| |
Nov. |
Dec. |
Jan. |
| Circulation: |
2300 |
2250 |
2250 |
| By
Email: |
475 |
511 |
523 |
| Print
& Post: |
$997 |
$985 |
$935 |
| Editorial: |
$200 |
$200 |
$200 |
| Donations: |
$650 |
$2893 |
??? |
| Advertising: |
$125 |
$125 |
|
| Balance: |
$1137 |
$2870 |
|
| Green
Dollars: |
210 |
unchanged |
|
Many thanks
to Wendy Parker, Colin Graham, Stuart Wulff, Judith Carder, David Stott,
Gordon Stewart, Miyo Stevens, Frank Hovenden, Ruth Masters, Maria Kruberg,
Sue Wheeler, Paul & Virginia Gareau, Laura Young-Graves, Ron Sutherland,
Elizabeth Woods, Rachel Coward, Andrea Gleichauf, Helga Naguib, Thelma MacMurchie,
Kathleen Kyle, Pat Kahr, Nina Raginsky, Kate Stevens, Shivon Robinsong,
Vera Calhoun, Andrew Glen, Ken Wardroper, Timothy O'Brien, Olive Boorman,
Kathleen Stewart, Haggis Farm, Marnie Phillips, Ed & Jean Mackenzie,
Martha Warnes, Dean Fortin, Noel Taylor, Susan Draper, James Holtz, Gil
Parker, Seymour Treiger, Lois Marcoux, Roger Colwill, Kornelia Meszaros,
John Wight, Anne Gower, E. Kenwood, Sonya Kofler, Elizabeth White, Barbara
Houston, Peter Schofield, Sherri Hohert, Monica Oldham, Mel Moilliet, Roger
Yorke-Edwards, Deryck Thompson, Janet & Nelson Meadows, Pat Henderson,
Jan Zwicky, Joanna Wilkinson, Monica Ashwell, James Whiteaker, Christine
Scotnicki, Lena Fung, Lauren Dake, Pauline Keneally, Pamela Aloni, Gordon
Squire, Society of Friends, Sheila Irving, Elke Schlufter, Walter Reigel,
Paula Khan, Barbara Graves, Hal Knight, Sharon Hooper, Mary Hughes, Ray
Travers, David Rothkop, Heather McAndrew, Robin Jones, Marilyn Thaden Dexter,
Richard Atwood, Elizabeth Gibson, UVic Faculty of Law, UVic Centre Study
of Science and Religion, Al Craighead, Don Shaw, Mallory Pred Jones, Shards
Glass Studio, Freda Milburn, Felix Lion, Gregg Meiklejohn, Tom Read, Cecily
Davidson, Anne Leathem, Nancy Turner, Taannia Dancer & Marya Nyland.
A BIG THANKYOU TO YOU ALL !
* Donations
can be made to EcoNews, 395 Conway Rd, Victoria V8X 3X1. For receipt, please
include a stamped addressed envelope.
THE
ECO-PERSONALS
* Wanted:
Home in country in exchange for work or low rent, for nature lover and biologist
with vision to save endangered wild places. Jessica 480-5257
* Need
volunteers ? Hoping to volunteer ? The Society for Conservation Biology
has opened a web site on the Victoria Green Pages linking environmental
organizations with Victoria's youth. Organizations can fill in a form and
young people can respond.www.greenpages.victoria.bc.ca/volunteer/
or Debbie Chan 363-8560.
*
The Carmanah Forestry Society needs data input and membership phone
person; can trade $1200 tuition credits for 150 hours work, to be completed
by March. Syd 381-1141 carmanah@pacificcoast.net
* Comfortable
beautiful home, 2 bedrooms and studio/workroom on 2 acres on Hornby Island,
for rent February to June to an individual or two seeking privacy and solitude.
