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IRIS Director Blog

We have to be much more rumpled… and muddy

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This summer, I found a great blog at This Magazine.  The webpage (supported by folk such as Margaret Atwood and David Suzuki) tells me that it's the leading alternative Canadian magazine of politics, pop culture, and the arts.  The Earth Archives has some very well written posts - including this one, that I have tried to insert below - about how doing lots of small sustainability-motivated acts won't really help us that much.  The author, Graham F. Scott,  is probably right. But,  the question is whether these acts end up enabling much larger actions - such as, changing our views on ironed clothes on a large-scale.  Why's this large?  Well, I am very fed up with being in meetings full of people dressed in well-pressed clothes.  I do not iron on the principle that it's a waste of energy (all round).  We also need to stop washing stuff so often.  I insist that when we rent very small cars for field work, that my local Hertz gives us dirty cars - they're never going to be as full of mud as they end up with us.  If this all sends a message to industry (as in, we could boycott companies where staff are forced to dress inappropriately in ironed shirts and blouses, and in wool suits in hot summers), then small acts COULD lead to big changes.

Dawn R. Bazely - dressed below right, in an outfit that I would happily wear to a boardroom meeting, to make a point, bug shirt and all.from the field to the boardroom

"January 08, 2009

Rinky-dink ink tinkering isn't the answer

Posted by Graham F. Scott at 11:57 AM ET | Comments (0)

EcoFont alphabet

A Dutch design firm has released a new computer font, Ecofont, that they say uses less ink, and can therefore reduce the e-waste that results from depleted toner cartridges. It's a regular-looking font except that it's riddled with holes, and the firm, Spranq, claims this reduces toner use by up to 20 per cent.

Their hearts are in the right place, but this is clearly public-relations bunk. (And I realize I'm playing into it by linking to them.) There are plenty of environmental problems in the world, and technology waste is some of the most difficult to deal with. But the real effect of this font is statistically insignificant, and no one should be fooled into thinking it's a real solution to any of our pressing environmental problems.

This kind of "environmental" measure is increasingly common — easy to implement, emotionally gratifying, socially acceptable, and totally ineffectual. You would be better off turning on the ink-saving features now available in every modern printer; even better would be choosing not to print that two-line email in the first place.

This morning on Twitter I linked to a new advertisement from the World Wildlife Fund that makes a crucial point: consumers and end-users are being constantly scolded to change their behaviours and reduce their environmental footprint while government and industry continue to allow damaging beahviour to go unchecked. Individual efforts like installing compact fluorescent lightbulbs and downloading an "Ecofont" are fine, but they won't get us where we need to go unless the biggest and baddest polluters are brought to heel."

The Age of Stupid – a review of the new, essential climate change movie

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In the run up to Copenhagen, the new movie, “The Age of Stupid”, which was shown on multiple screens around the world last night, is this year’s “must-see” film about climate change, just as “An Inconvenient Truth” was a couple of years ago. But, it takes a very different tack. Franny Armstrong’s engaging dramatic documentary looks back to the present from 2055, when the world has dissolved into chaos, due to the irreversible run-away effects of climate change, to ask why, despite all of the signals, people let it happen. Peter Postlethwaite acts as the “curator” or keeper of the Global Archive, a vast tower-like warehouse, somewhere in the arctic. The treasures of all the world’s museums have been stashed away in this lonely place. We see a King Tut-like sarcophagus to the left of curator’s computer screen, where he is pulling up fragments of film from his media-archive.

