So what does it feel like to carry the torch? Expectations exceeded – vastly

by Bernice Paul

I was eager to sit down with Jessica Langelaan to hear about her Olympic Torch-bearing experience this past December. Throughout the holidays, I had caught bits of wall comments and photos on Facebook, even a video that her uncle posted. And there were many expressions of encouragement and congratulations. But these were followed by words of condolence and sorrow . . . I soon found out why.

On December 18, 2009, the day before Langelaan was to carry the torch in Oakville, Ontario, her grandfather, Keith Acton, passed away. Age 81, he had succumbed to complications associated with kidney failure. But it was his attitude toward life that kept Langelaan from unravelling. As she told me when we at last connected: He often said, “There are two days in every week that we have no control over –  yesterday and tomorrow. Today is the only day we can change.”

Langelaan was buoyed by the swell of support and emotion throughout her 300-metre journey – which, surprisingly, felt “decently long.”

So on the day of the relay, Langelaan concentrated on making every moment meaningful. Cheered on by the hundreds of onlookers lining the street, and surrounded by friends and family, including her great-aunt Jeanette Acton (her grandfather’s sister,  who travelled from Port Perry, Ontario, for the occasion), Langelaan was buoyed by the swell of support and emotion throughout her 300-metre journey – which, surprisingly, felt “decently long.”

The run

On the bus ride to the starting point of their leg, 15 torchbearers chatted in nervous anticipation. “I was unusually quiet,” says Langelaan. “I was thinking about my grandfather and at the same time I felt inspired by the group on the bus, which included a set of twins in their 80s who between them had missed two chances to complete in the Olympics (in ’44 due to the war and in ’48 due to injury).”

The orchestrated efficiency of the relay, from the vehicle convoy to the security team, left just enough room for a little creativity and individualism to come through during the official “torch kiss” – the passing off of the torch from one torchbearer to the next. Langelaan and her preceding bearer worked out a jaunty doe-see-doe high-five routine, as captured in this video shot by her uncle:

The 300 metres probably lasted just a minute or two, so Langelaan was surprised to feel tired by the end. I wager she was carrying a lot more than just the torch.

The fanfare

“Last time you and I talked, we focused on the ‘me and my opportunity’ aspect of carrying the torch,” Langelaan reflects. “I didn’t anticipate the impact of the experiences of others during those 300 metres.”

Oakville, Ontario celebrants: As Langelaan puts it, “For most Canadians, the torch relay is as close as they’ll get to the Olympic experience.”

It sounds cliché to say that the flame is the symbol of the Olympic spirit, but hearing it from Langelaan’s perspective and seeing it through her eyes, the symbol seems more real,  its spirit  alive and well. As Langelaan puts it: “For most Canadians, the torch relay is as close as they’ll get to the Olympic experience.”

“So many people wanted to take their picture with her, even if they didn’t know her,” notes Langelaan’s husband, Mark, “it was that special to be next to a torchbearer.”

At the end of the Oakville leg, the crowds then gathered at the local public library, where folks could finally interact more closely. “So I took my time taking pictures with people,” says Langelaan. “From the looks on their faces, you could tell they just wanted to hold the torch. I was literally spreading the spirit; sharing the Olympic experience.”

Passing of the torch

A coworker asked if she could purchase Langelaan’s torch as a gift for a close friend, Corrine Hunt, co-designer of the Olympic medals. That particular hand-off took place in early January.

So what became of Langelaan’s torch? All 12,000 of this year’s Olympic Games torchbearers are given the option to purchase their torches or return them to VANOC. But a third option was also presented to Langelaan. A coworker asked if she could purchase Langelaan’s torch as a gift for a close friend, Corrine Hunt, co-designer of the Olympic medals. And that particular hand-off took place in early January (more pictures can be found on Corrine Hunt’s website).

And now, as an employee of Offsetters, Langelaan is pounding the pavement pretty hard  on behalf of the Games. And as she and her husband have just purchased a home in Port Moody, where they’re moving at the end of March, I anticipate her next day off will be sometime in mid-May. Still, Langelaan is remarkably settled while telling me of the past several weeks, focused as she is on the task at hand. Her grandfather’s commitment to living in the present must run in the family.

