Arctic Circle is a daily cartoon strip by Alex Hallet about three penguins, Oscar, Ed and Gordo, who have emigrated from Antarctica to the Arctic. The comic has an underlying environmental theme and regularly sees the humour in trying to live a more eco-friendly life in a 21st century world.

 

Every September 22, people from around the world get together in the streets, intersections, and neighbourhood blocks to remind the world that we don't have to accept our car-dominated society.

World Carfree Day, a showcase for just how our cities might look like, feel like, and sound like without cars, is an en excellent opportunity to rethink and rediscover our personal mobility and the urban environment we live in.

Come celebrate International Car Free Day and to promote clean air, safe streets and the many active transportation and making healthy and active transportation choices on Saturday September 26th 2009 from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm in Downtown Kelowna on Bernard Avenue by the Sails and Kerry Park.

There will be Free activities including live music in Kerry Park, skateboards and bike demonstrations, games for all ages, interactive booths and displays, you can explore a Double decker bus, street art and face painting and more!

Source: I-Go Central Okanagan

                    

 

Conserving fuel to stretch your fuel dollar and to be environmentally responsible is extremely important.

Listed below are more tips from Shell Canada on simple ways to increase fuel efficiency and save money at the pump:

• Keep your distance - If you keep your distance from the car in front of you, you will avoid hard braking. Hard draking uses more fuel than smooth braking.
• Use air conditioning (and other electrical appliances) sparingly - Using air conditioning in the city can increate fuel consumption by 20%. On the highway you can use the flow-through ventilation. On city streets, open a window.
• Check the air filters - Replacing a clogged air filter can improve fuel economy by 10%
• Conserve momentum - Anticipate hills, traffic lights so you avoid hard braking and sudden stops.
• Avoid small fuel fills - Every time you open the fuel cap, fuel evaporates. Try to fill up when you're at a quarter tank.
• Perform a monthly check - If you can, check tire pressure, fluid leaks, fluid levels, cracked or loose hoses and wires, adequate braking efficiency and wheel alignment in between your regular checkups.

 

Conserving fuel to stretch your fuel dollar and to be environmentally responsible is extremely important.

Listed below are more tips from Shell Canada on simple ways to increase fuel efficiency and save money at the pump:

• Avoid excess weight - For every 100 lbs that you carry, fuel efficiency can drop by 1-2%. If you don't need to take things along with you, don't.
• Take the roof rack off - If you're not using your roof rack, remove it. In addition to the extra weight, it creates drag which reduces fuel efficiency by as much as 5%
• Use higher gears - A manual transmission is 10% more fuel efficient that automatic. The higher gear you drive in, the lower your engine speed which helps with fuel efficiency.
• Avoid rush hour - You'll spend less time in traffic and consume less fuel.
• Control emissions - If your vehicle stalls, or your exhaust contains blue or black smoke, service the emission control system. Fuel comsumption can improve by 15%
• Keep the windows closed - Open windows can slow you down and you may use more fuel to speed up.

76,728 kg of CO2 emmisions were prevented from entering the atmosphere as a direct result of Bike To Work Week participants efforts.

During Bike To Work Week, between May 10-17, 6,167 Central Okanagan cyclists participated at least once. There were 1,135 new cyclists for this year's campaign. Cyclists travelled a total distance of 106,903 km, which is equivalent to cycling around the world 3 times.

Listed below are the winning teams:

• Educational Category - 1st Place: Spring Valley Middle School with 52.5 % participation
• Government/Health Care/Transportation - 1st Place: Parkinson Recreation Aqua Spinners with 53% participation
• Industrial - 1st place: PCL Constructors West Coast Inc.: 33.4% participation
• Media/Retail/Goods and Services (Professional and Consulting) - 1st Place: New Town Architecture and Urban Design with 21.28% participation
• Mini Team (10 employees or less) - 1st Place: Opus International Consultants Ltd. With 93.2% participation

The local business community sponsored prizes to winning teams.

For full details and results, visit the City of Kelowna's news realease.