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These film clips feature the stories of a young woman in Nigeria, who wants to become a doctor, and who turns to trading in the diesel black market to raise her tuition fees, a wealthy young business man starting up a cheap airline, India’s version of Ryanair, because he believes that this is the way to “help” poor people, an incredibly fit, 82-year old French mountain guide from Chamonix, who has watched the glaciers recede, and a young British family, in which the dad builds wind farms and who is seen trying to combat a most excruciatingly civilized case of NIMBYism (Not in My Backyard) in Bedford, UK, from a group of well-heeled fifty and sixty-year olds who hold the view that windfarms ruin the aesthetic of the landscape, but who all feel that “we are doing our bit for the environment in other ways”. These interviews made me grind my teeth and want to put in an order for Che Guevara type T-shirts with the face of the woman, (pictured below right), who was the chief spokesperson for the anti-wind farm protestors on the front, and the slogan “Supercilious, Selfish, Sententious” emblazoned across the top. I see this as being my hommage to the “I am not a plastic bag” campaign of last year or so, which also made me grind my teeth a lot, in terms of its shallowness.AgeOfStupid

I left the movie feeling really upbeat, because I just love these doom and gloom docs and lectures about climate change. They make me feel quite cheery, because after including the topic of climate change in my ecology courses for nearly 20 years, anything about climate change, coming from anyone else, that might actually grab people’s attention and engage them enough to make them change their behaviour, makes me feel less lonely! The movie does a great job of explaining how everyone in the Global North needs to go on a strict carbon diet, as well as giving a superb Monty Pythonesque animated overview of Homo sapiens' historical tendency to make war over resources. OK – so mine is probably NOT the average reaction to this movie, but then not many people had a Master’s supervisor who was on an IPCC working group, either, and who was discussing climate change with them in 1984.

Dawn R. Bazely

HOME – we only have one planet

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As illustrated (I hope) by IRIS blogs, You Tube CAN be educational (although I am prepared to bet quite a lot that most people aren't being much educated while logged on to on the site). 

I recently learned from You Tube, that a there is new doc out from photographer extraordinaire, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, called HOME. You can watch HOME on You Tube for a few more days. If you don't know about his book, the Earth from Above, please, do check it out - it's amazing.

Dawn R. Bazely

United Nations General Assembly passes landmark resolution about climate change

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Last Thursday, while in Ottawa, during the 2030 North conference, I turned on the tv to see a beautiful young woman from Palau, with a flower behind her ear, talking about a historic UN General Assembly resolution that was passed on Wednesday. Small island states have been running a campaign about the threat that rising sea levels pose to their security. The link between climate change and the security of many countries was formally recognized. We heard a lot about this issue at our "Ecojustice: How will disenfranchised peoples adapt to climate change?" conference, in April, 2009.

Here's some of the press release:

"Introducing the draft in the Assembly today, on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States, Nauru’s representative emphasized that rising oceans could, sooner than previously thought, leave little of that regional group’s already tiny homelands above water unless urgent action was taken. Already, the impact of climate change included inundation of heavily populated coastal areas, loss of freshwater, failure of agriculture and other results of saltwater intrusion.

As a result, resettlement and migration were already occurring and dangers to international peace and security would soon increase, she stressed. The Assembly’s adoption of the text would encourage dealing with climate change in a holistic manner, while demonstrating serious concern for the survival of whole populations and the existence of their lands.

Nicaragua’s representative, speaking before the vote on behalf of the “like-minded group” -- Bahrain, Bolivia, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Venezuela -– said the group would join the consensus on the compromise text. In addressing the issue, however, it was vital that Member States, particularly industrialized nations, promote sustainable development, while adhering to the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, and fully implement Agenda 21 and other relevant development commitments.

Following the Assembly’s adoption of the resolution, the representatives of many small island developing States took the floor to underscore the dire nature of the threats that climate change posed to their nations, including the Marshall Islands, Palau, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Samoa and the Maldives.

Palau’s representative said: “We do not carelessly call climate change a security threat. When we are told by scientists to prepare for humanitarian crisis, including exodus, in our lifetimes, how can it be different from preparing for a threat like war?” All United Nations organs, most particularly the Security Council, must act urgently. Under Chapter VI of the Charter, the Council may investigate any dispute or situation that might lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions must be the focus, and the goal must be effective, enforceable action to that end."

