greeningchemainus

Greening Chemainus

11 things you can do to fight global climate change here at home.
1- Act to save Echo Heights Forest. The disappearance of our green spaces, and the mentality that changes them, has to end;
2- Change your light bulbs. For the price of a night out on the town, you can convert your incandescent light bulbs to low-energy fluorescent fixtures. Turn off your TV at night (if not forever). Lots and lots of little bits go a long way;
3- Kill your lawn mower. It’s a polluter, noisy and totally unnecessary. Plant thyme. Xeriscape your yard. Use less water. Create silence;
4- Shop less. Over-consumption is a killer, for ourselves and future generations. Shopping should be a necessity, not a pasttime. You have more than you think;
5- Walk more. If you promise yourself to walk to the store every time you want to buy something, you’ll use your vehicle less and buy less too;
6- Buy local. Do you really need strawberries from California? Try spinach grown in Glenora or lettuce from Salt Spring. Why buy bamboo flooring from China when you can have Douglas fir from Smiley Road?;
7- Wear and use second hand. The greenest store in Chemainus is the hospital auxiliary’s Thrift Store. ‘Re-use’ goes before ‘Reduce’ and ‘Recycle’;
8- Recycle less! There’s no sense in getting high-and-mighty over all that you recycle. It just means you're buying too much. Make garbage and recycling bags tiny. And don’t forget to compost;
9- Build green. If you’re remodeling or building, source local materials as much as possible. Think about the carbon footprint of everything you use. Go for low-level manufactured products. And consider how the things you build today will be recycled 20 years from now;
10- Teach your children well. Make non-consumption fun. They’ll be watching you.

11- Be a tourist homebody. Think about where you go. To the store or to the shore. The carbon footprint of international air travellers is very high. Maybe stay home. Rediscover the West Coast.

Time for a new vision

In autumn 2006, former North Cowichan Mayor Graham Bruce talked about the Chemainus mural project that he helped start 25 years ago. And he said now was time for a new vision that would drive the community.
That vision should painted green.

Here’s some ideas:

• There have been people living on our coast for 5-10,000 years. Let’s ask our Coast Salish neighbours – the Halalt, Chemainus, Lyackson and Penelakut people – to join with us in a dialogue. After all, they’re the experts at living here. And obviously very good at surviving.

• In Britain and other parts of the world, entire towns are becoming carbon neutral. They're called Transition Towns… transitioning away from the use of oil and over-consumption. It makes sense economically, socially and culturally. Chemainus could educate itself – from schools to chamber of commerce – on what this means and how it could be achieved.

• Tourists from throughout the world come to look at our murals and eat our ice cream cones. But will they always come? What happens when the price of fuel, climate change or other events cause humans to change their habits? What happens when our sawmill closes down? Isn’t it about time we began to define what sort of economic development Chemainus needs and how we can achieve it?

• Some very bright people were born here and others have come to Chemainus to live. Some are retired. Others just want to slow down. Let’s put our thinking caps on, in a perpetual town meeting, to find what we might be able to do together.

• Let's start thinking about stewardship rather than profit. It'll pay off.

• Be wary of politicians spouting 'green' messages. Ask them why they've just started talking about it now when it's been on the radar for at least three decades.

• We need nothing short of a revolution – in our society, our culture and our individual lives – in order to turn things around. Start by thinking about the other species that you live with.

Share your thoughts and ideas with your families and with your neighbours.