels in line...

In Canada, most transgressions fell into three categories: lack of proof, vague language or "hidden trade-offs" – the practice of emphasizing a product's green aspects while concealing others that are environmentally damaging.

For instance, a "green" pad of paper might have come from sustainably logged trees but been milled in an ancient, carbon-dioxide spewing mill that still uses dioxin-producing chlorine to bleach the pulp, he said.

Sleight of hand

Check out the "Seven Sins of Greenwashing".

Graphics courtesy of Terrachoice.

Green cities of the future

Canada's Greenest Cities of Tomorrow

Our cities are leading the way to a cleaner urban future. Find out which ones will get there first. You’re in for a few surprises.

Leading the pack in Ontario are Sudbury for a number of initiatives including massive tree planting and Toronto for its apartment building retrofit program. 

Guelph, Hamilton, Mississauga and Kingston also make the list for a variety of initiatives.

Sarnia and Windsor on the other hand, are considered at the "back of the pack".

Beware: Biomass emissions

There are a lot of "green" claims out there these days. Car manufacturers are touting "green" SUVs because they're not as bad as hummers. Unnecessary lighting is "green" because it uses LEDs or compact flourescents. And so it goes. 

As alternatives to fossil fuels gain popularity and affordability, we should be conscious about looking at the whole picture before promoting new technologies and products. 

Biomass energy 'could be harmful'

Ploughing up pasture to plant energy crops could produce more CO2 by 2030 than burning fossil fuels, if not done in a sustainable way, it said...

The agency is calling on the government to introduce mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from publicly-subsidised biomass facilities, to help work out if minimum standards need to be introduced.

That's not to say that we shouldn't be supporting positive change and alternatives, but we need to ensure we've got a critical lens for seeing through false claims and certainly avoid promoting anything which is not helping to solve the problem of greenhouse gas emissions.

Passover & the Environment

I came across this doing my unusual google searches.

Jewish Passover and its Connection to the Environment

We found Rabbi Yehudah Leo Levi from Jerusalem to answer a few questions of our own. This is what the Physicist/Rabbi/Author said:

Q: How is Passover connected to the environment?
A: The connection between Passover and the environment is somewhat indirect, but extremely profound. According to the Torah (Jewish tradition), one central purpose of the creation of the human being was to complete the development the world God had created in His wisdom. The human being was put into the wonderful Garden of Eden, not, primarily, to enjoy its delicious fruits, but rather "to serve it and guard it" (Genesis 2:15). Or, in the words of the Midrash: "When God created Adam, he took him to survey all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him: 'See My works, how pleasant and praiseworthy they are… be careful not to spoil and ruin My world. For, if you spoil, there is no one to repair after you" (Qoheleth Rabba 7:13).

In other words, the human being is to be a caretaker, not owner, of the world.

As in all things related to Jewish laws and customs, they are open to interpretation.