Another Year, Another Earth Hour

Another year, another Earth Hour, another farce. Shame on you, David Miller, for thinking that flicking a big-ass light switch and then having a concert using amps and flashy lights at Nathan Phillips Square counts as celebrating Earth Hour! And not only did you do that this year, you also pulled this same stunt last year! What the hell?

In some ways, I don't blame the folks who protested Earth Hour by keeping their lights on. But then again, I think that they're a bunch of dumb-asses and aren't doing anyone any favors. The planet still suffers in silence. They're no better than people who boycott an election by not voting because they don't like the candidates. All politicians suck, but some suck more than others. (It's a different story when you're boycotting an election where it's just one guy running. Then more power to you!)

I don't agree with how publicized Earth Hour has gotten and how people are just jumping on the bandwagon to look cool, but I still opted in. I figured that one hour of not turning on lights and appliances like my oven, dishwasher, or dryer is still better than nothing. It's still not that much, when you consider that we all have a bunch of appliances on in standby mode, like our TVs, DVD players, VCRs, alarm clocks, and routers. So it was lights out, but not really electricity out.

We're addicted to electricity, which is fine, except that our electricity comes from very Earth-unfriendly sources. Turning the lights out for just ONE HOUR was probably fine for most people who participated because it was one hour out of ONE YEAR. No biggie, right? Well, why can't we celebrate Earth Hour every day? Why do we have to wait for it to roll around once a year to sprinkle the planet with our good intentions and then flick on all of our lights and appliances once it's done? It's because doing it once a year is no biggie. Doing it every day just gets in the way of daily life. When will the dishes get done? When will the wash get done?

Unfortunately, as humans, we are far too concerned with convenience. Disposable diapers are more convenient than cloth diapers. Using a dryer is more convenient than using a clothes line. I'm guilty of it too. But then, we (that includes me too) need to stop and take a moment to look around us. Everything may APPEAR to be okay, but our planet is sick. It is dying. It is like the cancer patient who looks fine but is full of malignant tumors inside. What's the point of having children if we're leaving them a crap-ass planet for them to live in? We're the lucky ones. We get to live this cushy life and die before it all goes to hell. Our kids though, they get to inherit the burden. Fun.

Earth Hour? Yeah, cute little idea, but how about we make it really count?

Crude Awakenings

Everyone has been bitching about the dramatic rise in price of oil lately. Granted, it's putting a serious dent in consumers' wallets, and it's frustrating to see Big Oil making record profits due to market speculation. At the same time, I am secretly cheering this dramatic price increase, because it's the only way to stop this oil madness - people driving SUVs that they really don't need, people driving into work when they could take public transit, encouraging the auto industry to come out with more environmentally-friendly cars.

Unfortunately, it appears that the price of oil is starting to drop, and that worries me a bit. Humans, it seems, have very short-lived memories. When given the opportunity to return to their excessive ways, they will do so in a heartbeat. Case in point, remember the blackout of 2003? The blackout made us all painfully-aware of our dependence on electricity for our daily lives, and made us realize that we take it for granted. Well, at least it made us feel that way for a couple of days (if that). But the feeling passed, and we were back to our old power-hungry ways once again. If you doubt me, just take a look at the blatant abuse of electricity at Dundas Square or on the Gardiner Expressway, both in Toronto.

It's shameful. Dundas Square has attempted to imitate New York City with its big, flashy electronic billboards. I already find billboards to be an assault on my eyes, but combine that with the fact that most of them are electronic, and it's just plain abuse of the power grid. It's even worse on the Gardiner Expressway. As with Dundas Square, the Gardiner Expressway is littered with billboards, many of which have giant TV screens. Am I the only one who thinks that a) this is a waste of electricity and b) this is a driving hazard? WTF???

Conservation of power and fuel is so easy, yet we North Americans seem to live under the "bigger, better, faster" mantra, not realizing what it does to the world around us. Namely, depletion of non-renewable resources such as coal and crude oil. So yes, I hope that the price of oil skyrockets, because that's the only way that we are compelled to conserve.

What the Hell?

Today, when I came into the office, I was greeted by a large, shiny newsletter from the building's property management company. The irony is that plastered all over the front page of the newsletter were tips on going green at the office.

