Go Green Team - Gibsons United Church

Go Green!!

......where everyone can make a difference......

	Environmental Film Nights The 1st Friday of every month - Gibsons United Church March 5 - 7pm - "Trashed" "Trashed" is a road trip through the afterlife of your garbage. Director Bill Kirkos visited 10 states and parts of Canada collecting footage about the fast growing disposal of what society deems to be waste. The act of taking out the garbage takes on new meaning when we see the implications for our biosphere. Advocacy groups working to reform the current model are showcased.

Local Recycling Tips - Click Here

Check out the new styrofoam recycling machine!

***Environmental Film Festival***

One Can Make a Difference

Thank You! to all who attended our 2nd Environmental Film Festival in October 2009. It was fabulous to see so many people turn out to learn and discuss and make a difference in our community.

	"Island on the Edge" - Directed by Nick Versteeg This documentary looks at the decline and renaissance of Vancouver Island agriculture. Like all good documentaries, we are captivated by the interviews with farmers and their dedicated customers. This movie is relevant to all Sunshine Coasters as another ferry-dependent community, hoping to create a more sustainable food future. Warning, images in this film will make you hungry.
	"Addicted to Plastic" - Directed by Ian Connacher This film is about solutions to plastic pollution. The point-of-view style documentary encompasses 3 years of filming in 12 countries on 5 continents including 2 trips to the middle of the Pacific Ocean where plastic debris accumulates. The film details plastic's path over the last 100 years and provides a wealth of expert interviews on practical and cutting edge solutions to recycling, toxicity and biodegradability. The solutions, which include plastic made from plants, will provide viewers with a hopeful perspective about our future with plastic.
	"Home" - Directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand This 2009 film is almost entirely composed of aerial shots of various places on Earth. The documentary chronicles the present day state of the Earth, its climate and how we as the dominant species have long-term repercussions on its future. A theme expressed throughout is that of linkage - how all organisms are in a "delicate but crucial" natural balance with each other and how no organism can be self-sufficient.
View the Publicity Poster	View the full Event Program


FLOW - For Love of Water (2008)	A Crude Awakening (2006)	Oil + Water (2007)
Directed by Irena Salina	Directed by Basil Gelpke	Featuring Seth Warren & Tyler Bradt

GREEN TEAM BLOG

"There is in all visible things an invisible fecundity... a hidden wholeness. This mysterious Unity and Integrity..." Thomas Merton, Hagia Sophia"

Christmas is about the arrival of Jesus into the human family of Mary and Joseph. It is also about his spiritual birth into the family of God, and the Holy Spirit - she who is also called Wisdom or Sophia. His appearance completed irrevocably the circle of kinship within the Trinity, once found in heaven, but now permeating the entire earth. This worldly bond indicates God's goal for humanity is life in community. Bruce Sanguin, Minister at Canadian Memorial United Church in Vancouver, writes "...science is indeed confirming that ultimate reality is very much 'Trinitarian,' in the sense of being radically communal. God is not an individual being, but rather Being itself in mutual relationship." Thus, welcoming the child Jesus on his birthday is an incomplete act if we do not also welcome God and Wisdom. Without the entire family, our celebrations cannot begin.

Some Christian critics of scripture have likened Wisdom to the 3rd person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. This concept certainly seems plausible in view of her incorruptible character, her luminous mind, and her participation with God in the act of creation. This interpretation is also vital to increasing number of women, Christian or otherwise, because it respectfully, but firmly insists, that the feminine principle must be included in a realistic reflection of theology. Thus, we have a woman who is creator, as well as mother, sister, child, friend of Jesus/God. The Wisdom of Solomon expresses her characteristics in superb poetry: "For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God and an image of his goodness. Although she is but one, she can do all things; and while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of god and prophets; ....She is more beautiful than the sun and excels every constellation of the stars. Compared with the light she is found to be superior, for it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail." WS 7: excerpts from 26-30

Two fine articles by Hans Tammemagi have appeared in the Vancouver Sun recently. His topic? We are at "1 of the most important turning points in history", owing to peak oil, the increasing threat of major food shortages and global warming Yet, he proclaims, we persistently ignore the coming meltdown and just want to party on in ways designed to make Nero proud. But peak oil, food scarcity and global warming, " about which our efforts to curb carbon emissions are laughable and pathetic" are not the whole story. Another factor that we ignore at our peril is population growth. Tammemagi points out that 70 million more people are added to the planet every year, a number that constantly overrides our "pathetic" attempts to save the earth that nurtures us. He does not offer a soft landing for humanity as he dictates that, " at the very least", we must simplify our lifestyles. This will mean less flying, less driving, both of which will seriously affect the tourist industry; it will mean more hybrid cars, smaller homes, diets with far less meat, more bicycling and recycling. Yet, even if everyone followed these restrictions, and then some, the crisis is insolvable if we fail to curb population growth. This, Tammemagi admits, will be a "daunting challenge" but the alternative is "decidedly unpleasant."

