I recently purchased an incredible book that everyone on this planet could benefit from reading. It is simply called Wisdom by Andrew Zuckermann. The book simply consists of 50 portraits and interviews with 50 people over the age of 65. Some of the people include Clint Eastwood (on the cover in North America), Judi Dench (on the cover in UK), Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Billie Jean King, etc, etc, etc. It is a very powerful book.

Although the words of wisdom are of obvious value, I did not think that many of the individuals would discuss the environment. Here are some excerpts:

"When I was first elected to the European Parliament, I went for a walk. I crossed a bridge in Strasbourg, in France, to Kehl in Germany, and I stopped, and I meditated. I said, “There’s France, there’s Germany.” If I had stood on that bridge thirty years ago, at the end of the Second World War, the worst half century in the history of the world, and if I’d said, “Don’t worry, in thirty years’ time there will be a united Europe,” they would have sent me to a psychiatrist. But it has happened.

John Hume, the only winner of the three major peace awards (Ok, not environmental focused, but you get the picture – there is hope, hope for change, and hope for humanity)

“The environment and health go hand in hand, and that’s really vital for the future of our world. Climate change has got to stop.”

Billie Jean King

“I flew into Maui not too long ago and got in the taxi and the young guy knew who I was and that I was all into biodiesel and everything. And he said, “I’ve got this taxi and converted it to where it runs on fuel that I get from an Indian restaurant over there. And I go over and take a jug and bring it in and my fuel costs nothing.” So it definitely has to start with an individual.

Willie Nelson (you have to read the rest of his interview!)

“Children can change the world”

Jane Goodall

All powerful words of wisdom – we have to start applying this wisdom.

Well what's coming up for family holidays?

 Some people in Canada and definitely in the United States of America have a wonderful ThanksGiving holiday coming up in the next few weeks.  My Aunt lived in the states for many years and still thought of the US Thanksgiving as a holiday.  I think in the USA it appears that airlines are inondated by busy travellers.  These travellers are going to leave their Carbon Foot print.  I would like to think that many travellers would do a carbon offset to help the environment.  Equally, of course as we book our travels for the Christmas season it will be important to use the most efficient method of transportation.  Start thinking about transportation and offsets that can assist in reducing carbon foot prints for the holidays and of course carry these methods through to other seasons and times.

What can we do to make Thanksgiving and other holidays better?

I'll start with a few and hopefully there will be more people submitting thoughts and ideas as we move towards our seasonal holidays.

1)  Serve locally grown Turkey and Ham? 

2)  Have a veggitarian meal at one of the holidays

3)  Plan early next year and prepare your own pickles and preserves.  While there are fresh carrots, beets and all those wonderful veggies will be so good later for holidays and so good healthy eating. 

4)Decorations should be as energy efficient as possible.  Make sure that lights are on a timer or that they are not left on longer than necessary.  LED or solar light sets are more energy efficient.

5) Gift Wrapping can be using eco-bags instead of non-recyclable gift bags or packaging.

These are just a few options and I'll blog about holiday planning again. 

I am going to start a group for discussion so that we can all share ideas and then have a greener holiday.

Start thinking, start planning.  A better world is ahead of us when we share ideas and take action.

Does my small step make a difference?  Absolutely!!

It's time to consider that it's all the small steps or large steps that got us into the trouble in the first place.  We, as an individual, can make a difference.  Imagine if we all changed a CFL light bulb in one day.  The energy saving would be astronomical!!!  Why is it that so many people do not talk about what they are doing in their daily lives when they think they are doing something different?  We should be so proud of what we do and it is by sharing stories with others that will help change the habits of families, co-workers, communities and the world.  One step leads to a change... we can't keep it a secret though.

Remember that every act of green helps to build momentum and ultimately leads to a new way of doing things.  Take a chance, share your ideas, develop or improve on ways of doing things.  We are part of the solution and it's time to take action.  This weekend I am going to check the windows and put weather stripping and weather sealer on my windows to save money and help take a step to helping the enviroment.  What are you going to do this weekend?

when you select your act of green don't forget to log in on the CBC's One Million Acts of Green http://www.onemillionactsofgreen.com/  Share your ideas and keep active.

Have a great green weekend.

I find the high level of early voter turnout and enthusiasm in the U.S. today (November 4) to be very encouraging for a couple of reasons. First and foremost - Americans are obviously passionate about choosing their next president. Second - it gives me hope. Why does it give me hope?