 

Greenpeace first released their 'Guide to Greener Electronics' in August 2006; the guide ranks the 17 top manufacturers of personal computers, mobile phones, TV's and games consoles according to their policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and climate change.

In their 11th edition, HP, Lenovo, and Dell received a penalty for breaking their promises to phase-out toxic chemicals. In fact, of the 5 top PC makers, only Apple is making large strides. Meanwhile, Philips was moved from 15th place to 4th in the list of companies.

1. Nokia –  Keeps top spot with new CO2 emissions reduction targets.
2. Samsung - Up two places with clear support for global climate change cuts.
3. Sony Ericsson – Down one place with more work to do on recycling.
4. Philips - Biggest mover, up 11 places due to big recycling policy improvements.
5. Sony - Up two places with better product energy efficiency reporting.
6. LG Electronics - Loses points for delaying toxics phase out for all products.
7. Toshiba- Loses points for poor CO2 reduction target and missing energy efficiency data.
   
8. Motorola - Down one place, needs to improve on waste and energy.
9. Sharp - Unchanged - gains point for new US recycling scheme, loses one for weaker commitment on global emissions reduction.
10. Apple - Up four places, good on chemicals elimination, improved on recycling but still poor on energy.
11. Acer - Score drops slightly due to poor e-waste scores.
12. Panasonic - Down 3 places due to poor definition of precautionary principle and energy efficiency reporting.
13. Dell - Continues to drop, penalty point for breaking commitment phase out of toxics by end 2009.
14. Lenovo - Penalty point for breaking commitment phase out of toxics by end 2009.
15. Microsoft - Score drops due to bad performance on e-waste.
16. HP - Penalty point for breaking commitment phase out of toxics by end 2009.
17. Nintendo - Remains in last place, unchanged score.

Take a look at the Guide to Greener electronics for more detailed information (including the grading criteria).

 

Drivers everywhere are looking to get the most out of every tank of gasoline. Some people use alternative forms of transportation but there are lots of people who rely heavily on their cars on a daily basis. Conserving fuel to stretch your fuel dollar and to be environmentally responsible is extremely important.

Here are tips from Shell Canada on simple ways to increase fuel efficiency and save money at the pump:

• Drive smoothly - avoid quick acceleration or braking, it can use 33% more fuel
• Service your car regularly - a poorly maintained vehicle can increase fuel consumption by 50%
• Make sure tires are inflated properly - even under-inflation by 2% can reduce the tire's life by 6,500 km and fuel efficiency by 2%
• Use the correct grade of motor oil - it can help fuel efficiency by 2%. Try "energy conserving" motor oil
• Choose high-grade gasoline - carbon deposits can build up in engine components that can decrease power, performance and fuel efficiency
• Use cruise-control on highways - it can improve gasoline usage
• Avoid idling - you waste gas and go nowhere
  
• Avoid high speeds - the faster you go the more wind resistance there is and more fuel is consumed. Going from 100 to 120 km/h increases fuel consumption by 20%
• Plan your trips - you avoid multiple cold starts of the engine and combine errands into one trip
  

The 2009 National Commuter Challenge Event exceeded 2008 results by 10,000 participants.

Here are the highlights:

• Registered Participants: 44,109
• Registered Organizations: 1,636
• Registered Cities: 159
• GHG Saved: 643,841
• KM Saved: 3,093,452
• Fuel Saved ($):    $186,928
• Calories Burned : 21,373,707

Kelowna and the Central Okanagan finished in second place in our population category. We finished fourth in the province.

Over 100 workplaces participated and here are the results:

• GHG Saved: 5,728.35
• Fuel Savings ($): 2,128.92
• Calories Burned: 387,960
• KM Saved: 30,797.40

For complete results, visit CommuterChallenge.ca

 

 

Under-inflated tires in Canada produce a great deal of carbon anually as a result of excess fuel consumption. Under-inflated tires does not roll as smoothly as it is supposed to and this resistance causes the vehicle to use more fuel.

A survey concluded that on any given day, almost 70% of vehicles have at least one tire under-inflated or over-inflated by 10%.

