Dialogue series

Earth Day

April 22^nd is the 40^th anniversary of Earth Day, a day to recognize the work that still remains for the preservation and protection of our natural environment.

As a follow-up to the web discussion hosted for the first edition of the Dialogue Series for International Women's Day, we have another question for you:

What's your Earth Day resolution and why?

Please provide a short 1 minute (maximum) answer about a personal initiative you will undertake over the next year to support sustainability or environmental protection, and if possible, please include a statistic that explains why you chose this resolution. You have until May 15^th to submit your Earth Day resolution.

We hope you will all take part in this ongoing online discussion.

Comments (5)

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Ghizlaine Benzerrouk 2010-04-20 @ 14:07	journée de la terre. Selon l’ONU, une crise de l’eau affectera près de la moitié de la population mondiale d’ici 2030. Il est vrai que de nombreux facteurs – comme l’Industrie – engendrent des gaspillages importants. De plus, les ressources hydriques les plus accessibles sont déjà largement surexploitées et polluées. Mais il existe une réalité plus amère : nous contribuons tous à cette crise , d’une façon ou d’une autre. J’avais l’habitude – comme de millions de personnes par ailleurs – de jeter l'huile de friture soit dans les égouts par l'évier de la cuisine, soit par les toilettes. Je viens d’apprendre qu’un litre d'huile de friture déversé dans l'évier souille un million de litres d'eau!!!!! Ce qui est la quantité d'eau suffisante à un être humain pendant 14 ans!!!!!!!! Inutile de vous dire que c’est ma conscience qui était en crise.. Il m’importe de préserver des millions de litres d'eau, et de préserver la planète avec plus de responsabilité. La meilleure façon de se débarrasser de son huile de friture est de le faire ainsi: 1 Attendre que l'huile soit complètement froide. 2. Verser le reste de l'huile dans une bouteille plastique. 3. Fermer la bouteille et la mettre dans la poubelle domestique.
Mary McGee 2010-04-20 @ 10:06	Earth Day I’ve recently become a member of the Montreal Botanical Gardens. They give courses on vegetable gardening, composting, planting drought-tolerant plants, etc. I want to start gardening more and I think it’s important to encourage green spaces in our cities.
Colin Doerr 2010-04-20 @ 10:05	Earth Day Personal Initiative Proposal I would like to propose using myself and one other volunteer (or a pod of humans) as a human carbon off-set project (HCOP). [Carbon Neutral/off-setting describes any activity or system that emits no net carbon dioxide into the atmosphere]. Activity Here is how it works. Let’s say that both of us (or the group) are committed to decreasing our carbon footprint and would like to walk, bike or use public transit to get to work or some other form (s) of non-carbon emitting consumption of energy use. However, some days that is simply not possible for one of us but it might be for someone else in the group. Enter a human carbon off-set project. For example, a project member notifies me that he/she must drive to work today and therefore I will off-set her carbon use by walking to work myself, washing my clothes by hand, eating more sustainably, etc. The aim is to ultimately decrease carbon emissions but the attraction I hope is that the project builds a community of people that help encourage and support each other to bring it about. The HCOP model may bring renewed awareness and fun to it all. Here is hoping. I would propose piloting this for a 4 week period. Some base lines would need to be established and then measured again at the end of 4 weeks. I have not worked out all the details yet but will. Any assistance here would be welcomed. NOTE: usually carbon off-setting refers to a financial system where organizations buy carbon credit to offset their own carbon emissions. I am proposing a non-market system but with a similar outcome of going carbon neutral. • Carbon Offsetting describes the effort to neutralize or reduce the detrimental impact on the environment caused by human activity. • In abstract terms, your carbon footprint is the impact that your everyday activities have on the environment, measured in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. • The Dell Computer Corporation will sell you a tree with the purchase of your personal computer. The tree is planted to absorb carbon dioxide generated in the manufacture and use of the computer. • Carbon Neutral describes any activity or system that emits no net carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. • Carbon credits can be purchased from for-profit