We did come and enjoy the music, food, people and the festival this weekend. It was awesome! The music was great, food was incredible and we left with a fistful of information and a gratifying feeling about being part of something good.
I was so inspired by all you festival-goers who stopped by The Change tent today. After dropping off your GREEN PASSPORTS many of you filled us in on what you are doing, or are going to do, to make a difference in your life and our city. Annalea, Brad and I are amazed by how many of you bike or walk to work, use cloth shopping bags and recycle everything you can get your hands on. Thank you to all of you who let us take your photo and share with the rest of the city what you are doing to engage the change!
Posts Tagged ‘sustainability’
We Can Do It!
The Organic Island Festival is in Full Swing!
What a beautiful morning! The morning dew glistens in the shrubs, the sky is clear and the sun is hot, and in the midst of the lush beautiful foliage here at Glendale Gardens, activity has exploded! The Organic Islands Festival is in full swing running today and tomorrow. Tents have mushroomed all over with a mass of activities and information to explore. The song of the birds swooping over Viaduct Lake will soon mingle with the sweet sounds of great folk musicians set to play for the day and will set the back drop for the sustainable transportation forum, about to take place in just over two hours.
Don’t miss your chance to explore over 100 great exhibitors and the diverse flora here at Glendale Gardens…. The organic ice cream and the green drinks await.
Powered by the Sun
With the popularization of many alternative forms of energy, the number of solar-powered gadgets ranging from those cute little gardens lamps to even potentially solar powered cameras is not surprising. What may be unbeknownst to you is that with the help of Kevin Pegg and EA Energy Alternatives Ltd, the Organic Islands Festival has its very own solar power plant. This miniature power plant will produce 6 – 8 kWh over the weekend. That’s enough to power over 7 laptops, a cash machine, several blenders, a cooler, a gelato cart and plenty more, all present in the village at the festival.
What Does Sustainable Mean?
No really, I’m asking you – what does sustainability really mean?
To some, sustainability means choosing the lesser of two evils. Wikipedia tells me sustainable is “the capacity to endure” (sounds a bit painful, doesn’t it?). It can mean ensuring life for the next seven generations, or indefinitely. To others, it is a word that has a comfortable vagueness allowing for marketability. Conversely, It may be a mathematical calculation of population and greed. The trouble with sustainability today is as much about finding out how it’s done as what it genuinely means.
A Starting Point
Much of the impetus for Carolyn Herriot’s book, “The Zero-Mile Diet: A Year-Round Guide to Growing Organic Food” was derived from the fact that only 5% of the food that is consumed on Vancouver Island is grown locally. While growing our own plants can protect us against the onslaught of chemically treated food and save money in difficult economic times, it can also help us attain a greater degree of self-sufficiency. Herriot wrote the book in the spirit of doing
Your Cup of Tea?
After visiting Silk Road and Special Teas in downtown Victoria yesterday and doing a bit of research on the history of tea, I began to realize that my tiny teacup has been silently harboring an ocean of tradition and knowledge. I’ve always thought tea was a great example of a “slow food” – a quality food that works to preserve cultural and biological diversity, while emphasizing pleasure and responsible eating – but until yesterday, I had no idea just how accurate that description was. The story goes that tea was first discovered over 5000 years ago when the Chinese emperor, Shen Nung, was drinking boiled water and several tea leaves from a nearby bush blew into his pot. The emperor enjoyed the new concoction and thus tea drinking was born. Tea was originally popularized in Buddhist temples, where
Eco-KidsZone Coordinator
We’re looking for an organized, responsible and creative individual to join our volunteer captain team in the capacity of Eco-KidsZone Coordinator.
The ideal candidate has a strong and successful background working with children, experience planning and supervising children’s events, and is committed to educating children through enriching, hands-on learning activities and healthy, fun entertainment. S/he must be creative, reliable, able to develop partnerships with community organizations, able to see the festival experience from the perspective of a child, has experience supervising others including youth volunteers and strong interpersonal skills.
