Members’ Corner is a monthly blog series where SPEC members share their favourite sustainability-related resources.
You should read: the article “The Future of Cities” by Taras Grescoe
Art Bomke, SPEC Board of Director and Food & Environment Committee Co-Chair
I think this is especially relevant in Metro Vancouver as we approach the October 20th municipal elections and face ballots with a multitude of candidates. Most are seeking to make changes some of which could reverse the progress made to facilitate the ability of citizens to reduce their dependence on the automobile. One new party, Coalition Vancouver, is seeking to wedge their way into power with threats to tear up bike paths and create policy that favours cars. This Walrus article makes the case for a city that “prioritizes active transport, transit and intelligently planned density.” Let’s make candidates clearly indicate their stand on transportation and hold them accountable upon election.
You should know about: Bâtiment 7 in Pointe-Saint-Charles – Montréal
Betzy Salas, from SPEC’s Energy Committee
It is an old abandoned railway building, which after 10 years of litigation was donated to the community to be a factory of collective autonomy. After 10 months of work this building was restored using mostly recycled materials or manufacturing faults. This building uses renewable energies for the production of energy. Hydronic heating system with a source of natural gas energy, also the use of Geothermal and Biomass.
You should read: “Climate Change Needs Behavior Change”, a report by Rare.
Robin Hadac, SPEC Communications Coordinator
There has been a lot of sobering news on climate change recently, which has a lot of people searching for answers. If you are like me and looking for immediate action you can take, I highly recommend reading RARE’s comprehensive report on the impact individual behavioural can have on climate mitigation. They came up with 30 behaviour changes that you can do as an individual, clustered by category, and ranked in terms of plausible-optimum scenario emissions reductions. Number one? – Reducing food waste, which they found could be equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 70.5-93.7 gigatons!
If you read the report and feel inspired to take action, SPEC’s Waste Committee will be using this report to guide their upcoming projects. Drop by the next meeting to get more involved.
You should use: Ecosia
Magali Vander Vorst, SPEC Board member
There’s nothing better than the feeling of saving the environment without even lifting a finger. Or saving it by just lifting one. Using the search engine Ecosia.org you are planting trees every time you hit Search. Instead of using good ol’ Google you simply use this site and scan still find that brunch restaurant menu, check the weather forecast or find answers to any other questions you normally ask the G giant. At a rate of 45 searches per tree, this German-based foundation has already planted over 35 million trees since 2009 – and I take ownership for at least ten of those, so far. Another added bonus is that they don’t sell your data to advertisers, unlike most search engines, so not only are you making the world greener but also safer for you.