Sustainability

Cool Projects

Join an Otesha Cycling Tour and Change your World!
WEB Reference, November 8, 2006 (GoodWork Canada) - Applications are now being accepted for The Otesha Project's 2007 life-altering cycling and presenting tours. This coming spring, summer and fall over 80 young cyclists (15-20 per tour) will transform Canada, delivering inspiring and information-packed theatrical presentations to schools, camps and communities, challenging audiences and themselves to improve their environmental and social impacts. The Otesha Project uses theatre to mobilize young people to create local and global change through their daily consumer choices. www.otesha.ca

Climate Change / Environment

Energy Use Can Be Cut by Efficiency, Survey Says
WEB Reference, November 29, 2006 (Steve Lohr, New York Times) - The growth rate of worldwide energy consumption could be cut by more than half over the next 15 years through more aggressive energy-efficiency efforts by households and industry, according to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute, which is scheduled to be released today. The energy savings, the report said, can be achieved with current technology and would save money for consumers and companies. The McKinsey report offers a long list of suggested steps, including the adoption of compact fluorescent light bulbs, improved insulation on new buildings, reduced standby power requirements, an accelerated push for appliance-efficiency standards and the use of solar water heaters. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/29/business/29energy.html?amp;adxnnl=1&_r=2&oref=slogin&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1164805382-C8CoU9glkCniPaHqoXNgvw&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1165068723-5OMSvK/aTqtUs7IX2XmPVQ

Sustainable Industry Ideas

Beneficial Billboards
SOUTH AFRICA, November 30, 2006, Sarah Rich (Worldchanging) - In the Alexandria Township in Johannesburg, South Africa, there's a giant billboard on the MC Weller Primary School grounds. It's an advertisement for Nedbank, the South African bank whose tagline is "Make Things Happen"; and unlike most billboards, which make very little happen other than marring otherwise pleasant landscapes and cluttering skylines, this one actually is making something happen: it's generating power from the sun sufficient to run the electricity for the school's kitchen. http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/005465.html

Sierra Club Small Parties
WEB Reference, November 2006 (EcoNews) - In a Sierra Club Small Party, you gather 5-7 people together in your home for a glass of wine and some great dessert, and watch a ready-made "home-spun" powerpoint that gets the main points across. Then you talk about what you might do, and people go away with commitments – including (for instance) to organize another such party. Patricia organized her first party in September, and as a result, she and her party-goers have achieved the following: 5 conversations by participants with politicians; 2 with ADMs and Deputy Ministers; 4 high schools, 2 middle schools and 1 community college have been lobbied to get involved; 6 religious leaders have been brought together across their faiths to support each other to make their congregations carbon neutral; 1 family switched to low energy light bulbs; 1 family is switching to a high efficiency washer; and lots are making enquiries about solar hot water, heat pumps, and so on. Zero burned out hosts, great conversations, lots of fun had all round. http://www.sierraclub.org/tv/dvdoffer/

Don’t let it go down the drain
WEB Reference - Air-to-air heat exchangers have become standard equipment in most new homes, but many people are unfamiliar with drain waste heat exchangers. The air-to-air heat exchanger is a great idea in that you are recovering the energy that you would otherwise be dumping outside after you spent the money to heat or cool it; however, you must use additional energy to reduce the amount of energy you lose, not to mention having a piece of equipment that constantly requires maintenance in order to operate efficiently. Water enters the home between 5-12ºC and is heated to 50ºC in the hot water tank. Showerhead temperature is approximately 41ºC and this water is flushed down the drain at 37ºC. This energy can be brought back into your home to substantially reduce hot water heating costs. http://www.watercycles.ca/watercycles/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=43

Exemplary Resources

New program to help 600,000 fleet vehicles across Canada go green
VANCOUVER, BC, November 15, 2006 (FBC) - Canadian private and public sector fleet managers looking to reduce costs, reduce their impact on the environment, adopt new technologies, and benchmark their operation against others will now have the tools they need thanks to a new Fraser Basin Council (FBC) E3 Fleet program that includes the first green rating system for vehicle fleets in North America. http://www.fraserbasin.bc.ca/news/documents/release%2020061115%20E3Fleet.pdf