Here's a tip that they should've thought of: stop printing stupid useless newsletters that nobody will read. It's a waste of energy, paper, and ink. And who knows what toxic cocktail is in that ink. I'm pretty sure that everyone in the building who gets these newsletters has an e-mail account. We get e-mail forwards from the property management company sent to the office admins all the time, so I doubt that it's THAT big a deal to send us a PDF of the newsletter instead? Better it end up in my e-mail trash bin than in my physical recycling bin, where there's no guarantee that it will even end up being recycled. PATHETIC.

Earth Hour - What a Crock!

Like any environmentally-conscious citizen, I was more than happy to join in for Earth Hour, which took place on March 29th, 2008 from 8 to 9pm. I think it's great to have initiatives like this, and kudos to all who made a genuine effort to participate. What I DID NOT like about Earth Hour is that it was turned into some big publicity stunt by municipal governments around the world, and by people who think it's cool to join a fad. Not cool at all.

Let's take the city of Toronto, for example. According to various news sources, the city's total power consumption dropped 8%. I'm really not too impressed by that figure.

First of all, unless you've got a damned good reason to keep your electricity running (nursing home, hospital, etc.), then shame on you for not participating.

Secondly, our wonderful mayor thought it would be cool to have an concert at Nathan Philips Square DURING Earth Hour. Well, I watched the concert footage on TV afterwards, and I was totally NOT impressed by the fact that the artists playing had (reduced) lighting and WORKING MICROPHONES!!! WTF? Maybe they live on a planet where amplifiers and microphones do not consume electricity. On my planet, however, they do. Shame on you, Nelly Furtado. What kind of ambassador are you???

Last, but not least, I'd like to comment on all of the drones who thought that by celebrating Earth Hour, they were saving the planet. Yes, part of the point of this whole thing was to promote awareness. Point taken. That being said, I think this event also attracted the same nimrods who think that planting a tree will justify gallivanting around the city in an SUV.

If you participated in Earth Hour and it changed the way you think about the planet, then good for you. I hope that this encourages you to live a greener lifestyle. There are so many little things you can do to live a greener life like:

1. Switch all bulbs in your house/apartment to compact fluorescent bulbs.
2. When buying new appliances, buy EnergyStar appliances.
3. Bring your own bags when going to the grocery store or when doing any type of shopping.
4. Walk to the supermarket if you can.
5. Take public transit to work if you can.
6. Recycle!
7. If you have a Green Bin, then compost as much as you can.
8. Install a thermostat to control the heating/cooling in your house.
9. Keep your house a few degrees cooler in the winter and use blankets to keep warm.
10. Don't turn on the A/C in the summer unless you really need to. There's nothing wrong with opening a window.
11. Switch to e-billing.
12. If you need to print something, print it on both sides of the paper.
13. Bring a re-usable coffee mug to your favorite coffee shop.
14. Bring your own lunch from home instead of buying every day - it's cheaper and wastes less packaging.
15. If you're bringing a lunch from home, use a re-usable lunchbag instead of a using a plastic bag or a paper bag.
16. Don't sit in an idling car.
17. Yet at people who sit in an idling car.
18. Plant a tree (just don't do it to make your guilt go away for abusing the planet).
19. Avoid taking plane trips - planes are one of the WORST polluters.
20. Turn your computer off when you're not using it. It won't kill you to have to boot it up every time you use it. If you're that hung up on boot time, then hibernate your computer.
21. Try to buy office stationary made of recycled paper.
22. By toilet paper, paper towels, and tissues made of recycled paper. If you're not into shopping at Grassroots or Whole Foods, then you can even find some of these products at your local Wal-Mart.
23. Use a silicone mat instead of parchment paper when baking.
24. Turn off your powerbars at home when you're not using them.
25. Turn off the lights in the rooms that you're not using.
26. Don't brush your teeth with the water running.

The list goes on and on...but notice how all these things are so SIMPLE to follow!

If you have any other green tips to add, please feel free to do so. I am always looking for ways to go green.

That Does It...

Dear Mr. Harper,

Don't you think it's time you got your head out of your ass and actually started addressing Canada's environmental issues? It's bad enough that we're huge emitters of greenhouse gases, but now, to further embarrass us in front of the entire world with your refusal in signing any agreements which would require Canada to meet binding targets?! WTF??? Are you trying to further sabotage the livelihood of the planet, or were you just born with that knack? How about thinking long-term instead of short-term for once? Haven't you considered the fact that your actions right now will directly affect your children and your children's children? I guess not, because if you cared anything about their future, you'd stop feeding us this "it will hurt our economy" BS, and do something about it.

Yours truly,
IndyComp0T1

PS: Take a look at this article. Very insightful!

