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Many
thanks to J Gerlach, Norah Forrest, David Stott, Yvonne Bondarchuk
& Don Thiers, Brian Finnemore, Kathryn Harcourt, Gloria Macleod,
Eric Bonham & Mary Nall, Sandra Rogers, Pauline Kenneally,
Vicki Marston, Freda Knott, Susan Holvenstot, Joyce Stewart, Lesley
Wicks, Hannelore Ioannides, Ruth Chase, Ann Redwood, Felix Lion,
Jean van Cuylenborg, Julia Lissau & John Sprague.
Donations
can be sent to EcoNews, 395 Conway Rd, Victoria, BC, V9E 2B9.
For a receipt, send stamped addressed envelope.
EcoNews
by email: fill out the form at the top
of the page!
THE ECO-CORNER
$1/word (non-profits, low-income
free) 1" box ad $40, $2" box ad $70
* If you have land, or
safe parking space, the Carmanah Forestry Society and Sierra Club
desperately need to park their buses, which are used for enviro
tours and education. The CFS bus has had about $1500 worth of
windows smashed this month alone. Please help. Syd Haskell, 381-1141
* $400/mo large upper suite
shared BR for farm oriented person +/or 1/2 lease trail horse
on GG trail 478-5334
* Seeking participants
in weekly eco-spirituality circles. Marianne (250) 382-3582 or
Jennifer (250) 598-5667
* Volunteer research assistant
wanted to help OUR Ecovillage research different governance &
ownership models for ecovillages & cohousing 743-3002 our@pacificcoast.net
Marianne Sämann-Wyss
Wholistic Counselling Services
An eco-spiritual exploration into
how we relate to ourselves, each other, the
earth and spirit.
Also specializing in dealing with environmental
and wildness losses.
(250) 382-3582 msw@islandnet.com
OUR ECOVILLAGE
OUR EcoVillage is a community-based,
eco-sustainable rural living initiative on 25 acres near Shawnigan
Lake. (www.ourecovillage.org).
From June 2nd – Sept 26th, the ecovillage is hosting
a hands-on summer school on Practical Leadership and Natural Building
(cob). It’s $375 - $450 a week, with space for 12 people – applications
to Elke Cole by Feb 10th. elke@cobworks.com
. www.cobworks.com
DADA – THE ECOFAUCET!
The world of new water technologies
is just zipping along. First there’s the Caroma dual-flush toilet,
the best water-efficient toilet on the market (available from
Westburne). Then there’s the waterless urinal, from Waterless
(www.waterless.com
) and Falcon (www.falconwaterfree.com
), eliminating water-use altogether by using a lighter-than-water
fluid that traps the urine and lets it flow on its merry way.
Just think, if every public urinal in Victoria had one). Next,
there’s the GFX (gravity film exchange) shower unit, which captures
the waste heat as it flows down the drain and applies it to the
incoming cold water, reducing your heating bill by up to 50% (www.endlessshower.com
). Now, fresh from Japan, Toto USA has the EcoPower faucet. The
most efficient taps in public places have sensors that only let
the water flow if your hands are underneath. This needs hardwired
electricity, or a battery which needs replacing. The EcoPower
faucet has a miniature hydro turbine in the head of the faucet,
which recharges a titanium battery, which lasts for up to 10 years.
DMTB – NOT SO YUMMY
Every February, as the bulbs announce
the coming of spring, Victoria’s gardeners turn to thoughts of
flowers and vegetables. For some, organic gardening is an item
of faith. If you have friends who still reach for the chemical
spray, however, you might want to show them this. In a peer-reviewed
scientific study, researchers at the University of Washington’s
Dept of Environmental Health interviewed parents entering two
Seattle grocery stores, one organic and one mainstream. They visited
the homes of the parents, and asked them to keep food diaries.
After making sure that pesticide use in the home was not a factor,
they took urine samples from the two groups, and analyzed them
for diakylphosphate (DMTB), an organophosphate pesticide residue.
All the kids had DMTB in their urine, but the children who ate
non-organic food had 850% more than their organic counterparts.
(0.34 micromoles vs 0.04). The researchers found that the most
likely source of the DMTB came from four pesticides that are commonly
used on fruits and vegetables, includng malathion. If your friends
want to switch to organic gardening, the Compost Education Centre
has a workshop that’s tailor-made for them on Feb 8th
(see Diary).
