recycle2shop.com

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 Tyee News tells us of The Mother who started Mothers Day:

Say firmly:
“We will not have great questions decided
by irrelevant agencies
Our husbands shall not come to us,
reeking with carnage, for caresses and
applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to
unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them
of charity, mercy and patience.
We women of one country will be too
tender of those of another
country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure
theirs.”
From the bosom of the devastated earth
a voice goes up with our own.
It says “Disarm, Disarm! The sword of
murder is not the balance of justice.”
(from Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation, 1870)

Our first day in Centennial Square Sunday Market was a celebratory May Day full of sunshine and Victorians. Our best seller was the Eco Chic Tara bag, with the GreenJean Aprons a close second. It was great to welcome back home town customers and to meet up with vendor friends from last year.

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.

Don’t you just love that YouTube? This one was uploaded by ‘makemagazine’ in 2008.

Just remember to put the plastic into the recycling when the project’s life is done.

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.

You have to watch this clever video/idea from Quebec: