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A journalist once described photographer Brian Harris as the “Norman Rockwell of photography” because of his ability to capture beauty in life’s small moments. But unlike the famed American artist, Harris doesn’t focus on homespun Americana; he searches to unravel the beauty in developing countries. His latest show, Beauty & Transformation, chronicles a recent trip to India where he visited several people trying to make a positive change in this rapidly changing country, including a landowner who was dedicated to creating an organic tea plantation; an aid worker who has spent 15 years in remote villages meeting health and education needs; and an 86-year-old spiritual leader of an ashram. Proceeds of the show will go to SEVA, a nonprofit organization that provides eye care for people in developing countries. Harris took some time to speak with Shared Vision ’s Jon Azpiri.
What is the show about?
The show is about four people who I think are involved with amazing amounts of beauty and transformation. It’s beauty from my point of view. It’s like Plato said, “Beauty is the splendour of the True.”
You visited a hospital sponsored by SEVA, an organization you raise funds for.
This hospital is about 250 acres. In one year, this hospital will do 45,000 eye operations. What they have is operating rooms that go continuously, and they have teams of ophthalmologists. It’s like a conveyor-belt system. What I found is a kind of beauty in the systems they’ve established. They have to deal with so many people, and they have the program structured so efficiently that there was beauty in how people moved and conducted the entire process.
As a photographer, how do you find a balance between capturing events without interfering in them?
You can overstep the bounds of good taste. Photographers are notorious for being insensitive. In a sense, it’s built into the nature of the medium—the need to get the picture at that moment. You just have to be sensitive. I think that, if people appreciate and understand your love of the culture, they are receptive.
Can Westerners who travel to developing countries sometimes have a naïve or simplistic attitude toward those countries?
Absolutely. I think there is a kind of romanticism and naiveté when it comes to things religious and spiritual and regarding cultural dynamics. These cultures are very ancient and very complex. There are protocols and relationships that are very complex, and unless you are deeply connected to the culture, you don’t see that subtlety and it is easy to develop a simplified view of things.
You’ve visited India several times. How has it changed over the years?
It’s amazing. The number of SUVs and wealthy middle-class expressions of affluence is astounding. When I was in Delhi, it was very apparent that modern technology and consumptive ways are quickly developing in India. It’s inevitable. It’s a kind of human destiny. But it won’t last. It can’t. But in our folly, we kind of buy into it.
What keeps you going back to India?
India is very noisy, riotous, chaotic. I like that. It’s got a kind of wild, uncontrolled energy because it’s such a vast and populated country. It’s intense. There’s a certain kind of freedom. When I came here (to Canada), I wrote an e-mail to a friend saying, “coming back to Canada was like preparing to go to kindergarten for the first time.” I remember, as a kid, running away from school because you had to sit in a row, you couldn’t talk, you had to line up for everything. It was controlled. I didn’t like that. I guess I still don’t. In Canada, it’s like Sunday morning every day. There are no cars on the streets. There’s no activity. You look around and see all this wealth and very few people, relatively speaking, and you think, “Man, most of the world doesn’t live like this.”
Beauty & Transformation will take place Nov. 23-25, 7:30 pm. at the Ridge Theatre (3131 Arbutus). Tix: $15. Info: 604-713-6622 or seva.ca/show [1].
top of page [1]
Shared News
Freeze Drying—It’s Not Just for Coffee Anymore
A town in Sweden has come up with a way to have people give back to the environment from the great beyond. Jönköping, in southern Sweden, is turning its crematorium into a “prematorium” that allows people to bury their loved ones using a new eco-friendly technique known as promession. The procedure involves freeze-drying the human remains using liquid nitrogen and then shattering them into tiny pieces. The remains are then placed in a biodegradable box made of potato or corn starch and buried in the earth, where they will disintegrate in less than a year. Friends and family of the deceased are encouraged to plant a tree on top of the grave, since the remains will act as compost that will nourish the tree. Promession is preferable to traditional burials, which often involve embalming chemicals, metal or cement vaults, and coffins that don’t decompose. (Jon Azpiri)
Feds May Meddle with Pedal Power
With energy prices at record highs, many people are considering switching to bicycles for their daily commute. However, changing over from four wheels to two may become more costly, if the Canadian government imposes a proposed surtax on imported bicycles.
The Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) has recommended imposing a three-year surtax on all imported bikes that retail for less than $700. The recommendation came after two major Canadian bike manufacturers, Raleigh Canada Ltd. and Groupe Procycle, asked the CITT for protection from bikes imported from Asia. A new surtax of up to 30 per cent would add yet another layer of taxation on foreign-made bikes. An uncommonly high 13 per cent customs tariff is already applied to every bicycle imported into Canada, as well as anti-dumping duties on bicycles from Taiwan and China that can run as high as 68 per cent.
The proposed tax comes at a time when bike sales are improving. In the U.S., specialty bike sales have increased by 10 per cent in the past year, and local bike retailers have reported similar gains. Mike Theil, owner of Bicycle Sports Pacific, says the new recommendation could halt the recent sales boom. “If all our kids’ bikes and entry-level bikes get more expensive, you may see less people cycling,” says Theil. “We’re trying to meet our Kyoto commitments. We’ve got the City of Vancouver building bike lanes, putting bike racks on buses; we’re actively trying to encourage cycling; and here we are making the key component of that system more expensive. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
At press time, the federal government was still contemplating imposing the CITT’s recommendations. The proposed tariff has faced plenty of opposition from politicians around the country, which has the Liberal cabinet exploring other options, such as quotas on imports.
Theil believes the government should stay out of the issue entirely and that Raleigh and Procycle should learn to adapt to a changing marketplace. “There are other Canadian bike companies that are successful by focusing on the mid and high end of the market. Yet [Raleigh and Procycle] haven’t done it. They’ve had trade protection for over 15 years, yet they haven’t improved their operations and they haven’t changed their business model. We think enough is enough.”(JA)
In Other News
Dawson Creek recently became the first B.C. community to take part in SolarBC, a two-year solar-energy pilot project that offers financial incentives for the installation of solar thermal systems for residential hot water. Homeowners could save up to 50 per cent on hot-water heating costs and also receive up to $900 in government subsidies. The program will be offered in other selected B.C. communities throughout the fall and winter. (JA)
The Father of Buy Nothing Day
One day in 1992, local artist Ted Dave gave birth to an international movement over coffee and a muffin. Dave was working in downtown Vancouver when he realized that he was wasting $20 a week on trifles such as coffee and muffins and that he and others should rethink their patterns of consumption. Dave decided to create Buy Nothing Day, a day for consumers to refrain from buying anything for 24 hours.
In 13 years, Dave’s idea has spread around the world, with dozens of grassroots organizations finding their own unique way to celebrate the anti-consumption day that takes place this year on Nov. 26. Some groups in the U.S. dress in sheep costumes to become “blind consumer sheep.” Others set up credit-card cut-up booths, encouraging people to dispense with their credit cards. In Japan, Zen-ta Claus, a giftless version of Santa, meditates in shopping malls.
Dave is shocked at how his creation has evolved. “I have friends who travel to Europe and bring me back things like some weather-beaten Buy Nothing Day poster from the Netherlands,” he says. “It’s a bit surreal but it’s always thrilling. The art this event has generated is wonderful.”
After coming up with the idea of Buy Nothing Day, Dave created a series of posters, placed ads in small local papers, and organized events. Eventually, the idea was taken over by Adbusters Media Foundation, a Vancouver-based advocacy group founded by Dave’s acquaintance Kalle Lasn. Thanks to guerrilla marketing and the power of the Internet, Adbusters helped spread BND around the world.
Just how widely the day is celebrated remains unclear, however. Adbusters has no statistics on how many people worldwide actually participate in BND. It also has no figures on whether or not it has any impact on actual consumption. A spokesman for the Vancouver Board of Trade says they have no knowledge of Buy Nothing Day and no information about any tangible impact it has on the local economy.
Dave believes that trying to find concrete numbers about Buy Nothing Day is beside the point. BND is not necessarily about having consumers decrease consumption for one day; it’s about having them pause to think about their consumption patterns.
Today, Dave is not heavily involved with the day he helped create. His last work connected to the event was releasing a Buy Nothing Day compilation album in 2000. Dave had a parting of the ways with Adbusters in the mid-’90s but insists he harbours no ill will toward the organization and is happy to watch from the sidelines. “My involvement is peripheral at this point, but that’s fine,” he says. “The baby has grown up and left the nest, and I couldn’t be happier with how successful this child has become.” (JA)
Twisting in the Wind
With a pack of reporters in tow, Prime Minister Paul Martin recently visited the Canadian Wind Energy Institute at the northwestern tip of Prince Edward Island and announced that the federal government will award $3.6 million to the new facility. He also promised to spend at least $920 million on wind energy over the next 15 years.