Please call 250-335-2890
* Reach
for Unbleached! Bulk Office Paper Buying Club will place its 7th bulk order
of chlorine free, high recycled content copy paper on Jan 15th. $56/box
(5000 sheets, 81/2 x 11), plus tax, delivery. (604) 879-2992 info@rfu.org
* Old
cedar shingles, good for kindling, Cadboro Bay area. Call Ann, 472-9438
* Recent
Permaculture Design graduate (Linnaea Farm, Cortes) eager to work with others
free of charge to develop biological whole-systems designs for urban, commercial
or rural sites. Sean, 721-1835
TAX-SHIFTING
The
BC government recently put out a paper on ecological tax shifting, and is
inviting comments. An enthusiastic response from citizens will make this
"big picture" tool more attractive to government. The Green Tax Shift Discussion
Paper is at www.env.gov.bc.ca
- click on 'What's New'
THE
SUN IS EFFICIENT
Terrestrial
solar cell efficiency has taken a giant leap forward, converting a record
32.3% of the sun's energy into useable power, doubling current efficiency
ratings. The milestone was reached by scientists at Spectrolab, a unit of
Hughes Electronics Corp, and the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
The new technology is called 'triple-junction gallium-indium-phosphide on
gallium arsenide on germanium concentrator solar cell'. By doubling the
power generating efficiency of the cell, the size of the solar ray collection
system is reduced in half. Fewer cells are required, so concentrator systems
can afford the slightly higher cost of high-efficiency multi-junction cells,
yet still be manufactured at a lower cost compared to traditional solar
cells. (Environmental News Network). With current solar technology, enough
solar radiation falls on a 100 sq kilometer circle of Nevada to supply the
entire US electricity needs. That's fine, you say, but BC is cloudy and
wet ! Germany, at the same latitude, is a leader in the solar revolution,
thanks to its higher fuel prices and its progressive policies and tax-breaks
- and if Germany can do it, so can Canada.
and
the Moon is feminine....
The
shortest day
of the
last year
of the
20th century
was
graced by
the
brightest moon
of the
last 133 years
(and
all our lifetimes).
Gil Friend
NO
HASSLES IN HASSELT !
68,000
people live in the Belgium town of Hasselt; another 200,000 people commute
in and out every day. Faced with rising debt and traffic congestion, the
mayor decided to abandon plans to build a third ring road around the town.
Instead, he closed one of the two existing ring roads, planted trees in
its place, laid more pedestrian walkways and cycle tracks, increased the
frequency and quality of the bus service, and announced that public transport
would be free of charge. A year later the use of public transport has increased
by a staggering 800%. The merchants are happy because business has increased;
there are fewer accidents, fewer road casualties and there has been an increase
in social activity. The same day that the town made the buses free, they
also slashed local taxes - the habitants of Hasselt are now paying less
than they were 10 years ago. More people are attracted to Hasselt because
it is easier to get there, and the extra income has reduced the local taxes.
One of the reasons the measure was adopted was a shortage of funds - the
city did not have enough money to expand its roads. Free buses were a cheaper
alternative, and it worked. The city had been slowly losing population,
but since the new measures were adopted, the population has been rising
25 times faster than it was shrinking. Hasselt has been showered with international
awards and prizes for the innovative way it has tackled congestion and pollution.
(via CNN)
THE
BUSINESS OF GOOD FORESTRY
Tofino
has become the first municipality in Canada to pass a "good wood" purchasing
policy, stating a preference to buy wood from forests that have been independently
certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, an international coalition
of environmental, social and business groups. The by-law allows Tofino to
pay up to 10% more for wood products carrying the FSC label.
Back
in September, Home Depot, which has 48 stores in Canada and sells 10% of
the world's timber supply, made a similar commitment. Here's what CEO Arthur
Blank said in his keynote speech: "Our pledge to our customers, associates
and stockholders is that Home Depot will stop selling wood products from
environmentally sensitive areas. Home Depot embraces its responsibility
as a global leader to help protect endangered forests. By the end of 2002,
we will eliminate from our stores wood from endangered areas -- including
certain lauan, redwood and cedar products -- and give preference to 'certified'
wood. We are asking our vendors to help us by dramatically increasing the
supply of certified forest products." So far, 1% of the world's wood has
been certified. A 1998 survey showed that 74% of British Columbians would
pay more for eco-certified timber or paper. Home Depot's decision came after
a lengthy campaign in which forest activists rotated weekly protest actions
outside Home Depot stores across North America.
Mediated agreements
save time, money
and
personal relationships
PATRICIA
LANE
Lawyer*,
Chartered Mediator
598-3992
* Law
corporation
MALL-ENDIUM
?
In
January, 1999, Norway banned the construction or expansion of shopping malls
larger than 33,000 square feet, for five years. The ban applies to malls
in areas where customers would have to drive to get to them, in a bid to
limit pollution and revitalize the downtowns of existing towns and cities.
THE
VICTORIA-ACTION LIST
Want
to keep in touch with events and actions happening in Victoria during the
month, after EcoNews has been printed ? Then sign up for the Victoria-Action
List, which you can find at the Victoria Green Pages site (www.greenpages.victoria.bc.ca)
It's the coolest place for the hottest action ! The Green Pages also has
photos from recent demos, such as the pre-Christmas anti-fur trade funeral
procession, and the protest against the commercial seal hunt. If anyone
has Seattle/WTO photos they'd like to display, email Dave
Shishkoff.
