A Greener Christmas

From sustainwellbeing.net:

Finding satisfaction within ourselves creates a foundation for a sustainable world. Turn off the TV; make friends; sing; dance; play music, sports and games; write letters, books, poetry, music; create; cook; sew; knit; paint; draw; sculpt; learn; love; laugh; talk with your kids, your neighbours, your friends; reach out to those less fortunate; pray; love and appreciate nature. When one enjoys one's self, one is less likely to be influenced by the half trillion dollar annual advertising budget, which aims to convince us that we are inadequate and cannot be happy unless we buy the resource consuming products being sold.

Rather than getting more stuff that uses precious resources, is made overseas and shipped across that globe, and pollutes our planet, I would like to encourage greener gifts when you are looking for one for me. I think the following suggestions are in line with my goals and are about enjoying what life is all about:

• Membership to Toronto Zoo, Art Gallery of Ontario, McMichael Art Gallery, Toronto Region and Conservation Authority (includes Kortright, Black Creek Pioneer Village, and Albion Hills), Wonderland, Nature organization, ROM, museums, etc.
• Meal at a local restaurant
• Tickets to a show (Vaughan City Playhouse, Toronto Symphony, Musical by Mirvish Productions, movie, etc)
• Tickets to a sports game
  
• Plants, seeds, trees
• B&B/hotel stay somewhere in Ontario
• Tour
  
• Lessons (e.g. tennis, golf, photography, art, etc)
  
• Canoe/kayak rental
• Ski/golf passes
• Babysitting service
• Bike tune-up
• Make a gift from discarded or re-used items
• Workshop or course
• Magazine subscription
• itunes songs
  
• Write a letter, poem, song or short story, or make another creative/artistic gift
• An evening out together
• Doing a volunteer activity together
  
• Energy efficient home improvement
• Health food
• Donation to charity or local group. Here are a few suggestions.
  

Stephen Lewis Foundation (supports community-based organizations that are turning the tide of HIV/AIDS in Africa)
http://www.stephenlewisfoundation.org/

Bicycles for Humanity (ships bicycles to Africa to improve access to healthcare, education, food, water and employment)
http://www.bicycles-for-humanity.org/Ottawa/index.php

World Vision Canada (meaningful gifts to families in the developing world)
https://catalogue.worldvision.ca/gifts/Forms/Home.aspx?mc=3221603&lang=en

Nature Canada
http://supporter.naturecanada.ca/site/MessageViewer?em_id=4501.0&dlv_id=9261

World Wildlife Fund
David Suzuki Foundation
Engineers Without Borders
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Maple - restoration fund
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada
End Poverty Now
Scouts Canada
etc.

View this great little twenty minute video on 'stuff'
www.storyofstuff.com

-Shawn

Read me on Metronauts

About Metronauts
Metronauts is an open community of people from across the greater Toronto region (and beyond) who care about the future of our cities and the role transportation has in our lives.
Who are they?
Metronauts participate in the creation of a future of sustainable transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). We are concerned citizens from every walk of life - passionate amateurs and professional experts - who have chosen to take an active role in shaping our cities.

I'm not a regular contributor. Read my posts on Thursdays.
http://metronauts.ca/author/shawn905/

The Growth of Walmart Across America

http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/

People living in older neighbourhoods are less likely to be overweight !!

"Older Neighbourhoods" are "Jane Jacob's" neighbourhoods - short blocks, mixed use, WALKABLE, promoting sociability and appealing to the eye, to the foot and the mind. Most developers and planners seem to have been blinded to the obvious multiple good effects.
-John O'Gorman

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080730.NEIGHBOUR30/TPStory/?query=old+house

HEALTH: THE OLD-HOUSE DIET
REBECCA DUBE Globe and Mail July 30, 2008

Want to lose weight? Move to an old house.

People living in older neighbourhoods are less likely to be overweight than new-home dwellers, according to a study to be published in the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

For every decade added to their neighbourhood's age, women's risk of obesity decreased 8 per cent and men's obesity risk fell 13 per cent. Researchers found that people with old homes are slimmer because old neighbourhoods are more walkable.

"The data show that how and where we live can greatly affect our health," Ken Smith, co-author of the study and a professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah, said in a news release. His study examined height and weight data from the driver's licences of 453,927 residents in Salt Lake County and compared them with census data on median housing age.

The research doesn't mean all hope is lost for new neighbourhoods, Dr. Smith said, rather that developers should take their cues from the past to make it easy for people to walk around.
"We have the opportunity ... to create neighbourhoods that encourage less car driving, benefiting residents' health and wallets and shrinking our own carbon footprint," Dr. Smith said.

Highway Funding

Since 1956, federal, state and local governments have invested nine times more capital funding in highway subsidies than in transit. In 2004, state governments spent nearly 13 times more public funds on highways than on transit. On top of all that, the process for securing funding for new transit lines is far more onerous and less certain than for highway projects, with the federal government generally picking up a smaller share of the tab for new transit lines than for new highway projects."
http://www.planetizen.com/node/34151

Bagpipes on Wheels!

Solar Roof Kit for Prius

This SEV solar module for the 2004 through 2006 Toyota Prius generates 215 watts of renewable energy and is the first compound convex solar module to be commercially produced
The SEV system provides up to 20 miles per day of electric mode driving range and increased fuel economy by up to 29%.
But more than that it looks schweet.

http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?p=3063