March 27, 2009

More events: Save the CBC, Earth Hour, local food, tar sands talk, and more

I’ve managed to stuff my weekend to the brim with various events, from Juno festivities to enviro-political discussions, and a possible, long-overdue trip to the market.

Here’s what’s going on!

Save the CBC!

In 10 hours, Avaaz’s new petition asking the federal government to support the CBC has garnered over 25,000 signatures. Please sign the petition and pass it on to your friends!

Farmer’s market: Saturday (tomorrow)

The Winter Farmer’s Market is on again at the WISE Hall (1882 Adanac St. in East Van) from 10 am – 2pm. Well, technically it’s spring now, so there are some fresh surprises:

Good-bye winter blues (and flus!) — spring has sprung at the Vancouver Farmers Market and what better way to celebrate than with the arrival of spring crops. Brian Patterson of Shalefield Gardens will have several varieties of sprouts including Broccoli, Mustard and Red Radish, as well he will have Micro Greens, Jerusalem Artichokes, Strawberry plants, and Nettle, oh my!

Still fighting off that winter cold? Don’t forget to pick up some garlic, which Brian says his customers are most excited about. His favourite recipe? Garlic broth soup, with celery, carrot, and nettle. Don’t forget to also visit Langley Organic Growers, for their selection of spring greens, including Baby Kale, Arugula, and Mustard Greens. Join us at the Market for this delicious start to spring, but get there early if you want the greens! — Facebook event page

Stopping the Gateways to the Tar Sands: tomorrow

Stopping the Gateways to the Tar SandsSFU Surrey Campus (at Surrey Central Skytrain), Rm 5140, 13450 – 102 Avenue, Surrey.

1 – 4pm. Free, pre-registration is not required.

The Tar Sands megaproject in Alberta has been described as the most environmentally destructive project ever built. But many people don’t know about the pivotal role proposed BC projects could have in facilitating tar sands expansion and fueling demand for tar sands oil.

Join us for a short video, presentation and discussion on the ways tar sands plans depend on proposed projects in BC. The presentations will focus on the Tar Sands, the Proposed Enbridge Gateway Pipeline, and the Gateway freeway and port expansion schemes.

Presenters:

Harjap Grewal — Council of Canadians: The Gateway and other proposed tar sands pipelines.

Eric Doherty — Livable Region Coalition: The Gateway freeway and port expansion proposals.

Jessie Schwarz — Greenpeace: The environmental and social impacts of the tar sands.

Earth Hour! Tomorrow night

Earth HourA reminder that it’s Earth Hour from 8:30 – 9:30 pm (local time). Granville Magazine lists 21 ways to spend Earth Hour sans power. I will be observing it at a large party with candles for each person, which should be lovely! I think I missed it last year so this may be my first one. I enjoyed the Globe and Mail’s article about getting creative for Earth Hour.

Continue reading More events: Save the CBC, Earth Hour, local food, tar sands talk, and more »

March 19, 2009

Events for sustainability and social media lovers

Last night I finally attended my first Philosopher’s Cafe, on the topic “Sustainability—is it compatible with free markets?” It was a good discussion and, despite us all being pro-sustainability, we still differed on enough views to promote some argument. I’m an idealist but used my realist friends’ perspectives to offer some critique. (Sorry that you weren’t there!) I won’t make it to the next one at that location, because there is one that interests me even more in New Westminster: “The ethics of the hundred mile diet” is on April 15 at Heritage Grill, 7pm. A discussion on “GMOs: The complex difficulties of Frankenfood” happens there June 17… but that’s a ways off!

Here are a couple upcoming FREE events for folks interested in sustainability and social media.

Audacious Visions for Vancouver

Friday, March 20 (tomorrow!)

Pacifica Photography Studio, 821 Powell St, Vancouver

“A World Cafe style dialogue to discuss the future of Vancouver. How do we make Vancouver the greenest city in the world by 2020? Come and contribute your thoughts in an afternoon of creativity and audacious thinking. A collaboration of the SFU Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue and the City of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Team.” Details: audaciousvancouver.com

Register online for the first portion beginning at 1pm, or come down at 6pm for some casual conversation.

Vancouver Net Tuesdays – Remixing the Web for Social Change!

Net Tuesday is a regular gathering of bloggers, social media folks, designers, non-profits and other folks interested in the role of the web for social and environmental change. It’s been going on in Vancouver for about a year.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

5:30pm – 7:30pm

WorkSpace, #400-21 Water St, Vancouver

Presenters (confirmed thus far):

Raul Pacheco – Social Media in Sustainability and Public Policy

Grace Carter – ChipsNotDeadYet.com (BC Children’s Hospital Social Media Case Study)

Doug van Spronsen – MakeGood.com

Steve Williams – Data for Good

Joe Solomon – The future of the Green Web — Joe is the Net Tuesday organizer

Host/MC is Darren Barefoot. Yay!

More details on Facebook or MeetUp.com