So lately, we have been going out biking almost everyday, getting used to the rules and routes of the city, it’s a whole other world when you’re on a bike. I noticed that when I first started driving years ago too – your perspective of the space you inhabit changes based on your mode of transportation – subways make me consider the underground routes to get from one part of the city to another, cars make me consider the highways, the one-way streets, the alternative smaller streets I can take to avoid heavy traffic. And now, biking is teaching me to notice even more things like where the ramps are, where the road is most uneven, where there are long blocks versus short blocks, and where the road is on an incline and where it’s on a decline, where cars tend to cluster and where there are bike lanes in the city.

I love noticing this shift in perspective, and I would encourage everyone to try different modes of transportation in whatever area you’re in, to get an idea of the perspective shift – try walking around for a week instead of driving to wherever you normally go in your neighborhood. Or take the train or the bus, instead of driving to a distant destination. Most of us are so hooked on cars and highways and parking lots, that we rarely just walk, or bike anywhere. I urge you to try it sometime, especially if you live in a part of the planet where it’s the later half of the summer season now. Just go, go out, and walk, or bike if you can get a bicycle (hint: they’re also a lot cheaper than cars!). You’ll love it!

On a related note, check out this site to see how Toronto is becoming more and more bike-friendly.

Bicycling in Toronto ~ Lovin’ the ride is a post from: Kiran

Economics 101 is a post from: Kiran

Not only are meat and dairy production & processing immensely energy-inefficient and polluting, the animals we eat are saturated with hormones and genetic modifications.

My partner and I decided on my last birthday (August 2007) to go veggie . It’s been at times inconvenient and at times very easy to keep it up, especially because we chose to not go too militant about it and so we keep our minds open for when practicality must win out over our ideals (like when we’re stuck somewhere and the only non-meat option out there is pizza with no meat but with cheese), it’s still very satisfying. We are both more energetic, we feel calmer inside in general and we are saving loads of money. And the food options are enormous! We both love Indian food which has countless vegetarian options, and we have discovered and rediscovered so many delicious foods from spicy and filling falafel to Licks’ juicy veggie burgers, rich vegan brownies, hot and soothing soups, exotic vegetarian pasta and so much more. The one thing I still love is eggs, and so we choose to buy only Free-Run (cruelty free), organic eggs raised on local farms .

We also try and buy products which are not tested on animals, products from relatively enlightened companies like Revlon, The Body Shop, Jamieson, Estee Lauder, M.A.C. cosmetics, Whole Foods Markets, Victoria’s Secrets and many more.  And we try to avoid buying products from companies that still perform unnecessary and cruel animal testing, like Clairol, Arm & Hammer, Cover Girl, Johnson & Johnson, Pantene, Pfizer, L’Oreal, Suave, Sally Hansen and others like them.

For most of my life I thought I didn’t have it in me to give up eating meat. But it’s been easier than I had imagined. Yes there are some changes we’ve had to make, but it’s been a lot less of a hassle than I had thought. Now, the thought of eating meat the way I used to is actually repulsive to me. Knowing the kinds of cruelties that factory farms put their animals through, and how,, at the grocer’s the meat is packed with artificial hormones, has made me cringe at the thought of consuming such poisoned flesh .

Something to think about… the powerful meat and dairy industries put a LOT of money in trying to convince you otherwise, but the truth is cutting back on meat and dairy is good for both your body’s and your planet’s health.

If you’re reading this, I dare you to check out the sites linked here and others, and try to become more veggie-focused and be the cause/consumer of lesser and lesser cruelty on other sentient beings in the world. Just try it for 1 month… I dare ya!

Related links:
Veg.ca
Vegetarian Resource Group
Caring Consumers
How to Avoid Genetically Modified (GM) Foods
Why is American Beef banned in Europe?

Care about the environment? is a post from: Kiran

The tank, which is 27m high, has no markings and is thought to have fallen from a ship before being washed up on the west of Benbecula.

It was discovered by a dog walker on Poll Na Crann beach – known locally as Stinky Bay – near Griminish.

Look what the catfish dragged in is a post from: Kiran

Children play in a flooded street after rising sea levels in Penjaringan subdistrict, North Jakarta. (The Globe and Mail)

My generation grew up accepting things like AIDS, cell phones and DVDs as part of our reality. For the generations growing up today things like Climate Change will be part of their framework when they think of their world.

The Children of Climate Change is a post from: Kiran

I am deeply inspired and in search of such a group here in Toronto.

Who knows… maybe I’ll just create one!

Seeking Common Ground is a post from: Kiran

“In general, the impact of the tsunami is a lot less than the human impact, said Clive Wilkinson, of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, who is preparing a report on the tsunami-hit reefs.

One quarter of all mangroves in Asia have been destroyed by human activity, while dynamite fishing has decimated many coral reefs. Now the fear is that illegal logging and overfishing, long the bane of the region’s environment, will intensify. Timber and coral for reconstruction, while the UN says fish stocks could face collapse because donors are promising many more boats than existed before the disaster and are offering to industrialise what was mostly a subsidence business.

While the Guardian reports that well-meaning citizens who are trying to practice “carbon offsetting” may actually be inadvertently creating other problems:

Tree-planting has always been a controversial method of soaking up CO2 because it is little more than a short term fix. Once the trees die they rot, releasing the carbon back into the atmosphere. “We are buying a few decades to transform our economies,” says Dr Jackson.

Chris Field, an ecologist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Stanford, California, agrees. “It is not a slam dunk in terms of providing the kind of carbon benefit we would like to have,” he says, “In the long run, solving the carbon problem is going to be more about reducing emissions rather than storage.”

So where does this leave the eco-minded citizen who wants to tread a lighter carbon footprint? “Start by doing what you can yourself,” says Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, a government funded company that is charged with helping UK businesses reduce their carbon emissions. “Most of the actions you can take will save you money as well as have a climate benefit.” So installing energy saving light bulbs, insulating the loft or using the car less is a good start.

So that’s where it’s at. The bottom line is that what we are doing to the environment is not something that will “just go away”. The earth is a medley of delicate eco-systems which have been the brunt of abuse for a long time, especially since the industrial “revolution” and the beginnings of mass usage of fossil fuels, including for use in cars.

On the brighter side, there are movements that you can be part of that are developing ideas and products that work to reduce the harmful effects of human civilization.

David Suzuki has set up an excellent venture called the Nature Challenge:

1. Reduce home energy use by 10%
2. Choose an energy-efficient home & appliances
3. Don’t use pesticides
4. Eat meat-free meals one day a week
5. Buy locally grown and produced food
6. Choose a fuel-efficient vehicle
7. Walk, bike, carpool or take transit
8. Choose a home close to work or school
9. Support alternative transportation
10. Learn more and share with others

The Challenge is to pick at least three steps and sign up.

CarFree.com is an excellent site with all kinds of discussions and information about communities built around people, not cars, like what most of urban and all of suburban areas are built.

Transition Culture is a very informative blog with various interesting items about the present and future of energy decline.

These and many other resources are available to us…. the hard part is learning to quit our addictive ways of using and over using energy, whether it be through using less petrol, buying a fuel-efficient car instead of a Hummer or SUV, turning off the lights when we don’t need them, using products not made by torturing animals, or helping the people around us understand the scope of the problem and empowering them with knowledge and resources.

May the sun bring you new energy by day may the moon softly restore you by night, may the rain wash away your worries, may the breeze blow new strength into your being, may you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life.
~ Apache Blessing

Humans are worse is a post from: Kiran