MyWestworld

Saving the Island’s Courtenay Estuary Through Informed Recreation

Posted on 25. Mar, 2010 by Andrew Findlay.

0

The Courtenay River estuary is an ecosystem under siege – hence the formation of the Estuary Working Group back in 2008 to bring together environmental groups, individuals and government to safeguard this biologically diverse heart of the Comox Valley.

Continue Reading

Bowen Island: One Man’s Eco-Quest

Posted on 19. Feb, 2010 by BCAA.

0

How I built an eco-shed, ditched my SUV, alienated the in-laws and changed my life forever
My name is James, and I drive an SUV. It is a golden-pearl Premium Edition Lexus rx-300, with all-leather interior, genuine walnut wood dash, seven-speaker Nakamichi sound system, seat heaters, moon roof and sport racks. It is a high-riding icon of luxury, a mobile conspicuous-consumption statement, a prosperity public-address system – the sort of vehicle that valets named Chip park in front of five-star Indian fusion restaurants. Let me be clear, though, that the rx-300 is not an indication of my hard-won success as a writer. It’s a hand- me-down from my father-in-law, who offered it to my wife, Elle, and me as a gift just as our 1994 Volvo station wagon threatened to die with our two tired babies in the backseat some night on a lonely New Mexico byway well beyond the fringes of Sprint-Verizon’s digital safety net.

Continue Reading

Stikine: The Great River

Posted on 19. Feb, 2010 by BCAA.

0

Stikine River Country is raw wilderness. Its headwaters region, the wildlife-rich Spatsizi Plateau, is North America’s equivalent to Africa’s Serengeti Plain. In its mid-region, the mighty river continues to deepen the spectacular 100-km-long Grand Canyon, which has only once permitted the passage of humans. The Stikine’s estuary, with its broad-fanned delta of layered silt, is a vital and irreplaceable migratory bird stopover along the Pacific flyway.

Continue Reading

Vancouver: Low-Car Diet Gets a Boost

Posted on 05. Feb, 2010 by Anne Rose.

0

“In fact, it was the cost-breakdown of car ownership on the AutoObesity website that eventually convinced me to give up my car altogether and start biking and taking transit. The average car costs between $8,000 and $10,000 per year to own – and anything that saves me that much money is worth looking into.”