Public Transit

I was finally offered an opportunity to interview for a position that I had been waiting for. YAY - however, the only opening for said interview was at 8.45 am. I have sold my car and it is winter here and I want to make the best choice for transit (environmentally) that I can. So I weighed the costs and decided that the bus was my best option.
This sounds like it may have been a simple activity - weighing the costs.... it wasn't. It never is!!
Late November on the prairies is always cold. This week was very cold (even the locals are making comments!!). Cold is not a problem if you dress correctly, and don't get stuck outside. Both of these realities were challenged by my situation. Taking the bus means waiting around outside and presenting appropriately dressed for an interview means that dressing in a snow suit is probably out of the question (however, taking a change of clothes would be ok).
Then there is the bus service itself. I have to admit that I was pretty much a beginner when it came to taking the bus. I used to do it as a kid - when the bus pulled up to my driveway and conveniently dropped me at the school gate. I used to do it when I was a teenager - with all the other kids, eager to escape boarding school, looking for adventure in the city on a Saturday morning! I did it last time I lived in a city - to get to work. However this was the fourth choice of five other transport options - fifth being driving my own car (First = riding my bike. Second = taking the train, Third = getting a lift with a colleague). I didn't like the bus because I always fell over when using it. The stops and starts were rough and there were always so many people on there (so I usually stood... therefore fell!!).
Additionally, I was forced to take long bus trips to get home for school holidays. This always meant feeling ill for four hours at a time and combined with dread at returning to school I guess I conditioned myself to hate long bus trips. Busses... yuck. So recently (as in earlier this year) I decided it was time to toughen up. I took a bus trip to a meeting three hours (by car) away. And what did I find... well I had a wonderful trip. I slept comfortably, read and listened to pod-casts, arriving happy and healthy. No illness, no tiredness from driving and no huge footprint (and the cost of the return trip was fine - cheaper than the car). So I did it again and again.... each time it got better and better. I was cured!! YAY
So now it was back to using the bus - it really was my only option. And believe me I checked... I can’t ride a bike in the icy snow (sure some folks can - but I cant... must be something to do with growing up in freezing winters). There is no commuter train in my new city. I couldn't get a lift as no one else was going to my interview - I checked! And I don't have a car - anymore!
OK - so the bus it is!! So where to begin...
I had recently learned that I could check the schedule online. Convenient! I checked it out. Hey this was simple. Nice and quick and forced me to be sure about where I was heading. It also forced me to be considerate of the time it would take to travel. Conscious travelling is like conscious eating. It takes time... slow travel movement here we come!
I had to get my head around the "issues" I had with travelling on the bus. I would need to get up extra early to be ready in time and not rushing. I would have to be time aware so that I was not waiting outside for too long (important consideration in winter). I would have to get out my winter woolies and dress appropriately (and for all possibilities - like if the bus was late and I needed to be out for an extra half an hour). And I needed to consider how to get home now.
There were still some unknowns that I had to "allow" for. I didn't know how much the trip would cost. Was there a student rate? I didn't know if the bus would be on time. I didn't know how long it would take. I wasn't sure if the route the online service had chosen for me really was the best.
So I did it.
I found out that the busses do run on time. They are super warm inside and bus shelters really are good windbreaks. The route was not the best - I discovered this by looking at a paper schedule and map - I now have these documents to help me out with my next big adventure. The bus driver was helpful and let me off at the right place so that I could walk the rest of the way - much quicker than veering off in the opposite direction to have to then catch the other bus that comes back. I could get all the way there on one fare (as long as it didn't take longer than an hour and a bit) - and that if I went to my student guild at university I could get special student passes (10 trips for 40c cheaper).
So now I am all set.
My next challenge is to see if I can get everywhere I need to go via public transport. I have to keep challenging myself to not say no to an invitation/event because it is difficult to get to (ie: not here on campus) and to not accept lifts all the time. If I cant use public transport - why not? Is the service not good enough in this city? If not, what can I do about it?
Personal action is important - but that doesn't just mean keeping my actions to myself. How can I empower others to lower their transport footprint? I might have to lobby for changes to the systems so that it is easier for others to use and how will I know what needs changing if I am not out there testing it out!!
The busses are going anyway!!

Groceries...

Recently I have made some significant changes in how I am choosing to live... here is another one... where I buy my groceries! I have sold my car, moved into a very high density living situation and sustained a vegetarian lifestyle all in the last three months. The next step feel like I need to (re)consider where I purchase my groceries. Actually, I had asked a friend to drive me to the shops for a quick stock up as I had just returned from an extended time away and it was while trying to decide which shop to utilize that I was challenged. It seemed that my suggestion of Safeway was considered a bad one. "I don’t think Safeway is Canadian owned - I am shocked you would support a large US conglomerate." Fair call. I had considered this previously... however out of familiarity and convenience I continued to shop at Safeway.

