Hummingbird604.com » environment

Volunteer at the Molson Red Leaf Project Cleanup at English Bay (Nov 19th) and win tickets to Grey Cup Festival

Raul — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:52:30 +0000

Few things make me happier than seeing a corporation I happen to like personally (Molson Brewery) be committed to environmental projects. I am, after all, an academic who studies environmental politics and policy. So when I found about the Molson Red Leaf Project Cleanup at English Bay on November 19th, I couldn’t help but write about it. The topic (and the company) are both up my alley (even if I’m not really a hockey fan).

Photo credit: Tyler Ingram on Flickr.

The project rules are pretty simple: sign up to volunteer on November 19th to help in a park project (in this case, English Bay cleanup) the first 100 volunteers to sign up earn free 3-day passes to the Grey Cup Festival. Note that the events run rain or shine, and that you MUST be of legal drinking age to participate.

Unfortunately I’m otherwise booked on November 19th, which is a pity as I’d love to participate, not so much because I want tickets to the Grey Cup Festival (I’m not really a ~~hockey~~ football fan – that’s fine, go ahead and revoke my Vancouverite card) but more because it’s a great environmentally-focused project (by Molson in partnership with Evergreen).

You can sign up here. Good idea, Molson. I like your commitment to environmental, community-focused projects (I just wish you informed me in a little bit more timely fashion about when they’ll happen!)

Disclosure: I have no financial stake on Molson, this post hasn’t been paid for nor have I received any other form of compensation. I am just keen to promote environmentally-focused projects.

EDIT – Thanks to Anabelle and Yuri for indicating that the Grey Cup is football, not hockey. Clearly, you can tell which sports interest me

In the House festival – Halloween 2011

jessica — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:30:24 +0000

In the House Festival 2011: Halloween Haunted House and Ball

This year, why not check out an alternative Halloween event in contrast to the usual horror antics, sexy costumes, and candy? In the House Festival is all about that: this year’s theme, “Faerieland.” A whimsical approach of faeries and goblins is the theme, but an underlying tone of environmental impact is the entire idea. The faeries are angry at humans for destroying their environment, and the hour-long presentation will explain more with over 30 performers.

The setup is A) a haunted house with nightly tours, and B) a kick-off party on October 1^st.

The House of Faerie Bad Things includes 8 nightly tours through 13 faerie environments with 30 diffferent performers. The tours of 15 people are an intimate way to explore the setup and learn the ideas and concepts of the cause.

Photo Credit: Jay Wilson via Flickr

The Faerie Ball is a dress-up party with the theme of Faerieland. Live performances, fantastical and fictional creatures. Should be a lot of fun. For tickets, to book a tour, or any additional info, check out http://www.inthehousefestival.com/

Hummingbird604.com will also be doing a giveaway for a pair of tickets to the Faerie Ball on October 1st. To enter, comment on what you plan on dressing as on Halloween this year! Or tweet the following (you can earn up to 2 entries, one via comment 1 via Twitter):

Told @hummingbird604 about my Halloween costume this yr 2 enter 2 win tickets to In the House Faerie Ball. Enter here http://is.gd/Vyn2XT

We will draw a winner on September 30th at 5pm, and publish on this post. Good luck!

World Environment Day (today, June 5th, 2011)

Raul — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 15:48:55 +0000

Strangely enough, Earth Day (April 22nd) and World Water Day (March 22nd) tend to be very highly publicized but World Environment Day (set by the United Nations Environment Programme) is rarely paid much attention to.

As a specialist in environmental policy, and more importantly, someone deeply concerned with environmental protection, I think it’s important to remind people that our consumptive patterns are one of the biggest causes for environmental degradation. We consume at a much faster rate than resources are replenished. Our ecosystems are fragile.

My research focus has been, for the past 10-15 years, pollution reduction and prevention, hazardous waste, solid waste and more recently, wastewater. I hope that people can take a moment today, June 5th, World Environment Day, to remember just how blessed we are with having resources that so many people are unable to, and access to a number of satisfactors that others don’t. Let’s protect our environment not only today, but every day.

World Environment Day (WED) is an annual event that is aimed at being the biggest and most widely celebrated global day for positive environmental action. WED activities take place all year round but climax on 5 June every year, involving everyone from everywhere. WED celebration began in 1972 and has grown to become the one of the main vehicles through which the UN stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and encourages political attention and action.

What are YOU going to do for your environment on WED 2011?

2010: The year pollution control retook the center stage from climate change

Raul — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 03:05:55 +0000

photo credit: ARLIS Reference

I was unsure whether I should post this on my research blog or on my personal one, but as I am thinking and reflecting on what 2010 brought to me, I must point out to a recent story that indicates Canadians rank the BP oil spill as the top news item of 2010. But I couldn’t help but feel somewhat vindicated (even though it saddens me enormously and I’m still outraged at the fact that the spill occurred). For the past 10 years of my life, I have spent countless hours trying to understand the behavior of individuals, firms and governments in hopes to help them design mechanisms to reduce and control pollution. Also, for the past 10 years, I have eschewed studying the politics of climate change policy. I read about it and keep my finger on the pulse of the literature, but I firmly believe that we have other pressing problems that are more immediate than climate change.

My intention of learning ways of minimizing the negative environmental impact of pollutants in water is what first brought me to an undergraduate in chemical engineering and then to a doctorate in environmental studies. While I now research more the politics and policy making of environmental pollution that the actual engineering, I’m reasonably knowledgeable in both fields. So, I do champion, research and analyze policies around water management, pollution prevention and waste minimization. Yes, I do, and proudly so.

I have been witness to a surge in interest around the topic of climate change in the past decade, and I have remained focused in the environmental problems that have interested me from the beginning. Instead of jumping on the bandwagon, I’ve kept looking at ways to improve water governance and bring wastewater to the forefront of the academic social science discourse. And while I may be an outsider, I’m glad that climate change politics is not my major research focus.

The BP oil spill, while completely despicable from a corporate social responsibility perspective and horrifying in terms of the ecological impacts it had, served to remind people that we, humans, are WAY more incompetent at protecting our environment than we give ourselves credit for. That we need to shift our energy consumption paradigms as much as we need to learn better ways to save water. That we are WAY further from the reality of a cleaner environment than we think. And that pollution is still a very grave, imperious and important environmental problem that we must never forget, even if climate change is now much more of a popular topic.

Because we only have ONE planet.

Flashmob Caroling for Climate Action this coming Sunday Dec 19th

Raul — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 19:05:29 +0000

You may have heard recently of Sophie Harrison, who recently got interviewed by The Tyee (she is a Grade 11 student at Prince of Wales Secondary School who started the youth group Kids for Climate Action). Check out their website or their Facebook page to find out about upcoming events, which includes this Sunday’s flash-mob climate Christmas carolling.

From their website:

Kids for Climate Action is now organizing a flash mob for climate action. We’ve adapted the words to ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town.’ Come out to sing and dance about climate change — it’ll be lots of fun and a great way to get our message across.

At 3:00 on Sunday, December 19th we will begin our flash mob in the food court of Pacific Center. It will start with group of about five somewhere in the middle of the food court, and then everyone else will join in. Remember — we have to be inconspicuous before we start. It would be great if people could just be sitting down eating, or milling about. Also, as soon as the song is over, act like nothing has just happened. Go back to eating your food, or just walk off.

At 3:20 we will hit a second location – Georgia St and Granville. Make sure everyone trickles out of the food court at different times, so it’s not obvious where we are going next. We will be doing our flash mob on the same corner as the Canada line exit.

I do know Sophie Harrison in person, and I’m very proud of her for taking steps to engage youth, educate them and galvanize them into action. Please do consider attending the Flashmob Caroling for Climate Action. There will be two locations to participate. And congratulations, Sophie, on the great work you are doing!

