Snapshot - When dinosaurs walked the earth...

I'm pretty sure that title is copyrighted.

This thing was alive 145 million years ago, now it is not. Wow.

There was a big Brontosaurus behind it, but I could not fit it into one shot. :( ~sad~

Topic 9 - Holiday Garbage

The amount of waste produced during the holidays is immense. Not only are people consuming more than usual, but they are also wrapping (or boxing or stuffing) everything they consume. I am not one however, to completely give up all the traditions of the holiday. There is one side of me that loves the lights, the colours, the presents and the joy. I like the feeling of the holidays and I love the fact that some traditions of spending are still sticking around.

I makes me wonder though, can I still be an environmentalist even though I am buying into the "evil-consumerism of Kris Kringle?" (I'm quoting a fellow student from an environmental studies course)

I will be honest, I add to the problem of over-consumption. I currently work in retail at The Gap, a chain which embodies "the corporation." Everything there is run to make profit and drive up stock prices in order to gain investors. All decisions are consciously made to grab a larger piece of the clothing market. I help people spend needlessly almost everyday and it is even worse during the holidays (Boxing Day alone you make about 100k). So, by spending myself, and helping others spend, am I essentially contradicting everything for which I stand. Have a become a Fake Green?

This is the balance I try to strike with environmentalists, both anti and extreme. Is it necessary to completely let go of economy and stop shopping, building and investing in order to save our environment? After some consideration (again, just some), I do not believe that it would be healthy for humans to stop consuming, even if it is needless. Undeniably, there is some sort of pleasure we derive from buying things and I do not intend to stop it. To be honest, I do not think the holidays would be the holidays if there was no corporate involvement whatsoever (as religious involvement is long gone). If we consume less during the rest of the year, is a spike in spending during the holidays justified? Even better, is there a way we can curb the externalities of our holiday consumption. Is that...practical?

For instance, gift wrapping can go, or can easily be minimized. So often we see disposable bags that are built to last a nuclear bomb (here's looking at you Abercrombie), and the amount of tissue paper stuffed into said bags and into the boxes held within the bags is probably sufficient to fund the paper needs to a nearby school. Wrapping paper also is questionable, as most people know what they are getting (because they ask for it on a list) and who gets what really is a surprise when all the presents are piled under the tree. Do you really know which present is yours? Many people also buy gift cards this time of year, and even though it consumes plastic, the cards can be reused. Unfortunately, most chains decide to throw the cards out after they have been emptied as the designs on them are constantly changing.

By reducing side-effects like these, can we help curb the problems caused by our holiday consumption; or is it impractical, impossible, and ineffective? Even though this may cause some conflict in morals, I for one, am willing to try these steps because I do love my holiday consumption.

Topic 8- Environmental Martyrs

I have recently been contemplating the concept of Environmental Martyrism, a situation in which people have to feel like they are giving up a large part of their life, almost painstakingly so, in order to help the environment.

I have a problem with this idea. Mainly, I do not think it gives people the right idea of what environmentalism is, and how one should approach it. I might too soft in this area, but again, I do not think that people will change their lifestyle if it is too painful, or if it seems to painful. By going out in public and announcing how much you are giving to save the environment and declaring how much welfare you are losing in order to help fight global warming (or whatever the cause might be), it essentially turns people off to the whole idea.

It has hard to go deep into this topic without sounding too bitter, but I truly believe that aiding the environment, if it is a true priority will not be too painful, or require large sacrifices. By incorporating the very ideals of improving environmental quality into our daily lifestyle, it shift without too much trouble.

Topic 7 - Plastic Bags

Recently, my school bookstore decided to hand out "environmentally-friendly, green, and resuable" bags. For added effect, they made the bags the colour green and decided to do a bad imitation of Macy's (the words "big green bag" were printed on the side). At first I commended the effort, but when the bag became more of a trend than anything else, I realized that though the initiave was admirable, the follow through was disasterous.