Some people may think that "my vote doesn't count" or "why bother voting". It is only one vote. But it is important to individuals that they can vote and participate in deciding the future direction of a country. Hundreds of millions of people in the world do not have that right.

It is like doing one Act of Green. One Act of Green may not seem like much in the big picture, but, like voting, it is important to the individual to know that when millions of other people do an Act of Green or vote, change can happen.

Change really only happens one act at a time. Sports teams win championships one hit at a time or one goal at a time. Retailers sell stuff one item at a time. We choose what we eat one bite at a time. We can make this planet a better place for future generation one act at a time.

As my daughter is standing next to me, carving her jack o'lantern, I want to impart a few more greening tips before the big event tonight.

In addition to my last post, here's my laundry list of ways to green Hallowe'en:

Trick or treat: 

-pick up cell phones to recycle (see http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/01/50_ways_to_recy.php)

-walk, don't drive...good for you and the earth

-hand out organic products if giving out food...there are now organic chip bags & raisins. It seems at Hallowe'en in bigger communities, the food must be packaged to be safe. The new term for green goodies is 'eco-friendly candy'.

-use biodegradable bags for your handouts

-use a strong reusable bag to collect goodies

-if buying chocolate, try to find organic fair trade brands

-don't litter, and pick up any garbage you see en route

-rent costumes, find them second hand (2nd 'R'~Reuse), or look in your closet instead of buying new

-use organic/natural makeup

Hallowe'en Party

-use healthy, seasonal, local organic food

-send invitations via email, or if using paper, use recycled/reused

-use reusable plates,cups, utensils, napkins, etc. or find biodegradable ones

Decorations

-use efficient lighting, solar lights, etc. outside your home

-but local, organic pumpkins if possible

-roast your pumpkin seeds and eat them ~ yum!

-try not carving a pumpkin, decorating the outside, and then baking it for consumption later

-reuse decorations, and buy second hand

-use natural items to decorate, like fallen tree branches, berries, corn stalks, etc.

-compost your carved pumpkins after the great night

Alternative Hallowe'en ideas...

-visit a pumpkin farm

-pick apples

-talk a hike outside

-enjoy the moon

-look at the sky

-appreciate the bounty of the earth

Have a wonderful Hallowe'en!

I have written a few of times recently about the analogies between recent economic woes and environmental woes. Well, here as another term to add to the list of things we need to be concerned about - the 'ecological credit crunch'.

The 2008 Living Planet Report was recently released and it shares some alarming information. A couple of bottom lines - if the demands on our planet continue to increase at the current rate, we will need two planets by the mid-2030's, last time I checked, we don't have two planets! The other incredible number - about $2 trillion has recently been lost in stocks and shares, yet the earth loses about $4.5 trillion worth of resources forever - every year!

Whether it is financial or ecological (basically the same thing), we need to collectively and fundamentally change the way we live and consume sooner than later, or we are in big trouble.

There have to be some environmental lessons from recent financial events, like you can't spend more than you have. Seems like a pretty simple lesson doesn't it? But, just like governments around the world are now mortgaging future generations to get through today, we are also risking a stable and comfortable planet for our children environmentally.

We cannot change overnight (despite the need to do so), but we can start making changes in our lives financially and environmentally for our kids. We can do this individually one act at a time and collectively millions of acts at a time. What is your Act of Green today?

Tonight I went to the Saugeen Speakers Toastmasters group that I've belonged to for the last few years, and enjoyed chairing the meeting. I was able to add in many plugs about green activities for Hallowe'en and the rest of the year, and even did a speech about One Million Acts of Green.

I told them about my favourite green act ~ getting fair trade organic coffee at my locally owned noshery (I love that word!) 'It's All Good'. Fair trade organic coffee is usually shade grown (no need to cut down rainforests) and is grown and processed without the normal chemicals, so the taste is purer and rich. I bet you haven't thought about how it also uses less natural resources to go to a shop to get an expresso, instead of everyone having their own machine at home. I can walk there, get organic food produced in my region, buy homemade jewelry and hats, support my local community, eat yummy organic vegan cookies and drink artistic and tasty soy gingerbread lattes ~ pure heaven!

I challenge all Toastmasters out there to do a manual speech on OMAoG at the next meeting! 

I challenge everyone else to find their own local noshery and order a soy gingerbread fair trade organic latte as your Act of Green today! 