Win a “Soy-At-Home” eco-prize pack from @SoNiceOrganic and me

Raul — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 19:45:43 +0000

I was browsing through my corner store recently and reached to look into refrigerator to check the So Nice soy beverages. Strange as it may sound, checking these out gave me a strange warm-and-fuzzy feeling, because I am actually one of the judges of the So Nice Contest, which captures ideas on greening our world.

In promoting their contest (and judging it), the kind folks of So Nice (Canada’s largest sustainable, organic soy beverage brand) gave me a pack of goodies for one of my lucky readers to win. I will be giving away a “Soy-At-Home” prize pack containing:

Eco-Chic Home by Emily Anderson (compliments of Raincoast Books: great book on creating a sustainable style at home)
The Legacy by David Suzuki (compliments of Greystone Books: Suzuki, one of the planet’s preeminent elders, explains how we got where we are today and presents his vision for a better future)
Sapadilla rosemary/peppermint Counter Spray (plant-based, biodegradable and earth friendly cleaner)
Simplicity natural vegesoy candle (made with soybeans and all natural vegetable wax-petroleum free)
Green Zebra 2011 Savings Guide (over 250 coupons, $10,000 in savings on eco-friendly products, restaurants, organics, health-fitness, cultural activities and getaways)
EcoJot: 100% recycled paper journals made in Canada
Abeego Snack: natural, reusable, eco-conscious food storage
So Nice product voucher (1.89L carton, as shown below) (This product needs to be refrigerated, hence the voucher)

The So Nice “$5,000 Towards a Better Organic World Contest’s deadline is December 31, 2010. I will keep my giveaway running until December 27th, 2010 at 5:00pm. The contest’s eligibility is for Canada residents only.

To enter my giveaway:

FIRST:
“Like” the So Nice Facebook Page (- while you’re there take a look at their Green Contest where I am a judge)

AND THEN do one of the following:

Tweet your favorite green tip and include @soniceorganic and the hashtag: #sonice-rpv

OR
Comment below with your favorite “green tip”. Something that you do to reduce your ecological footprint, for example. Your green tips can be anything from how you conserve water, to linking to your favorite vegan recipe. Just be sure to keep your idea clean

About So Nice
So Nice only uses certified organic, non-GMO soybeans that are grown in Canada and the US.

The So Nice “A Better Organic World Contest”

The So Nice “A Better Organic World” contest on Facebook runs until December 31 and asks: “How would you spend $5,000 towards a better organic world?” . Answer in 300 words or less for a chance to win $5,000 to put this plan into action! Check it out here. You can submit ideas of how you would go about making the world (or even just your corner of the world) a greener place.

For more information about the So Nice Facebook contest, visit the link above or view the “Media Room”.

Disclosure: The bag of goodies was generously sponsored by So Nice Canada, and it’s a token of appreciation for me as one of the judges of their “A Better Organic World”. I am neither paid to run the contest, nor do I get any other form of monetary or in-kind compensation. I just think So Nice is a very cool green brand that is working towards greening our world. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do feel free to contact me via email.

World Oceans Day

Raul — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:25:32 +0000

photo credit: berriehol

World Oceans Day is just a few days after World Environment Day. Given the recent oil spill catastrophe, ocean protection is now more important than ever, I believe. The 2010 theme is ”

As a result of a United Nations General Assembly resolution passed in December 2008, World Oceans Day is now officially recognized by the UN as June 8th each year. From the Ocean Project website:

The concept for a “World Ocean Day” was first proposed in 1992 by the Government of Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and it had been unofficially celebrated every year since then. Since 2002, The Ocean Project and the World Ocean Network have helped to promote and coordinate World Oceans Day events worldwide. We help coordinate events and activities with aquariums, zoos, museums, conservation organizations, universities, schools, and businesses. Each year an increasing number of countries and organizations have been marking June 8th as an opportunity to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea.

On World Oceans Day, please take a moment to reflect and think of ways in which you could help protect marine life and the integrity of aquatic ecosystems. Now more than ever, it’s crucial.

The relevance of the BP oil spill for global environmental politics

Raul — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:04:12 +0000

photo credit: centralasian

Having had one of the world’s foremost authorities on climate change as a PhD advisor when I was doing my doctorate was a bit challenging at times, because a lot of people didn’t understand how could I be supervised by a climate expert and NOT be interested in climate policy at all. I now do a bit of climate work. This year I have started a project on climate change and water, and since 2006 I have incorporated climate-related examples in the classroom when I teach environmental politics.

I have no problem admitting that it irks me when people assume that climate change is THE one and only environmental problem that we have. I can’t even begin to tell you how many people start their conversations with me by mentioning Al Gore and An Inconvenient Truth. And of course, I smile sweetly and roll my eyes. I am a pollution control specialist, not a climate one. I will fully admit that, up until I had to start teaching with examples from the climate negotiations, I had absolutely no interest whatsoever in climate policy. My focus was, and continues to be, finding ways to minimize the impact WE (humans) already have on the planet.

I have spent the better part of the last decade studying human behaviour and processes to minimize and curtail pollution in solid waste and in water. I am one of the very, very few social scientists who study wastewater governance, worldwide. Most of the focus on water is on QUANTITY not on QUALITY. And it does disappoint me when people forget that there are MANY other environmental problems worldwide beyond climate. This is one of the reasons why I have never been too fond of the excessive exposure that global warming and climate change have in the media.

While I am completely and utterly heartbroken by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (not only for the negative environmental consequences, but also because of the magnitude and extent of the damage), I am somewhat hopeful. Yes, this may sound contradictory, but I feel vindicated. The BP oil disaster has reminded the world that pollution is STILL one of the most important environmental problems we haven’t solved. We need to continue to work to reduce our impacts on the environment, and pollution is a big impact.

I mused on Twitter that the next time somebody tells me why I eschew climate policy in favor of water and pollution control policy, my answer will be just two words: “BP Spill”.

Earth Day is today April 22nd

Raul — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:41:32 +0000

photo credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video

I have had an interest in environmental issues for more than 20 years. Even before I thought about starting my undergraduate degree, I knew I had an interest in protecting the environment. The better part of the last decade of my life I have spent it researching, analyzing data, interviewing government officials, activists and scholars who work in the sustainability field. I did a Doctor of Philosophy in Resource Management and Environmental Studies because I knew that I wanted to focus on pollution control policy.

While the past four years I have done a lot of personal blogging, I do have a research blog, and I am delighted that I now have extensive experience that allows me to bridge my interests: sustainability, education, social media/technology and the environment.

Unfortunately, Earth Day falls within the two weeks when I have had the most work ever, and I am really swamped for time, so I don’t have the time to recount all the pitches I received regarding events for Earth Day. BUT I will be approving comments remotely, so if you have an event for Earth Day that you’d like to tell my readers, by all means drop a comment.

For Earth Day (which coincides with my 4 years blogiversary) I am having a social gathering at my office at The Network Hub tonight, I have a short social media appearance to make before that gathering, and I am in the middle of marking papers and preparing final exams, and dealing with students. I spend every day thinking about ways in which I can improve not only my proximate environment but also that of my fellow human beings. And I’m proud of the research, consulting and teaching I do in the environment and public policy fields.

Happy Earth Day, everyone. Remember, we only have one planet. Let’s take care of it.

Legend Power Complimentary Webinar on Voltage Optimization Technology

Raul — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:09:24 +0000

photo credit: twicepix

Via my friend Monique Trottier I found out about a webinar that is going to take place on Tuesday December 8th – details below.

Learn How Voltage Optimization Technology Can Reduce Your Facility’s Power Cost by 6-10%

Guest Speaker: Dr. William Dunford, Moderator: Erik Wolfe, Legend Power Systems
* Key Applications for Cost Savings With Automated Voltage Regulation
* An overview of how new Automated Voltage Optimization technology can reduce overall power consumption by 6-10%
* Featured BC Hydro audit results from IKEA, Loblaws, and case study overview

Time: 10 a.m. PST / 1 p.m. EST
Location: Online Webinar
Registration Online

It sounds like a good webinar and I’d be interested to hear more of what Legend Power is doing.