Chrysler and GM have just unveiled their all electric cars, scheduled to arrive on the market sometime in 2010. Finally, it seems, the big auto makers are serious about a return to electric vehicles similar to those taken off the market by the same companies several years ago. But, the plot gets better. As a person who lived on my very basic bike when I was a kid, the exciting news is the growth of the electric bicycle market. The industry expects to sell worldwide about 21 million units of this method of transportation in 2008. And the market is growing. Oh..to be reasonably young again! I'd buy one of those lovely items in a minute! But my desires are overridden by my body. Falling off one of those beauties is risky at my age.

Every hour, 600 children die from hunger, 1 child every 6 seconds. By way of comparison, the world spends $220,000 on the military every 6 seconds. Just a fraction of the $1.2 trillion spent last year on arms could end global poverty and provide basic services to everyone. Instead, US arms spending for 2009 will total over $725 billion - more for this purpose than the rest of the world combined. Our federal government plans to increase its military spending to $27.9 billion in the next 25 years. Some items to be purchased include a strategic and tactical airlift fleet, helicopters, trucks, joint support ships and new tanks. All new acquisitions will use carbon based fuels. In addition, missiles used in active warfare are tipped with depleted uranium, a poison destructive to life and nature. And to complete this lethal mix, an estimated 100 million land mines are still deployed in some 70 countries around the world, removing large swaths of real estate that might have been used for organic agriculture or to build a hospital or school. As a nasty by-product, buried land mines kill or injure an estimated 26,000 innocent civilians each year. Enough you say? Is there nothing positive to report? Let's try in our next column.

Small Steps by David Suzuki...

What most people don't realize is that nearly all plastics are made from petroleum. The Container Recycling Institute says that it takes more than 1.5 million barrels of oil each year to make enough water bottles just for people in the US. As well, litre for litre, bottled water is actually more expensive to buy than gasoline. Be eco-friendly and support your community water systems.

Canadians use more than 8 billion disposable cups each year. Statistics Canada tells us that 30% of us still drink bottled water. What's worse, the Union of Concerned Scientists tells us that 90% of water bottles are not recycled.

Over its life span, a reusable ceramic mug will e used nearly 3,000 times. This results in 30 times less solid waste and 60 times less air pollution than using the equivalent number of cardboard cups. Even taking into account the water needed to wash the mug, it is far more eco-efficient than a disposable container.

"i thank you god for most this amazing day; for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes." Douglas Todd, the Vancouver Sun commentator on matters religious, headlines his recent column with this achingly beautiful verse. A well known American poet, now deceased, cummings always wrote in lower case. Could this stylistic idiosyncrasy signify a kind of artistic humility before the infinite yes? Like cummings, he points out that we need a spiritual response to nature, but for him, there is greater urgency in the light of global warming. This response -Christian or otherwise- "could help overcome a sense of helplessness and despair" and also make it easier to accept our responsibility for the West's contribution to climate change. In order to highlight this conviction, he points to a major voice in defense of a green spirituality: Sallie McFague, a staff member at the Vancouver School of Theology at UBC. Her latest, just released book is titled "A New Climate for Theology: God, the World and Global Warming" (Fortress). More about the irresistible, maybe controversial, Christian views spelled out in her book next week.

As the writer of these brief columns, my goal is to stimulate your interest in and support for the actions against climate change. How we fix the problem is open to much debate, especially in BC where the process officially began on July 1. As I have discovered when speaking to friends or family, some people are reluctantly okay with the carbon tax, others are not. You may also have found this to be so. We think for ourselves, draw our own conclusions. Isn't that what we do in democracy, fragile as we sometimes perceive it to be? Not that there's anything wrong with trying to change others with persuasive words and actions. That's part of the process as well. I guess my point is this: Christians should not abandon their socially constructed critical and persuasive faculties at the church door - especially the door of the United Church.