While the event made for an excellent photo op, many in the wind-energy industry say the funding is too small a step to make a real difference. Guy Dauncey, president of the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association, says, “There are several types of programs that assist renewable energy. The first is a very simple subsidy from the government, and that’s what Paul Martin is doing at the moment. The policy is extremely simple and needs to be replaced with an advanced renewable tariff.”
An advanced renewable tariff is a policy that allows renewable energy sources to connect with the grid and specify the price paid for the electricity generated. Rates are determined through public debate and the amount can vary from one form of renewable energy to another. The tariff would allow small renewable-energy producers such as farmers, co-operatives, and First Nations to participate alongside large developers.
The advanced renewable tariff was one of many policies discussed by the Provincial Integrated Energy Plan Committee (PIEPC), a public committee created to help develop an Integrated Electricity Plan (IEP) that will outline the future of B.C. energy. The committee met several times to discuss various approaches to energy, including a so-called “green portfolio” that featured increasing the province’s commitment to renewable energy. The committee’s recommendation will then be deliberated by BC Hydro executives. Dauncey made a presentation to the executives about wind energy and the advanced renewable tariff, which he believes was well received. Still, Hydro managers have concerns about wind energy because they view it as “not firm,” as the flow of energy is not consistent.
Dauncey says that sort of thinking can be short-sighted, and plans such as an advanced renewable tariff could help B.C. avert an energy crisis. “It’s a totally natural transition,” says Dauncey of the switch from fossil fuel to renewable energy. “A thing is called a crisis when you don’t know what the fuck is going on. It’s a transition when you can see an orderly process, and we’re entering a very global transition out of fossil fuels and into renewable energy.” (JA)
Go West, Young Man
While Vancouver’s mayoral contest is shaping up to be a two-horse race between NPA candidate Sam Sullivan and Vision Vancouver candidate Jim Green ( see interview, p. 25 ), several other hopefuls are running for the city’s highest elected office. Perhaps the most intriguing contender is Ben West, a 28-year-old tattooed professional juggler who is the candidate for the Work Less Party.
At first glance, it would be easy to dismiss him as just another fringe candidate, but West speaks with a passion about issues politicians rarely discuss, such as peak oil, ecological literacy, and shortening the work week. West first became part of the Work Less Party after meeting party members at last year’s Bioneers conference and decided to run for mayor when he realized there were no mayoral candidates who opposed the presence of Wal-Mart in Vancouver. (He also ran as the Work Less Party’s candidate in West Vancouver–Capilano in the last provincial election.)
While West realizes the odds of him having a corner office at City Hall are slim to none, he hopes his mayoral candidacy will help change the debate during the election race. “Getting people talking and thinking about ideas is the number one priority for me,” says West. “I see this as a piece of a larger attempt to try to draw attention to what are important issues.” (JA)
A Lama’s Nobel Cause
His Holiness The Dalai Lama will have his name grace the world’s first peace centre in downtown. The Dalai Lama has worked with Bowen Island’s Victor Chan to create a centre that will teach youth the values of compassion, peace, and tolerance, with a curriculum developed by UBC associate professor Linda Darling. The Dalai Lama will act as honourary chairman of the advisory board. Fellow Nobel laureates Desmond Tutu, Shirin Ebadi of Iran, and former Czech president Vaclav Havel will sit on the board. (JA)
top of page [1]
Business News
Pure Puree
Melodye Bickley couldn’t understand why her young child didn’t want to eat baby food out of a jar, until she decided to taste some herself. “After heating it up, I tested it on my lip, and it tasted horrible. I felt guilty giving it to him.”
Bickley and her child’s displeasure with jarred baby foods inspired her to form Valley Pure Foods, a Chilliwack-based company that produces baby food made from organic local vegetables. Valley Pure steams vegetables, purees them, and then quickly freezes them into meal-sized cubes. Parents then simply heat the cubes in a saucepan and serve them.
In addition to being more nutritious, Valley Pure can also help reduce wasted food. Valley Pure food can last up to six months while jarred baby food lasts only three days after being opened, often leading to a portion of the food being thrown out.
Valley Pure currently offers vegetable purees but is planning to add organic meat products and a line of food for toddlers.