Win an HP Photosmart A646 Compact Photo Printer!

Raul — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:09:48 +0000

You may remember that a few months ago I participated in a blogger relations program by Hill & Knowlton on behalf of their client Hewlett Packard Canada. I reviewed their HP Photosmart Premium All-In-One C309 (part 1 and part 2). Quite frankly, I wasn’t expecting anything (since I already kept the printer, as HP Canada indicated I could do – I could have also returned it, but it’s proven very useful for my day-to-day activities).

But then I got an email from Linda North indicating that they were giving me an HP PhotoSmart A646 Compact photo-printer to give away on my site. I found this quite a generous offer, and I love giving away stuff on my site. As I said before, I don’t do this for money or the fame, but if people read my site and I can provide my readers with free stuff, all the better. So, I gladly accepted. They couriered the printer to me and I finally got an opportunity to write about it. I found the environmental features of the photo printer very appealing. From their communications, I found out that this new compact printer has some great environmental features. It’s shipped in a reusable tote bag made from recycled plastics and its body is made with more than 32 per cent recycled plastic material.

You can enter the contest just dropping a comment on this post. I’ll draw a winner on Thursday November 5th, 2009. Feel free to re-tweet, share, and spread the word. And thanks to H&K and HP Canada for giving me a chance to give something away for my readers!

The printer I’m giving away to my readers is provided by Hewlett Packard Canada as a token of appreciation for participating in reviewing the HP Premium C309 as part of a blogger relations program by Hill and Knowlton on behalf of their client HP Canada. In any review I write, I retain editorial control at all times and thus getting a free item does not guarantee a favorable review. Should you have any questions or should your company want to send me a product for review, feel free to contact me via e-mail through my contact form.

London Drugs and the styrofoam disposal

Raul — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:11:49 +0000

photo credit: sivasothi

I am not a big fan of styrofoam, but as someone who cooks and consumes Indian food, I’ve always been aware of the challenges that designing containers for this type of food brings along. Similarly, styrofoam is frequently used to prevent shocks when packaging computer hardware (I have a LOT of styrofoam from the HP PhotoSmart I was sent by HP Canada). While in my research I haven’t looked specifically at styrofoam waste management, I have always kept it in mind as a challenge, particularly as space in landfills becomes more and more scarce. I would prefer much more if we minimized our usage of styrofoam than having to dispose of it.

I learned about London Drugs‘ recent partnership with Green Deal via Cynnamon Schreinert, and from the press release, I became aware that London Drugs also can receive used batteries for disposal. I’m a bit confused as to whether this partnership and recycling program only applies to disposing styrofoam from items purchased at LD, or if consumers can also bring other styrofoam. I think applying a levy would/should work. I’m interested in learning more about this initiative, both

Conserving water and the “Largest Water Fight” in Vancouver

Raul — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:32:10 +0000

So I learned about the fact that today, a flashmob attempting to created the “Largest Water Fight” happened in Vancouver at Stanley Park. I have spent the last 13 years of my life working to reduce both the amount of water wasted as well as to increase the quality of water in every single region of the world that I have lived in and undertaken research on. So it’s hard for me to be comfortable with, be happy with or even remotely support a a flashmob that engages in a waste of the vital liquid. I know that I’ll be criticized for (in turn) criticizing a fun activity like this. After all, well, it’s summer in Vancouver, it’s hot, “we have lots of water here in Canada (this is, by the way, a complete myth, as anybody who has looked at my work on water stress and water scarcity will attest). Sure, conserving water might not seem like it’s going to do anything for people who already are experiencing water scarcity. But witnessing people engaging in irresponsible behaviours and wasteful practices towards water are exactly the kinds of things that irk me. As I suggested on Twitter, instead of doing a flashmob to waste water against each other, how about a flashmob to raise funds towards water wells? In the interest of giving everyone a voice, chime here in the comments. I might be offline for a while so if your comment is not approved yet, don’t think I’ve blocked it, it will appear eventually!

Living Oceans’ Finding Coral expedition sails in June 2009

Raul — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:12:15 +0000

Given that I have a PhD in Environmental Studies, anything to do with water, marine ecosystems and research always catches my attention. Recently, Living Oceans (a local environmental NGO) contacted me to let me know about their Finding Coral expedition.

From their website:

Living Oceans Society is excited to announce the launch of our Finding Coral Expedition on June 8th. The expedition will use two mini subs to explore deep sea corals in Hecate Strait and the Queen Charlotte Basin. The subs will be piloted by Jennifer Lash, our Executive Director, and a blue ribbon science team who will dive to depths of up to 500 meters to gather evidence of corals, associated species, and damage from human impacts.

To find out more about this expedition, check out their website. And to find out more about Living Oceans, you can go over their website. Living Oceans

Living Oceans Society is Canada’s largest organization focusing exclusively on marine conservation issues. We are based in Sointula, a small fishing village on the Central Coast of British Columbia.

Mojave: Way more than an eco-minded music band

Raul — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:09:53 +0000

I had the pleasure of attending one of the concerts that my friends from Mojave had, and my good friend Pat Zaph was kind enough to join me (I was pretty sick that day so I just stayed for a few songs). Pat and I met up with Rebecca and John there too, so we all had an opportunity to enjoy the concert and a beer. Pat took a number of great photos that you can check out here.

You can read his review here and Rebecca’s article on E! Online interviewing Mojave is here. I really enjoy Mojave’s music (they’re an acoustic band with very Earth-y, natural tones) but even more importantly, I value 3 elements in their approach:

1) They live a very eco-minded life. As in, their day-to-day life. They eat, breathe and live in an ecologically-conscious mode. They are inspiring.

2) Their music is fantastic. And they created a song that they contributed to the Earth Hour Canada

3) They are very approachable and connected. Both Paul and I follow each other on Twitter, and he interacts with people very frequently (e.g. he is a real person behind the keyboard, not only promoting the band, but creating a very personal following because of how nice he is. He comments on blogs, he writes on the Mojave blog, etc.). I love having geeky friends who are environmentally minded and musically inclined.

Go, Mojave, go!

Social Media for Sustainability and Public Policy

Raul — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:30:27 +0000

I’m exhausted but very happy with the results of my Net Tuesday talk. The speakers who were at the event were all fantastic, and I’m truly honored to have shared the stage with them.

The feedback on my presentation was great and people seemed quite happy with the content of my speech. I think people were also taken by the fact that I presented the social network of the New Testament in a very cool visualization.

Thanks to AHA Media for providing documentation through videography/photography/live-tweeting and to Darren and Joe, respectively, for MC-ing and organizing/inviting me.

The liveblog/live-tweet is inserted below (or you can click in this link) and my presentation slides are hosted in my research blog and on SlideShare.

I’d be very curious to hear people’s reactions to my talk on the comments section. One thing I noticed is that people had a lot of questions that I really couldn’t address right there and then as we had very limited time, so if you have any questions, feel free to drop me a comment on my research blog or here.

World Water Day and “The Global Water Crisis” event by WaterDrop

Raul — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 18:08:07 +0000

You might recall that I wrote a few days back about an invitation that Jered Love and Doug Van Spronsen from WaterDrop made recently. Jered and Doug asked me if I’d be willing to speak about the state of Canadian water within the global water issues context. Of course, I accepted gladly because I believe very strongly in the work that Doug and Jered are doing in regards to highlighting the relevance of water within the context of global environmental change. As I’ve mentioned before, many people are SO focused on climate change that they tend to forget that water IS also a natural resource that faces great challenges in the very near future.

The event took place last night, with a showing of a video that WaterDrop created, a screening of the movie/documentary “Flow” and two talks, one by the folks of Run for Water (I’ll write more about them in the next few days) and my own. I’ll have my slides up on my research site in the next couple of days. On the way back, we were talking about the event and I mentioned that they should be proud, because bringing 70 people to Langley (at Trinity Western University) on a Saturday night to talk water, is not an easy task, and the participants stayed for much longer to talk to the folks who had exhibits at the event (the Township of Langley, Oxfam, the Council of Canadians). They did an amazing job and they also had several people who helped make the event successful, and I personally had a great time.