Freaking Brilliant

With all this talk from politicians about the environment, it seems to me that they're ignoring one issue that sticks out like a sore thumb - nighttime lighting in the city. And I'm not just talking about Toronto - cities all over the globe are guilty of doing this. Is there really a practical reason to having the lights on at night in an empty office building? Apart from the lights at the top of the building that should be flashing to avoid airplane collisions, there is really no reason to leave these lights on at night. To add insult to injury, this year, some freaking genius decided that it would be really cool if they lit up the CN Tower at night. What the hell?

Other lighting offenders include stores, billboards, and the Rogers Chinese Lantern Festival.

Regarding stores and nighttime lights, some might claim that leaving the lights on in a store is a theft-deterrent. I'll buy that to some degree. But the way that some of these stores leave their lights on at night, you'd think they were still open for business.

As for billboards, don't even get me started. It's bad enough that we're constantly bombarded with ads everywhere we go, be it on foot, by car, or in cyberspace. But to make things worse, good 'ole traditional giant poster billboard up are no longer good enough for advertisers. Nope, we must make them bigger, flashier, and electrically-powered. As if we're not distracted enough when we drive, advertisers have this need to make driving more hazardous by adding giant billboards with 5-second movie clips. Even as a pedestrian these flashing behemoths follow you. Just walk along downtown Toronto along Dundas Square at night to see what I mean. And to make matters worse, the new commercial building going up in that area is being set up for some prime billboard space.

And finally, the Rogers Chinese Lantern Festival. What a freaking waste of electricity. So basically people are flocking to this thing to see a bunch of lights on. If I wanted to see a light on, I'd go home and stare at a light bulb.

It's so nice to hear that our governments are "concerned" about the environment. Or so they tell us. If they're so concerned, why don't they just pass laws which promote blackened skylines at night? Why don't they say no to putting up electric billboards? Why don't they say no to stupid wastes of electricity like the Rogers Chinese Lantern Festival? This would certainly lessen the demand for electricity and then we could really shut down more of those coal power plants in Ontario that we always hear about in the news. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening anytime soon. If we keep this up, we'll run down the planet, and then we'll be in the dark for sure.

Doormen Don't Have Arms Either

It appears that our appeals for retailers in Toronto to keep their doors closed when they decide to blast their Air Conditioners on a hot summer day have fallen on deaf ears. Below is a brief update on the state of the stores we surveyed in the Yonge and Bloor area.

Holt Renfrew:
In spite of our original e-mail to Barbara Wolfson at Holt Renfrew, we have not, to this date, received a response from her. This is extremely unprofessional, and I urge you all to boycott that store. That is, if you can even afford their stuff. To add to this intolerable situation, we did encounter the Holt Renfrew doorman upon return from his vacation. We've made a startling discovery: THE HOLT RENFREW DOORMAN DOESN'T OPEN DOORS!!! No, your eyes aren't failing you. It's true! We saw it with our very eyes! On the day we walked by the store, we were horrified to find the doorman standing by two sets of open doors (inner and outer doors), casually chit-chatting with would-be customers. When we asked him about the door situation, he acted as if there was nothing he could do. The only suggestion he made was to close the inner set of doors, although I'm sure that after we closed those doors, a lazy customer decided to prop it open again. After all, we did discover last time that Holt Renfrew shoppers don't have arms. Apparently, neither does their doorman.

Other Stores:
It appears that in spite of our best efforts, even the stores from my previous post that we did convince to close their doors on that hot summer day a few weeks ago have all but forgotten their duties to the planet as good environmentally-conscious citizens.

Alas, sad and sobering to realize that those of us in the Western world are too caught up in our materialistic existence to care about the well-being of the planet we leave to our children and grandchildren. We will not give up on our plight though! The next step is to try to convince the municipal or even the provincial government to do something about this. I'm a bit doubtful on the effectiveness of the provincial government though, given that good 'ole Mr. Miller has turned into a whiney baby who cuts city services if he doesn't get his way. Ugh...what has this world turned to?

Retail Customers Don't Have Arms...

Today, while on a leisurely stroll along Bloor Street and Yonge Street, we were suddenly struck with a sickening realization: retail customers don't have arms!!! What, you say? Yes, 'tis true, they don't. This has been confirmed for us by an employee at Holt Renfrew. It all began when...