Providing reusable bags is only use if people choose to reuse the bags. Contrary to the very name of the bag, the bookstore decided to give everyone one of these green bags regardless of whether the person had already preivously purchased books at the bookstore. Essentially, they were giving you a thicker, more expensive nylon bag instead of the regular plastic ones. A bunch of people on campus now have about two to three of these green bags which have now dissapeared from being in use (as fads here last about a week) and occasionally pop up in a grocery store.

The logic behind these bags astounds me and I do not understand why they did not instead, promote or give an incentive for students to use their backpacks instead of consuming even more. Gift certificates to local university-funded coffee shops or even bamboo bookmarks would have been a better alternative.

This is a glaring example of being IMPRATICALLY green. Trying to go out of your way to be environmentally-friendly with poor follow through and an even poorer result.

Topic 6- Ten years ago...

I hate to hop onto the bandwagon, but...


Ten years ago, both my parents, after coming home from work, informed me that Princess Diana had died. They told me that her memorial service would be televised and that if I wished, I could join them in watching it. Till this day, I remember both my Mom and I crying; obviously, we did not know her personally, but there always something about her that made her special.

I think about it now, and I realized why I was so sad: it was because I truly admired her.

She spoke out and she made her mark on the world. She had values, dug her heels into the ground, and protected them at all costs. Some say she was a humanitarian, a princess for the people and not for the monarchy. I was way too young at the time to figure out politics, so to me, she was just a princess of action, someone who could be a role model for anyone.

At risk of sounding over-dramatic and preachy. I summarize her 10 year memorial as such:

Even after a decade, people still remember her, and celebrate her. She was a woman of action, one who was not afraid to defend her morals through logic, reason and positive action. She showed strength and believed in people and for that, she is loved.

I write this because she spoke out, and I someday hope to be just as loud.

Topic 5- FLICK OFF

Aside from the controversy over the logo for this campaign, I am fairly attracted to its ideals. They argue that ten years from now, it will be too late to do anything about global warming. Instead of just pushing scary prophesies in people's faces, they instead decide to explain the condition of the environment simply. They outline six causes behind climate change and show specific, real examples of how changing environments can affect different species.

What I like most about this campaign is how they suggest the public should change. They suggest simple steps: turning off your lights, shutting off your computer, not idling your car, and the list goes on. All their suggestins are practical and require minimal changes in the public's everyday lives. To me, it's a positive way to go about change. As I have stated before, if the change is too big, people will refuse to do it

In addition, there is no pharmaseutical company to be seen in their list of sponsors. In fact, most of their sponsors are companies and media outlets which speak mostly towards youth and can understand how to access the lives of younger people and hopefully make a change. There are few profits to be made, and hopefully, they are truly doing this out of hope for the future environment.

Check out the site here: FLICK OFF

Oh, and best of all, it's Canadian.

Topic 4- The Gap and the Green

The other day, my manager walked up to me and asked what the store could do to reduce energy consumption. My mind quickly flashed to one thing: lighting. In short, the Gap uses a ridiculous amount of lighting. There are lights above the walls, there are lights in the ceiling, there are potlights in the fitting rooms, there are lights behind mirrors, there are more potlights in front of windows, there are spotlights in the windows and there are spotlights in random locations around to store. I personally, wanted to remove some of this lighting because though it may add that little special something when it comes to merchandising, it unnecessarily sucks up a lot of extra energy.

Unforunately, he replied that lighting is controlled by the supplier and not the company itself.

This made me think. Should the comapny not, if it wishes to be more environmentally friendly, demand that it's supplier create more energy efficient lighting? Is it necessary to have the air conditioning on so cold that employees have to wear long sleeves during the summer season? Can paper usage be reduced by emailing or using newsprint?

It still astonds me how sometimes companies can find it so hard to find ways to reduce their energy consumption. Yes, it make the shopping experience a little less comfortable, but I imagine that the public will have to eventually get used to these new environments. Should a shopper want to shop in a store that costs a lot to the run, then these expenses should be reflected in the product pricing. Sometimes, it might take a little sacrifice to make a big impact.

In the end, we decided that reminding employees to turn off the staff bathroom light, and turning off the down escalator during opening and close would be suffice in making the Gap environmentally friendly...

We still have quite the ways to go.