I had recently travelled around Western Canada and the US with my parents and we found new, wonderful Safeway shops in most larger towns/cities. Safeway is obviously a conglomerate, and doing very well! I can now walk into any Safeway and find what I need very quickly. Surely time and convenience is important when shopping? And I know the quality of the product is ok. Well I THINK it is... but, actually I don’t really know. I also don’t really know a lot of things that it should be my right, in fact, my necessity to know...
1: I don’t know what my money actually pays for? Are the profits used for good?
2: I don’t know where my money actually goes? Is the shop locally owned, or at least Canadian?
3: I don’t know how my food is transported to the store? Does it come from hundreds of miles away?
4: I don’t know if the packaging around my items is minimal? Is the packaging particularly harmful?
5: I don’ know if there have been chemicals used in the production of my items?
6: I don’t know if the labour used to create my items has been adequately compensated?
7: I don’t know what happens to the excesses (and the MUST be excesses) from the shop?
8: I don’t know the production methods used in creating my items? Are they best practice (and by that I mean environmentally sustainable)?

Of course some of this information is available on the individual items. And I spend time looking for it - and it often takes time. I also find that where there is a choice of products (and the usually is) it takes a lot of time to compare and contrast the relevant virtues of one product over another...

So, am I am informed shopper? I do know what I would prefer (local, chemical free, sustainably produced, appropriately (as in fairly) priced, and minimally packaged items bought from a locally owned, community, and sustainability conscious and ACTIVE shop). And it is very hard to find that.

At this point it is fair to note that I do choose to live in a Prairie province, and I feel like I should say "so what do I expect" or "well, we do the best we can!". But I do expect - great things... and I want to do better - much better, because we all should expect our food, the very nourishment of our bodies, our temples, our beings to be healthy for me and for my home - the environment.

So I came back to work and began researching. I took out a map and located all of the possible grocery shops within a reasonable circumference from where I live. Please note that reasonable was determined by the location of the shops, not by how far I would like to travel to a shop. Remember I am now on foot...

Once I had a list of shopping options, I began to do a web search for thing said by and about each shopping company. I discovered that I had some big decisions to make... mostly because the information was not easy to come by (SURPRISE!). Once again I was left to spending time comparing and contrasting the relevant virtues of my selected shops.

If I was to make a recommendation on the information at hand I would have to say that my instincts (lead by familiarity and convenience) were right. Safeway began in the US and although it is a large conglomerate it does much to ameliorate this fact. It shops locally, where possible, it employs locals, it gives back to the local communities, it says they are conscious of packaging and food production. At least the Safeway marketers are aware of the right things to say. That is more than I can say for Extra Foods and Sobeys.

In fact, the closest shop to me has just been over taken by Sobeys and converted into a gourmet shop. Now I can purchase pre-prepared meals... oh joy! That takes me one step further AWAY from being more responsible for what I put into my body!

However, all is not lost. I have recently discovered that my university student union is a drop off point for "Good Food Boxes".
Excerpt from the website... "The Students' Union participates in the Good Food Box Program as a neighborhood drop-off site. Good Food Box orders are delivered to the Students' Union every two weeks. All you have to do to participate in the program is come up to the Students' Union Front Desk and purchase one of the Good Food Box options. Good Food Box order cut-off dates and drop-off dates can be found in the Students' Union Calendar or at the Front Desk. Each neighborhood drop-off site has a volunteer coordinator who collects and advance payment for the box. U of R students' can do this at the Students' Union Front Desk (Second floor - Dr. William Riddell Centre Building). We select only top-quality produce to be included in the box, considering freshness, variety, nutrition and ensuring the best food dollar value for our customers. The produce is delivered farm fresh to our warehouse and volunteers help us pack it on the same morning that it is received. Our drivers then immediately deliver the boxes to a network of volunteer-run community drop-offs. The volunteer coordinator takes delivery of the box, ready for you to pick up, and holds the recyclable boxes for our collection. The Good Food Box is an initiative of the Regina Food Security Project, Regina Education and Action on Child Hunger, City of Regina Social Development Division, Regina and District Food Bank, Saskatchewan Social Services."

So, I excitedly wait to test this option out and to make the necessary comparisons. Yes it will take more research, but then... it always does!!