We walked past Holt Renfrew this afternoon and were greeted with a blast of cold air. This was a bit weird, given that the outside temperature was over 30C. This could only mean one thing: that Holt Renfrew was one of the many countless businesses in the GTA that keeps its doors open during heatwaves while blasting their stores with Arctic frostbite air-conditioning.

As good environmental citizens, we endeavored to get to the bottom of this mess: we went inside the store, found the concierge desk, and demanded to speak with the manager. Unfortunately, with it being Sunday, the manager was not on the premises, so we had to settle for the manager's business card instead. When we confronted the girl at the desk about the fact that the store keeps its doors open while blasting its A/C, the only explanation she was able to offer us was that this was caused by the fact that their regular doorman has been on vacation for the past two weeks. This could only mean one thing: retail customers don't have arms! After all, how could they? If they need a concierge to open the door in order for consumers to go into the store...and if in the absence of said concierge, the door must be kept open, then yes, it IS true! We saw it with our own eyes!!!

Upon leaving, we informed the lady at the desk that we would be closing the door on our way out, to which she promptly agreed. As it so happens, another individual had come up to the concierge desk to make that very same complaint. At least we were comforted to know that we weren't the only ones out there who actually seem to care about our planet. As we left, we closed the door as promised, and our fellow concerned citizen kicked the wedge used to prop the door open off to the side so that nobody else would be encouraged to prop that door open.

Fueled by our outrage, continued walking along both Bloor Street and later, along Yonge Street, in search of other similar violations. There were numerous violators, and we decided to take note of the ones we saw. We also went into a number of these places to complain. Below is a summary of our experience:

• Holt Renfrew (on Bloor West) - Per above description, we were given the manager's info: Barbara Wolfson at 416-960-7177. Don't worry, Barbara, you'll be getting an e-mail from us soon.


• Guess (on Bloor West) - While the person with whom we spoke was sympathetic to our cause, he admitted that sometimes the door stays open, and sometimes it stays closed. When we asked to close it, the said it would be closing in 30 min anyway, when the store would close down for the day (guess he missed the point!). When we asked to close the door, he refused to comply. The best he could do was give us the number for their head office in Toronto: 416-640-1036. Note: we were told that we were the third set of customers to complain about this today!


• Nine West (on Bloor West) - After getting a deer-in-headlights look from both an employee and the store manager, we were told that it was store policy to keep the door open. We then asked for a number we could call to complain: 1-800-561-3690.


• Aritzia (on Bloor West)


• Aldo (on Bloor West)


• Burgundy's (on Yonge south of Bloor) - They even had their front window open while blasting the A/C.


• Yonge Sports & Footware (on Yonge south of Bloor) - After going inside to complain, the employee agreed to let us close their door. When we passed by there later the door was still closed. Thanks, anonymous employee!!!


• The Church of Scientology of Toronto on Yonge north of Wellesley - Didn't bother going in there cuz we didn't want to be abducted by Xenu.


• Ozz Jeanswear (on Yonge north of Wellesley)


• Teashop 168 (on Yonge south of Bloor) - Per my post from last year, it appears that they still stick to their store policy of leaving their door open.


• Palm (on Yonge north of Wellesley)


• Bedo (on Yonge north of Wellesley) - This was la surprise du jour. When we went in to ask them to close their door to be responsible environmental citizens, the one employee we spoke with was EXTREMELY receptive and grateful! He promptly closed the door as we left.


• Mudo (on Yonge south of Bloor)


• Indiva (on Bloor West near Avenue Rd) - This one was a rather unpleasant surprise. When at first we asked the employee there why he was keeping his door open while blasting the A/C, he replied mockingly, "Because we're evil." Although he let us close the door on our way out, we knew that he was just humoring us, because it was near closing time anyway.


• Mendocino (on Bloor West near Avenue Rd)


• Maison de la Presse (on Cumberland) - The fellow with whom we spoke was quite compliant and apologetic. Thank-you, anonymous employee!!!


• New Time Luggage (on Yonge north of Wellesley) - When we confronted the lady at the desk, as the A/C blasted from the ceiling onto my shoulders, she tried to convince us that it wasn't even on. When we asked her to close her doors, she said it would take some time because of the merchandise hanging on the doors outside. We offered to help, be she said that she first needed to confirm that the air-conditioning was on. You don't need a rocket-science degree to tell that the A/C is on when it is MUCH colder inside than outside. Sherlock Holmes would be proud...

What our explorations taught us is the following:

• Most employees are helpless if they are told to keep doors open by upper-management per store policy. At the same time, employees, just like the rest of us, were born with mouths and should say something to management rather than be passive about it.