>>Follow the full journey of the 2010 Olympic flame at:  Vancouver 2010 website

>>For more info about Corrine Hunt: website

Lead image, ‘Torch Kiss’, courtesty Jessica Langelaan

On a dark and rainy Vancouver evening, I paid a visit to the trio behind the Clean Bin Project. Jenny Rustemeyer, Rhyannon O’Heron and Grant Baldwin are housemates who more than a year ago decided they’d simply had enough of  ”stuff.” They also realized that if they could cut down on all their stuff they could drastically reduce the amount of garbage they were sending to the landfill. And thus their Clean Bin Project was born.

The Clean Bin Project after one year: That's it, garbage-wise.

The challenge was this: produce zero landfill-bound waste for one year (or as close to zero as possible). With individually labelled bins, Rustemeyer, O’Heron and Baldwin would also compete for the honour of generating the least amount of garbage in their household.

Though this sounds like a simple challenge, if you were to pick apart your garbage and examine its origins, you’d see that the society we live in makes it rather difficult to truly achieve zero waste. So many of the things we buy are not compostable or readily recyclable. As well, certain types of recycling are not necessarily better for the environment.

Project Evolution

The Clean Bin Project, Vancouver, B.C.: Meticulous recycling.

The group knew from the beginning that recycling would not be the complete answer to the challenge. While they would meticulously separate recyclables (they’d even stash a bin for “metal bits” under their sink), the first “R” in waste management, Reduce, would be embraced as the guiding principle for the project. Soon, buying things – consumption – would come to a standstill; ground rules on consumption would be laid (food and personal hygiene necessities were exempt, for example); Rustemeyer would start a blog to share the group’s progress and Baldwin (a professional videographer) would document the experience on video.

Because of the project, Rustemeyer also became much more involved with food and food production. “Food packaging generates a lot of waste,” she notes, so she became a dedicated customer of farmer’s markets (where one can purchase unpackaged goods) and learned to can her own sauces and preserves. “Gardening also really took off,” says Rustemeyer. Cultivating just 70 square feet in their yard, she and O’Heron were able to harvest potatoes, garlic, onions, lettuce, kale, spinach, four varieties of tomatoes, beets, peas, cucumbers, zucchini, rhubarb, basil, oregano, thyme, mint, blood sorrel, lemon sorrel, parsley, chives, radishes, cilantro, carrots and sunchoke through the year. Oh – and berries were planted for next year.

O'Heron holds up her bin.

Friends and acquaintances were also educated on the project. Even so, receiving gifts turned out to be a challenge. The three would gladly give and accept gifts of experiences, such as dining or live entertainment, yet still took care to be gracious by accepting occasional material gifts. “Some get it and some don’t,” explains O’Heron, who, like her housemates, occasionally brings home “incidental” packaging to be properly disposed of. “We didn’t want to make people feel bad,” adds Rustemeyer. “This was a personal challenge for us; we didn’t want to preach.”

The Clean Bin challenge ended in July of 2009, but it would appear the behaviours have stuck. Once the systems and routines were put in place, it made sense to continue the low-consumption lifestyle, and their lives have been enriched for the better. Then and now, instead of buying stuff, “we do more. We go out; eat better. We go on bike trips on weekends.” Sounds like a decent trade off!

The Documentary

Baldwin had always wanted to film a documentary, and this was the perfect project. “We want to make it fun and entertaining; to inspire people,” says Baldwin, who acknowledges that the recent onslaught of environmental films may have alienated potential zero-waste converts. “There are so many issues: global warming, animal cruelty, eating local; we don’t want to tackle everything. We want to go after something tangible. This is something that people have control over.”

His and hers: Baldwin and Rustemeyer compare garbage.

And they’ve inspired their fair share, with engaged readers of the Clean Bin’s blog posting tips and advice on topics as varied as baking soda deodorant to recyclable toothbrush heads. Rustemeyer has even been informed of others starting their own zero-waste challenges.

So, in the end, who was the winner of the Clean Bin Project? I was told that the housemates averaged just four pounds of garbage each – for an entire year. But to find out who won, we’ll have to wait for the documentary, which comes out this summer. In the meantime, we can all get a little inspired by watching the trailer below.