Water and energy are considered two of the most important and pressing environmental issues in the next 50 years. Unfortunately, so much emphasis is placed on the need for energy resources that not enough attention is paid to the myriad of issues surrounding water. Who has the right to access water? How can we make this access equitable? Is privatization the right way pathway for water conservation? What can we do to re-purpose wastewater and how safe is the technology? There are many, many questions regarding water that are still not answered. My research on water governance aims to tackle just a few of this questions.

Only 3% of the world’s water supply is freshwater (the rest is salt water). This fact comes as a good reminder that today, March 22nd, 2009 is not only the second day of spring, but also the celebration of World Water Day. The theme for 2008 was Sanitation (where my main focus of water research is) and for 2009 is Transboundary Water.

Over the last 60 years there have been more than 200 international water agreements and only 37 cases of reported violence between states over water. We need to continue to nurture the opportunities for cooperation that transboundary water management can provide. [World Water Day UN Site]

In my research, I have examined the way in which wastewater policy is created within a river basin that encompasses territory of five Mexican states (the equivalent of provinces in Canada). The 2009 theme of Transboundary Waters is very timely, because (as I found while conducting fieldwork for this project) water can be used not only as a natural resource but also as a political resource. When water bodies (aquifers or lakes or rivers) are shared amongst two political entities, conflicts about jurisdiction over the water bodies may potentially ensue. Right now, we don’t have water wars, but given the irresponsible consumption patterns that many individuals have, we may see real water fights in the near future.

How many transboundary river basins are there?

There are 263 transboundary river basins. Over 45 percent of the land surface of the world is covered by river basins that are shared by more than one country. Over 75 percent of all countries, 145 in total, have within their boundaries shared river basins. And 33 nations have over 95 percent of their territory within international river basins.

While most transboundary river basins are shared between just two countries, there are many river basins where this number is much higher. There are 13 basins worldwide that are shared between 5 to 8 countries. Five river basins, the Congo, Niger, Nile, Rhine and Zambezi, are shared between 9 to 11 countries. The river that flows through the most countries is the Danube, which passes through the territory of 18 countries.[UN World Water Day]

On this World Water Day, I encourage all my readers to re-think their consumption patterns, to think of ways to conserve and recycle water, to ponder how can each one of us contribute to the work of non-governmental organizations that are fighting tirelessly to provide safe drinking water to the many people in developing nations that don’t have access to clean water. Happy World Water Day.

Net Impact Career Fair Sustainability Panel Liveblog

Raul — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:08:27 +0000

David Facey, BC Hydro
Esther Speck, MEC
James Hoggan, Hoggan and Associates
Henry Stoch, Deloitte
Marc Stoiber, Change
David Helliwell, Small Energy Group

Sustainability Panel

Earth Hour Canada and living green

Raul — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:36:15 +0000

Last year, I noticed that Corinna had written a substantial post on Earth Hour Canada (to which I linked in a linklove post earlier in 2008). She’s been promoting the very worthy work of WWF for a couple of years now, which I think is awesome. This year, Corinna has written again about the issue and how she and Adam try to be green year-round. In January of this year, the World Wildlife Federation (organizers of Earth Canada Hour) contacted me to help spread the word on Earth Hour Canada (hat tips to Dave Jones for linking them up with me) and I was very happy to do so. Several of us will be spreading the word soon so I’ll be sure to link back when I know about their posts.

On March 28th, 2009, from 8:30pm to 9:30pm, millions of Canadians will turn off their lights for Earth Hour in support of action on climate change. You can encourage friends and family on the WWF-Earth Hour Canada site. The WWF is also encouraging participants to think about ways to reduce your carbon footprint (e.g. transit, unplugging electrical appliances, etc.)

More information on their site. Also, you can follow Earth Hour Canada on Twitter here and join the Earth Canada Hour Facebook page here.

Virtual water: Should drinking coffee make you feel guilty?

Raul — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:01:34 +0000

While admittedly my research strength is on wastewater governance, I am well versed on the water scarcity literature. One of the concepts that has gained notoriety in the social science literature is the idea of virtual water. From the World Water Council’s website:

Virtual water is the amount of water that is embedded in food or other products needed for its production. For example, to produce one kilogram of wheat we need about 1,000 litres of water, i.e. the virtual water of this kilogram of wheat is 1,000 litres. For meat, we need about five to ten times more.[World Water Council]

Credit: Ianiv and Arieanna

Darren recently wrote about Salt Spring Island Coffee and how much guilt they put into their coffee cup paper sleeves with the phrase “the cup of coffee you’re consuming travelled 20,000 miles to get to you” (I’m paraphrasing). In my comment to Darren, I indicated that this kind of guilt was nothing. I would like to share with you just how much water was consumed in producing that one cup of coffee you can’t give up: 140 litres, according to the latest calculation of the World Water Council. Yes, you heard right. 140 litres of water go into producing each cup of coffee.

People who are unaware of the negative environmental impact of excess water consumption argue that, after all, it’s *just* a cup of coffee and that we have enough water in the world. My question to them is - How much of the world’s water is available for human consumption? Yeah, I told you about that a few months ago, remember? 0.38% – not nearly enough to sustain our current consumptive patterns.

Credit: Snap(R)

I’ll be the first to admit (disclosure time) that I do enjoy a cup of coffee, particularly when it comes to meetings with colleagues, friends, clients or the like. But I always feel guilty about it, and I try to find ways to diminish my water consumption, all the time. Moreover, a vast majority of my research work is on wastewater recycling and water conservation. Furthermore, I work hard at educating the public about the current state of the world in regards to water scarcity and the need to recycle and reuse wastewater.

The concept of virtual water isn’t new, but it is a powerful tool that helps us understand how negative our consumption patterns are. I just hope that the great work that water-focused researchers (myself included) are doing to highlight the negative consequences of our day-to-day activities and over-consumptive patterns can resonate with the public. Please remember that water is VERY, very scarce, before flushing your toilet, before purchasing bottled water, before taking long showers. Thank you.

At the intersection of social media and sustainability

Raul — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:00:32 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I was having dinner with a few very good friends and we started talking about Twitter. They didn’t know why it was useful. I explained that frequently, people share great finds (articles, things they are doing, things other people are doing, etc). More detail about Twitter in another post. This one is to share a couple of things that I’ve learned about applications of social media to sustainability.

I see the intersection of social media and sustainability as a part of my emerging new research, teaching and consulting agendas (by the way, have you checked my new research blog? No? Go ahead and check it out then come back). And one of the great things I’ve learned is how you can apply these social media tools to enable environmental non-governmental organizations and Crown corporations to reach out to a broader audience. Examples that a variety of awesome social media gurus have done for environmental causes and the such follow (this is a short link-love list – if you find yourself not included, feel free to drop me a comment). And the most exciting thing of them all? I heard about them on Twitter

- Dave Jones from Hill and Knowlton alerted me to the work he had been doing to help World Wildlife Fund Canada to spread the message about Earth Hour Canada. He spoke to a room of 18 people from the WWF Canada as sort of a “socmed bootcamp” and got them started on Twitter, Facebook and all that jazz. Dave is a great Canadian social media/PR person, and I offered to contribute to the Vancouver Earth Hour volunteer team.

- Darren Barefoot, Julie Szabo (Capulet Communications) and Monica Hamburg (in collaboration with Capulet) helped Forest Ethics, Greenpeace Canada and Sierra Club BC launch a social media campaign (that included Flickr, Twitter, Facebook and blogger outreach) to protect the Great Bear rainforest. I wrote about their campaign on my blog a couple of times. Excellent work here too.

- Before they merged with Third Whale, Dave Olson (mentor and good friend) helped spread the amazing work of HappyFrog.ca all over the Twitterverse. I even did some podcasting and liveblogging of EPIC ’08 as part of Dave’s FrogSquad!