Valley Pure is available at two stores in Chilliwack and Abbotsford. The company will also deliver anywhere from Vancouver to Agassiz. For more information, call 604-858-2302 or visit valleypure.ca [2]. (JA)
Collective Consciousness
Right at the end of Vancouver’s Fashion Week, a small fashion show of a different kind took place at Vancouver’s Lucy Mae Brown restaurant in downtown Vancouver. The Z’Su Fashion Collective officially launched its line of eco-conscious fashion and fashion accessories.
Z’Su (pronounced zee-soo) consists of three separate companies that sell wristbands, canvas shopping bags, and jewellery. Janine Nerbus created Kitten Cuff, a collection of handmade leather wristbands made from scraps that were donated to her from leather boutiques. Nerbus has managed to sell her work to musical artists such as Ben Harper, Radiohead, and Jack Johnson.
Jenny Hughes and Elizabeth Clark have started Bring Your Own Bag, a collection of reusable grocery bags made of sturdy 10-ounce cotton canvas that feature unique designs as well as anti-plastic slogans. Heather Thompson created Hava, a line of jewellery handmade from feathers, quills, seashells, and other found objects. Says Thompson: “My roommates and I will be walking down the street and they’ll see an empty can and they’ll say, ‘Heather, why don’t you make an earring out of it?’ I’ll make jewellery out of anything, whatever catches my eye.”
The group of women, all in their 20s, formed the collective as a way to pool their resources for marketing and distribution as well as provide each other with support. Along with a commitment to the environment, they are also united by a female-centered, DIY ethic that comes through in their work.
“There’s a feminine approach,” Thompson says. “A lot of times you feel you have to have a cut-throat, dog-eat-dog attitude to succeed. This is kind of an experiment to show that there is enough to go around for everybody.”
The Z’Su is working on having their products available at select local stores. Until then, their merchandise is available on-line at zsudesigncollective.com [3]. (JA)
MEC Gives a Little TLC
Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) recently donated $100,000 to the Land Conservancy of British Columbia (TLC) for its purchase of Thwaytes Landing, a 130-acre historic property that is one of the remaining residentially zoned large, oceanfront properties in the Lower Mainland. Since the founding of TLC in 1997, MEC has provided support in 11 conservation areas in B.C. (JA)
top of page [3]
Web Sightings
I Wonder What They Call Him When He’s Not Around?
nndb.com/group/750/000091477/ [4]
A comprehensive list of nicknames that George W. Bush, in typical frat-boy fashion, has given his colleagues. He refers to Texas Senator John Cornyn as “Corndog,” Russian president Vladimir Putin as “Pootie Poot,” and former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien as “Dino” (as in Dinosaur).
Care for a Little Shag?
omodern.com/Eurobad/euro.html [5]
A collection of Europe’s worst interior designs, circa 1974, featuring wood panelling, shag carpets, and formica as far as the eye can see.
Climb Every Mountain
bivouac.com [6]
Indulge your sense of wanderlust by visiting this Vancouver-based website that features maps, photos, and trip reports for thousands of different mountain adventures across North America.
The Feel-Good Hit of the Summer
ps260.com/molly/SHINING%20FINAL.mov [7]
A fake movie trailer for Stanley Kubrick’s classic horror film The Shining that makes it seem like a heart-warming Hollywood comedy.
How People Used to Waste Time Before the Internet
tradgames.org.uk [8]
A collection of traditional games invented before 1900. Features the complete history and rules of dozens of traditional board games and parlour games such as chess, checkers, Parcheesi, cribbage, mah jong, and croquet.
How Much Time Do You Have Left?
livingto100.com [9]
A comprehensive quiz to find out how long you will live. After you finish the test, the site will give you specific advice based on your answers to help you make it to 100.
Hey, what’s the rush?
digitaldreammachine.blogspot.com/2005/08/slow-and-steady.html [10]
A fun blog entry where you can watch an Edmonton man take his African spur tortoise for a (very long) walk.
Find the Brownie
findthebrownie.squarespace.com [11]
In honour of former FEMA Director Michael “Brownie” Brown, this blog is dedicated to finding people in important U.S. government jobs whose only qualifications are political loyalty and personal connections.
What is the show about?
The show is about four people who I think are involved with amazing amounts of beauty and transformation. It’s beauty from my point of view. It’s like Plato said, “Beauty is the splendour of the True.”
