arts and culture

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May 30, 2010

Environment Week and Beyond…

Posted by greenlivingottawa under Ottawa, arts and culture, building, energy, health, reduce, transportation, volunteering
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Written by guest blogger Denise Deby, who tries to ride her bike even though she doesn’t have much of a commute some days.

Environment Week 2010 is May 30-June 5. It’s scheduled to coincide with the UN’s World Environment Day on June 5. In Ottawa, Environment Week is quickly followed by Bike to Work Week, so it might be a good time to get a tune-up if your bike needs one.

Here are some of the events coming up in Ottawa:

May 30-June 5: Commuter Challenge

Commuter Challenge is a Canada-wide program to get people walking, running, rollerblading, cycling, taking public transit, carpooling or teleworking instead of using their cars. Individuals and workplaces can register online. The site will also track which cities and workplaces have the highest participation over the week (last year Ottawa was 4th in Canada).

June 2-6: Environment Week Film Festival
An impressive array of films – some twenty documentaries in all — will be shown at the Canadian Museum of Nature’s new theatre, in partnership with the Planet in Focus International Film & Video Festival. Schedule at http://nature.ca/en/plan-your-visit/what-see-do/whats/environment-week-film-festival-0. Call 613-566-4791 or visit the Museum reception desk for tickets.

June 2: Clean Air Day

You can find information and suggestions for reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions at the Clean Air Day website. At Ottawa City Hall from 12 noon-1 pm, Councillor Clive Doucet and the Netherlands Embassy will present speakers, cycling groups and a “best dressed” bike commuter contest (see www.commuterchallenge.ca).

June 7-11: Bike to Work Week
Sign up or get information at EnviroCentre, or join the Celebration Station on the Ottawa River Pathway by the War Museum on June 8, a free cycling lunch and learn at City Hall on June 9 at noon, or the BBQ on Bank Street between Laurier and Slater on June 10 from 11:30-1:30.

Also coming up soon:

June 5-6: Doors Open Ottawa

Intended to promote heritage, architecture and design, Doors Open Ottawa is also a great way to learn more about how we live in our environment. The 119 buildings that will open their doors to the public include the C.D. Howe Building, the first federal building in downtown Ottawa with a “green roof”; the Fleet Street Pumping Station and Aqueduct, Ottawa’s first waterworks, the Lemieux Island Purification Plant, one of the city’s two water purification plants, and the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre for wastewater treatment; and the Rideau Valley Conservation Centre and Minto EcoHome. Not all buildings are open both days, so check the website for sites and hours.

June 11: Sustainability Summit
Choosing our Future is hosting a Sustainability Summit at City Hall for citizens and community leaders to discuss how we can become a more sustainable, resilient and livable community. More information online or call 613-580-2424, ext. 14686 or e-mail info@choosingourfuture.ca.

 

May 23, 2010

Writers Festival Green-themed Events

Posted by greenlivingottawa under Ottawa, arts and culture, books, media
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Written by guest blogger Denise Deby, who generally tries to do the right thing if she can figure out what that is.

Some upcoming events worth checking out, all in conjunction with the Ottawa International Writers Festival:

Monday, May 31, 7 pm: Why Everything Costs So Much More Than We Think, an evening with Raj Patel, author of The Value of Nothing, at Southminster United Church, 15 Aylmer Ave. off Bank. Patel examines our use of prices as a flawed way of ascribing value to things, one that doesn’t acknowledge the ecological and social costs. The book trailer is up on YouTube. Co-presented by the Writers Festival and USC Canada. Tickets $30 ($25 students and seniors, free for Festival members) online, by phone 613-562-1243 or from Nicholas Hoare, Collected Works, or Octopus Books.

Thursday, June 3, 7 pm: The Global Forest, with Diana Beresford-Kroeger at Nicholas Hoare, 419 Sussex Dr. Free. Beresford-Kroeger is a botanist, medical biochemist and expert on the chemical, medicinal, environmental, and nutritional properties of trees. According to Amazon, her book The Global Forest “skillfully weaves together ecology, ethnobotany, horticulture, spirituality, science, and alternative medicine to capture the magic spell that trees cast over us, from their untapped ecological and pharmaceutical potential to the roles they have played in our cultural heritage…. Presented in short interconnected essays, The Global Forest draws from ancient storytelling traditions to present an unforgettable work of natural history. Beresford-Kroeger is an imaginative thinker who writes with the precision of a scientist and the lyricism of a poet.”

Finally, stay tuned for September 27, when David Suzuki will be in Ottawa to give The Legacy Lecture, a look at his own life’s journey over the last seventy years of history. Check for updates at the Writers Festival website.

 

April 20, 2010

Earth Day in Ottawa, 2010

Posted by greenlivingottawa under Ottawa, arts and culture, books, climate change, energy, fair trade, food, health, household, media, organic, waste reduction
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Written by guest blogger Denise Deby, who generally tries to do the right thing if she can figure out what that is.

April 22 is Earth Day. In fact, this year it’s Earth Day’s 40th birthday, and its 20th in Canada. And there’ll be a big party: over a billion people in 190 countries are expected to participate in some kind of Earth Day activities, according to the Earth Day Network, which calls Earth Day “the largest secular civic event in the world”.

Finding this out made me curious about the Day. It began in 1970 in the U.S. as a protest by 20 million Americans against environmental degradation. It’s had an interesting history. The April 22 Earth Day is distinct from the UN”s World Environment Day held June 5 and from other Earth Days that are celebrated at the equinox.

