Earth Day Wendell

"we and our country create one another, depend on one another, are literally part of one another; that our land passes in and out of our bodies just as our bodies pass in and out of our land; that as we and our land are part of one another, so all who are living as neighbors here, human and plant and animal, are part of one another, and so cannot possibly flourish alone"
- Wendell Berry, excerpt from The Unsettling of America

Happy Earth Day.
xox

Happy Earth Day

Hear a bird, notice a flower, hug a tree. It's Earth Day.

For a list of local happenings check out Green Living Ottawa or Ecology Ottawa's April calendar.

Earth Hour Follow-up

Earth Hour is over. It was intimately fun, globally exciting, but quite frankly a little anti-climactic here in Ottawa.

So now what?

I enjoyed my Earth Hour. The timing was perfect: dinner was ready at 19:59, lights were out at 20:00. We celebrated with a candlelight dinner and a bottle of Chardonnay. We even continued the theme well past the hour, curling up on the couch by candlelight to watch the John Wayne flick we’d rented.

So now what.

Now that I’ve marked the cause by shutting down for 60 minutes, what am I ready to do for the remainder of the year? What are you ready to do?

Skeptics complain that an hour filled with hoopla, hype and parties won’t save the day – I agree. Saturday’s Earth Hour was not a magic fix for our broken environment; it was a campaign to increase awareness. It gave us an excellent, perhaps much needed excuse to shut down, be still and reflect. But it was not a fix. The fix will come from us and the choices we make every hour of every day.

I’m hoping that in a year from now I’ll be marking my second Earth Hour with a candlelight potluck party, discussing earth-friendly lifestyles changes that stemmed from this one. Anyone care to join me?

Earth Hour 2008

Did you sign up yet? It's not too late!

Earth Hour North America

See you on the dark side. Tonight. Eight pm. Be there.

The Story of Stuff

Stuff. Nothing brings it to surface as does packing for a move. With each box I pack my stuff becomes more and more visible in the form of neatly stacked piles of labelled, numbered, inventoried boxes.

I stumbled upon this 20-minute video during one of my weekend blog surfing expeditions. Created by Annie Leonard, it's an overview of stuff from the extraction of raw materials needed to produce it, to its disposal. I found the video entertaining and enlightening.

Coincidentally, Leonard is featured in the Simple Living Network's January-February newsletter (The Story of Stuff). I thought both her works were worth sharing.

Jimmy Stewart and ... Solar Energy?

A few weeks ago D. and I watched a great movie called You Can't Take It with You directed by Frank Capra (It's a Wonderful Life), starring Jimmy Stewart.

Jimmy Stewart's character, Tony, was the son of a wealthy banker. It was expected he would take over the family business and follow in his father's footsteps. But in a moving scene, Tony reveals his real dream (I paraphrase): to discover how cells in a tiny green blade of grass turn sunlight into energy, and replicate it so humans can take advantage of the sun as an endless source of power.

I was floored. This movie was made in 1938. Who knew solar energy was even on the radar? I guess Frank Capra did.

100-Mile Chili Man

Congratulations to D. for collecting 2nd prize at the office's United Way chili cookoff this week! Not only was the chili delicious, it was based on the 100-Mile Diet idea, made using only ingredients produced within a 100-mile radius of Ottawa. No salt, no cumin, none of the other fancy stuff he couldn't find.

He dehydrated local chili peppers in the oven and ground them with a mortar & pestle. He peeled tomatoes grown in our little backyard garden and used some of our herbs too. Ground beef came from a beef co-op in Fitzroy Harbour and red kidney beans from a farm in Mountain.

I'm reaping the benefits of his research too. Thanks to him, I'm now aware of a farm 25 miles outside of Ottawa that grows its own wheat and mills its own flour. Who knew?

Kudos to you D.!

Odds & Ends VI

I haven't been posting much lately. Since my return to work, I've been struggling to find a way to do all that I want to do during evenings and weekends. I'm not sure my expectations are realistic. But I digress ... this post isn't about lack, it's about abundance.

Even if my recent focus has been incorporating my return to work into my life, a lot of other things have been happening around me and I've taken note:

A Running Kudos
Congratulations to Sis and Bro-in-Law who were off to the races last weekend! Sis met her goal by running her first 5km race of the season under 30 minutes and Bro-in-Law performed another Personal Best at marathon #8 (I think - I've lost count) with a chip time of 3:25:19.5. You guys inspire and rock!

Mud Lake: A Nature Lover's Paradise
Sunday morning, D. and I spent over two and half hours exploring the wonders of Mud Lake / Britannia Bay Conservation Area, just east of Britannia beach. What a find! Not only did we spot over 10 types of birds, we saw turtles, an otter, catfish and a snake. Most of the time we couldn't even tell we were in the city. This place is truly a treat for the nature lover's soul.

Simple Living and the Environment
While reading Your Money Or Your Life, a classic book in Simple Living circles, it dawned on me that one of the by-products of Simple Living is often a newfound respect and care for the environment. Perhaps this type of education or rethinking of our lifestyles from the core would have a longer lasting effect than pushing environmental legislation through quickly because it seems to be the "in" thing to do - a way to gain political support? Hm. I'm still thinking this one through, more to come in another post.

Tulips, Tulips, Tulips
I'd forgotten how beautiful the tulips are along the Canal and Dow's Lake. Not only is the Canal flowing again, reminding us that summer is around the corner, the tulips are out in full force. I had the pleasure of walking among them on a gorgeous evening, their beauty enhanced by the experience of gabbing and giggling with a good friend. I highly recommend you do the same if you can.

Hope you enjoyed this version of Odds & Ends. 'Til the next one!