You visited a hospital sponsored by SEVA, an organization you raise funds for.
This hospital is about 250 acres. In one year, this hospital will do 45,000 eye operations. What they have is operating rooms that go continuously, and they have teams of ophthalmologists. It’s like a conveyor-belt system. What I found is a kind of beauty in the systems they’ve established. They have to deal with so many people, and they have the program structured so efficiently that there was beauty in how people moved and conducted the entire process.
As a photographer, how do you find a balance between capturing events without interfering in them?
You can overstep the bounds of good taste. Photographers are notorious for being insensitive. In a sense, it’s built into the nature of the medium—the need to get the picture at that moment. You just have to be sensitive. I think that, if people appreciate and understand your love of the culture, they are receptive.
Can Westerners who travel to developing countries sometimes have a naïve or simplistic attitude toward those countries?
Absolutely. I think there is a kind of romanticism and naiveté when it comes to things religious and spiritual and regarding cultural dynamics. These cultures are very ancient and very complex. There are protocols and relationships that are very complex, and unless you are deeply connected to the culture, you don’t see that subtlety and it is easy to develop a simplified view of things.
You’ve visited India several times. How has it changed over the years?
It’s amazing. The number of SUVs and wealthy middle-class expressions of affluence is astounding. When I was in Delhi, it was very apparent that modern technology and consumptive ways are quickly developing in India. It’s inevitable. It’s a kind of human destiny. But it won’t last. It can’t. But in our folly, we kind of buy into it.
What keeps you going back to India?
India is very noisy, riotous, chaotic. I like that. It’s got a kind of wild, uncontrolled energy because it’s such a vast and populated country. It’s intense. There’s a certain kind of freedom. When I came here (to Canada), I wrote an e-mail to a friend saying, “coming back to Canada was like preparing to go to kindergarten for the first time.” I remember, as a kid, running away from school because you had to sit in a row, you couldn’t talk, you had to line up for everything. It was controlled. I didn’t like that. I guess I still don’t. In Canada, it’s like Sunday morning every day. There are no cars on the streets. There’s no activity. You look around and see all this wealth and very few people, relatively speaking, and you think, “Man, most of the world doesn’t live like this.”
Beauty & Transformation will take place Nov. 23-25, 7:30 pm. at the Ridge Theatre (3131 Arbutus). Tix: $15. Info: 604-713-6622 or seva.ca/show [1].
top of page [1]
Shared News
Freeze Drying—It’s Not Just for Coffee Anymore
A town in Sweden has come up with a way to have people give back to the environment from the great beyond. Jönköping, in southern Sweden, is turning its crematorium into a “prematorium” that allows people to bury their loved ones using a new eco-friendly technique known as promession. The procedure involves freeze-drying the human remains using liquid nitrogen and then shattering them into tiny pieces. The remains are then placed in a biodegradable box made of potato or corn starch and buried in the earth, where they will disintegrate in less than a year. Friends and family of the deceased are encouraged to plant a tree on top of the grave, since the remains will act as compost that will nourish the tree. Promession is preferable to traditional burials, which often involve embalming chemicals, metal or cement vaults, and coffins that don’t decompose. (Jon Azpiri)
Feds May Meddle with Pedal Power
With energy prices at record highs, many people are considering switching to bicycles for their daily commute. However, changing over from four wheels to two may become more costly, if the Canadian government imposes a proposed surtax on imported bicycles.
The Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) has recommended imposing a three-year surtax on all imported bikes that retail for less than $700. The recommendation came after two major Canadian bike manufacturers, Raleigh Canada Ltd. and Groupe Procycle, asked the CITT for protection from bikes imported from Asia. A new surtax of up to 30 per cent would add yet another layer of taxation on foreign-made bikes. An uncommonly high 13 per cent customs tariff is already applied to every bicycle imported into Canada, as well as anti-dumping duties on bicycles from Taiwan and China that can run as high as 68 per cent.
The proposed tax comes at a time when bike sales are improving. In the U.S., specialty bike sales have increased by 10 per cent in the past year, and local bike retailers have reported similar gains. Mike Theil, owner of Bicycle Sports Pacific, says the new recommendation could halt the recent sales boom. “If all our kids’ bikes and entry-level bikes get more expensive, you may see less people cycling,” says Theil. “We’re trying to meet our Kyoto commitments. We’ve got the City of Vancouver building bike lanes, putting bike racks on buses; we’re actively trying to encourage cycling; and here we are making the key component of that system more expensive. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
At press time, the federal government was still contemplating imposing the CITT’s recommendations. The proposed tariff has faced plenty of opposition from politicians around the country, which has the Liberal cabinet exploring other options, such as quotas on imports.