Dawn R. Bazely

Gwynne Dyer on Climate Wars at 2030 North in Ottawa, 2009

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I have recently been attending loads of conferences and workshops at which climate change is on the agenda. Most of them were permeated by a complete lack of any sense of urgency about what climate change will mean for North Americans in the next 20 years. So, I found Gwynne Dyer's gloom and doom in his talk on Climate Wars, sponsored by WWF, and delivered in conjunction with the 2030 North conference in Ottawa this week, to be very refreshing.  In his presentation on  the state-centred security dimensions of climate change, three main points stuck with me:

1. military generals in the USA are pondering how to deal with forthcoming events such as Florida disappearing when the ice caps melt. This contrasts with what I found when I flew into Ft. Lauderdale for a 2003 conference on invasive plants. I made a point of asking about 10 staff at my hotel whether they were at all worried about the sea level rises that would inevitably accompany the melting ice caps: I should note that I have teaching research into global warming in my ecology courses since 1990.  Without exception, the staff all looked at me as if I had just grown 2 heads!  How times change - at least in some parts of North American society.

2. a retired US General that he interviewed, said that he viewed the potential for nuclear attack during the Cold War as a "low probability, high consequence event" whereas Climate Change (warming) is a "high probability, high consequence event".

3. never mind about the Arctic, northern nations should worry about the nations to the south, where a 2 degree temperature rise (we are now hearing about a 4 degree temperature rise scenario), will mean that crop plants can't grow and survive.  A government that can't feed it's population is unlikely to be stable.

Hmm - the lights in the hotel ballroom where the talk took place were blazing, and I couldn't tell if there were low energy light bulbs - I hoped so.

Dawn R. Bazely

Pistachio’s Heather Reisman – “Buy less. Buy better. Buy forever”

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This past Christmas, I was delighted to find a great range of cards from Pistachio (the latest project of Heather Reisman of Chapters-Indigo). They were "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" cards, which thereby extended the Christmas card-sending season to March.  Plus, they were FSC-branded, 100% post-consumer waste fibre, Soya Ink, powered by Green Energy - Mohawk, Made in Canada.  Yeh!! Every kind of serious sustainability logo, right there. My decade-long lack of enthusiasm for cards has largely been driven by concerns about ecological footprints, as well as time crunches associated with grading 100s of final exams and essays at Christmas and attending untold numbers of "festivals of lights" school celebrations. But, I acknowledge that cards are an important means of staying connected and serve an important social purpose.  These Pistachio cards allowed me to do that, and simultaneously underscore my sustainability message to friends and relatives.

Pistachio was back in my thoughts today, thanks to Jennifer Well's article in the Globe and Mail Business magazine: "It's not easy being Pistachio - Heather Reisman is moving eco-products upscale. But will her aim exceed consumers' reach?" Reisman is quoted as saying: "Buy less. Buy better. Buy forever." Wow!!

Reisman has found that people are willing to pay a 5-15% premium for sustainable, ethically-sourced items.  This compares surprisingly closely with the student responses to question 9 of IRIS' Carbon Offsetting survey, in which just under 50% of those surveyed saying that they would pay 5-10% more for environmentally friendly products.  Only 20% said that they would be willing to pay over a 10% premium.

I wish Pistachio all the best, and recently stocked up on their thank you cards. But what I'd really like to see, and would buy, is a set of cards with the "Buy less. Buy better. Buy forever." slogan emblazoned across the front.

Dawn Bazely

Is there a connection between animal rights and sustainability?

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Her Excellency, Michaelle Jean, Governor General of Canada's participation in a community feast in Nunavut, in which she helped to gut and eat seal, has ignited a storm of protest from animal rights activists.  As it turns out, I have some experience interacting with our local animal rights activists.  The research that I have done on the ecology of deciduous forests in Ontario in the last 20 years has brought me into contact with people with widely differing knowledge about and values relating to animals, including animal rights activists opposed to the reduction of high deer densities in small forest patches. Consequently, I have developed an interest in the questions of, whether and how, animal rights activists perceive their activism to be related to questions of the environment, climate change and the research fields of animal behaviour.