- Third Whale is also on Twitter. The account is managed by relentless and ultra-enthusiastic Emily Jubenvill (who by the way is considered Canada’s greenest life-style person). I had a chance to chat with Dr. Boyd Cohen (who works in the corporate sustainability field) and is an entrepreneur. I foresee great things in the future of Third Whale.

- Social Signal (headed by Rob Cottingham and Alexandra Samuel) helped BC Hydro spread their message on energy saving tips through a variety of social media tools. Although I could very well recommend some improvements to BC Hydro’s Human Resources policy, I think the work that Rob and Alex did with them was most excellent! Obviously, that speaks to the fact that Social Signal’s work is superb.

- The recently launched site that my friend Anthony Nicalo is co-leading (FarmFed) is yet another excellent example of the convergence/intersection of social media and sustainability (in this case, sustainable farming, sustainable food policy). I have a guest post for their blog that I will email ASAP.

- Finally, and not to toot our own horn, but the Vancouver Twestival is another space where sustainability (in this case, water sustainability) and social media converge. Rebecca Bollwitt is the main focal point for Twestival and Lorraine, Keira and I are helping Rebecca in whatever we can. I predict that Twestival will be a great event, and I’m very grateful to 6S Marketing, The Opus Hotel and everyone who has donated prizes for the raffle. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

In summary – social media and sustainability can and SHOULD intersect. I am actually quite excited that my work in social media (e.g. my blogging and micro-blogging, participation in social media events, etc.) is offering some leads in regards to contract work. At this juncture in my life, even though I love research and teaching, I will for sure accept some social media contract work, but only to the extent of what my abilities can do. Remember, in regards to social media, I’m still a newbie

Qoola Yogurt + Fruit (Denman Street, West End)

Raul — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:31:09 +0000

I had a chance to meet with Warrick and Jesse, owners of Qoola Yogurt + Fruit, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I’m always a fan of green-minded entrepreneurs, but the thing that really struck a chord with me was the fact that Warrick and Jesse started their business with a view towards being fully sustainable. They’ve been working with Green Table to ensure that they implement green measures, which is to be praised.

Their yogurt is fantastic, and while I think it deserves a fuller review (which I’ll do in a later post), it’s a good idea just to let you know that they’ve started with their soft-launch, and that they are on Twitter. Follow them here. Both Warrick and Jesse are very interested in engaging with their public and get as much feedback as possible.

I also wanted to let you know that they are on UrbanSpoon. They have also agreed to sponsor a contest in the next couple of weeks with a prize of two gift cards, which I think is completely awesome. Come to think about it (and sorry that I didn’t think about this earlier, Warrick) I should let 3rdWhale know about Qoola too!

Their grand opening is coming soon, so I’ll let them inform you guys via Twitter when this will happen. In the mean time, if you have a chance to swing by and try some of their excellent products (no, they didn’t pay me to give them a glowing review, I’m honest in saying that I *loved* their yogurt) I’d recommend to do so.

The echo chamber in water research (social sciences)

Raul — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:24:03 +0000

One of the benefits that I’ve gained from engaging with the social media community at large (I can no longer say I only engage with social media in Vancouver, as I have Twitter followers from all over the world) is that the terminology from one field (and the ideas) cross-pollinate other fields. That is the case with my research on water. The concept of echo chamber that has been coined in mainstream media and new media is very much applicable to social science research on water.

I can’t tell you how often I have read the same discussions over, and over, and over again. Water is scarce, we should learn how to manage the common pool resource, we need to design more robust institutions for water management, integrated watershed management is the way to go, etc. All of these are phrases that have become commonplace in the literature on water governance. I have gotten to a point where I feel as though there is an echo chamber in the social science literature on water research. I want the discussion to move forward!

Credit: Ankraut

Sadly, one of my areas of specialization (wastewater governance and policy) has been paid very little attention by social scientists. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy that I have carved some sort of a niche in this field (I do know some other researchers do study the topic to some extent, but this is a recent phenomenon). But it would be so much nicer if we advanced the water research agenda much further than it is right now. I have written about the topic both in the academic literature and here on my blog, and I have insisted and encouraged people to think about the hydrological cycle in a holistic way. If we stop having this “culture of flushing” that allows us to forget about the water we just polluted as soon as we see it flush away, if we begin to think forward with new analytical tools, then we can move the conversation forward too!

Yes, I am frustrated. I am particularly frustrated because despite the fact that 2008 was the International Year of Sanitation, very little progress has been made. I would hope that in the near future, we learn more about how to advance the water research agenda. And yes, the phrase I wrote before still applies – before we learn how to govern water we need to learn how to govern ourselves.

Adaptation to extreme climatic events in Vancouver

Raul — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:45:17 +0000

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you should have recently noticed a cold snap in Vancouver that has brought us a White Christmas and a really cold month of December 2008 and now January 2009 starts with more snow. Vancouver is, of course, a mess because “it never snows in Vancouver” (the now infamous phrase that people have been using to tell me why Vancouver is so ill-prepared for snowy and icy conditions)

There are two inherent problems with having this somewhat-delusional view of the world. First, while it may be true that this weather is not common, the mere fact that we are seeing such dramatic fall in temperature should have triggered an “Emergency Preparedness Action Plan”. Which apparently, we don’t have. But don’t get me wrong – we don’t have tools to prepare and adapt to extreme weather events. We do (as I researched it) have Emergency Preparedness workshops that are more targeted towards earthquakes and other kinds of catastrophes.

Second, it’s not really about the drop in temperature itself. A lot of climate skeptics have been laughing “global warming? see.. it is freezing and snowing in Vancouver!” You see, the problem with climatic change is not as much just a question of “global warming” but a question of extreme climatic events. And as you can see (from all the people who have been stuck in the snow, whose travel plans have been delayed by icy road conditions, the homeless people who have been perishing in an effort to try and keep warm), we NEED an adaptation plan towards extreme climatic events.

I’d be more than happy to point my readers out to the literature on adaptation to climate change (I had to read these for my PhD dissertation), but one accessible resource you can access is Natural Resources Canada’s website on Adaptation. Give it a read, you might find it interesting.

My year in review – Water governance and policy research

Raul — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:08:32 +0000

While I blogged WAY MORE about water this year than I have in the past, I didn’t do much in terms of research. I used the field research notes that I had accumulated during my almost three years of fieldwork on wastewater governance in Mexico (2004-2006) to produce one journal article (that actually was already accepted for publication in early 2007, so it shouldn’t really count).

But other than that, I haven’t done much with it. I gave a talk this summer on wastewater governance and watershed councils, and I received really good feedback. This feedback was so solid that I have decided to pursue independent projects on each one of the research streams that emanated from this talk.

One of the reasons why I think my involvement with the social media community has become part of a very successful cross-pollination process is that I’ve learned to use many Web 2.0 tools to strengthen my own findings, to advance my research agenda, and to make it easy for me to publish research thoughts in draft form that I may be able to polish in the future (much along the lines of what danah boyd does). Furthermore, I am also in talks with Rachel Black, who also does research on water, and I wouldn’t have met Rachel if it hadn’t been for Twitter (and Anthony Nicalo, as well).

Speaking of tools that make my life easier that I wouldn’t have come across if it hadn’t been for my involvement in the tech community, Blurb is an online (free) software that Arieanna and Colleen used (in the case of Arieanna to publish the photos from their trip to Europe, and Colleen to create a Christmas gift for their families).

I’ve been mulling over publishing one version of my book (in Spanish) on wastewater governance in Mexico (a book that I had finished writing in 2006, but with the further development of the International Year of Sanitation – which was 2008) using Blurb. Another method I’ve been considering is an on-demand press, as Beth Snow did with her first book).