WINNING IN VANCOUVER
COPE (the Coalition of Progressive
Electors) swept Vancouver in the recent city elections. Vancouver
voters elected COPE’s Larry Campbell for Mayor, and every COPE
candidate who ran for City Council, School Board and Parks Board.
The right-wing NPA pulled in as many votes as last time, so their
supporters were faithful. The big difference was that COPE pulled
in 30,000 new voters. How did they do it? Here (from the Vancouver
Courier, a business publication) are some pointers, to be
engraved on our electoral hearts:
* They kept the election debates
focused on progressive issues such as the need for humane solutions
to homelessness, addiction and crime.
* They stayed organized between
elections by running a series of "Think City" workshops
in which participants discussed how to make the city better.
* They followed the workshops
with a "Think Youth" festival on youth art and culture,
aimed at involving youth in civic issues.
* The workshops brought new groups
into COPE, and introduced new people to progressive politics.
* During the election, 1/3rd of
COPE’s 1,000 volunteers were new to politics, and the mean age
of COPE’s volunteers dropped to 30.
* They revived door-to-door campaigning,
made it fun, and encouraged people to leaflet their own neighbourhoods.
They also had a great website
and electronic presence – wwwcope.bc.ca
. The campaign to win the hearts and minds of young people for
the 2005 civic elections needs to begin now – not in October
2005. By then, it’s too late. (Thanks to Graeme Taylor)
Co-Creative Counselling
"Pain is not a feeling. Pain is
what we experience when we suppress feeling."
Explore your true nature in a nurturing,
safe & confidential space. My office includes 350 acres of
forests, fields, lakes & flowers. 30 mins from Victoria.
Morris Lamrock 474-2804
morrisorgf@canoemail.com
UNITED FOR PEACE
The nervousness that US citizens
felt about criticizing their government after September 11th
has vanished. With Bush on the rampage to assault Iraq, even if
he has to invent a reason, ordinary citizens are getting to their
feet across in an unprecedented show of protest. The MoveOn campaign
(www.MoveOn.org )
has 600,000 people on its activist list, and gained 100,000 new
members in a single week in January. Their message, "Let
the Inspections Work" aired on almost every major TV News
show. Their 310,000 strong petition shocked senators and congressmen.
9,000 people signed up to participate in Congressional district
meetings, often speaking out for the first time. Congressmen and
Senators had no idea this was brewing. A new mainstream coalition
is emerging - "Win Without War", (www.unitedforpeace.org
). Fifty US cities have passed resolutions saying No to Bush’s
call for war (Toronto too). For details, see www.citiesforpeace.org
.
Locally, the Victoria Campaign
Against War and Sanctions in Iraq (www.vcawsi.org
) is ramping up its energy for another big Peace Rally and Teach-In
on Feb 15th & 16th (see Diary). VCASWI
needs volunteers, and donations, since Deanna is shouldering much
of the cost - call her at 385-0493. We should all be calling our
MPs, asking them to meet with us. We must pressure Canada to work
for peace, not war. (See Action).
PS: A study from the University
of Sussex, UK, shows that protesting is good for your health,
and can help overcome stress, pain, anxiety and depression, due
to the feelings of encouragement, unity and mutual support that
emerge after taking collective action. Maybe protest costs should
be covered by Medicare!
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF WEB
A good petition: Time to Move
Beyond War
www.PetitionOnline.com/iraq123
Oh George
www.dubyadubyadubya.com
Email addresses for France
and Germany, to thank them for not lining up behind George
Bush:
Jacques Chirac (France) www.elysee.fr/ecrire/index.htm
Gerhard Schroeder (Germany) gerhard.schroeder@spd.de
If You're Happy And You Know
It, Bomb Iraq
by John Robbins www.commondreams.org/views02/1216-06.htm
If You're Happy And You Know
It, Bomb Iraq
Slightly different version with
music and sound effects:
www.domdummaste.se/bomb_iraq.html
The Cowichan Community Land Trust Society
www.island.net/~cclt
Caring for Our Shores: A Handbook
for Coastal Landowners in the Strait of Georgia
www.island.net/~steward
Petition to Support the Romanow Report on Medicare
www.petitiononline.com/romanow
Kraft Food – too good to pass
by
www.krafty.org/flash
Download the CRD’s new Natural
Areas Atlas newsletter:
www.crd.bc.ca/es/natatlas/news/jan2003.pdf
Left Coast Local Events
To sign up for Janine Bandcroft’s
e-newsletter for green and progresive events on Vancouver Island,
send email to peaceandjustice@acts.bc.ca
and indicate in or near which city you reside.