Hallowe’en is fast approaching, and my daughter and I are getting ready (in fact, she’s been getting ready for 6 months already!) It is the one night a year when it is socially acceptable to be as evil as possible, and she always takes advantage of it to be the most black and nasty character she can be.

I might be a queen this year (suits my name) so I could at least have one night where I could tell everyone what to do and get away with it (as a municipal councilor it actually doesn’t happen often, believe it or not!) but sometimes I like to become someone from another culture to try to understand it better. I’ve dressed Japanese before, and I’ve been thinking that it might be useful to dress up as someone from the Maldives or Bangladesh and walk around in wet feet all night in tribute to the trouble they are having from rising sea levels. However, I wouldn’t want to make light oftheir hardships, but finding a way to raise the profile of their plight on Hallowe’en would be cool.

But, when you think about it, Hallowe’en is another holiday where Canadians often are not considerate of their environment. It is estimated that we spend $1.5 billion on Hallowe’en every year, with most of the expense being candy to hand out. This blog is the first of a series about what we can do to make it greener and healthier and funner (if that is a real word).

When I was doing the research to find out who had the best ideas, I came across a cool website, which is the most comprehensive, in my humble opinion: http://www.greenhalloween.org/

The most innovative idea I found was Reverse trick-or-treating. Instead of going to the doors and getting just regular chocolate, you go to the doors and hand out fair trade chocolate with some information on fair trade. http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/

When I was little, I always collected for UNICEF, and it felt good to be helping children around the world, on a night when it was easy to see that we had more than we needed. It would be nice to see children being considerate of others when they are receiving goodies. My daughter used to collect goodies then give most of them to extended family members who usually couldn’t afford treats like that.

Watch for another blog where I’ll list off the best of the green ideas I’ve found. Have fun greening your Hallowe’en!

I've got a heart warming story from Walkerton, the site of the water crisis where thousands of people became sick from Ecoli and 7 people sadly lost their lives. This community pulled itself together from its bootstraps, and now is one of the most active towns in Canada on environmental issues. More will be coming in future blogs, but on to my story. 

Brandon Koebel, a 16 year old student, became seriously concerned about global warming six months ago and wanted to do something. He proceeded to organize a symposium and a live presentation at Sacred Heart High School in Walkerton that came to fruition last night, centring around global warming and what we can all do to help. He invited Art Fitzgerald to speak, and Art is one of the new Canadian trainees of Al Gore, but also a 40 year veteran of environmental issues internationally, having worked for Nortel and Export Canada, to name a few.  There were people acting on the environment from the whole region: KDSS students describing green cones, a gold-winning science fair project by Megan about water quality in the rivers, UN youth water initiative members, free energy savings kits and other goodies in reusable bags, and all those kinds of wonderful things that make an event successful. It was also supported by the Mayors of Brockton, Hanover, Kincardine, and the Warden of Grey county.

However, the cream of the crop that night was the documentary “Bringing The Solution Home”, produced by Brandon. It combined great graphics, interviews, 10 things we can all do, and the all important message at the end that together, we can make a difference.

It gives me hope that we will be able to turn this climate crisis around when youth are so active empowering change. Brandon, congratulations on one huge act of green that has produced thousands! I challenge other youth around the country to follow Brandon's example of his Act of Green :-)

I had the privelege of being in attendance at David Suzuki's interview with George Stroumboulopoulos today, and marvelled at the quick wit, audacity and veracity. He said that being part of One Million Acts of Green is a good step, but we need to take the big ones in government to change our course.

Across Canada, people young, old and everywhere between feel like they know David (and he makes me want to use his first name without the normal formalities), and he is believed above scientists and the government as a source of information on climate change, according to a poll commissioned by his Foundation. When I first met him in person last April at the Climate Project training with Al Gore in Montreal, my biggest impression was his earthiness, the jokes, the relaxation of it all, and especially the famous jeans, in contrast to Mr. Gore's fitted suit and formal manners.

I think the biggest compliment I could give is to say that my father (who is in David's age group) was so intent on watching David speak that he forgot to breathe, and was not-so-silently gasping ~ I was worried he was going to have a heart attack, he was so intense and excited to hear his words. Don't worry, he was allright, but so happy to receive David's new book "David Suzuki's Green Guide" (which is his 43rd, by the way!)

The connection with nature, the need to protect it, the truth in the current crisis and the optimism that we will change are all part of his earthy legacy. When he is there to speak on nature's behalf, I am proud to be a Canadian, and I hope each of us can make him proud by following his advice and protecting the planet together.