Theil believes the government should stay out of the issue entirely and that Raleigh and Procycle should learn to adapt to a changing marketplace. “There are other Canadian bike companies that are successful by focusing on the mid and high end of the market. Yet [Raleigh and Procycle] haven’t done it. They’ve had trade protection for over 15 years, yet they haven’t improved their operations and they haven’t changed their business model. We think enough is enough.”(JA)
In Other News
Dawson Creek recently became the first B.C. community to take part in SolarBC, a two-year solar-energy pilot project that offers financial incentives for the installation of solar thermal systems for residential hot water. Homeowners could save up to 50 per cent on hot-water heating costs and also receive up to $900 in government subsidies. The program will be offered in other selected B.C. communities throughout the fall and winter. (JA)
The Father of Buy Nothing Day
One day in 1992, local artist Ted Dave gave birth to an international movement over coffee and a muffin. Dave was working in downtown Vancouver when he realized that he was wasting $20 a week on trifles such as coffee and muffins and that he and others should rethink their patterns of consumption. Dave decided to create Buy Nothing Day, a day for consumers to refrain from buying anything for 24 hours.
In 13 years, Dave’s idea has spread around the world, with dozens of grassroots organizations finding their own unique way to celebrate the anti-consumption day that takes place this year on Nov. 26. Some groups in the U.S. dress in sheep costumes to become “blind consumer sheep.” Others set up credit-card cut-up booths, encouraging people to dispense with their credit cards. In Japan, Zen-ta Claus, a giftless version of Santa, meditates in shopping malls.
Dave is shocked at how his creation has evolved. “I have friends who travel to Europe and bring me back things like some weather-beaten Buy Nothing Day poster from the Netherlands,” he says. “It’s a bit surreal but it’s always thrilling. The art this event has generated is wonderful.”
After coming up with the idea of Buy Nothing Day, Dave created a series of posters, placed ads in small local papers, and organized events. Eventually, the idea was taken over by Adbusters Media Foundation, a Vancouver-based advocacy group founded by Dave’s acquaintance Kalle Lasn. Thanks to guerrilla marketing and the power of the Internet, Adbusters helped spread BND around the world.
Just how widely the day is celebrated remains unclear, however. Adbusters has no statistics on how many people worldwide actually participate in BND. It also has no figures on whether or not it has any impact on actual consumption. A spokesman for the Vancouver Board of Trade says they have no knowledge of Buy Nothing Day and no information about any tangible impact it has on the local economy.
Dave believes that trying to find concrete numbers about Buy Nothing Day is beside the point. BND is not necessarily about having consumers decrease consumption for one day; it’s about having them pause to think about their consumption patterns.
Today, Dave is not heavily involved with the day he helped create. His last work connected to the event was releasing a Buy Nothing Day compilation album in 2000. Dave had a parting of the ways with Adbusters in the mid-’90s but insists he harbours no ill will toward the organization and is happy to watch from the sidelines. “My involvement is peripheral at this point, but that’s fine,” he says. “The baby has grown up and left the nest, and I couldn’t be happier with how successful this child has become.” (JA)
Twisting in the Wind
With a pack of reporters in tow, Prime Minister Paul Martin recently visited the Canadian Wind Energy Institute at the northwestern tip of Prince Edward Island and announced that the federal government will award $3.6 million to the new facility. He also promised to spend at least $920 million on wind energy over the next 15 years.
While the event made for an excellent photo op, many in the wind-energy industry say the funding is too small a step to make a real difference. Guy Dauncey, president of the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association, says, “There are several types of programs that assist renewable energy. The first is a very simple subsidy from the government, and that’s what Paul Martin is doing at the moment. The policy is extremely simple and needs to be replaced with an advanced renewable tariff.”
An advanced renewable tariff is a policy that allows renewable energy sources to connect with the grid and specify the price paid for the electricity generated. Rates are determined through public debate and the amount can vary from one form of renewable energy to another. The tariff would allow small renewable-energy producers such as farmers, co-operatives, and First Nations to participate alongside large developers.