GreenHouse Gas Online – News,
Research and Resources (new website from Britain)
www.GHGonline.org
State of the Union Poster
Congress Meets Wall Street: How
Big Corporate Campaign Contributors are Buying America, And What
the Rest of Us Pay
www.publicampaign.org/stateoftheunion
FAIRFIELD TRANSIT CRISIS
BC Transit is proposing to cut
South Fairfield’s bus services. They want to run the #1 at peak
hours only, and the #2 and #10 to merge. Apparently the UVic student
U-Pass is so popular that they need more buses – so they’re robbing
Fairfield to feed UVic. Once a route is gone, it’s almost impossible
to get it back, so Nancy Barnes has formed the South Fairfield
Transit Riders Association, to fight for their bus services. It’s
great that the UVic scheme is successful, but instead of raiding
Fairfield, why not do as Boulder did, and introduce a Neighbourhood
U-Pass, to win more Fairfield riders? If you believe we need to
protect our transit, call 361-3621, email peterr@island.net
.
LETS GET GROWING!
Victoria’s Seed & Garden
Show
Victoria Conference Centre
Sat Feb 15th, 10-4pm
Tel 385-0485
SEEDS, PLANTS, WORKSHOPS
REST IN PEACE, TOM
Our dear friend Tom Loring, who
gave so much of his life to so many people, died on December 21st,
aged 81. Tom was a professional forest ecologist who worked in
New Mexico until he and Beth returned to Canada in 1980, and then
retired to Victoria. Tom and Beth’s arrival was our gain. He helped
to make St. Ann’s Academy what it is today. He was active with
the Fairfield Community Association, and is said to have known
almost every tree in the neighbourhood. He worked hard to get
Victoria to adopt a tree protection bylaw, and equally hard for
the Victoria Human Rights Coalition, the Franciscan Faith Community,
and many others. We thank you, Tom, for your life, your love,
your charity, and your kindness. The trees thank you too.
"Lord, make me an instrument
of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there
is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is
despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there
is sadness, joy. Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled
as to console; to be understood, as to understand, to be loved
as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning
that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal
life." - St Francis of Assisi.
Share Organics
More than just an Organic Produce
Box
Join us, nurturing local food production
* Supporting local organic farmers
* Farmers in Transition to organics
* Fair Trade Products
wwwshareorganics.bc.ca
595-6729
THE WORKING FOREST
The Liberal government has declared
almost half of our Province's lands a "working forest", open to
logging, mining and other activities, double the amount of land
that currently being forested. "I'm sending a message to the investment
community that British Columbia is open for business," Stan
Hagen said. You bet he is. Ken Wu (WCWC) writes – "The Working
Forest is basically an Anti-Forest Protection Act, that will guarantee
to logging companies that anytime a commercially valuable forest
is protected on our public lands, an equivalent area of protected
forest must be opened up to logging. It guarantees a set area
of forested public lands, 23 million hectares - that is, ALL of
BC’s commercially valuable forests outside of our existing parks
- for logging alone. There could be no net loss in the
availability of our public forests for private logging companies,
whether for new parks, protecting drinking watershed reserves,
endangered species or wildlife and fish habitat, or First Nations
land settlements." For actions and meetings against the proposed
legislation, see Green Diary, or call WCWC, 388-9292
ACTION OF THE MONTH
(1) THE WAR ON IRAQ
Call your MP, and ask for an appointment
when you and some friends can see him, to share your concerns
about Canada’s role:
* David Anderson (Victoria) 363-3600
Anderson.D@parl.gc.ca
* Gary Lunn (Saan/Islands) 656-2320
Lunn.G@parl.gc.ca
* Keith Martin (Esquimalt/Juan
de Fuca) 474-6505 Martin.K@parl.gc.ca
In Ottawa: c/o Houses of Parliament,
Ottawa K1A 0A6. Postage free.
(2) KYOTO – THE BUDGET
Now that Canada has ratified Kyoto,
the real test is the coming budget. It is now that we should be
creating tax breaks, incentives and funding for things like transit,
cycle trails, renewable energy, energy retrofits, fuel efficient
vehicles and ecoforestry. Everyone is asking for more money for
health-care. Kyoto is about health-care for the whole planet.
Action: Please write to
John Manley, Minister of Finance, Suite 1500, 55 Metcalfe Street,
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A3
Tel: 613-952-4900 Fax: 613-952-4935
Email: jmanley@pco-bcp.gc.ca
800kb)
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