Here's some of what I have learned:

1.  Animal welfare differs from animal rights.  I am a strong advocate for animal welfare.  At Oxford University, where I did my doctorate on Animal Behaviour in the Zoology Department, I was lucky to get to know Prof. Marion Dawkins, an internationally-recognized expert on animal welfare. Most people that I know agree that the basic principle of animal welfare is a good thing.  As a result of my research experience, I hold, what I am sure many people would consider to be a number of radical opinions about pet ownership.  For example, I  generally disagree with the idea of urban dwellers  owning "working" dogs such collies, because, having worked with these dogs, I have seen what they are bred to do: they actually need huge amounts of exercise and they love to "work" - as in sheep herding, etc. - which they don't get much of as city-dogs.  But, I am not a supporter of animal rights - and I don't think dogs should have the same rights as humans!  This is an important point of clarification early on with animal rights activists.

2.  Most animal rights activists with whom I have spoken, are generally unaware of the broader issues surrounding biodiversity, ecology, ecological footprints and sustainability.  I usually encourage them to kick-start their broadened education by reading the international Convention on Biological Diversity.  In the case where animal rights activists do adopt scientific language, and refer to academic research, I have found that they often end up in similar territory to that which I have observed is occupied by representatives of groups such as climate-change deniers whose funding may be somehow linked to the lobbyists for big oil: their use of the primary and secondary literature is highly selective and biased.

3. There are many inconsistencies between the words and actions of animal rights activists.  Apart from the usual questions that I have, such as, why focus on seals and not cockroaches(?), I have observed that many animal rights activists are quick to accuse others of being disrespectful to them, but are, themselves, very comfortable with making extreme public statements attacking other people's values - such as "shooting a deer is barbaric".  I firmly believe that all voices and views must be brought to the table when it comes to considering sustainability, but, this does not absolve those voices from being held accountable for rude, disruptive and disrespectful behaviour.  Additionally, as an academic, I tend to pay rather less attention to uninformed, idealogically-driven, extreme opinions than to informed, nuanced opinions that take account of grey areas.

Dawn R. Bazely

Sleeping Children Around the World: a sustainable charity

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In a meeting last week, a colleague challenged me that not all academic research is related to sustainability.  "Not so!" I declared. "Sure, you can do very tightly, and narrowly focused research on a very specific topic, that clearly has nothing to do with sustainability. BUT, the minute that you broaden the focus, relate it to the real world and give it an applied aspect, some kind of sustainability facet will, undoubtedly, emerge."  Being me, I then challenged him to name ANY topic of science-based research, and I described the sustainability-aspect of the research.

So - what about SUSTAINABLE charities?  Well, yesterday, I attended the opening of Parkdale Collegiate Institute's 120th Anniversary celebrations.  Parkdale CI is the second oldest high school in Toronto.  After rushing back to Toronto from field work, measuring trees, to make hummus for the school's International Buffet, I checked out various classroom displays.  I was delighted to learn that the school fundraises for the charity, Sleeping Children Around the World.  I had heard about this charity, but did not know anything about them.  The first thing that caught my eye, is that they have zero overhead.  The first question that we have trained our kids to ask of charities, is: "what's your administrative overhead" (my husband works for a charity).  For $35, children are provided with a bed kit - pillow, blanket, malaria netting, if needed, some basic utensils and school supplies, all locally-sourced.  It's all volunteer-driven - no big corporate structure, and is my kind of low-tech, low-budget enterprise that has proven staying power - or sustainability!

That's not to say that the goals of some charities require what may amount to a relatively large and expensive infrastructure to meet their goals.  This is especially true if the goal of their charities is to call for change on a very large scale that requires them to engage with the top levels of well-funded government bureaucrats and international corporations.  It's really important for everyone to understand what kind of activities in this regard, the organizations that they might be supporting, are engaging in.