The advanced renewable tariff was one of many policies discussed by the Provincial Integrated Energy Plan Committee (PIEPC), a public committee created to help develop an Integrated Electricity Plan (IEP) that will outline the future of B.C. energy. The committee met several times to discuss various approaches to energy, including a so-called “green portfolio” that featured increasing the province’s commitment to renewable energy. The committee’s recommendation will then be deliberated by BC Hydro executives. Dauncey made a presentation to the executives about wind energy and the advanced renewable tariff, which he believes was well received. Still, Hydro managers have concerns about wind energy because they view it as “not firm,” as the flow of energy is not consistent.
Dauncey says that sort of thinking can be short-sighted, and plans such as an advanced renewable tariff could help B.C. avert an energy crisis. “It’s a totally natural transition,” says Dauncey of the switch from fossil fuel to renewable energy. “A thing is called a crisis when you don’t know what the fuck is going on. It’s a transition when you can see an orderly process, and we’re entering a very global transition out of fossil fuels and into renewable energy.” (JA)
Go West, Young Man
While Vancouver’s mayoral contest is shaping up to be a two-horse race between NPA candidate Sam Sullivan and Vision Vancouver candidate Jim Green ( see interview, p. 25 ), several other hopefuls are running for the city’s highest elected office. Perhaps the most intriguing contender is Ben West, a 28-year-old tattooed professional juggler who is the candidate for the Work Less Party.
At first glance, it would be easy to dismiss him as just another fringe candidate, but West speaks with a passion about issues politicians rarely discuss, such as peak oil, ecological literacy, and shortening the work week. West first became part of the Work Less Party after meeting party members at last year’s Bioneers conference and decided to run for mayor when he realized there were no mayoral candidates who opposed the presence of Wal-Mart in Vancouver. (He also ran as the Work Less Party’s candidate in West Vancouver–Capilano in the last provincial election.)
While West realizes the odds of him having a corner office at City Hall are slim to none, he hopes his mayoral candidacy will help change the debate during the election race. “Getting people talking and thinking about ideas is the number one priority for me,” says West. “I see this as a piece of a larger attempt to try to draw attention to what are important issues.” (JA)
A Lama’s Nobel Cause
His Holiness The Dalai Lama will have his name grace the world’s first peace centre in downtown. The Dalai Lama has worked with Bowen Island’s Victor Chan to create a centre that will teach youth the values of compassion, peace, and tolerance, with a curriculum developed by UBC associate professor Linda Darling. The Dalai Lama will act as honourary chairman of the advisory board. Fellow Nobel laureates Desmond Tutu, Shirin Ebadi of Iran, and former Czech president Vaclav Havel will sit on the board. (JA)
top of page [1]
Business News
Pure Puree
Melodye Bickley couldn’t understand why her young child didn’t want to eat baby food out of a jar, until she decided to taste some herself. “After heating it up, I tested it on my lip, and it tasted horrible. I felt guilty giving it to him.”
Bickley and her child’s displeasure with jarred baby foods inspired her to form Valley Pure Foods, a Chilliwack-based company that produces baby food made from organic local vegetables. Valley Pure steams vegetables, purees them, and then quickly freezes them into meal-sized cubes. Parents then simply heat the cubes in a saucepan and serve them.
In addition to being more nutritious, Valley Pure can also help reduce wasted food. Valley Pure food can last up to six months while jarred baby food lasts only three days after being opened, often leading to a portion of the food being thrown out.
Valley Pure currently offers vegetable purees but is planning to add organic meat products and a line of food for toddlers.
Valley Pure is available at two stores in Chilliwack and Abbotsford. The company will also deliver anywhere from Vancouver to Agassiz. For more information, call 604-858-2302 or visit valleypure.ca [2]. (JA)
Collective Consciousness
Right at the end of Vancouver’s Fashion Week, a small fashion show of a different kind took place at Vancouver’s Lucy Mae Brown restaurant in downtown Vancouver. The Z’Su Fashion Collective officially launched its line of eco-conscious fashion and fashion accessories.
Z’Su (pronounced zee-soo) consists of three separate companies that sell wristbands, canvas shopping bags, and jewellery. Janine Nerbus created Kitten Cuff, a collection of handmade leather wristbands made from scraps that were donated to her from leather boutiques. Nerbus has managed to sell her work to musical artists such as Ben Harper, Radiohead, and Jack Johnson.
