It's So Green

Potluck Party Tip

2012-05-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

Recently attended a potluck party and created this little video with a classmate.

Thanks to companies like Cedar Grove Composting, lots of resources are diverted from the landfill.

What some people don't know is that the technology they use actually comes from a German company. You can check out all the places where their composting systems are used around the world on their site.

Enjoy the video!

BTW, this video was recorded on a Canon digital camera and it wasn't one of the super expensive types.

Reducing Electronic & Related Waste in Canada

2012-05-01T23:59:00.000-07:00

On a recent shopping excursion to London Drugs in Vancouver BC, I bought a small appliance as a gift for someone.

I noticed an extra little charge on the receipt. Below is a photo showing the receipt with the CESA levy added to the cost of the small appliance.

There's more information about CESA (which stands for the Canadian Electrical Stewardship Association). if you visit the CESA website.

Not everyone is happy about having to pay these levies. But the reality is that we all pay now or we pay later. It makes me cringe to imagine the amount of broken appliances already buried in landfills.

When it comes to recycling, it really makes more sense for people to pay the fees up front when they buy the items rather than when the items are broken or no longer usable. It's still too easy for people to merely throw them in the garbage and they then end up in landfills. I've seen my share of large TVs and other electronic items that have been thrown into dumpsters.

In Canada, for those who want to take items to be recycled, there's a website that helps you find depots to take those items. It's Unplugged Recycling. http://www.unpluggedrecycling.ca/

There are some companies are taking the initiative to take things back without charging fees. More in my next post...

Earth Week 2012 at Bellevue College

2012-04-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

This Earth Week, Bellevue College has a great line-up of speakers and films.

There's even a Farmers Market in the Courtyard from 9am-2pm on Tuesday April 17, 2012.

You can check out the schedule.

Andrew Villeneuve of the Northwest Progressive Institute gave a good talk about the importance of keeping informed politically.He suggested Pacific NW Portal as a good way to stay up-to-date on important topics easily. He also suggested that those who can't vote can still be very involved by joining organizations, informing others and encouraging them to vote.

Today they screened Revenge of the Electric Car which I had already viewed when it was screened at SIFF. It's a very interesting sequel to Chris Paine's Who Killed the Electric Car?
Druing the SIFF screening, there was a display of local electric vehicles. Check out my video of it.

Watch for more info about the speakers and films.

Bees & Bats

2011-10-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

CCD is short for Colony Collapse Disorder which is wiping out honeybee hives.

The Silence of the Bees is a great Nature documentary about this. You can watch the full episode on PBS online.

This film shows that insecticides are a contributing factor contributing to the collapse of honeybees' systems and their deaths. In my opinion, it's also possible that other pesticides affect the honeybees' health too.

In the area where I lived, I've noticed a few bees here and there that seemed to be disoriented or drunk or very inactive. The other day I found and filmed one with my camera. This bee I filmed isn't a honeybee but it's what I believe is a bumblebee. I have seen this in the past quite a number of times but this is the first time that I've filmed it.

We need bees. Yes, there are other types pollinators. But a lot of pollination is done by honeybees which beekeepers bring to crop areas so their health is very important.. Beekeepers also harvest and sell honey that the bees make, but the biggest income for them is renting out their bees to pollinate crops. Unfortunately, whenever bees are brought to a farm for pollination, they are exposed to whatever substances are being used there (including pesticides!) and there is little or nothing that can be done to minimize the risks and resulting casualties.
Other types of pollinating insects include bumblebees, butterflies, moths, ants and beetles. These are also sensitive to whatever pesticides are used.

The documentary that I've linked to shows an areas in China where the people need to manually pollinate their pear trees because they killed off their pollinating insects. Imagine the ramifications of this happening in more regions.

I believe that bees are like a "canary in a coalmine" and we need to sit up and take notice. We need to limit the use of pesticides and start finding ways to work with nature instead of using substances that compromise and destroy it. By pesticides, I am not only saying the insecticides are the only culprit. I believe that the combination of other "cides" might be contributing factors, especially when one considers that a variety of different "cides" are used by large variety of people in agriculture, landscaping and garden maintenance and so on.

What are the "cides" (Short for pesticides)?:
Insecticides: used to to kill insects
Fungicides: used to kill fungus
Herbicide: used to kill plants and these come in a variety of kinds from pre-emergent to post-emergent.
Here's more information on the different kinds of pesticides.

Without nature's very important little helpers, we'll be in a very difficult situation.
We must limit use of insecticides and other pesticides. There are many insects that develop new strains that become resistant but it seems that pollinating insects like bees, especially honeybees are more vulnerable.

Besides bees, I also want to write about bats. Bats are very important because they help keep insect populations under control but they are also under threat.

In United States and Canada, many bats are being killed by a white fungus. There's an article about this with more details. Here's more info with another photo. There has been an increase in fungal infections in humans and now a fungus that's actually killing bats. Millions of them in the United States. The theory is that the fungus actually came from Europe. But it's also possible that the bats' immune systems have been compromised thereby rendering them more vulnerable to this fungus.

It's sad to think that the little brown bat that I remember seeing as a child might be wiped out by this fungus. This same species probably helped to keep mosquito populations under control because they are a main part of its diet.

But I'm wondering if the overuse of fungicides is producing more resistant and deadly types of fungus similar to how the overuse of antibiotics and anti-bacterial agents have contributed to the development of stronger and deadlier bacteria.

I believe that bats like the bees are another type of "canary" for us. Mother nature is giving us more signals that we need to change our practices.

This Blog is Under Construction

2011-06-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

Come back soon to see what's here!