Resources

The Clean Bin Project lists a number of recycling resources for things like soft plastics, scrap metals, and electronics. Here is a short list:

RCBC – Recycling Council of British Columbia

Pacific Mobile Depot

Happy Stan’s Recycling

Metro Vancouver Recycles

Lead image courtesy Jenny Rustemeyer

Here in lush, green B.C., the transportation sector accounts for more than a third of the province’s provincial greenhouse gas emissions. Passenger and heavy duty vehicles take the lion’s share of those emissions, with 39 and 26 per cent, respectively. And domestic aviation claims just 7 per cent of the transportation sector’s emissions, though there are, of course,opportunities to cut those emissions to help the province achieve its overall goal of 33 per cent reductions by 2020.

(left to right) Pacific Carbon Trust CEO Scott MacDonald, Minister of State for Climate Action John Yap, West Coast Air CEO Rick Baxter/courtesy Resilient Consulting Group

West Coast Air is the latest B.C. business to reach its zero emission target: “carbon neutral” status, with West Coast Air CEO Rick Baxter, Pacific Carbon Trust CEO Scott MacDonald and Minister of State for Climate Action John Yap on hand to make the announcement at the airline’s downtown Vancouver terminal on January 11, 2010.

The 35-year-old, locally owned and operated float plane airline started its journey toward zero emissions in 2007 – studying its carbon impact with the assistance of Climate Smart, then measuring its carbon footprint and coming up with strategies to reduce that footprint. After achieving organic emission cuts of 12 per cent the first year and 10 per cent in each of the two years following, the airline has now partnered with Pacific Carbon Trust to source carbon offsets for the remainder of its emissions.

“[West Coast Air] is helping the province reduce emissions by 33 per cent by 2020,” said Yap, referring to BC Climate Action Plan targets, adding that by sourcing carbon offsets through the Pacific Carbon Trust, the airline is “supporting the growth of a vibrant low-carbon economy in B.C.” As well, Yap noted that the airline’s investment in “made-in-B.C.” carbon offsets makes the airline’s emission reduction accomplishment particularly significant. 

Now that two of B.C.’s regional carriers are carbon neutral (Harbour Air being the other), the province’s domestic aviation emissions will hopefully close in on zero as well. But what should the province be doing about reducing passenger and heavy-duty vehicle emissions?

Local gal to carry the Olympic torch December 19

by Bernice Paul

The Olympic Torch Relay, which began locally on October 30 in Victoria and  is wending its way some 45,000 km across Canada,will be borne by a total of 12,000 torchbearers – athletes and civilians alike. Twelve thousand, each of whom will carry the torch for 300 metres before the final bearer enters the Games’ opening ceremonies and lights the Olympic flame. Not even I, a mild sports fan at best, can help but sprout goose bumps just reading about it.

One of the selected torchbearers is Jessica Langelaan, who has been associated with 2010 for some time now. In fact, last year she was given the enormous and never-been-done-before task of measuring the carbon footprint of the entire 2010 experience, including the torch relay. And apparently the relay accounts for about 3,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases – approximately one per cent of the total footprint of the Games. Because the relay is on foot, its emissions all come from the travel associated with the support teams, security and medical assistance. Oh, and the flame? “It’s butane or propane… and a very, very tiny part of the footprint,” according to Langelaan, who now works as a consultant for Offsetters, the official carbon-offset supplier for the Games.

As for her bid to carry the torch, it goes something like this:

“I auditioned to be in the opening ceremonies,” explains Langelaan,  “and made the mistake of telling my grandmother”  – who became convinced – and very excited – about dear Jessica being on television. Unfortunately, the opening ceremonies didn’t call back and Langelaan couldn’t break the news to Grandma. “So I had to be a torchbearer – for my grandmother.”

Needless to say it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And it strikes me that Lanelaan is more proud of being a torchbearer than of having calculated its carbon footprint. And of course, most of her family will be descending upon Oakville, Ontario, to watch her carry the torch, including her best friend from Thunder Bay. (Her aunt has purchased red scarves for the whole family to wear so that they’ll stand out amongst the red-mittened crowd.)

“I don’t want to build it up too much – it’s only 300 metres!” says Langelaan. “No one’s ever come to watch me do anything and suddenly the world will show up to watch these 300 metres!” True, and a tedious leg it will be, too. It has already snowed in Ontario, so graceful trotting could prove challenging.

