Book Report : The End of Oil

So I read The End of Oil throughout the past couple of weeks. It was a spur of the moment purchase at the used bookstore at the beginning of February - and I'm so glad the purchase was made. It was published in 2005, and already some of the forecasting in regards to the price of oil, increased production from non-traditional sources (tar sands etc...) have come to pass. It seemed like a relatively well balanced book in regards to its honesty about the future of energy, which I appreciated greatly. I loved it and it affirmed what I knew, and gave me more insight into the politics of oil.

Style vs. Ethics

In the world of fashion the term 'ethics' is seemingly most often used lightly and always with quotations around it. Most companies have CSR documents to which they send to their vendors and ask them to sign - and this is the extent of their investment. There are companies out there that try to do a little bit more, and then tout their small improvements as revolutionary.

I was faced with a dilemma today when walking down the street... To buy a new favourite t-shirt, or to leave it there. I have two of my favourite t-shirts - a raglan sleeveless number that has the perfect neckline... the problem is that they come from American Apparel. This 'made in the U.S.A." , "sweatshop free". They tout their labour practices as fair and equitable - but what may I ask is 'fair and equitable' about being subjected to sexual harassment at work? There have been several suits launched against Dov Charney (I am ashamed to call him a fellow Canadian), in regards to his treatment of his female employees. On the blog of the Law Offices of Peter M. LaSorsa there is an outline of some of the horrendous things he has said in legal depositions... According to Wikipedia article on Dov Charney, none of these lawsuits have been proven, but it is safe to assume that the Wiki page has been carefully edited by the staff at American Apparel or their PR firm.

Needless to say, I did not purchase anything - and will refrain from purchasing anything from them in the future - and will make my own new favourite t-shirt, and I'm starting with this awesome shirt from pixielink on BurdaStyle...

The problems of packaging...

I was wandering down the street the other day and I came across this bit of mess on the sidewalk. The bags lasted for about 2 blocks, and were blowing even further. For those of you who haven't worked in a retail store - each garment comes packaged in a plastic bag, just like men's shirts, then are grouped in usually 6's, and then put in another bag, and then put in a box (sometimes a reusable plastic box that goes back to the warehouse, sometimes not). Every day, when the new stock comes in, it is all taken out if its bags, security tagged, and put on the shelves, and when sold, put in a different plastic bag.

Hundreds of these bags are thrown in the garbage - as there is no daily recycling for this type of waste, and number 5 plastic (polypropylene) is not easily recycled in most places. This is a significant design challenge - is there a way to collect and reuse these bags? Can we find a better way to package things for shipping? Can we package things so that these bags can be used as a final bag at the cash? We all think we are doing 'good' for the environment when we bring our own bags to the store, but that's only the half of it it seems... so to the packaging designers and fashion companies out there - I'm calling you out in order find a better solution to this waste.

Leaving a trail of crumbs

I want one!!! First I would need a bike though. How utterly intriguing to leave a beautiful trail of your path, could turn out to be a bit creepy - dependant on the colour someone could follow you. I also wonder about the sustainability of random chalk paths on the road/sidewak/bike path. And the blue and greens? Do they contain heavy metal colourants? And as truly a useless but fun gadget is it just adding to the mountains of stuff meant to 'green the world'? So many questions. Created by Studio Gelardi - you can check out more information here. Via coolhunting.

Desperately seeking SPACE!

I'm not sure if it has anything to do with where I grew up - but I have a huge desire and yearning for space.  Lots of space, as far as the eye can see kind of space.  I wonder how this fits in with the urban me?  I've lived in large urban centers for the past 9 years, I grew up in suburban Calgary (bored out of my mind if I remember correctly), but now yearn for a bit of rurality.  The closest I got to the best of both worlds was Montreal - living in the urban part, but with easy access to the outdoors.  I understand the yearning for a McMansion - the idea that space is liberating, but my logic tells me they are a bad idea.  I know that sharing is good in theory (resources split between people etc...), but I don't really like sharing.  What's a girl to do?  If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them!

Radium... Not the good kind

As most of you know, my favorite place in the entire world (of the parts I've seen anyhow), is a little place called Radium in BC. Now, luckily this post has nothing to do with that Radium, but it does have to do with a small place named Port Radium in Nunavut. There is exploration going on for Uranium reserves pushed by France's nuclear industry, click here for the whole story. I'm starting to really believe that Canada needs to move away from the exploitation of our natural resources, and become more of a knowledge based economy. The north is taking a beating lately. The polar bears are struggling to survive, and this horrible story about the oil sands in Northern Alberta, and now increased uranium mining. There have been concerns of an increased occurrance of cancer in the area because of the mining. Check out this article for more information. Thanks treehugger for keeping me up to date!

Things that Annoy Me

Increasingly I'm getting more and more annoyed with Greenwashing. I'm finding it harder to distinguish between what is environmentally friendly and what is just hype. Everything here seems to be 'green', but it ends up being something excessively small that is used to make the company look concerned. What is going to have to happen to make some REAL change? Is real change possible?