Sustainable Living In Halton Hills

Make Your Dollar Work For The Environment

Let's get down to the nitty gritty now... shall we. Whose business is it to look after a sustainable environment to ensure that future generations don't go without? The government? Environmental NGO's? Recently a friend of mine who works tirelessly (and sometimes not so tirelessly) for the environment mentioned that one of her friends said to her "...thanks for working so hard for me". Unless I'm mistaken, we all use the resources of this earth to survive and we all need to pitch in to preserve (and fix) what remains. I can hear the grumblings now... "Well how do you expect me to do more? I work 5 days a week to put food on the table. I pay taxes and I only have a little time left over for me. How do you expect me to do more?" Good question. Up until recently... I may have responded the same way, but there is one very good way to work for the environment that does not take more time  - and that is by making your dollar work for you.

If you don't do this already, I challenge and encourage you to start scrutinizing whether your hard earned dollar is promoting 'sustainability'. We all spend money - and we all decide where it goes for the most part. If you think about the power you have in deciding where your money goes, you begin to realize the leverage you have and without expending too much effort. Do you have a vehicle that is more 'earth-friendly'? Do you take to GO train to work? Do you buy 'local' as much as you can promoting a stronger local economy? Do you buy products and services from companies that are working to protect the environment? More on this soon!

Goundhog Day!

Ok...what on earth could "Groundhog Day" the movie have to do with sustainability? Well if you haven't seen it - I recommend you do - especially if you like Bill Murray. It's one of my favorite films.

Bill Murray, who plays main character Phil Connors, is a weatherman covering the Groundhog Day celebrations on Feb 2nd with his TV crew. Through some strange turn of events - the next day he wakes up to his digital radio alarm clock at 6:00 am and relives Feb 2nd all over again and continues this madness throughout the rest of the movie.

The thing that really got me about this film - is that too many days we live our lives by the hands of a clock. A schedule that just repeats itself over and over again daily, weekly, yearly. I lamented to my friend Terry one day that I felt I was living my life like Groundhog Day - It's morning and I'd be standing in the shower... again thinking "here I am again...in the shower again... shampooing again... shaving again... scrubbing again... the water hitting me in the face... again. "Why don't you have a shower at night then", he said in his unusual - usual way. Well sure, I guess that might help, I thought.

At any rate though, this film really started me thinking about the 'unconscious living' tag line that has become popular over the last few years. What appealed to me about the movie though - was that Phil finally broke free of his 'rut' and now I want to break free. Free of schedules - time clocks - the rut. I think it can be really destructive when we don't  - stop - to question how we live our lives or why we are living them the way we are. Are we happy? Healthy? Fulfilled? And so if you haven't figured it out - this is how I relate it back to sustainability. Many of us are living our lives in the 'rut' of 'unsustainability' and we have to stop and break free at least start to think about it. I hope I can help you break free, by showing you different ways to think.

Other useful links:
http://www.schindler.org/psacot/20010813_ghd.shtml
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107048/

6.5 Billion People

I'll give you 6.5 billion reasons. I'm not sure where you were on Saturday, Feb. 25 2006, at 7:16 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, but the population here on Earth is thought to have reached 6.5 billion people. 6.5 billion people! By 2012, we are slated to be at the 7 billion mark. How will we sustain this many people? Well whose job is that? Ok... you're one person and I make two... what can we do? Well, let's start with Halton Hills because we will definately be growing.

The Province of Ontario released Places to Grow: Better Choices, Brighter Future, a Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, on June 16, 2006. The plan anticipates 3.7 million more people and 1.7 million more jobs (based on 2001 Census data) in the Greater Golden Horseshoe by the year 2031, and sets out the Province’s vision about how and where municipalities will grow, the infrastructure needed to support that growth, and the cultural and natural heritage resources to be protected. This includes 390,000 more people and 200,000 more jobs (based on 2001 Census data) in the Region of Halton by 2031.

In anticipation of the release of Places to Grow by the Province, the Town of Halton Hills (and other municipalities within the Region) has committed to participate with the Region of Halton in a comprehensive planning exercise to develop a long-term growth management strategy for Halton Region and its local municipalities. This exercise is known as the Durable Halton Plan.

Check out this Durable Halton Newsletter for more info. Click here.

Other useful links:
http://www.town.halton-hills.on.ca/civic/planning/pdfs/2006/JointSubmission_Jan%202006.pdf

http://www.town.halton-hills.on.ca/civic/planning/pdfs/2005/JointSubmission_April2005.pdf

http://www.pir.gov.on.ca/

What Does "Sustainable Living" Mean Anyway?

Living sustainably will mean different things to different people, but here's what it means to me:reducing our impact on the earth's resources, making consumer and lifestyle choices to limit our use of resources, living more simply (this is the easiest concept to understand - how you get there is more difficult to grasp), looking after nature so nature can look after us, meeting our needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs, creating a balance between our natural, economic, and our social systems.

Putting it altogether in a definiton might sound like this: "the ability to meet present needs without damaging or depleting the environmental, economic or social resources of future generations."

Why do we have to live sustainably...?