BC's "revenue neutral" gas tax of 2.4 cents/liter began July 1. Revenue neutral means that the yearly total paid by consumers will be reimbursed through the mechanism of the provincial income tax system. Contrary to popular opinion, 2/3 of businesses will also be subject to these changes. Only large and intense polluters - the oil and gas and cement industries, for example - will be dealt with at a later date. This phase is still being set up by the provincial government (and may not begin before 2009), but it looks as if the "cap and trade" system will be highly favoured (more about that in a later column). When it is functional, then, presumably all sectors of the BC economy will play a role in the elimination of greenhouse gases. In the meantime, if Victoria wants too sell the gas tax to the almost 50% who are opposed and the 82% who think that only big polluters should fix the problems, it must do 2 things. First, it must clarify to consumers the benefits side of the gas tax. Second, it must expedite the introduction of regulations governing the dirtiest industries mentioned above. Global warming is too insidious to leave to one sector of society and not others. Everyone must participate in this urgent task.

Polls & more polls. On May 21, a Harris/Decima survey indicated that most British Columbian's now believe they are individually responsible for the reduction of Greenhouse Gasses, even if others don't do likewise. On May 26, a cross-Canada McAllister Opinion Research Survey, commissioned by the Pembina Institute, discovered that 72% of those interviewed believe that our recently approved carbon tax is a positive step. However, on June 18, another poll, this time by Ipso Reid, reveals that 59% of British Columbians contacted are opposed to the carbon tax. Even when one takes into account the margin of error in polling, why the notable change of heart between May 21 and June 18 on the part of people of this province? Now that the change is about to happen - a 2.4 cent/liter hit a the gas station as of July 1 - does it mean that we have changed our minds? Is this really a case of "tax others" to save the planet, but "not me"? What do you think?

The following are excerpts from a recent article in the UK Guardian by George Monbiot, author of the best seller "Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning". I am sorely tempted to write another column about bio-fuels, if only because the grain required to fill a tank of an SUV with ethonal could feed 1 person for a year...but there is a bigger reason for global hunger. While 100,000 tons of food will be diverted this year to feed cars, a staggering 760,000 tons will be snatched from the mouths of humans to feed animals. This could cover the global food deficit 14 times. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization calculates that animal keeping (even on non-arable land where animals merely graze freely) is [also] responsible for 18% of Greenhouse Gas emissions. So, the only reasonable answer to the question of how much meat we should eat is as little as possible.

Reputable research by world scientists, governments, and the United Nations confirm the validity of global warming. Still, many people do not believe that our undiminished carbon footprint will kill us. Among the skeptics, even now, are Christians of all denominations. David Hallman, who has worked for the United Church around green issues, says that through the '80s and 90's, "There was real skepticism and theological antagonism. Many church leaders wondered what ecology had to do with the church. They thought the focus of piety should be...on preparation for the next world." Thankfully, the churches are slowly changing. That shift will keep them in tune with the majority among the non-religious who now appear to be supporting environmental goals.

Carolyn Herriot is back again. Here's the plan: My parents went back to the land and "Dug for Victory" in WWII. Maybe your family did too. Now we can do it again with the "New Victory Gardens". I invite you to join with many others from around the world is the Grow Your Own Food movement. Blog along with me every week as I create the New Victory Garden - eventually you'll have a 52 week guide to greater self-sufficiency. I know you'll delight in landscaping with beautiful plants that you can also eat. I will show you that you don't even need a garden to grow food, and I will even teach you how to save your own seeds for future harvests! Just look at my blog at www.gardenwiseonline.ca and good luck!

A defining issue around the world-wide food crisis appears to be the production of renewable bio-fuels. As you read this, Bill 16 is tabled in the BC Legislature waiting to be passed before the spring session ends. It requires that all gasoline and diesel sold in BC must contain 5% renewable fuels by 2010. Likewise, the Federal Government has mandated a similar regulation and timeline for the rest of the country. Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced his interest in ethanol and bio-diesel energy last summer. Since then, the renewable fuels industry in Canada has taken off.

