The two best coffee table books on sustainability?

Published May 14, 2008 by dbazely

My colleague, Prof. Larry Licht (see p. 9), is retiring, so I was dispatched by the chair of Biology to assist with gift buying. I had suggested that Larry, who is not just a herpetologist (that's a frog and general green-thing expert), but also interested in conservation and various other causes, might appreciate one of the crop of great books that vividly illustrate the link between environment, people and sustainability.

Paul Marmer, who just got back from a year in Mongolia came with me, to pick up a copy of Hungry Planet, by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Alusio (2005). But, we were also very tempted by Earth from Above by Yann Arthus-Bertrand (2001), which I knew about from an outdoor photography exhibit in London, UK. The latter is pricey, at nearly $70, but is unbelievably gorgeous, and if you need some guilt to go with your enjoyment, visit Arthus-Bertrand's GoodPlanet.org website, and read my blog on your March Break Ecological Footprint. Paul and I spent a lot of time debating which one to get since the budget did not stretch to both.

There are lots of text-heavy books on sustainability and the environment. But the fact is that a picture is still worth a thousand words. Both of these books will get MOST people to THINK about their ecological footprint, and that's always the first step. BUT, both books are engaging and not overly preachy. These are not straight environmental, nature books. They are much more than that. Ideally, we shouldn't be giving each other gifts of more stuff at all.

BUT, if you are looking for something for Father's Day, either of these would be well-received by most dads. The slightly less expensive 365 days of Earth from Above and the paperback version of Hungry Planet are in the $30-$40 price range.

Dawn Bazely and Paul Marmer

Composting at Home

Published May 14, 2008 by iris_author

As more and more municipalities introduce green bin programs to reduce the amount of organic waste entering landfills there is also an increase in consumer options for household composting units. Besides the conventional outdoor composters there has been an increase in indoor composters available for apartment dwellers that do not have access to municipal compost programs. These products range in size, level of work involved, costs, and how they compost the organic matter. All things organic is a website with a wide range of compost products and information on how to start your own home composting. The site also contains troubleshooting information on how to avoid getting odours and fruit flies. Household composting reduces your own household waste while providing you with organic soil for your plants or gardens thereby avoiding having to purchase potting soil elsewhere. If you still are not convinced watch this YouTube video on the Nature Mill an indoor small odourless household composting unit that uses heat not worms to break down the organic material. If you decide to take the leap to household composting you will not regret it. Another way we can all reduce our impact on the natural environment.

Solar water heaters take off in China

Published May 14, 2008 by iris_author

Solar water heaters have been around for many decades now, but it has only been in the last few years that the technology has begun to escape the domain of specialized international development projects and alternative energy conventions.

Cost effective in southern climes where they are becoming increasingly popular in rural areas, solar water heaters are also coming into vogue in the north, where financial incentives in some jurisdictions are subsidizing the high start up costs that accrue due to the additional technical requirements for winter weather. When the savings in zero emissions and zero energy consumption are factored in, the technology becomes a vital weapon in the fight against climate change.

Recently, China has joined Israel and Spain as one of the countries where this technology is wildly popular. Indeed, the price of basic models in China has dropped considerably, going for about a fifth of the price in the West. China's advance is also seen in the improved technology that allows heaters to continue to function under adverse weather conditions. However, even this affordability has its competitors as pictured to the right with the beer bottle powered contraption invented by a carpenter in China' rural hinterland.

In the video clip below, the New Scientist visits the Chinese coastal city of Rizhao where solar heaters are being used to supplement electrical heaters:

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If you'd like more information on solar water heating systems, the Canadian government maintains a resource page that may be of help for the Canadian context.

Canadians come second to last in green consumer survey

Published May 13, 2008 by iris_author

Check this link to a CBC news item that places us second to last in a fourteen-nation survey of green consumer choices. Conducted by the polling firm GlobeScan for the National Geographic Society, the Greendex confirms Canada's enormous per capita ecological footprint as represented most visibly in our large homes and car culture when compared to countries like Brazil, China, and India.

However, the findings of the survey are somewhat too obvious. We are either the top or second highest consumers of powers in the world, fueled by both our general affluence and our cold climate. A more accurate ranking of Canada's progress can be made by comparing us to Scandinavian countries (although, they are obviously far in advance of our American-influenced high consumption lifestyle).

Still, useful information can be gleaned from the survey of 14,000 individuals that weighs both extent footprints and consumer intent. You can likewise calculate your own score from the survey web site.

Essential listening on why we buy stuff – CBC’s The Age of Persuasion

Published May 11, 2008 by dbazely

The superb CBC radio series, The Age of Persuasion, hosted by Terry O'Reilly, is essential listening for everyone interested in Sustainability. There is an unofficial podcast.

This series introduces us to the world of advertising. In the past 100+ years, advertising has been encouraging us to consume more. It seems to me that if sustainability is about getting people in North America to consume less, then we need to harness the know-how of the advertising industry to help us here.

In 2003, the Canadian per capita Ecological Footprint was 7.6 global hectares per person, while that of people in many African and Asian countries was under 1 global hectare per person. So, that means that I am the equivalent of 8 people from those countries, in terms of what I consume - wood, metal, water, hydro. HOMEWORK for sustainable shopping is to read WWF International's 2006 Living Planet Report. In 1999, I started using the Living Planet Reports to teach my second-year Ecology class, BIOLOGY 2050, about ecological footprints. The 1998 report was only available in hard copy. The idea of the ecological footprint is very clearly explained in these excellent reports in which the data are pulled from many international government sources and vetted by various experts.