• We're not the only concerned citizens out there. Having met an equally-concerned citizen at Holt Renfrew and hearing of other similar complaints being made at the Guess store, it's nice to know that we have support.


• We were often told that doors are left open to keep customers coming in, and to keep the economy going. Well, guess what? There won't be an economy if there's no Earth left to live in. Take off those money glasses and see the big picture for once.


• A few places told me that they would be closing their doors very soon anyway, because it was near closing time. Captain Obvious strikes again! Clearly they missed the point, as they failed to understand that it's about keeping the door closed ALL DAY, not just while the store is closed. I really hope that they at least turn off the A/C when they leave at night, but seeing as most places are fairly well-lit even when closed at night, I highly doubt this.


• Retail customers don't have arms. Clearly the future of the well-being of our planet is in doormen, since, by paying someone to stand there to open a door for you, you'll know that the store is open for business. That and it keeps the A/C inside the store. A win-win situation!

And now, the grand finale, here are some reasonable solutions to cater to our money-grubbing society:

• Install a 2nd set of "inner doors". We saw a lot of places with their inner doors closed while their outer doors were open. That way, they get to have their cake and eat it too, by attracting customers with their open set of doors.


• Post a sign on your door to indicate that you're open even though your doors are closed. And take it one step further and say that you're doing this to be a good environmental citizen.


• If you want to leave your door open, turn off your A/C.

Junk Mail Be Gone!

I am sick and tired of getting stupid useless junk mail pamphlets in the mail from companies such as Enbridge, Bell Canada, Telus Mobility, and the like. In retaliation, my other half and I have embarked on a letter-writing campaign to target these mass offenders. Our first victim is Enbridge. Below is the letter that we e-mailed to them tonight. If I hear back, I will be sure to post the reply.
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To: ombudsman@enbridge.com
Enbridge Gas Distribution - The Office of the Ombudsman,

I received my gas bill today from Enbridge and was shocked to realize the amount of "junk mail" that is included in the envelope. I would think that Enbridge would be concerned about the environment and the amount of waste that goes into sending out these types of materials every time they send out a bill.

Included in the envelope for my gas bill:
- My actual gas bill (1 page) - This is the one document that I actually want for my records
- An envelope for sending in my payment - I don't need this, I pay via online banking so it goes straight to the recycle bin
- A pamphlet entitled "A natural gas water heater. Plenty of hot water. Plenty of savings." - This goes straight to the recycle bin
- A pamphlet entitled "Get a new air conditioner for as low as $49.99" - This goes straight to the recycle bin
- A pamphlet entitled "Will your air conditioner keep its cool for another summer?" - This goes straight to the recycle bin
- A pamphlet entitled "Natural Gas: Important spring safety tips" - This goes straight to the recycle bin
- A pamphlet entitled "Loose 20 lbs this summer!" - This goes straight to the recycle bin
- A pamphlet entitled "Finding a qualified natural gas contractor has just become easier - This goes straight to the recycle bin

So it appears to me that only ~12.5% of what is stuffed into my "Gas bill" envelope that I receive from Enbridge is actually my gas bill, and the remainder of it is essentially "Junk Mail" that could easily be posted to the enbridge web site and just have a reference URL on my 1 page bill. When we multiply this by all of Enbridge's customers, I am overwhelmed by images of all of the forests being cut down simply so that these "junk mail" materials can be thrown into recycle bins (and I'm sure many people still don't recycle and are just throwing them into the garbage).

I'd like to point out that the bill that I received today is not a unique case, every bill I have received from Enbridge has been like this. In today's situation of the world having to be very careful of its environmental footprint, I would expect that utility companies like Enbridge would be at the fore front of the battle that we are facing to save the earth. Items like "Corporate Responsibility" need to be more then just a section on a web site, they need to be items that companies truly work on at all levels including something as simple as the opportunity to reduce waste in the form of "Junk Mail".

So what am I looking for:
1. Please advise me on how we can make arrangements for me to receive a single envelope with my single-page gas bill in it (i.e. no additional junk). I realize that I can most likely get some sort of an electronic bill but I do like to receive a paper bill for my records via the post office; I just don't appreciate all of the "junk mail" that gets included.
2. I am looking for a response as to what Enbridge's view is on their own disregard for the environment. This type of waste has had its time in the past; we need to move into the future.

I look forward to your response.

IndyComp0T1 & Husband