Langelaan takes the torch on December 19 at 3 pm EST – her very own red carpet moment. Here’s hoping it’s the longest and happiest 300 metres in her life.

You can follow Jessica or the entire Torch Relay on Twitter.

Part Two to follow

Lead photo courtesy Jessica Langelaan

Are you  ”auto-obese”?

□        Do you drive everywhere you go?
□        Do you drive places that take less than five minutes to get to?
□        Do you drive your kids to school every day?
□        Do you own more than one vehicle?
□        Do you drive to get a cup of coffee?

If you answer “Yes”  to any of these questions, then you could be a victim of Auto-Obesity, a disease that can be combatted with the ‘BEST Car Diet’. And like going for a check-up at your doctor’s, it might be time to pay a visit to the Auto-Obesity website.

courtesy BEST

What is BEST (Better Environmentally Sound Transportation)?

BEST, and its ideas on sustainable transportation solutions, might already ring a bell with Metro Vancouverites. This past summer, the organization was busy providing free parking for more than 7,000 bikes at a variety of major community events in and around the city, including farmer’s markets, Car Free Days, the Pride Parade and the PNE. And through a strategic partnership with the Car Co-op, its Auto-Obesity program is now targeting higher-density areas in Metro Vancouver. Focusing on Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster for now, the program is designed for families with two or more vehicles – guiding them through a journey of liberation from their extra vehicles. According to Margaret Mahan, executive director of BEST, almost 50 per cent of households in Metro Vancouver own two or more cars. And that extra vehicle often sits idle, incurring insurance and maintenance costs.

The good news, financially: Thanks to the Auto-Obesity program, handing over that second car can lead to a tax receipt for the blue-book value of your extra vehicles, personal travel planning and “provision of bikes, skateboards, transit passes – or whatever else is needed  – to help make the transition to auto-health,” says Mahan.

Why is it so difficult to give up our single-occupancy vehicles?

One of the biggest barriers (and yes, I agree that there are many) is that our communities were planned and built for cars, not people. And not for environmental health and not for personal health, either. Which means that getting from place to place by foot, bike or transit, especially outside Metro Vancouver, isn’t as simple as we’d like to believe. When options are not readily available, we stick to what we know, which is the car.

I love that the Auto-Obesity program focuses on the unifying concept of health – the health of our bodies, of our streets, and of our planet. And it’s encouraging to know that when we are ready, there are many healthier, more sustainable transportation options here in Metro Vancouver. If you’re ready to slim down and get ‘auto fit’, then BEST is ready for you.

What do you think about the Auto-Obesity program? Will you take any action in terms of getting rid of a second car or changing the way you drive?

Lead image courtesy BEST

What’s Geocaching?

Good question. According to the BC Geocaching Association, geocaching is an outdoor recreational sport in which geocachers hunt for treasures hidden around the world using only a GPS device. It certainly sounds like one of the more adventurous ways to explore the world!

In fact, in B.C. there are more than 11,000 treasures, or caches, awaiting discovery, with geocachers accountable for cache maintenance and responsible recreation in provincial parks and protected areas. For example, B.C.geocachers usually bring along cleanup materials (such as film canisters and plastic bags) to collect garbage in and around the areas they explore while searching out caches. And while geocachers typically head out either on their own or in small groups, several times a year a big event is organized, such as the CITO.

CITO: Recreation with a Cause

This June, the 4-Wheel Drive Association of BC hosted a CITO event at Stave Lake, with 65 volunteers (4WD enthusiasts and geocachers) spending a full day removing 4,000-plus kg of garbage and scrap metal (see here.for the full press release).

CITO crew, Stave Lake, B.C. – one of the most polluted recreational areas in the province (photo courtesy Kris Wheeler)

Given that Stave Lake is one of the most polluted recreational areas in B.C., “We have to take ownership of it,” says Wheeler. Which is why a number of local geocaching and four-wheel drive groups have adopted specific parks and lakes to clean and maintain.

Check out this video, shot and edited by Kris. It’s an inspiring little piece that illustrates the incredible impact a small group of caring and dedicated people can have. Its closing sentiment, “Make a difference: never pass a piece of trash, pick it up no matter where you are” is definitely a mantra to live by.

