We enjoyed lunch with Ani, an enthusiastic Canadian youth delegate staying at a local youth hostel. Besides sharing stories of cockroaches at the hostel, Ani, a Public Education and Outreach Coordinator for Climate Change Connection (a project of the Manitoba Eco-Network) was more than happy to share her thoughts on Canada's irresponsible policies and (Minister of the Environment) Peter Kent's comments. (Please check out 350orbust.wordpress.com/ for Ani's blogs and others from the Canadian Youth Delegation. They should generate some good discussion!)
Wandering through the Exhibition Centre, we came across a fascinating invention: the WONDERBAG! No, it is not for aching muscles, but instead is an environmentally friendly, fully recyclable, insulated "cooker" made up of two poly-cotton bags filled with expanded polystyrene balls. The idea is that you simply bring your food to a boil (rice, stew, casseroles) and then place it into the "cooker" where it will continue to finish cooking.
You're probably asking about some of the benefits of these Wonderbags to the community and to the environment. Well, I'm going to list them, just like at school!
- Improved air quality in homes by reducing smoke from cooking fires
- Reduced risk of shack fires caused by paraffin stoves. (There are 45 000 paraffin-related fires in South Africa and 3 000 deaths, not to mention life-threatening burns.)
- Households can save around 50 percent of energy used for cooking, which gives the communities extra money to spend on other things.
- Tasty, nutritious meals which can be made ahead of time (with recipe books included)
- Food wastage is reduced as food cannot burn or overcook (Hey, I need one!!)
- From the stovetop, meals can be transported in the Wonderbag over long distances and arrive hot and ready to eat several hours later.
- The Wonderbag can also be used to store cold food, which allows people who rely on public transportation to bring their food purchases home before they spoil.
- The manufacturing process creates jobs and develops skills.
- With regular use, one Wonderbag can avoid one ton of carbon emissions every two years.
- The total community demand for wood as fuel is reduced in rural areas, allowing forest regrowth and biodiversity.
It also gives women less time in the kitchen, and more time to pursue education. Who can argue with that?
Due to the Wonderbag's potential to lessen the effects of climate change, the project is being registered by the UNFCCC as a Clean Development Mechanism project. This will allow the company, Natural Balance, to earn and trade "carbon credits" equal to one tonne of carbon dioxide.
Please check out www.Naturalbalancesa.com/ for a complete (and complex) explanation of this topic and some great pictures of the Wonderbag and its use.
Still continuing in the Exhibition Hall, we came across an amazing neighbourhood transformation project called the Transition Project. Althea was incredibly passionate about her role in changing a workplace and neighbourhood from one filled with crime, vagrants, and littered streets, to one of relative safety, with homeless people meaningfully engaged, and street boulevards filled with flowers and vegetable gardens. The crown jewel of the project is a phenomenal roof-top garden, which incorporated a number of recycled items in order to make the transformation happen: discarded pallets were painted and placed to form a walkway around the roof-top; similarly, used barrels were cut in half lengthwise and used as planters; and tires were recycled as planters, used singly and stacked in doubles for plants with deeper root systems. The "garden" furnture was made from recycled plastic.
Althea described how everything happened in stages...first, it was the volunteer labour provided by employees to "green" up the space. Everyone took a turn weeding the roof-top garden as it developed and grew. The owner of the building was unwilling to provide any money to the project, so a system was devised to collect and distribute rainwater. A solution also had to be found for the many street people who populate the area. They were given carts in which to collect the cardboard that covers the sidewalks, where it was returned to the office for recycling and payment of a nominal wage. Eventually, two homeless people were hired to maintain the garden and are now gainfully employed, not to mention developing a set of skills that will serve them well.
Vegetables of every description were being grown: cauliflower, carrots, lettuces, spinach, pumpkin, herbs of all varieties, and even borders of marigolds. I learned that according to the Asian culture, marigolds keep away bad spirits, but they also keep away pests and harmful insects. They even had a large bin of red wigglers for their vermicomposting operation. (Where have I seen those before??) I think they had all their bases covered. It is a very large roof-top garden, and most of the produce is shared with the homeless people in the area, with a small percentage sold in order to buy seeds, etc.
It is a truly inspiring project, which hopefully will spread to other parts of the city, as well as the world. With people like Althea, change is possible. As we walked through a city park on our way to the Transition Project, Althea believes in the adage that It takes a village to raise a child. She is the quintessential mother, and had no problems telling people in the park to pick up their litter and put it in the garbage containers. Old habits die hard, but change does start with each individual.
No comments:
Post a Comment