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400,000 honeybees arrive at the Empress Hotel on May 26. Kama Silva is the super chef behind this initiative; the honeybees come from Surrey BC apiarist John Gibeau. Victoria honey will soon be served with high tea in the Empress’ tea rooms. Kudos to Fairmont Empress for sustainability, they also partner with Ocean Wise for sustainable seafood. I have a soft spot for the Empress - back in the mists of time I was one of their tour guides for the renovation. Picture courtesy of Surrey’s Honey Bee Centre

Tom Pederson (exec of Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions) gave his climate talk at Uvic last night. He is so easy to listen to - we get the science and stats in lay persons talk - we get solutions that are supportable. PICS works with politicians to find climate solutions even when PICS findings are contrary to government policies. So you ask, what are these solutions then? The biggy is to sell BC hydro power (from the wacky dam - Bennett’s) eastwards instead of southwards - to Alberta and Saskatchewan so that those provinces can get rid of coal power. Our hydro electricity would enable those provinces to use wind power (the windiest parts of Canada) with hydro power picking up the slack. We heard about the ethanol scandal - corn grown in southern US for ethanol needs added nitrates which poison the Gulf of Mexico thus neutralizing any advantage to replacing Arabian oil with home grown ethanol. PIC’s studies are freely available on their website at the University of Victoria.
Andrew Weaver of UVic’s team at Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC) - not to be confused with PICS. They are researching climate systems that, in part, will determine how much water will be available in the future for BC Hydro Electricity.
How lucky are we that these two scientists, working at the University of Victoria can influence BC politicians to do the ‘right’ thing for our ‘eearth’.

The Recycle2shop sewing room generates a lot of fabric cuttings, sew (OMG a pun) there is no way that goes to landfill. Fabric makes great pathways - cutting down (another pun - groan) on weeds as well as keeping feet dry.

The material gradually breaks down, while new fabric leftovers just keep getting added.

Annie Leonard and The Story of Stuff Project made this great little video that reveals the real story of trash.

There are more recent videos on the Story of Stuff website that explore more of what happens to our electronics and plastics. Annie advises us to take care of our gadgets - make them last, don’t replace them.

My hero Tom Pederson - Victoria’s Eco Warrior - the guy just keeps fighting to help the Earth survive human depradation.
Victoria’s Dr. Thomas Pederson of the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions - PICS - while visiting Saskatoon (as reported in the Star Phoenix) spoke about research into an east-west energy grid from BC to the prairie provinces. “B.C. gets 95% of its energy from hydro. Alberta relies on coal and gas for 90% of its energy. It is right next door to the third largest battery in the world, the W.A.C. Bennett Dam but there is no line to Alberta.” PICS is suggesting that hydro energy could support the conversion to wind power in Alberta and Saskatchewan. With Japan’s nuclear tragedy still playing out is it time for us to support these energy initiatives?
Pederson has also helped to bring Dr. John Mashey of DeSmogBlog to talk at UVic on Thursday night, 7.30 Bob Wright Centre, Rm B150. Mashey will unravel the web spun by the ‘Science Deniers’ and the climate change cover-up. He is in Vancouver tonight April 6, 7:30 p.m. in Theatre C300 at UBC Robson Square, 800 Robson Street.

PPR - the French conglomerate parenting Stella McCartney, Gucci, Puma, Yves St Laurent et al - has announced a sustainability program and will offset its 2010 carbon footprint. Now this is a good thing of course, but why start with revamping the Puma cardboard shoe box? Cardboard is a perfect recycling material - it can even be composted in our back garden pile. Puma has substituted a mix of plastic and cardboard and is calling it a revolution in packaging…does ‘Emperor’ and ‘new clothes’ come to mind here? The packaging is a lovely red colour though.

Keep your home clean with products that do not cause harm (anything with ‘parfum’ in the list of ingredients means chemicals).  Lavender and Tea Tree oils are anti bacterial and that’s all the ‘perfume’ you need, along with vinegar and lemon juice.  Here are some magic ingredients  for your green clean.

Toilet Cleaner: Mix equal amounts of washing soda with baking soda (or even better, Borax), sprinkle on the surface,  scrub and flush then add vinegar and let stand.

Fabric Softener: Just add 1/2 cup vinegar to final rinse.

Carpet Stains: Sprinkle baking soda, rub in and let sit for one hour.  Scrub and then vacuum.

Oven Cleaner: Mix baking soda and water into a paste, apply and leave for one hour.  Scrub and rinse.

Check out more info in ‘eco tips’.

Yes, according to SmartPlanet Google has invested in a California company Transphorm to make electric car batteries more efficient.  Here’s hoping when they are successful Victoria Car Share Coop can afford to buy an electric car for us.

Fabulous flowers from Craftstylish contributor.  This site is chocablock with patterns and directions for crafty projects using recycled ’stuff’.

The doggy coat from a wool vest is too cute and comes with easy instructions and pictures.  More support here for Zero Waste - proving that nothing needs to go to landfill.

Crafters spend the entire winter coming up with new designs ready for summer markets.  Here is one of my new designs - shoulder bags with adjustable, from hip to under arm, straps.  There are pockets inside and out, of course.   The strap is about 50″ long to start with, the bag bit is about 15×11″.

One of my favorite markets, the Sunday Government Street Artisan Market may be moving to Centennial Square - fabulous location!  Our (vendors) first market day is usually at the end of April.

Elsewhere in this garden city, that is under a foot of snow (what global warming??) University of Victoria’s Francis Zwiers has confirmed that the planet’s crazy weather (my words, not his) is caused by our determination to continue burning fossil fuels aka gas gussling and increasing industrial pollution.  Those pesky carbon emissions that make us act like ostriches, that Al Gore tried to educate us about, that desmogblog makes deniers foam at the mouth about…were was I going with this - oh yes,  my favorite rant…oh well, breathe and imagine an exclamation mark.