Lead photo courtesy Kris Wheeler

Pollan’s views moved me,  poignantly,  because I was personally struggling with this exact same issue. I was in the thick of my MBA studies and feeling discouraged because most of what I was learning about finance and strategy was in direct conflict with the subject matter in my classes on sustainability. Then, a few months later, the global economy was deeply shaken and (thankfully) the thinking in these fields, and most other areas of economic study, began to align. Today there is no argument: we need a new way of doing things, including a new way of approaching food in North America.

This June, sustainable food enthusiasts were treated to an engaging talk by Michael Pollan himself. The sustainable food guru was at Vancouver’s UBC Farm in B.C. to promote his latest book In Defense of Food and discuss North America’s cultural disconnect with the foods they eat. He calls ours a cultural eating disorder: an obsession with health that doesn’t actually lead to better health. For example, Pollan notes that since the ’80s launch of the States’ fat-free campaign (and subsequent fat-free obsession), Americans have never suffered more from obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Our health care systems have also been crippled by the fallout from these chronic medical conditions.

At Vancouver's UBC Farm: sustainable food enthusiasts line up to hear Michael Pollan's take on the issues.

It’s About What, How and Why We Eat

Culturally, says Pollan, we also need to reconsider what we purchase to eat and where we make those purchases. Do we know where our food comes from? Do we know how our food was processed before it became a meal on our plates? These are complex questions that go well beyond choosing local or organic – both are good choices, but one can be better than the other, depending on what you’re eating and where you live. Unfortunately, as consumers, we like things to be made as simple as possible for us; we don’t like making tough decisions, particularly when we are presented with limited information.

Each day we have at least three opportunities to vote with our forks. And every time we choose to eat from a sustainable food system (whether it’s fair trade coffee beans or herbs grown on Neil’s balcony), we’re adding to the groundswell of consumer demand for change. What does our demand support? Well, I have noticed that Choices Market recently opened a new store in Kelowna and that Overwaitea Foods has committed to a sustainable seafood policy. Then there’s the fact that more and more restaurants are getting onside with locally farmed and raised produce and products. (And all this despite an economic recession.)

Yet let’s not forget to reflect on the importance of why we eat. Yes, we eat primarily to satisfy our functional need for essential nutrients (another ‘symptom’ of our cultural eating disorder, according to Pollan), but we also eat to celebrate community, family and the soul. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Food Network has seen a significant increase in viewer popularity in the last few years. It seems everyone is getting re-acquainted with their kitchens and cookbooks. And in the process we’re also getting reacquainted with  the value of sharing meals: how doing so nurtures relationships and community spirit. Culturally speaking, I can’t think of a better reason to eat.

Lead photo courtesy of Mark Andrew Boyer/ OrganicNation.tv

AFRESH Home is a collaborative project of BCIT School of Construction and the Environment, the CMHC, UBC School of Architecture, the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association and the Canadian Plywood Association. The letters of AFRESH stand for Accessible and Affordable, Flexible, Resilient, Energy Efficient, Sustainable and Healthy.

But does all this sound like a bit of a stretch? While I can certainly wrap my head around most of these adjectives with respect to housing (I’d expect the generally accepted concepts of green design to be utilized, and they are: energy efficient appliances, photovoltaic panels, ground source heat pumps, wider hallways for wheelchair-accessibility, low- or no-VOC paint, to name a few), it took a tour around AFRESH Home to understand what flexible housing feels like.

The house has been designed and constructed with the issues faced by modern homeowners in mind; specifically, families in flux. The result: floor plans are mindfully flexible to accommodate the possibility of converting homes from single-family units to vertical duplexes, and thinking ahed regarding the family life cycle and future needs plus the use of durable and resilient building materials have made this concept home one of the best examples of sustainable design I’ve come across.

The AFRESH Home considers not only the environmental impact of the home, but the health and changing needs of those dwelling within it. Rather than pushing homeowners to participate in B.C.’s infamous housing spin cycle, the AFRESH Home also encourages longevity in residency. Downsizing for mature families need not equate to a ‘buy-sell’ equation; rather, a simpler conversion could suffice. And the affordability of the home comes from long-term savings on operating costs.