I REALLY, REALLY want to have at least one volume of my book printed out by the end of 2008 so that I don’t feel so terribly lousy about not having done much with such a large body of work. I mean, it’s kind of stupid. I did compare the wastewater policies of five states (the Mexican equivalent to provinces) and I really should be able to produce more stuff (particularly in the English language journals).

If I manage to publish the book with Blurb, I’ll be VERY happy. I’ll let you guys know what I managed to do with that. Overall, my 2008 wasn’t all that bad for my water research. Learned about new topics, thought more about where my water research agenda will go, and used social media tools to strengthen my research. Good stuff.

My year in review – Environmental mobilizations research

Raul — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:57:36 +0000

I’ve been thinking about writing “My Year in Review” posts to remind me of what I have accomplished in the past twelve months. The social media one is, of course, rather big, so I’m taking my sweet time to polish it. That, and I don’t have a lot of access to the internet and a laptop, so I’ve got to do it when I actually have enough time and computer resources.

This was a relatively slow year in regards to my research on environmental mobilizations. My co-authors and I wrote a report on a multi-year research project that examines the behavior and strategies of environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) across North America (Canada, the US and Mexico).

This year, I didn’t participate in any international meeting where I presented these results. That’s somewhat sad, as I normally get to at least do a talk per year on the topic. I did present the preliminary results of this project to the funding agency in December of 2007, so I guess that should account for something.

I wrote a financial report and a response to comments from the peer-reviewers to this project, and revised our preliminary report and submitted it to a peer-reviewed, edited volume. So, at least I got a publication this year out of the project.

I was invited to contribute an entry to an international volume on civil society (my entry was on NGOs and sustainable development), which I shared with some of my social media friends. This was one of the very few times where I let both my worlds cross-over.

For the coming year, depending on the job search outcome, I might have to put some of my research portfolio on hold, but I would hope that it won’t be the case. I can’t complain about my research output in this area, but I would really have liked if I had published more or given more talks. Oh, well. C’est la vie.

The Spirit Bear gets more action!

Raul — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:00:47 +0000

Credit: rissdemeanor

You may remember a post I recently wrote about the social media campaign that Darren, Julie and Monica are putting together to help Greenpeace, Forest Ethics and Sierra Club of Canada to influence the Provincial Government of British Columbia to help protect the Great Bear Forest.

[Brief editor's note - if you haven't followed the Spirit Bear on Twitter, submitted your photo to the Flickr contest or joined the Facebook Group or sent an email to the Premier of British Columbia, do it NOW. Ok, good. Continue]

I picked up the most recent ‘The Vancouver Courier‘ (an outlet I really like, even though I am going to have to admit my fondness for the 24 Hrs, The Georgia Straight and the Vancouver Sun, all of whom have been very kind to me and provided me with coverage), and guess which topic was the lead story? Simon Jackson and the Spirit Bear!

I talked to Simon earlier this year during EPIC 2008 (I even got a photo of myself with him, which I suppose I should email to him sometime!), and it was so nice to see that despite his fame, he is still very much down to earth.

It is very nice to see that mainstream media and social media can act synergistically to help such a worthy cause.

Upcoming event – Metro Vancouver Sustainability Breakfast – The Opportunities for Urban Density

Raul — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:44:12 +0000

WHEN – Thursday November 27th, 7:30am to 9:00am
WHAT – Metro Vancouver Sustainability Breakfast “The Opportunities for Urban Density”
WHERE – BCIT Downtown Campus.
WHY – Because urban density is a key issue in the future of the Metro Vancouver regional development.

I would have linked to the Metro Vancouver website but guess what? It’s DOWN! Argh. See you there (despite the fact that it’s going to be the second time I have to be at an event at-7.30-in-the-morning). I am SO not a morning person.

HappyFrog.ca merges with 3rdWhale!

Raul — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:48:11 +0000

I recently learned about the recent merger of HappyFrog.ca with 3rdWhale from my good friend DaveO, but I hadn’t had a chance to write about it, as I’d been really overwhelmed with work. HappyFrog.ca was founded by Ron Williams as an all-encompassing directory-social networking resource for green businesses in British Columbia. The platform in and of itself is fun, and handy.

I have been a proud member of the FrogSquadders (I covered EPIC 2008 for them along with a great line up of local bloggers). I frequently guest-post in HappyFrog’s FrogBlog and they have given me great exposure in their newsletter as well. Funny how everything is connected in this world, I do know of the work of Boyd Cohen, the force behind 3rdWhale (although, surprisingly, I’ve never met him in person despite the fact that we both live within the Metro Vancouver area!)

I look forward to learning more about what 3rdWhale and HappyFrog.ca merged can do combined! One improvement that 3rdWhale’s page desperately needs is an “About Us” page. I am pretty sure that everyone wants to know more about how they came about and what they’re up to!

3rdWhale recently organized a PodMob (which I also promoted on Twitter), although truth be told, at some points I was overwhelmed with so much writing and talking about the podmob. The success of the podmob at Sushi Bento on Robson Street is in no small part due to the enthusiasm and positive energy of the people behind 3rdWhale, and I believe primarily it was Emily Jubenvill, who is “The Greenest Person in Canada”.

It’s great to learn about these new developments! Congratulations to HappyFrog.ca and 3rdWhale!

Statistics Canada provides us a full RSS feed of statistical goodness!

Raul — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:34:35 +0000

Hat tips to Greg Andrews (TechVibes) and Darren Barefoot (Capulet) for pointing me out to Statistics Canada’s RSS data feeds. You’ll see – even though I’m a chemical engineer, during my Masters and PhD degrees, and in my post-graduate work I have done quite a lot of qualitative research.

My personality traits work to my advantage when using qualitative research methods. I am pretty good at interviewing people, analyzing textual data, coding using Strauss and Corbin’s axial coding methods, undertaking ethnography, etc. I am considered a specialist in institutional analysis because, well, I know how to study rules and routines. And the majority of these studies are undertaken by observing and interviewing.

The thing is, during the course of my PhD, I became REALLY quantitative. Since my advisor’s training was quantitative, he impressed it upon me. I’m quite grateful to him for doing that because thanks to his sage advice and training, I have examined wastewater governance and policy using quantitative methods (something that is rather atypical in this body of literature). And of course, there’s my love of game theory and econometric methods. WOWSA.

So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I drooled (just as Greg tweeted earlier this morning) when I saw StatsCan’s RSS feeds. Given the kind of research I do, economic, government, population and environmental indicators are the RSS feeds I grabbed. You can grab any others as you may see fit.

Unfortunately, and this is quite sad, I can’t get any quantitative data on water through those RSS feeds (or at least I haven’t been able to get any so far). I do know where to find some water-related statistics in Canada, but the state of the art in regards to accurate water stats in Canada is (as mentioned in Karen Bakker’s edited book) rather appalling.

If I manage to get my hands on some good data, you’ll see some pretty graphs here sometime soon.

Help save the Great Bear rainforest

Raul — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:43:31 +0000

Credit: Dru!

Many people have asked me throughout the years if I have ever considered a career in conservation. While my PhD degree is in environmental studies, and you could argue that my work in pollution control would pretty much amount to some form of conservation, I hadn’t been much of a fan. And since forestry isn’t really my area, for a while there I neglected discussing or researching anything that was forest conservation-related. Until I heard of Simon Jackson. I met Simon in person and did a really quick interview for HappyFrog when he was a keynote speaker at EPIC 2008. And then Darren informed me that they (Capulet) were helping Greenpeace, Forest Ethics and Sierra Club BC with their campaign to make the Provincial Government “Keep The Promise”

You might ask why did I bring Simon Jackson into the discussion. Well, here is the thing: the work that Simon has done to protect the Spirit Bear is pretty much in line with the work that the coalition of environmental non-governmental organizations (GP, FE and SCBC) are doing: conserving the forest helps conserve the spirit bear’s habitat.

Credit: Art Catcher

In my research, I’ve written about how ENGOs use various types of strategies to galvanize public opinion (often, through mobilizations). This time, the work that these organizations are doing goes beyond protests and engages in a Web 2.0 kind of mobilizations: writing electronic letters to the Provincial Government.