EARTH
DAY 2000
Saturday
April 22nd
A day
to celebrate,
and
to ensure that this new century
is a
century of healing and
ecological
restoration.
To help,
call Roy, 360-2095
DECLARATION
OF INTERDEPENDENCE
by
David Suzuki
THIS
WE KNOW
We
are the earth, through the plants and animals that nourish us. We are the
rains and the oceans that flow through our veins. We are the breath of the
forests of the land, and the plants of the sea. We are human animals, related
to all other life as descendants of the firstborn cell. We share with these
kin a common history, written in our genes. We share a common present, filled
with uncertainty. And we share a common future, as yet untold.
We
humans are but one of thirty million species weaving the thin layer of life
enveloping the world. The stability of communities of living things depends
upon this diversity. Linked in that web, we are interconnected -- using,
cleansing, sharing and replenishing the fundamental elements of life. Our
home, planet Earth, is finite: all life shares its resources and the energy
from the sun, and therefore has limits to growth. For the first time, we
have touched those limits. When we compromise the air, the water, the soil,
and the variety of life, we steal from the endless future to serve the fleeting
present.
THIS
WE BELIEVE
Humans
have become so numerous and our tools so powerful that we have driven fellow
creatures to extinction, dammed the great rivers, torn down ancient forests,
poisoned the earth, rain and wind, and ripped holes in the sky. Our science
has brought pain as well as joy: our comfort is paid for by the suffering
of millions. We are learning from our mistakes, we are mourning our vanished
kind, and we now build a new politics of hope. We respect and uphold the
absolute need for clean air, water, and soil. We see that economic activities
that benefit the few while shrinking the inheritance of many are wrong.
And since environmental degradation erodes biological capital forever, full
ecological and social costs must enter all equations of development. We
are one brief generation in the long march of time; the future is not ours
to erase. So where knowledge is limited, we will remember all those who
will walk after us, and err on the side of caution.
THIS
WE RESOLVE
All
this that we know and believe must now become the foundation of the way
we live. At this turning point in our relationship with earth, we work for
an evolution: from dominance to partnership; from fragmentation to connection;
from insecurity to interdependence.
www.davidsuzuki.org
ACTION
OF THE MONTH
LET'S
END THE HUNTING
OF
GRIZZLY BEARS
They
say there are plenty of grizzly bears in British Columbia. They say the
Ministry is carefully monitoring their numbers, and that scientific methods
are being applied. Therefore, the legal harvesting by hunters will continue.
What
are these awful words - "scientific", and "harvesting" ? What has happened
to our humanity, when we are expected to feel no difference between a forest
and a grizzly bear ? The people in the Ministry say this is an "ethical"
argument, and that anyone who opposes the shooting of grizzly bears should
also stop eating meat and using leather.
It
is true - these are ethical issues. Every decision to kill or abuse a creature
is one of ethics. As a culture, we are racked with inconsistency. We abhor
cruelty to dogs, yet we tolerate the killing of seals, wolves, foxes and
other fur-bearing animals, often after painful suffering. We also kill and
eat sheep, cows, chickens, turkeys and octopi, while shutting out our knowledge
of the pain involved.
I
write as a vegetarian of 30 years, but since when has a meat-eater lost
the right to say "no" to the hunting and killing of grizzly bears - or any
bears - which are not killed to eat, but solely for the thrill of killing
? A hunter who can pay $2,500 for a trophy kill is not exactly short of
food.
A
hundred years ago, we used to lock up mentally ill people in lunatic asylums
and take Sunday outings to stare at them. Two hundred years ago, we used
to take women who were psychically sensitive from their homes and burn them
at the stake. Three hundred years ago, we used to hang children for stealing.
For each of these, we now feel ashamed.
We
have entered a whole new century. Do we truly believe that in a hundred
years time, we will still be allowing people to indulge their egos or their
fantasies by shooting bears for pleasure ? The idea is ludicrous. So let
us end it, now and forever. This IS an ethical issue - and it is ethically
awful.
ACTION : If you agree, write to David Anderson, Minister of Environment,
House of Commons, Ottawa K1A 0A6, and Joan Sawicki, Minister of Environment,
Legislative Assembly, Victoria V8V 1X4, appealing to them to ban the hunting
of grizzly bears, now and forever.
800kb)
EcoNews reaches thousands of people each month, including every MLA in BC and every CRD municipal
politician. It’s 95% funded by donations
from readers like you. If you value the information it provides, will you support it with
a donation? 
The
Green Diary has moved! Click 