Jenny Hughes and Elizabeth Clark have started Bring Your Own Bag, a collection of reusable grocery bags made of sturdy 10-ounce cotton canvas that feature unique designs as well as anti-plastic slogans. Heather Thompson created Hava, a line of jewellery handmade from feathers, quills, seashells, and other found objects. Says Thompson: “My roommates and I will be walking down the street and they’ll see an empty can and they’ll say, ‘Heather, why don’t you make an earring out of it?’ I’ll make jewellery out of anything, whatever catches my eye.”
The group of women, all in their 20s, formed the collective as a way to pool their resources for marketing and distribution as well as provide each other with support. Along with a commitment to the environment, they are also united by a female-centered, DIY ethic that comes through in their work.
“There’s a feminine approach,” Thompson says. “A lot of times you feel you have to have a cut-throat, dog-eat-dog attitude to succeed. This is kind of an experiment to show that there is enough to go around for everybody.”
The Z’Su is working on having their products available at select local stores. Until then, their merchandise is available on-line at zsudesigncollective.com [3]. (JA)
MEC Gives a Little TLC
Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) recently donated $100,000 to the Land Conservancy of British Columbia (TLC) for its purchase of Thwaytes Landing, a 130-acre historic property that is one of the remaining residentially zoned large, oceanfront properties in the Lower Mainland. Since the founding of TLC in 1997, MEC has provided support in 11 conservation areas in B.C. (JA)
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Web Sightings
I Wonder What They Call Him When He’s Not Around?
nndb.com/group/750/000091477/ [4]
A comprehensive list of nicknames that George W. Bush, in typical frat-boy fashion, has given his colleagues. He refers to Texas Senator John Cornyn as “Corndog,” Russian president Vladimir Putin as “Pootie Poot,” and former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien as “Dino” (as in Dinosaur).
Care for a Little Shag?
omodern.com/Eurobad/euro.html [5]
A collection of Europe’s worst interior designs, circa 1974, featuring wood panelling, shag carpets, and formica as far as the eye can see.
Climb Every Mountain
bivouac.com [6]
Indulge your sense of wanderlust by visiting this Vancouver-based website that features maps, photos, and trip reports for thousands of different mountain adventures across North America.
The Feel-Good Hit of the Summer
ps260.com/molly/SHINING%20FINAL.mov [7]
A fake movie trailer for Stanley Kubrick’s classic horror film The Shining that makes it seem like a heart-warming Hollywood comedy.
How People Used to Waste Time Before the Internet
tradgames.org.uk [8]
A collection of traditional games invented before 1900. Features the complete history and rules of dozens of traditional board games and parlour games such as chess, checkers, Parcheesi, cribbage, mah jong, and croquet.
How Much Time Do You Have Left?
livingto100.com [9]
A comprehensive quiz to find out how long you will live. After you finish the test, the site will give you specific advice based on your answers to help you make it to 100.
Hey, what’s the rush?
digitaldreammachine.blogspot.com/2005/08/slow-and-steady.html [10]
A fun blog entry where you can watch an Edmonton man take his African spur tortoise for a (very long) walk.
Find the Brownie
findthebrownie.squarespace.com [11]
In honour of former FEMA Director Michael “Brownie” Brown, this blog is dedicated to finding people in important U.S. government jobs whose only qualifications are political loyalty and personal connections.
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Don’t Just Get Mad… Get Active
The B.C. Utilities Commission recently ruled that there is no need for a public hearing to discuss the proposed takeover of Terasen (formerly BC Gas) by U.S.-based Kinder Morgan, a company with a questionable environmental record. However, the BCUC did state that it would consider holding hearings if it received enough written requests from the public. If you would like public hearings on the sale of Terasen, write: Robert Hobbs, Chair & CEO, B.C. Utilities Commission, Box 250, 900 Howe Street 6th Floor, Vancouver, B.C., V6Z 2N3.
As energy prices skyrocket, the Athabasca tar sands in Alberta are continuing to be developed. Part of that development is the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, which would transport natural gas from Canada’s far northwest through fragile watersheds to provide the energy for extraction operations.
The Council of Canadians (canadians.org) believes plans for the pipeline should be scrapped and a moratorium placed on further development of the tar sands while a full assessment is made of the environmental impacts of tar-sands development and of U.S. involvement in Canada’s energy resources. The Council urges you to contact your Member of Parliament and ask to have a moratorium imposed on the further development of the Alberta tar sands until a Canadian Energy Strategy is in place.