You, too, can help this worthy cause by sending an email to the Provincial Government (the site is really well designed so all you really have to do is fill out the data form and voila! off you go).

As you can see, environmentalism is not dead, is well alive and kicking! Please contribute with this worthy cause. You can also participate in a photo contest (check links here) and follow their Twitter account (yeah, kinda cute that the Spirit Bear has a Twitter account, hehe – he better follow me back!). Furthermore, you can join the Facebook group (no thanks, I don’t do Facebook, but you can!). EDIT – And you can join the photo contest on Flickr!

In total Web 2.0 fashion, if you need more to be convinced, I invite you to watch this video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwHofAgCzLI]

Jack O’Lantern’s post-Halloween disposal – Greening your celebrations

Raul — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 22:34:11 +0000

Credit: Eric M. Martin

Ok, so Halloween has come and gone, and you went out and had a blast. The little critters (and adults) had an opportunity to dress up and be The Joker, or Batman, or a mummy, or whatever. Now comes the part that most people forget about (or would prefer to): CLEANING UP.

Since Halloween is such a big celebration in Canada, the United States and many other anglo-saxon countries, numerous Jack O’Lanterns are carved (many as cute as the geeky WordPress one that is shown here – hat tips to Lorraine Murphy aka Raincoaster for linking to this one).

But people tend to forget that they have to dispose of the pumpkin once the Halloween celebrations are over. So, when you think about disposing of your pumpkin, remember that you can

- Compost it – Cut it in very small pieces and throw it in the composting bin.

- Dispose it in the organic section of your trash bin – Don’t forget to separate organics from inorganics!

Given how many households and businesses carve pumpkins, I would appreciate if you thought about the negative environmental consequences of inadequate disposal. Thank you.

Waste Reduction Week Canada – Oct 19-25th, 2008

Raul — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:02:36 +0000

This week marks the Waste Reduction Week in Canada (from October 19th to the 25th). You may not recall last year’s civic strike (one of many policy and political mistakes) but in case you do, I am hoping this little visual reminder will help remind you of how awful the city looked.

Credit: Rebelcan

As I mentioned a while ago, we live in a rather affluent (and wasteful) society. We buy coffee to go, and then proceed to dump the paper cup in the trash can. We buy disposable diapers and then proceed to wrap them in double plastic bags, because “eeewww it’s poop”. We drive three blocks to buy groceries. And the list goes on.

Waste Reduction Week Canada helps remind us of the many ways in which we can reduce our ecological footprint by minimizing waste. If you need a refresher, I wrote a short post on solid waste management that will give you some useful reading material.

The website of Waste Reduction Week Canada offers some really neat factoids (some of which you may or may not know). As a scholar of environmental studies who happens to have worked for many years in solid/liquid/hazardous waste management, I actually do know that landfill sites account for about 38% of Canada’s total methane emissions (according to Environment Canada).

If you need some suggestions on how to reduce the amount of waste you generate, feel free to drop me a comment, send me an email or send me a tweet.

Greening caffeine consumption?

Raul — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:09:10 +0000

Photo credit: Ianiv and Arieanna on Flickr

Recently, Arieanna wrote a post about implementing more ecologically-friendly measures in coffee shops. I actually was very happy that she touched on this topic, as I used to consume a lot of coffee (not anymore).

Although I had thought about some measures (e.g. using my refillable coffee mug, not accepting paper cups, not using those little bags of sugar), I hadn’t really paid all that much attention. But Arieanna’s post reminded me that it’s important to reflect on these issues. And one of the commenters on her blog pointed her out to Agro Cafe on Granville Island.

I haven’t had a chance to visit, but I might just drop by sometime soon, if for no other reason, because the commenter (Jeff) mentioned that Agro Cafe had already implemented lots of sustainability measures. I’m curious to see them, and I’ll write about them soon.

Upcoming environmental events in Vancouver – September 2008

Raul — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:00:12 +0000

Two upcoming events are rather relevant to me and both fall on the same day.

Green Drinks Vancouver happens again on the third wednesday of the month (Sep 17th, 2008) at Steamworks.
The Metro Vancouver Sustainability Breakfasts series continues, and this time, they will focus on the discussions we’ve been having on bottled water. I am SO definitely there!

About the Community Sustainability Breakfast [Metro Vancouver's website]:

Sustainability Community Breakfasts – Nature’s Health Drink – Always on Tap
Wednesday, 17 September, 2008
from 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM
British Columbia Institute of Technology
555 Seymour Street, Vancouver

About Green Drinks Vancouver Sep 2008 [Green Drinks Website]

WHEN the next regular Green Drinks is: Every 3rd Wednesday of the month (except in Dec and July) Our next event is on Sept 17th, 2008
WHERE: Steamworks pub at 375 Water Street on the edge of Gastown near Waterfront Station.
Please be aware that due to changing space availability we cannot guarantee we’ll be in the same room each month – if you can’t find us just ask Steamworks staff which room we are in.
TIME:5:45pm-until?

It’s lucky that both of these events fall on the same day, and that I’ll be back in Vancouver by then! And again, I’ve got a full week booked (Brew 2.0, Green Drinks, Launch Party AND a special day!). Can someone please clone me? Thanks.

Banning bottled water in Vancouver and the Metro Vancouver pledge

Raul — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:00:27 +0000

A large portion of my research agenda focuses on water, despite the fact that sometimes some relevant water issues go unnoticed (did you know that 2008 is the Year of Sanitation?). The good thing about studying water is that questions pop always on my mind and there’s always something new to look at.

Being an academic and a blogger, I look at issues through research-trained eyes, and the whole discussion on banning bottled water in Vancouver is one of those debates that attract me. I am hoping to do some research about it in the short term future.

Photo credit: Ianiv and Arieanna

I am particularly drawn to water issues as I’ve done research both in the environmental engineering field (building wastewater treatment plants) and in the environmental studies field (studying water governance and policy). I am trained to examine problems from the social sciences AND natural sciences/engineering lenses.

A few weeks back, Duane kindly invited me to guest post on his blog. We were doing Blogathon and my post examined very briefly the debate on water privatization, but I didn’t delve in depth.

The whole banning bottled water debate in Vancouver touches on two issues. One of them, the commodification and privatization of water. The other one is the potential health-associated risk of consuming water from the tap. Both of these issues would give me enough material to start a new blog. However, I’m going to just focus on one small sub-issue: bottling water for sale and redistribution (and the health effects associated).

We often (but not always) consume bottled water because we feel safer. Sometimes we consume bottled water simply because we don’t have access to tap water at the moment. There are different rationales. However, one associated (implicit) benefit is that we don’t need to worry about our safety and health if we consume bottled water. Is our tap water really all that bad?

When I worked as an environmental engineer, I would get stomach illnesses whenever I would be exposed to wastewater streams. But I have never gotten sick from consuming water from the tap (neither in Mexico nor in Canada). I know, the whole “revenge of Montezuma” joke is based on a perception that potable water in Mexico is really polluted and thus every foreign visitor will get stomach cramps or get ill when visiting if they consume water from the tap. But it has never happened to me (not even now that I’m visiting).

Metro Vancouver is undertaking a project to have people pledge to consume only tap water and reduce the number of plastic water bottles thrown into landfills. I have to say that I wholeheartedly support this initiative. From their website:

Why Metro Vancouver has a Tap Water Pledge
* Metro is committed to reducing bottled water use by 20% by 2010 to reduce the environmental impact of bottled water
* Millions of single-use plastic water bottles (one litre or smaller) ended up in our region’s landfills in 2007
* We want to provide a tangible way residents to support a sustainable practice – using refillable water containers instead of single-use plastic water bottles

[Metro Vancouver: Take the Tap Water Pledge]

The Tap Water Pledge page has information on health risks associated with water, fast facts, etc. that are aimed to help the public understand the rationale behind the project. Interestingly enough, I didn’t find data on the worldwide consumption of bottled water in comparison to Canada and/or Vancouver. I think this would be a broader perspective. From the IBWA statistics page, their 2007 stats report, I found out that Mexico is the second largest consumer of bottled water in the world, with 54.1 gallons per capita (but is this figure per year, per month? If one drinks one litre of water a day, how many gallons is that a year? I hate websites with poor statistics!)