So what’s the best thing about working in AFRESH Home? Despite the “intelligent design,” says Alex, “the house is simple, real and accessible, not super high-tech or Star Trek-like.” Also, its air quality is excellent because all materials were chosen with the health of the occupants in mind. “It’s inspiring to do intelligent work in an intelligent environment.”

Hmm. Perhaps the “efficiency” of the cubicle farm should be revisited…

Lead image courtesy of BCIT School of Construction and the Environment (PDF).

So why Portland? We’d only ever passed through Portland a few years ago and I think I was there as a kid on a family vacation. But a few weeks ago we were treated to a special screening of the PBS e2 transport film Portland: A Sense of Place (hosted by BEST at Rhizome Café). Inspired by the political will of those city planners interviewed and the lovely scenes of city folk on foot, streetcar, bike and aerial tram, my husband and I decided then and there to see the city with our newly opened eyes. We had also heard about the “new” food scene in Portland; a growing community of food purveyors committed to local and sustainable practices. A walking and eating vacation sounded exactly up our alley!

Arriving at 12 noon sharp, we set out on foot as soon as we checked into our downtown hotel, located in one of the Portland’s “most walkable districts.”

Our first stop was Hot Lips Pizza. Recommended to me through a Twitter connection (not the first time the social media tool has paid off in spades! Thank you, Dave!) because 1. Great pizza would await and 2. The pizzeria is an active practitioner of The Natural Step, a simple and elegant sustainability-evaluation framework. Hot Lips did not disappoint. Enjoying a couple of slices and beer on their patio after a long walk, the experience crystallized what I came to love about Portland: West Coast laid-back vibe, drivers that look out for pedestrians and cyclists and a food revolution being fought by fancy establishments and sweaty taquerias alike.

The next 48 hours saw more gastronomic delight by foot. Lots of walking, eating, drinking and finding coffee shops to pee in. (This is really a situation where having a Starbucks in every neighbourhood came in handy, I must admit!) It wasn’t until the second day that we discovered Fareless Square in the downtown core –- that’s free rides on buses, streetcar, and light rail. What an amazing way to promote ridership (let’s muse for a moment on what commuting in Metro Vancouver would be like if Translink made a similar move).

A weekend simply wasn’t enough to thoroughly explore the city, however. Legs can only travel so far, and at three (stretching it at four) meals a day one can only eat so much. In other words, it won’t be long before we’re back.

Check out the set here: Portland on foot and in my stomach.

Home of the white Spirit bear (just one of the many species that depend on the intact rainforest for survival), the Great Bear Rainforest has lately been cited as a conservation success story because of the multi-stakeholder approach taken to achieve the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement. Two million hectares are now protected against logging; outside of the protected areas Ecosystem Based Management will be implemented for logging operations; and conservation-based economies will be supported in coastal communities.

At this year’s EPIC Sustainable Living Expo, the White Bear label was launched to an environmentally tuned-in audience. A 2007 Pinot Blanc and 2008 Sauvignon Blanc were sampled by thirsty expo-goers. I had the chance to ask Sierra Club of BC’s Moira Campbell about the uniqueness of the Great Bear Rainforest, and to talk to Janelle Donn from White Bear about how the winery is helping.

Lead photo courtesy of White Bear Wines.

As candidly described by the president of RetailBC’s member organization, Mark Startup, retailers’ big fear is that their business model, which is predicated upon making more and selling more, appears to be in jeopardy. Today’s eco-savvy customers almost wear as a badge of pride their commitment to sustainability by reusing, recycling – and, in the process, shopping less overall.

Peter Robsinson gave the opening talk, and as usual he articulated beautifully the brutal and honest truths that we think but are probably afraid to say. Sustainability in business, for retailers especially, cuts across what you do, what you sell and how you build relationships across your supply chain. Operational efficiency is a no-brainer, according to Robinson, because this is where financial gains are made. (And obviously, most companies are already doing that – if not, they are simply lazy or stupid or both.) But the next layers of sustainability are increasingly complex and I have some trouble seeing the lines between them. Or maybe those lines overlap and that’s that.