Commercial vessels plying the south coast of BC collectively emit 1.3MT of CO2 and significant volumes of 9 other contaminants and GHGs annually. After the automobile (4.3MT/yr), they are BC's greatest source of pollution. The culprit: the bunker oil they use. It is the cheapest and dirtiest fuel available for diesel engines, with a sulphur content 1,000 times greater than standard diesel fuel. A new study in the journal of the American Chemical Society links pollution from marine shipping to heart and lung disease. Globally, it may be responsible for as many as 105,000 deaths annually.

To fully participate in life on the Sunshine Coast, a car is a necessity because of our poor public transit system. Air travel for pleasure is another issue. It could be abandoned, or at least severely limited, if you have the will do to so. The CO2 produced by planes is augmented by the other green house gases they release, magnifying its effect by 270%. Curbing air travel is a complex problem. It means confronting not just political and cultural resistance, but also major technical barriers. Lifting a large passenger plane into the air and keeping it there, requires a massive amount of fossil fuel and new non-polluting fuels are still the stuff of fantasy. Passenger jet flights could be permanently curbed by a reduction in the capacity of airports. Unfortunately, all over the world, airports are expanding, including our major terminal in Richmond, BC.

A world without fresh water would be a world bereft of humans, and yet one in five people lacks regular access to this life-sustaining substance. Rising sea levels from global warming are already forcing salt water into aquifers beneath the mega deltas that are home to tens of millions, and changing weather patterns are set to intensify droughts in large swaths of Africa, southern Europe and Asia, according to UN's Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change. In addition, more than 2,000,000 people in developing countries, the vast majority children, die every year from diseases associated with unsanitary water.

Personal transportation in the form of private cars adds an incredible amount of carbon dioxide to the earth's atmosphere. Each litre of gasoline burned adds 2.4kg of CO2 emissions. Thus, after 18 fill-ups of about 50 liters each, 1 tonne is added to the atmosphere. So, how can we cut down on our driving? Here is a plan: Designate a certain number of days each week to be car free. On the other days, do all of your essential tasks. It takes some planning, but barring unusual circumstances, this scheme can work.

Turn it off! If you expect to be stopped for longer than 10 seconds, turn off your engine. An idling engine is not only wasting fuel and money, but it is also contributing to greenhouse gasses. Canadians idle their vehicles for an average of 75 million minutes a day, and most of it is completely unnecessary.

Have you examined the February 19th Provincial Budget yet? We had a Green Team planning meeting that night, so naturally we discussed what we knew at that time. One concern expressed: Why revenue neutral? Why not use the carbon tax monies to finance research and other green initiatives? Another concern: the $100 per person gift to be distributed to every man, woman and child in June. Will this money only encourage us to continue our excessive summer driving habits? Think about it and next week we will begin a discussion about travel and global warming.

Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Behold the kingdom is in heaven,' then the birds of heaven will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather the kingdom is within you and it is outside you." Thomas 3:1-5. The kingdom is all around us, even though we are blind to its beauty. If, as well, it is within us, then what more do we need? We have the wisdom and strength to follow the Way of Jesus. His path leads us away from our all-consuming need for the things of this world, into a place of justice and compassion for humanity and nature.

His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?" and Jesus replied "It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said 'Behold here!' or 'Behold there!'. Rather the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth and people do not see it." 1 Thomas 13:1-4. And people do not see it! We cannot stress enough the connection between the church and the earth. Love the lilies of the field, love the birds of the air, love the whole kingdom and it follows that you will want to protect them. Working in isolation may lead to discouragement. Acting together, we are like billions of grains of sand that can shift all obstacles in our way. If you think small is powerless, if you think a grain of sand has no clout, you've never been in bed with a mosquito.

Good News! The Town of Gibsons has banned cosmetic pesticide use on lawns & gardens within its boundaries. The Town Hall will provide a list of alternate organic-type substances that can be used instead. Otherwise, a household must apply for special permission to use a product not on the list. For information, call the Town Hall 886-2274.

Global warming now heads the polls as the #1 concern for Canadians. Even so, you may be feeling quite confused about this vital issue. Too much information to process. Besides, are all the doom & gloom predictions from the UN and world scientists likely to happen? Many skeptics will say the experts are wrong, that it's foolish to worry. Nothing bad will happen. Just continue to eat, drink and merrily drive our fast cars. If you love this earth, yours to tenant and care for as long as you live, then let us convince you otherwise. We advocate God's "foolish" environmental wisdom, "For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom and God's weakness is stronger than human strength". 1 Cor 1:25.