You only need to spend a few minutes each month to ensure that your tires are properly inflated and save yourself some money and protect the environment.

According to Natural Resources Canada, drivers burn an additional 643 million litres of fuel annually as a result of under-inflated tires. This amount of fuel releases 1 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere every year and costs drivers $579 million in unnessary fuel bills.

Here are some tips for drivers: 

• Get a reliable tire guage and use it monthly or more
• Inflate tires to the manufacturers recommended pressure. The right tire pressure is posted on the vehicle's inside door post, glove compartment of fuel door. The tire pressure stamped on the sidewall corresponds to the maximum pressure a tire can contain under maximum load.
• Measure tire pressure when the vehicle has been stopped for at least 3 hours. Tires heat up when they roll and this could result in an inaccurate reading.

For more info visit BeTireSmart.ca

Clean Air Day is a celebration of environmentally-friendly activities that promote clean air and good health across Canada. It is a great opportunity to make environmentally-friendly lifestyle choices, for you, your family and your community. This year Clean Air Day is on Wednesday June 3rd.

The Transit will be free. Tell the driver it's Clean Air Day. There will be complimentary breakfast from 7:00 to 8:30 AM at Queensway, Orchard Park and Westbank Transit exchanges.

Choices made by businesses, communities and individuals can lead to meaningful reductions in air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.

Tips to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions:

• Leave the car at home. Walk or bike for short trips;
  
• For longer trips, take the bus; one busload of passengers takes 40 vehicles off the road, saving 70,000 litres of fuel, 175 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and nine tonnes of pollutants per year.
• Don't idle your vehicles; Ten seconds of idling uses more fuel that restarting your engine and produces more air pollution
• Keep to the speed limit. Driving at 100 km/h burns 10 per cent more fuel than driving at 90 km/h. 
• On the highway, use cruise control to maintain a steady speed and reduce fuel consumption. 
• In the city, stop-and-go traffic means that your air conditioning can increase fuel consumption by as much as 20 per cent. At low city speeds, open windows can be a fuel-saving alternative.

 

If each one of us makes a commitment to make a change to help the environment, collectively, it will amount to alot.

If we recall a statistic from before, if every American home replaced just one light bulb with an Energy Star bulb, we would save enough energy to power more that 3 million homes for a whole year and save $600 million in annual energy costs. Not only that, we would also prevent greenhouse gas emissions accounting to more than 800,000 cars.

Another simple thing to do is to use cold water to wash your clothes. Hotter water does not mean cleaner clothes; in fact the only difference that can be seen is in your utility bill. Did you know that 90% of washing machine energy consumption is in the heating of water.

Canadian families do an average of 416 wash loads per year which amounts to 1,281 lbs to 2,407 lbs of CO2 in the atmosphere. If we switch to cold water, not only will be prevent that CO2 from entering the atmosphere, but we will also save an average of $61 per year on our utility bill.

Isn't it a good time to save money and at the same time help the environment?

Source: Article by Maggie Calloway in the column "Smart Choices for Our Future"

The City of Kelowna in it's adoption of sustainable transportation practices, ranks in the Top 10 cities in Canada.

In the second annual Smart Transportation Ranking Report, put together by the UBC Sauder School of Business and Appleton Charitable Foundation, Kelowna placed 10th (out of 27 cities). It moved up 4 spots from last year.

The report looks at 17 indicators in four categories - air quality, public policy, transport policy and technology adoption. Kelowna has a green municipal fleet which includes 4 hybrid vehciles and 18 smart cars. It's one of 4 cities to have all it's transit buses running on alternative fuels.

Projects for sustainable transportation in 2009 include the expansion of Rapid Bus BC, a transit exchange in Rutland, the extension of Rails with Trails and 2 off-road cycling projects along the proposed Glenmore Bypass and Gordon Drive extension.

 

At the next UBC Okanagan's Distinguished Speaker Series, on November 26th 2008 at 7PM at the Rotarty Centre for the Arts, Jeffrey Simpson, a Globe and Mail award-winning columnist will discuss the impact of Climate Change on Canada.