Sustainable Living

Accommodation is one of the most difficult considerations in personal sustainability practice. Usually because where and how we choose to live is affected by many factors. Are you single, already a home owner, considering proximity to particular places (shopping, school, entertainment) and the availability of public transport? I have chosen to (re)investigate my previously held conceptions and to consciously trouble my decisions regarding how I live.

Since coming to this country I have chosen to live in shared accommodation. This was a radical personal decision as during the last 10 years I have lived on my own and in properties I have owned (and renovated). This decision was initiated by fear about surviving such scary winters and fear about not having enough money to afford large rent. I had been unemployed (consciously) for the previous 12 months (while traveling) and I was moving to a new country to become a full-time international student (expensive in itself).

It seems that both fears were unfounded as the winters were manageable (with that appropriate knowledge and gear) and I was adequately employed and cared for by the university therefore, I received a fair student income. However, I continued to seek shared accommodation, renting a room in family homes. I guess there was an added bonus of feeling (almost) like I was part of the family while being so removed from my own.

This summer I decided to continue to test my conceptions and I took on a series of house sitting opportunities. And boy, do I mean a series... 3 weeks here (with a big brown lab - oh joy... a dog again!!), one week there - just to fill in, another week here and then three weeks there (with an old ill cat??) and then the final month and a half in a house in a small rural community.

But what was I was actually troubling? Perhaps I was just resisting paying rent! In the end the monetary saving may have been good, but I soon discovered that the "costs" were not totally offset. The time spent finding out about, getting used to, caring for, looking after, cleaning and leaving little thank yous was significant. The constant moving was energy sapping and potentially stressful. How much should we "value" our time and energy?

Additionally, there is something to be said for having a home to come "home" to. Yes, it is certainly a luxury, but a fundamental one that most humans are able to provide for themselves and their families. Shelter, after all, is one of the 4 requirements of vertebrates (along with food, water, and air).

So what is it that I am railing against? Why do I not just go and rent an apartment, buy a condo, build house? I now know how to survive a winter. I am reasonably financially secure. It was time to look outside the box for a solution that would meet my sustainability talk and my desire to have a home.

Consequently, I have been looking to purchase a property with a community of colleagues with the "soul" purpose of exploring how to live sustainably in mainstream society. And what a ride. I have spoken to many of my friends and colleagues and most agree that it is a worthy notion. I have looked at properties in the central city area, and investigated a few. I even got quite close to purchasing a property with a couple I know.

This particular property was in the ideal location, had a great aspect, was 97 years old, was large enough and had wonderful karma/ambiance (having been a vegetarian restaurant in the past). However, it required considerable renovations (currently there was no bathroom). After significant time attempting to find a contractor to even take my call I realized that this is not the time to be even considering renovations in this city. With the current housing boom (and boy do I mean boom) every renovator worth his salt has a message on their phone stating that they will not be quoting on new jobs for the next 2 months.

So what to do... What are the options? Wait for the contractors. Keep looking till we find the perfect (non instant renovation needing) property. Settle for "that apartment". What else is outside the box. How do I live with the smallest ecological footprint with specific regard to my accommodation, and still provide the basics of shelter and sanity/happiness for myself.

What is it that I need:

• small floor footage per person
  
• energy and resource conservation measures FULLY implemented through out the building
  
• access to transport or convenience to the university and shopping
• low financial costs
• a healthy place for mind, body and soul
• a garden and space to be outside in the sun and under a tree (yes a luxury - but this IS a wish list)
• windows to allow sun into the house (triple glass and energy rated)

and that is about it... I want to be able to make decisions about where I live based on sustainability, health and happiness. I want to remove myself from the clutches of the economically driven devils. I want there to be options for me, in terms of places that fit these criteria. And as there are not, at least not in this city, I feel the need to create these opportunities. To lead the way to re-establish the criteria for appropriate accommodation choices. To live well!

In the Summertime - ooooo oooo

Due to crazy hemisphere swapping, I have not managed to put my body through a summer of any significance in 3 years. This is not great... however, I have just experienced my first Canadian HOT day. It got up to a cool "feels like" 40 degrees C today!! Nice!!

Summer in the northern hemisphere is different, what can I say... very different. I like hot weather anywhere though, I have recently discovered. I used to think that I loved cold weather - cos you can ALWAYS get warm... however, a Canadian winter or two cured me of that erroneous belief. I suspect this might just be the "other side is always greener" syndrome!!

I visited some friends out of town the other day and I was reminded about how energizing getting outside the city is for me. Green fields, flowering canola crops, green trees and water - everywhere! And space - the prairies certainly do space well... and I am growing a healthy appreciation for/of it.