Are some products inherently unsustainable? How do we define what is and isn’t harmful? Harmful to whom, or what?
Take for example a bottle of Fiji Water. I’ve read about the company’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, to save rainforests and to use less packaging. I’ve read about its commitment to the Fijian communities where it operates and contributes to economic development locally. All very good… but what about the product itself? I continue to have a hard time accepting that bottled water, in any kind of package, including one with built-in monetary contributions to charity, can ever be defined as a sustainable product.

Maybe this is a new can of worms being opened, maybe not. I left the conference feeling encouraged though, because retailers are starting to understand that they have a voice in the sustainability movement. They have the power to change the way we shop.

The massive green consumer tradeshow takes place this coming weekend – May 8 through 10 – at the brand new Vancouver Convention Centre. While I used to feel only skeptical about these events (supposedly they give us keen consumers some reason to shop “guilt-free”), I think people are getting smarter about greenwashing and asking tougher questions of their vendors. I hope so, anyway.

More than just an impressive list of exhibitors, though, EPIC planners have put together a series of hands-on workshops (sustainable gardening, energy efficiency at home) and lecture-style talks (“What’s Next for Obama’s Green Plan?” and  ”The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry”) – certain to appeal to a wide audience over the three-day event.

What am I most looking forward to? The Greening of the Film Industry in B.C., with its strong panel of executives from all along the value-chain of the movie-making business. Why? After going on a quick tour of our local carbon-neutral Vancouver Film Studios, I’m eager to hear more about what production studios are doing about their waste and emissions.

Then there’s ecological economist Mark Anielski, who will be sharing insights on The Economics of Happiness. Maybe he can share with us why shopping makes some of us so happy.

And of course, the daily eco-fashion shows might not inspire my credit card but will definitely inspire my imagination. Can’t wait!

Of course, for car manufacturers (the Detroit Three included), pursuing alternative fuel technologies is not only about entering a greener market but about survival. And one venture-backed firm in California has a particularly intriguing concept for capitalizing on all the electric vehicle buzz. In fact, Better Place proposes making the world a “better place” by changing the way we think about fueling-up. Based on the cellular phone business model, its consumers would just purchase mobility devices (well, cars) and operating minutes (the charging of batteries) separately.

Revolutionary? Or maybe the idea is just the touch of innovation we need to spur us into creating the kind of urban village we have so far only imagined. Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson certainly seems into it, lately tweeting about an EV future in this city.

Meanwhile, Better Place has already developed partnerships with Israel and Nissan-Renault to install 100,000 charging posts throughout Canada. Obviously, Israel is onto something, perhaps because it comes from a state surrounded by petrostates, one that would do well to build a transportation sector independent of foreign oil. Indeed, California, in particular the Bay Area, has already negotiated a deal with Better Place, with Ontario now following suit. Maybe now is the time for British Columbians to also take a serious look at our existing mobility options – and rethink our oil dependency.

B.C. has always wanted to show the world a thing or two about hosting an Olympics in the “best place on earth” (cue Super, Natural British Columbia theme music). But last month VANOC upped the ante considerably by pushing the Olympic green envelope.

During the 8th annual World Conference on Sport and the Environment, held in Vancouver this March, VANOC announced plans to offset its entire estimated 300,000-tonne carbon footprint – an ambitious target given that this encompasses emissions associated with the 27 days of Olympic and Paralympic games, emissions created since the Games were awarded to Vancouver in 2003 and the travel emissions from athletes and spectators. What’s more, VANOC plans to source most of its offsets from B.C.-based projects that enhance community sustainability.

Still, though it sounds hefty, 300,000 tonnes pales in comparison to the total emissions expected from other upcoming major global events, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup. That event is projected to spew almost 3 million tonnes. And though VANOC’s lofty goals do set something of a precedent for Olympic and Paralympic organizing committees (which in the past have set only offset targets for the duration of the games themselves), I do wonder where on earth (or in B.C.) these 300,000 tonnes of offsets are going to come from. The province may be rich in natural resources that could replace conventional energy sources (not to mention intellectual capabilities). But is that be enough to capture the Olympic footprint?

June 9, 2009 Update: VANOC recently announced its partnership with BC-based offset company, Offsetters. The carbon offset portfolio will be sourced from clean technology projects.