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?

The Auto Bailout

It's interesting to watch car commercials these days. Before, you'd have those male-targeted auto commercials with the fancy navigation systems and bells and whistles and heavy guitar music that would make any car-loving guy have a wet dream right then and there. You still do see some of these commercials to a certain extent, but now I've noticed that we see a lot more car ads that are basically saying, "Please, please, PLEASE, won't you just buy a new car? I'll give you free gas. I'll throw in a GPS. I'll give you 0% financing for 72 months. Just please please, please, PLEASE, buy a car from us!!!"

A few months back, when this whole Big Three US automaker bailout stuff started making the media rounds, I was a reluctant supporter. It was, as I saw it, a necessary evil. One of those too-many-jobs-riding-on-it situations where failure of the auto companies would just be disastrous.

Then I started wondering...aren't we just supporting a bad habit? Think about it. The auto industry is built on the expectation that we will be tossing out our perfectly-fine automobiles for the latest, greatest, technologically fanciest cars out there. Do we REALLY need to buy new cars as often as we do? No! And now that the economy is in a state of total crap, consumers are waking up and realizing that their cars, while they are not the latest model in the latest fad color with the latest space-age exterior and fancy leather interior are good enough for getting them from Point A to Point B.

Up until now, our North American hunger to buy buy buy has been feeding the Big Automobile Monster. The more we craved, the more it produced. And now with this craptacular economy, the automakers are crying because we just don't want to fork out $20,000-$40,000 for a new car. Well, tough toenails, tootsie. The fact of the matter is that at the rate we're going, this planet is headed straight to hell, and we may very well reach a point of no return very very soon. The auto industry is a major contributor to this, given all of the toxic crap that's spewed into the air from car exhaust, not to mention those oh-so-lovely greenhouse gases that are sending the Earth's climate into a tailspin. The auto industry needs to realize that its days of producing disposable, gasoline-hogging steel monsters are numbered. If that means that we let the auto industry as we know it die so that a newer, greener auto industry can emerge in its place, then so be it. Think of this economic downturn as being analogous to the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs. Tragic as it was, it probably paved the way for humans to roam the Earth. (Unless you're one of those Creationist idiots who still doesn't believe in Evolution, and that dinosaurs and humans roamed the Earth at the same time. Then there's no hope for you. Just crawl under a rock and wait for the Day of Reckoning.)

So no, I'm not in favor of an auto bailout. Let the industry perish. I know that it sounds completely cruel, because so many people are employed by it. My solution is to use the money that would otherwise have been used to bail out the Big Three US automakers, and to re-train assembly line autoworkers to learn a new trade, or to send them off to college or university if they want. And the rest of the money should be used to create a new, green, nationalized auto industry which would be focused on greener, longer-lasting automobiles. See? Problem solved!

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.

Introducing...the iReceipt?

My recent experience at the checkout counter of the Apple Store has made it Boonacky-worthy material. There are two things which struck me about the experience. First off, when I paid by credit card, they asked for a 2nd piece of ID. This is a fantastic idea! I've lost count of the number of times that I paid by credit card, and my card was returned to me as soon as it was swiped through. No signature check. No proof of ID check. I'm glad that Apple is doing this, and I wish that other retailers would follow suit. In my opinion, it's totally worth the extra hassle, for some peace of mind.

My second noteworthy item is that my entire transaction was completed by a hand-held wireless gizmo which was used to scan the barcode on my purchases, and which was also used to swipe my credit card. I'd seen similar devices used in restaurants. Alice Fazooli's for example, has a similar gadget which issues you a receipt as soon as the transaction is completed. What was interesting about this device is that no receipt was printed. Instead, the cashier clerk asked for my e-mail address, saying that my receipt would be sent to that address as a PDF. Lo and behold, when I got back to my desk, there it was - the PDF receipt from my Apple Store purchase, in all its glory.

Overall, I do think this is a good idea. The only problems I see with this is the following:

• This is an open invitation to spam from Apple.


• Most people aren't tech-savvy enough to set up a secondary e-mail address for these sorts of things - online purchases, signing up for things online, etc. Again, just an invitation for more spam.


• What happens with gift receipts? I'm assuming that these are e-mailed to the buyer as well. At gift-giving time, the buyer must print out the receipt for the recipient, most likely in standard letter paper (since that's what most of us have at home), thereby using up a heck of a lot more paper than a teensy little gift receipt.
  

As I said though, it's a good idea. It's nice to see Apple taking the lead on paperless transactions. Goodness knows we go through tons of paper each day ourselves at the office, not to mention all the paper we receive in the form of long receipts for one teensy little item purchased, or all those bills and junk mail we receive. I still receive junk mail in my mailbox in spite of having a big giant sign saying "No junk mail please". At any rate, this is a step in the right direction, and I sincerely hope that other retailers follow suit.

Junk Mail Revisited

I am happy to report that following our letter-writing campaign to Enbridge to get them to stop sending us junk mail, we received a very prompt response from the Enbridge Ombudsman (see below). The moral of the story: if you don't want any more junk sent along with your bills, COMPLAIN ABOUT IT! In today's eco-conscious society (it took us how many years to get this far???), some corporations are actually listening. It's time to take back the Earth. Onwards, Green Soldiers!

-----------------------------------------

Dear IndyComp0T1 & Husband

I have stopped all but the safety and the rate brochures. Information on our Environmental policy is on our website at www.egd.enbridge.com..Go into 'About Natural gas' to the environment...

Regards
Eileen Campbell
Office of the Ombudsman
Enbridge Gas Distribution
Voice: 416-495-6466
Fax: 416-495-5021

Hurray for Australia!!!

I was very pleased to read this week that Australia has banned incandescent bulbs in favor of the more energy-efficient compact-flourescent (CF) bulbs. This is definitely a step in the right direction and I truly hope that other countries will follow suit.

On that note, I was a bit disappointed when I tuned to the evening news, where this story was getting quite a bit of coverage. Of course, the news was applauding Australia's move, and questioned whether or not the City of Toronto or even Ontario or Canada would introduce similar measures. And why not? It's a fairly easy way to go green without causing too much inconvenience. Unfortunately, we have a few hurdles. First of all, I don't know of too many people who would jump at the chance of replacing their incandescents with CFs if their incandescents are still going strong. Secondly, CFs cost more than incandescent bulbs. Last, but not least, many people don't like the awkward non-bulb-like shapes of the CFs available on the market today. Well, never worry, never fear, our good friend from Sweeden, Ikea, sells CFs that have our nice little familiar incandescent bulb shape.

My solution is of course to put a plan in place similar to Australia's incandescent bulb ban and in addition to that, to subsidize CF costs. If CFs were a little more cost-effective than incandescents, it would definitley be an easier sell.

It's unfortunate how many people don't go green because they're just not willing to sacrifice their creature comforts for the planet's well-being. There are so many little things here and there that can be done to make sure that we don't wipe ourselves off the planet, yet, we're too used to being given the choice to buy the big useless SUV to drive in the city, or to jack the heat way up in the winter because we can. People can be really selfish, and sometimes we just need to give them a good kick in the ass and force them to do things the right way rather than give them a choice. A sad, but unfortunate reality.