But, what SCAW mainly demonstrates is how much can be achieved with a little and just how sustainable an idea like this can be.

Dawn R. Bazely

Obesity adds to global warming – but where’s the paper?

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The reason why I found blogging so tough to sustain, was that I could not overcome my urge to check into every last detail, and the time needed to fact-check my blogs was getting way out of hand. Here's one hitherto unpublished blog: last May, 2008, the Globe & Mail's Life section had an article about the research of Dr. Phil Edwards, Senior Lecturer, and Prof. Ian Roberts, at the prestigious London School of Hygeine & Tropical Medicine. Basically, the Globe (along with other media outlets, including the USA's MSNBC site, CNN and the UK's Daily Telegraph) carried the story, entitled "Obesity adds to global warming", about the research that describes how obese and overweight people "require more fuel to transport them and the food they eat", and then makes the link between this and the greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, that is driving climate change. I interpreted this as leaving me with the following take home sustainability message - "eat less and lose weight, and not just for for your own health, but for the environment."

This reported research finding illustrates two really important things about the pain of peer-reviewed research: As scientists, we often take years to show that intuitive ideas and guesses do hold. There are no surprises about this particular result - it takes more energy to move heavy goods (you pay more for it at the post office). BUT - I am more likely to take this finding seriously because it comes from academics who have published their research through the highly-scrutinized peer-review process. This is known as "publish or perish" and it's what makes university-based research more reliable than non-refereed, unscrutinized research.

The second thing, is that as a scientist, it's not enough for me to read about this in the newspaper. I immediately went to access The Lancet, the prestigious journal in which the study was published. And this is where the fun began. First, I could not find any such article in the latest on-line issue, which I accessed through the York University Library. So, I searched the entire contents of the journal. I found a just-published article called "Transport Policy is Food Policy" by the two authors, which I thought MUST be the journal paper that all the media outlets were referring to. BUT, the download link to the pdf was wrong and it gave me another article (this does occasionally happen with on-line science journals). After a bit more persistence, I DID get the article, which turns out not to be a full journal article, but an item of correspondence. Hmm - I wonder what the review process is for 'correspondence'?

Next I found, by googling a bit more, that there are numerous peer-reviewed journal articles making the links between greenhouse gas emissions, food transportation policy and obesity. Wow - I had no idea that this was such an academic issue. Next, I read some articles that quote a bunch of US Academics who counter the point of the Edwards & Robert's paper.  Wow, this could have taken the entire weekend to research, so, in the end I gave up my Saturday morning blogging in frustration at the time sink I was turning it into, and grabbed another cup of coffee. Next time someone asks me exactly how the kind of thinking that I do about sustainability differs from non-professorial sustainability thinkers, I will direct them to this blog.

Dawn Bazely

Save The Walrus – by reading and subscribing to it

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We have just decided to do our little bit, and to renew our family subscription to The Walrus magazine, which has been in financial peril, as far as I can tell, since its inception. This is very unfortunate, because it has some of the most thoughtful, in-depth writing about sustainability issues to be found anywhere in Canada, and, indeed, in the world.  For example, the article on urban agriculture, The Future Has Begun in Jan-Feb 2009 is excellent. When I look at our attempt at an urban eco-garden - note the clothes line, upside-down tomato planters, beans, peppers, many herbs, composter (rat-free, this time, we hope), rain barrel, and lots of native plants, aimed at encouraging insects - I believe that it is significant that I don't see this replicated much, if at all, in my neighbourhood. In Toronto, we have a very long way to go compared with Havana, Cuba, and The Walrus can help us along the way. Please think about supporting it.

Dawn R. Bazely

PS Update in September 2010 - I just renewed my Walrus subscription AGAIN and gave it as gift to Annette Dubreuil

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