Now, from a social media perspective, I have to say that while I think the page is a good resource, I would probably take a much more “public understanding of science” approach to it. I have to say that it would be fun to undertake this type of project, and it would merge Web 2.0 with sustainability research…. Hmm… good idea!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: For some statistics on bottled water consumption, the International Bottled Water Association has some data. But I couldn’t find anything on Canada. Frustrating.

Adaptation and vulnerability to floods and climatic events in Mexico

Raul — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:18:32 +0000

This post is worthy of much more in-depth content, but I just wanted to show that the municipality where my parents live is really unprepared for extreme rain. The photos and video shown below show the local river almost entirely flooded (and rather polluted, as you can see).

As you can see, cars are at serious risk of being taken by the river. The local authorities are rather unprepared for these extreme rain events. But the funny thing is, I wonder how prepared are the Metro Vancouver municipalities. I will be doing some research on this topic upon my return to Vancouver.

Car washing and sustainability

Raul — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:40:03 +0000

While covering EPIC 2008 as a FrogSquadder for HappyFrog (you can read all my content on HappyFrog here), I came across an eco-friendly carwash in North Vancouver, Easywash . Rebecca helped me set up an interview with Geoff Baker, the CEO of Easywash, around mid-July but unfortunately, I couldn’t interview him as I’ve been in Mexico (and under a lot of stress).

This weekend, I went to wash Mom’s car, and I used the same carwash she’s been using for years. I was reading some books on water while I was waiting for the car to be washed but I didn’t see a lot of environmentally-friendly features.

However, the funny thing is that I saw a sign that said “At this carwash, we don’t waste water, we recycle it”. But I couldn’t see where they recycled it, nor any type of water treatment. I didn’t ask, but I’ll be back to investigate.

In the meantime, I just thought I’d include a couple of photos and some video of the process (sorry if the music is too loud, but I was bored inside the car).

I also plan to interview Geoff Baker upon my return, once I get all my other interviews out of the way (I still haven’t interviewed Al Pasternak about Bokashi composting, and we’ve been trying to talk about this for months!).

Closing the cycle through recycling

Raul — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 04:30:18 +0000

This post is sponsored by Fresh Start Recycling Ltd. – Thank you for your generous donation to the BC Cancer Agency!

I’ve mentioned in previous posts how much it irks me when people forget about pressing environmental problems such as solid waste. In case you didn’t know, the Vancouver Landfill is filling up (geez, I wonder why?).

People are SO intent on working on issues of climate change, that they forget that solid waste is a priority issue. It’s funny, though. If people implemented the 3 R concept (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), I am pretty sure it would be much easier to deal with the problem of solid waste.

However, the cycle is not closed completely by applying the 3R. That’s also why I enjoy the idea that Fresh Start offers – give the recycled stuff to charity. By giving back to the local community, Fresh Start atempts to close the gap between actual closed cycles and open cycles. I really enjoy this business model, and I am sure that they will be able to implement new fresh ideas (hence Fresh Start!) in the near future.

[EDITOR'S NOTE - And here is a link to Fresh Start's blog!] Mosey over and check them out!

The Environmental Movement Needs You – Homer Simpson Has Already Joined – Guest post by Lotus Effect

Raul — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 03:00:18 +0000

This post was contributed by L.E. who blogs at The Lotus Effect.

I love the way Raul phrases his environmental passions: “Being a student of the Environment”. I’ve found myself amongst the dozens of people I know that have put their previous career paths aside and pursued environmentally-related position in hopes of making a difference (and I’ve abandoned any inclination to feel the least bit hesitant to say that making a difference bit regardless of how trite it may be perceived by some).

So I’m confronted with it everyday – people wanting to do something, and we constantly hear.. “Just start anywhere.. it doesn’t’ matter where – the first step will introduce you to a plethora of options, and before you know it, you’ll come across something you’re really exited about.” Well, what if you don’t know where to take that first step? This is where this post comes in, I hope to offer some options of first steps that might lead you to your green passions. So here they go.

1) GREEN DRINKS The perfect combination – environmental geekery and sophisticated discussions with all kinds of people working in, or interested in the environment. I’ve only attended the Vancouver version twice, but it’s been a lot of fun – there is always a mix of veterans and solo flyers that show up without knowing a soul (but that is of course changed after the first beer).

2a) STORY OF STUFF This is a great little description of how the world currently works, some of the problems our actions are causing, and how to get involved in changing these patterns. The point with this one is.. simply reach out and learn more about how the world works, and how we can minimize our impact on the environment

2b) CRADLE TO CRADLE Similar to Option 2), this is a monumental piece of work that redefines the way we approach how we go about building stuff and creating the everyday objects we use. This novel concepts presented in cannot be called short of anything but a paradigm shift in the positive direction of what it means to be human. It’s simple, and beautiful…

If you’re interested in learning more without diving into the book, I’d recommend having a look at the TED talk featuring one of the authors (TED has numerous amazing talks on many other subjects including psychology, art, music, and technology. The one other talk that seems to be somewhat related would a brain scientist experiencing life a stroke in her left hemisphere, leaving her exposed to the raw experience of living life through her right – creative, loving, unified hemisphere – the experience’s lesson – if we use both of our brain real estate (Left AND right hemisphere), then we are much more in tune with others, and the environment around us – have a look).

2c) INCONVENIENT TRUTH If you haven’t seen it yet.. The only thing i gotta say about this one – i think any movie that helps someone win the Nobel Peace Prize might – just might be worth watching.

3) TAKE A HIKE I’m not kidding. Go get outside. Listen to the silence of the air and the stillness of your thoughts. There are many accessible parks in the Metro Vancouver area. Some of my favorites include Lighthouse Park (which is easily accessible by public transit, but surprisingly beautiful and secluded), the Grouse Grind if you’re adventurous, Shannon Falls or Bridal Veil Falls (if you prefer a light walk in the woods), or the Chief if you’re fit and would like a bit of a challenge.

4) LEARN ABOUT WATER Why on earth am i writing about water? An excellent recent film “Flow: For the Love of Water” about water illustrates this resource’s incredible importance. For one second care to entertain the thought of considering how essential water is to our survival, health (as in, the lack of clean water leading to health and survival problems). Climate change is melting glaciers and snowpacks around the world meaning that rivers worldwide are or will be facing water shortages. In 1999, 26 percent of Canadian municipalities reported problems with water availability, including seemingly wet locals such as Vancouver and Victoria (Environment Canada 2001; Boyd 2003). To illustrate the importance of this issue a bit further: 440 of 669 major cities in China face moderate to severe water shortages, and data collected from NASA and the World Health Organization suggest that 4 billion people will face water shortages by 2050 (Lagod 2007).

5) FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE SIDE Learning more about the state of the world can be difficult at times, but one of the most important lessons I’ve learned about environmental issues is the absolute necessity to stay positive, and not let things get to you personally – I’ve just started a blog about this and highlighting the importance of something known as the Lotus Effect (the real definition). Using all the energy generated by anger of learning about humanity breaking environmental laws and transforming it into something positive – action on improving things or leading by example. And last, and most importantly, keeping a sense of humour about it all, and not taking things, and ourselves too seriously.

A great example would be a well-known (and very witty) standup comedian talking about energy and world politics in Robert Newman’s History of Oil (I love it). Another PERFECT example of this would be the words of wisdom by a writer on the Simpsons - Welcoming Homer, the Tree Hugger! I’d like to end on that note, if you don’t visit any other links, visit the last two – I’m particularly fond of always looking at the bright side of things. With Love, L.E.