companies in order to offset activities that emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Such a company is Generation Investment Management, a private company headquartered in the UK. • Former Vice President and Nobel Prize Winner Albert Gore Jr. claims to live a carbon neutral lifestyle by purchasing carbon credits from companies such as Generation Investment Management. • Mr. Gore is Chairman of Generation Investment Management. • Other greenhouse gasses caused by human activity include methane, nitrous oxide, tropospheric ozone, and chlorofluorocarbons. • A hydrogen-powered car produces no greenhouse gasses from the tailpipe. • A hybrid engine in a car reduces the carbon footprint of the driver by capturing mechanical energy, storing it in a battery, and using it to power the vehicle as needed. The mechanical energy would otherwise be dissipated as heat. • For each US gallon of gasoline consumed as fuel, 19.2 pounds (8.7 kg) of carbon dioxide is emitted. • For each gallon of heating oil consumed, 24.8 pounds (11.26 kg) of carbon dioxide is emitted. • Approximately 1.36 pounds of carbon dioxide is emitted per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated by burning fossil fuels. • Carbon dioxide had been recently (April, 2009) classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a pollutant. • In 2003, during the Bush administration, the EPA announced that carbon dioxide could not be classified as a pollutant. • The average cheeseburger requires about 6.8 pounds of carbon dioxide to produce. This includes raising, slaughtering, transporting, storing, and cooking the food. • Plants require carbon dioxide to survive the same way that humans require oxygen. • Assuming 10,000 pages per year, an HP LaserJet 2820 has a carbon footprint of 1364 pounds. The associated electricity cost is approximately $95. • NativeEnergy.com sells carbon offsets. The cost for an average US home is $168 per year, which offsets the 24 tons of carbon dioxide emissions caused by the home. The site accepts monthly installments or annual payments.
Shayne Lazarowich 2010-04-20 @ 10:03	Earth Day "Each Canadian produces 1.7kg of waste each day (roughly our body weight in garbage every single month!)" "Canadians take home more than 55 million plastic shopping bags each week, or almost eight million every day!" Personally, I generally try to use cloth bags for groceries, and stainless steel cups for coffee (when I remember to bring them with me), but I would also like to implement this strategy in my CWY youth exchange this year. We are, after all a team of 20, and produce a significant amount of waste. I will ask my team to bring cloth bags and stainless cups with them to the exchange country and carry them throughout the Canadian phase, as well. Finally, in the exchange country, because our team consumes a lot of bottled water, we will find ways to reduce plastic waste (buy larger containers of water, rather than small bottles) and support the new municipal recycling program, which now includes plastic.
Marie-Eve 2010-04-20 @ 10:01	Le jour de la terre Le jour de la terre… Quelle belle opportunité de prendre quelques instants de réflexion sur nos agissements. En tant que future maman, je suis de plus en plus préoccupée par l’avenir de la planète. Je l’étais déjà avant mais je me demande davantage maintenant à quoi ressemblera la terre de nos enfants, dans quelques années si nous continuons au rythme d’aujourd’hui… Est-ce qu’ils connaîtront des hivers blancs? Le printemps et l’automne ou seulement l’hiver pluvieux et l’été sous le smog? Je me rappelle que pendant un séjour à l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard, j’avais remarqué que dans les endroits publics, au lieu d’une seule poubelle, il y avait 3 contenants : un pour le compost, un pour le recyclage et un autre pour les déchets. J’avais vu deux garçons d’environ 10 ans, l’un d’eux est venu pour jeter quelque chose, son ami lui a dit de faire attention, qu’il n’utilisait pas le bon contenant. Depuis ce jour, je me demande pourquoi cette simple solution n’est pas appliquée dans toutes les provinces? Ce geste simple nous ferait prendre conscience de l’importance de recycler, composter et réutiliser nos biens en tout temps et aiderait à changer nos habitudes simplement et concrètement! Je crois sincèrement que nous pouvons encore faire une différence en modifiant nos habitudes de vie collectivement et individuellement, en continuant la sensibilisation et en transmettant ces valeurs à nos enfants afin que ce soit pour eux des reflexes. Le plus important selon moi est de se rappeler que chaque geste, petit ou grand, fait une différence!

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