Why this Earth Day? For some people, Earth Day is about grassroots movements drawing attention to and doing something about environmental concerns. But can one day, or even a week, make a difference?

I like the David Suzuki Foundation’s approach. This year it’s launched an Earth Week Book Swap, as I found out while visiting my local Bridgehead coffee shop with friends recently instead of finishing this post (thanks, you two!). The David Suzuki Foundation recognises that communities in which people are engaged are capable of doing something about local and global problems. So it’s encouraging people to swap books at local community spaces and coffee shops where people meet up, to connect and share ideas. As Foundation blogger Kim Peterson writes, community action comes from individuals who know each other and share concerns, important to remember when we’re trying to tackle big issues like climate change or overconsumption.

One more Earth Day is not likely to change the world, but it’s a reminder to reflect on what we can do to live sustainably, and a chance to participate in activities that also build environmentally-aware communities, whether those communities are local, global or both.

In Ottawa, many schools, organisations, businesses and government representatives are hosting Earth Day-related activities this week. Earth Day Ottawa, Earth Day Canada and Ecology Ottawa all have event listings. Here are a few highlights:

Wednesday, April 21:

  • A screening of Toxic Trespass, a film about children’s health and the environment, 7:30-9:30 pm at Glebe St. James United Church, 650 Lyon St.

Thursday, April 22:

  • Envirocentre’s Sustainable Transportation Fair, 11 am-2 pm at Place Bell, 160 Elgin St. Information about sustainable transportation options like car sharing, cycling and air travel.
  • Writers’ Festival events:
    • The big idea: How Canadians are changing the way we eat at 12 noon at Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington St. Sarah Elton, food columnist for CBC Radio’s Here & Now, talks about the local food movement;
    • Global perspectives: Oil and the end of globalization, 6:30 pm at the Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank St. Jeff Rubin, economist, energy expert and author of Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller speaks on local revitalisation;
    • Global Perspectives: The Necessary Revolution, 8 pm at the Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank St. Joe Laur, Rabbi, teacher, Senior Manager of Greenopolis.com, and co-author (with Peter M. Senge) of The Necessary Revolution speaks on new stories and new strategies for addressing social and environmental problems.

For details see http://www.writersfestival.org/events.html.

Saturday, April 24:

  • Ottawa Eco-Stewardship Fair, 10 am-5 pm at the RA Centre, 2451 Riverside Dr. Exhibits by businesses, governments and non-profit organisations, with local artists, a 100 mile lunch, bike festival and more.

For ideas about how to live sustainably throughout the rest of the year, see Earth Day Canada at http://www.ecoactionteams.ca/pub/index.php and the David Suzuki Foundation.  Please let us know of other Earth Day events and links you’d like to share.

 

March 24, 2010

Beautiful Short Film by Local Film-maker

Posted by greenlivingottawa under arts and culture, flora and fauna, media
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Vinko Totic has been hosting movie showings and discussions in Ottawa and Gatineau for a number of years.  After taking a program in documentary film-making at Algonquin College, he has produced a beautiful movie about nature, civil war and choosing life.  The movie, which is 7 minutes and 7 seconds long has been short-listed in Radio Canada’s Roots Contest. Congratulations Vinko!  It is a beautiful and moving short film.

Vinko writes:  “This is a story about a personal experience in my village of Janjac, in Bosnia.  After the last civil war, I had an opportunity to contemplate the duality of life and death through the illusionary window of an abandoned, and largely destroyed house. That house once belonged to my great uncle and I remember it full of life and excitement. Being in that spot at that time, I consciously chose life over death by looking into the magic of sunlight, the beauty of nature and the village, as well as the simplicity of people’s life.”

You can watch Vinko’s movie until the end of April 2010 at: The Window on Roots.

 

October 12, 2009

“Who wouldn’t want to pick up a chicken?”

Posted by greenlivingottawa under Ottawa, arts and culture, fair trade, food, household, media
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Written by guest blogger Denise Deby, who has worked in international and community development, and is currently trying to figure out how to connect the local with the global in her everyday life.

Experimental Farm chicken 2, Denise Deby

“Who wouldn’t want to pick up a chicken?”

That’s a line from a trailer for Mad City Chickens, a movie by Tarazod Films about raising chickens in cities.  Mad City Chickens will be screened on Wednesday, October 14 at 7:00 p.m. at Saint Paul’s University Auditorium, 223 Main Street, as part of the Reel Food Film Festival.  Admission is free, or $5 suggested donation.

Following the film, the organization Just Food will hold a discussion about the possibility of raising chickens and other livestock in urban Ottawa.  This will inform Just Food’s “Food Secure Ottawa,” a project intended to come up with recommendations for municipal policies to improve access to foods in Ottawa.

Judging from its trailers, Mad City Chickens was created by somebody with a sense of humour, but it also looks like it will be a thought-provoking examination of this aspect of producing organic and local food.

There are lots of other links out there on urban farming locally and globally, such as:

  • City Farmer, a Vancouver-based source of information on urban agriculture;
  • RUAF, resources on urban agriculture world-wide.

*  *  *

Another opportunity to see a film and participate in a discussion on food issues is on Friday, October 16, when USC Canada will be holding a Forum called “What’s On Your Plate?” as part of World Food Day.  The event will feature a screening of The Story of Food, an animated short film, and a presentation by Wayne Roberts, author of the No-Nonsense Guide to World Food.  Reception starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Library and Archives Canada Auditorium at 395 Wellington, with film at 7:30 p.m.

For yet more films showing locally on global environmental issues, check out the upcoming One World Film Festival (October 15, 23, 29 and 30).

 

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