I have taken to cycling and running again - so I am actually outside quite a bit. I also garden, albeit in pots... so I do feel in tune with the seasons a little. However, while I remain inside the cement jungle I seem to turn off, become cool, rigid, and hard only to be reignited upon escape of the city limits into the open air where I can breath and relax and feel.

I am reading environmental ethics and loving it. I have found a home in the theory here. A language to utilize as my own. I am hoping to uncover/recover some of my ontological and epistemological ways providing an understanding about my beliefs and passions. An interest in personal sustainability activism is providing me with a useful "position" as I us these ideas and this language to explore/challenge/change my own practices.

Along with school is a healthy amount of play time... I am off to Cyprus Hills this weekend. Check it out http://www.pbase.com/dmcnichol/cyprus_hills This is what I am in for... I can not think of a preferred location (in north america) for reading and pondering environmental ethics!!

So wish me well this weekend. Wish me: blue skies, warm breezes, flowering perennials, rolling grasslands, shady coulée's of trees, deer running the right way, elk standing majestically, satiated bears and maybe, if I am very good a chorus of Coyotes!!

And have a goodie yourself!!

Recycling...

Recycling is one of the greatest social movements of the twenty first century... Everyone does it, thinks about doing it, or feels bad for not doing it. But is it a scam, a fir fie, a misnomer?

Firstly, recycling is actually the third action in the series of three...reduce, reuse, recycle! Yet we seem to forget about the importance of this trilogy.
1: If we reduce, there is less waste to be concerned with - a very important and fundamental issue for our heavily consumeristic society - a major initiative in itself.
2: If from what we have still purchased, after reducing, we reuse then there is less waste to be concerned with...
3: the final activity is, of course, recycling. And, yes, we seem to be quite ok with that. As long as there are programs or organizations happy to help us dispose of our waste in a feel good way.

However...
1: we don't reduce - I see gross amounts of packaging on the simplest of products. Even to purchase vegetables some people put them in plastic bags and then load them into plastic bags to get them home... and then store them in plastic bags and cook them in plastic containers and ... this is not good. Plastic is not the inert compound we think it is (more on this soon). And that is just the packaging... what about simple reducing the amount of goods purchased?

2: we don't reuse much - I see some efforts in elementary schools where some items are "handy" for art etc... but big time reusing... well again if the packaging is plastic - it is difficult to find an appropriate use for it (especially around food).

3: recycling - making money, energy costs to recycling the product, environmental impacts of recycling products... transport costs to recycling plants, storage of recycled product... all of these elements have an impact...

I am not saying that we shouldn't recycle, just that we need to practice all three actions - in the correct order and keep conscious as to the full implications of each step taken.

Another New Year and another fresh start...

So - I am back again and I have another, very different, plan...

After a week of presentations about the new (and rather exciting) Web 2.0 technologies I have reformulated my blog mission. I have been wondering for a while now, how I might best manage my academic musings; my environmental concerns and observations and my research needs and desires. A blog... this is the answer - for now anyway!!

So 2006 was amazing... The trip home was great - check out my photos (see Shutterfly link). I competed and passed all of my courses and I even had a Christmas/New Year trip to Cuba - to get the necessary sun, sand and ocean exposure - check out my photos (see Shutterfly link). Yep - I came back with some severe tan lines. Unfortunately, in the freezing north they are rapidly fading...

I am in my last semester of compulsory courses and really enjoying it and the other reading course I am taking. I sit in on an ecofeminism undergrad course and continue to be surprised by the thinking I have not been exposed to before. I teach a course to pre-service middle years teachers in Environmental Education - a great challenge. I am involved in an interesting research project looking at middle years student engagement in the Science Class. And I have finally managed to get a live organism project up and running in the Education Science Labs!!! YAY

In addition, I have finally succumbed to the temptation to be involved and walk my talk... I have taken on some interesting roles:

• Co-Chair of the International Commission - with NAAEE (North American Association of Environmental Education) www.naaee.org
• President of SOEEA (Saskatchewan Outdoor and Environmental Education Association) www.soeea.sk.ca
  
• Co-Chair of the Pre-Conference Research Symposium of the Trails to Sustainability Conference www.trailstosustainability.ca

So all in all - I am having fun!!

A new year and a fresh start!!

OK OK so I really didn't keep up the patter as the pressure of assignments grew!!

I did make it through the year however (YAY), and I also passed my courses (PHEW). I have had a fabulous break, fun Christmas and a sensational start to 2006. I feel ready for a fantastic year - bring it on!!

This year has in store another set of courses, jobs and reading, reading, reading... I hope to go home in the middle of the year (YAY - time with friends and family and some hot weather, not to mention swimming in the ocean - ah... bliss!!).

So good luck to you and here we go!!