His presentation is called Hot Air: Fixing Canada's Climate Change Catastrophe and it will examine the threats of the climate change on Canada.

Simpson will explain how he believes Canadians have been betrayed by their politicians, industrialists and environmentalists. He will also outline simple policies that should be adopted right away to significantly reduce short-term greenhouse gas emissions.

Tickets are available for free by calling the Rotary Centre for the Arts box office at 250-717-5304.

According to Environment Canada, transportation is the single largest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions - accounting for 30% of the total. One of the reasons for this fueling involves "food miles" which is the distance food travels from the field to your home.

What can the average person do to reduce these emissions? Here are a few suggestions from Jill Rhynard, a co-ordinator of health promotion at the Interior Health of the Okanagan health delivery area:

• buy local produce and support the local agriculture
• visit local u-pick farms and the farmer's market
• ask for and get local products at grocery stores
• grow your own fruit and vegetables, cook with a friend
  
• join a local community garden and/or support them
• grow tomatoes and herbs in your kitchen
• replace meat with vegetable protein sources (meat products use more resources)
• try veggie burgers and tofu instead of meat products
  
• avoid plastic bags and use cloth grocery bags
• buy products that have less packaging
• plan your trips to the grocery store with other errands

When you buy local and support the local community initiatives you not only reduce CO2 emissions, you also strengthen your ties with the community.

Source: Article by Jill Rhynard titled "Support your local farmer"

The 21 member Climate Action Team made a few recommendations which include raising the carbon tax in 2012 if necessary from it's planned figure. (The carbon tax rate is expected to triple from 2.3 cents per litre of gasoline by 2012).

They believe that higher rates must be imposed to achieve the province's greenhouse gas reduction targets. With the current plan, BC hopes to cut 1/3 in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 but according to the Climate Action Team, the current planned rate will take BC only 73% of the way to achieving its goal.

They say that the tax needs to be expanded to include other untaxed industrial emissions or those emissions be taken into account via a cap-and-trade system. They ask for greater efficiency in transportation and use of rail when moving freight; the need to move away from dumping garbage in landfills which generates methane gas.

They also outlined interim targets to ensure the 2020 goals are met:

• By 2012 emissions should decline to 5% below 2007 levels. And houses and buildings should have a energy efficiency rating when they're sold.
• By 2016 emissions should decline to 15-18% below 2007 levels. And publicly funded buildings should have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions (and by 2020 that should be expanded to include all new houses).

The report is available until October 6th for public viewing at LiveSmartBC.ca

Source: Article by Jeff Nagel titled "BC advised to hike carbon tax"

"The number one cause of global warming gases worldwide is animal agriculture" - Dave Way, EarthSave President.

EarthSave Canada is a non-profit organization that outlines to people the environmental, health and ethical consequences of what people eat.

Dave Way is touring the Okanagan discussing the facts brought up in the 2006 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations called Livestock's Long Shadow. Basically, the main issue is that raising animals for food affects climate change more than people think.

There are lots of concerns about using food grains as biofuels but not much for using those grains as animal feed. Last year, 100 million tonnes of grain were used to make biofuels but 760 million tonnes were fed to animals. The raising of animals for food contributes significantly to the release of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

For instance, 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to the raising of livestock, compared to 13% for transportation. Fossil fuels burned to raise animals range from running tractors to supplying electricity for their operations. Also, the 1.5 billion cows and tens of billions of pigs, chickens and goats release methane gas which is 20 to 25% stronger than carbon dioxide.

Providing grains for the livestock requires clearing out forests to plant feed, then fertilized with petroleum based chemicals that contain nitrous oxide which is 300 times stronger than CO2.

Diets heavy in protein are also causes of many diseases. Thus, we should limit the amount of meat we eat and take part in programs such as Meatless Mondays etc. Even if we reduce our meat intake by 20%, there would be a significant impact on climate change.

Source: Article by Adrian Nieocyzm titled "Food activist says we need to cut down on animal protein"