Dawn Bazely

Politically correct coffee grounds & sustainability Part 2

Published May 8, 2008 by dbazely

While on a coffee break from doing field work in London, Ontario, I was amazed to discover Starbucks' innovative programme in which they make their used coffee grounds available for people to put on their gardens. This is local resident and teacher, Trish Robertson, who told me that she really does use the grounds in her condo planters on a regular basis! While we don't see this in Toronto, presumably because municipal composting is available (I will be checking into this), in places like London, this programme must be diverting huge amounts of beans from landfill. I'd love to know the numbers on this and where all those other coffee grounds from other coffee shops are ending up. (Hello students - this would be a great research project...).

What's more, Starbucks even has a World Water Day link on their website. And, their business cards are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled material. Okay, okay, now I am beginning to feel bludgeoned by their sustainability initiatives. I take my hat off to them for their innovative leadership in both upstream and downstream coffee operations (I learned that term from my studies on oil and gas pipelines). I AM going to ask them more about the tons of coffee grounds that they need to dispose of at the end of each day. Many thanks to Michael and Lena at the Starbucks for their patience and enthusiasm in answering my questions.
Dawn Bazely

Politically correct coffee & sustainability Part 1

Published May 8, 2008 by dbazely

First off, I admit that I drink coffee, and if you do too, then Black Gold - "a film about coffee and trade" is essential viewing. Below is the trailer for this very hot doc.

In my home, we have been buying what I call politically correct coffee beans (fair trade etc.) for a very long time (over 20 years), and in the last 12 years, our beans have come from Alternative Grounds in Toronto. But, when it comes to coffee on-the-go, like loads of people, I tend to buy it from one of the large chains - Tim's, Starbucks, Timothy's, Second Cup etc. Given Canadian's strong devotion to drinking coffee, I thought I'd check in on how the BIG FOUR purveyors of coffee to Ontarians are doing in terms of leading us all towards more ethical coffee drinking. (Sure, there are other coffee chains, but in Toronto, and much of Ontario, these predominate).

Right off the bat, I applaud Timothy's for their collaboration around sustainable coffee with York's very own Las Nubes Centre for Tropical Conservation and Research. Starbucks is also right up there on ethical beans, especially in Ethiopia, as can been seen from the trailer at the end of this post. Tim Horton's has a webpage about its sustainable coffee partnerships in Guatemala, Columbia and Brazil but there's no specific mention made of the fair-trade or shade-grown concepts (though reforestation is mentioned). Hmm - this page raises more questions than it answers for me. Second Cup has a pledge "to work in harmony with both the environment and people". Since I spend loads of money at the Second Cup on York's campus, I can see that I will soon be quizzing the owner about this "pledge".

Obviously, it's now pretty much de rigeur for the big Ontario coffee chains to make at least some sustainability and fair-trade type of coffee statements about the start of a coffee bean's life (but, there still appears to be room for lots of improvement in this area at some of them).

But, can the sustainability at the end of a coffee bean's life-cycle also be improved? The answer is, quite simply, yes. To find out what, see Part 2 of this series.

Now, the next thing is for all of these companies to use biodegradable cups. Lots of independent coffee and tea shops are on the Greenshift, Toronto list, but it's not clear if it's because they are all using these compostable cups.

Dawn Bazely

Environmentalism at York

Published May 7, 2008 by iris_author

I have spent the last 5 months at IRIS engaged in the recent carbon offsetting initiatives at the University. My role has been to design and conduct a survey to gauge knowledge and attitudes of members of the York community on issues around carbon offsetting, climate change, and York initiatives. This has been a long and exciting process, in which I would like to thank other members of IRIS and the volunteers that helped us out. In the IRIS news section of this site is a post with information about the most significant results from the survey. Hopefully these results and the precedent set by the bookstore being able to purchase carbon offsets from Zerofootprint for the production of course kits will lead to a watershed of other initiatives at the University. The feedback from respondents to this survey shows that members of the York community are willing to help to make a difference in making not only York's campus more sustainable, but outside the university as well. If the results of this survey and a recent Harris/Decima poll on Canadian environmental opinions and values tell us anything it is that the environment and "green" are not just the flavour of the month but a deep and necessary societal transition.

The truth about remote Scotland – a reply to Rural Scotland Regenerates

Published May 3, 2008 by dbazely

I honed the observation techniques for my PhD thesis, which was on sheep grazing behaviour, sitting on a hill in Shetland. Over the decades, I have either visited or spent extended periods of times in most of the more remote parts - Highlands and Islands - of Scotland. So, I'd like to give an alternative view of Scotland and the sunny days and gorgeous views shown in the Al-Jazeera video about land ownership.

The video, described in Rajiv's blog on Rural Scotland, is definitely worth watching. It's pretty bang on in its explanation of the incredibly archaic, feudal system of land ownership that still prevails in Scotland, and which led, among other things to the Highland clearances. At the time, the clearances were often regarded as a violation of human rights. While there WERE other contributing factors there were also many clear examples of gross mismanagement by greedy landlords who forcibly herded their tenants on to emigration ships so as to make way for sheep.
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