‘Bee’ a friend to nature – be a beekeeper.
“I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.” W.B. Yeats “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”
Recently in Britain 1,000 people showed up to enroll in a single course for novice bee-keepers. People throughout the world know that bees are in trouble after reading about Colony Collapse Disorder and want to do what they can to stop the honey bees’ decline. By 2006 most apiarists were reporting up to one-third of their bees gone or dead. Is it the various mites, pesticides, long distance traveling that wears down our friends? The largest wild blueberry company in Maine called Wyman’s owns 10,000 acres of blueberry terrain and they know that their 125 year old business is finished if a solution is not found soon. They have given a large grant to scientists to try and find out what needs to be done. Citizen science is also coming forward and helping biologists to understand the problem. Gretchen LeBuhn started the Great Sunflower Project- see www.sunflower.org- to try to have a better knowledge of what bees were up to across Canada and the U.S. She has over 60,000 volunteers who plant a sunflower in their yard, watch for all sorts of bees and then send in their data. It’s a wonderful way to encourage young people to become naturalists and know how important all kinds of bees are for pollination.
After 22 years of keeping bees I can understand why men and women want this ultimate nature hobby. What is so unique about bee-keeping is the egalitarian interaction with another species. The European honey bee, Apis mellifera, is an equal in its relationship with humans. If a bee-keeper does not treat his bees with due respect, or if their lodging is not to their satisfaction, they may just fly away. Good beekeepers are careful to leave enough honey in the hive so the bees survive the winter. Pragmatism and outright admiration for these insect’s social order creates the perfect partnership.
We have all heard of the bee dances that communicate information to the colony. Observing bees enter their colony is an inspiring experience. For example, watch how bees use ‘air-conditioning’ to cool down the hive by using their wings to fan the hot air out of the colony on a scorching summer day. In the fall a person can see the sad exit of perhaps ninety-five percent of the drones (male bees) being shoved out of the colony so the workers and the queen have enough honey for the winter. Catching a swarm is always an adventure. Swarming bees are looking for a new place to live, and swarms of thousands of bees announce themselves with a huge buzz as they cling to a branch. Bees are very safe to work with when they are swarming. If you see a swarm, call a bee-keeper and they will be happy to come by and catch it. Never spray the honey bees with an insecticide. Most people know how important bees are for our local apple industry and vegetable gardens. Fifteen billion dollars of added crops can be directly related to pollination by bees in North America.
There is no bylaw against having bees in the Town of Collingwood. Our bees, in the Beaver Valley, are twenty feet from our house and no one has ever been stung as a result of the hives’ proximity to the house. It would be a good idea to have a fence around the bees or a fenced- in backyard if you live in town. Young people can learn so much by sitting quietly next to the colony and observing all the wonderful activity taking place. Children love extracting honey too. Once the fields of goldenrod have finished in the fall, it is a true celebration tasting the honey and honouring the bees’ work by making sure they have a cozy hive for the winter.
Intransigence and inertia leaves young with few possibilities
“Self-restraint over consumption is a hugely subversive idea in an economic system which has as its core proposition that greater and greater happiness will follow every increase in our personal incomes and spending.” Chris Goodall, “How to Live a Low-Carbon Life
A new study from Princeton University’s Carbon Mitigation Initiative entitled, “Sharing Global CO2 Emissions Among1 Billion Emitters {out of 8.1 billion people in 2030}” points to humanity’s inability to find so far an equitable solution for the protection of our biosphere. This study tries to be a model in fairness with regards to capping world-wide emissions, and thus defuse the on-going conflict between the developed and developing world over who has to do what in order to get the greenhouse gas mitigation programs underway to avoid a catastrophic climate crisis. The study shows that the poorest 3 billion people can have a higher standard of living without any undue hardship incurred by people like ourselves. (Taking aim at world poverty on July 11 was UN World Population Day. We know the burgeoning population in this century means North Americans have to share more and ask for less.) Wealth and high GHG emissions go together: Europeans emit around 12.5 tonnes per person per year with North Americans doubling that amount, while the rest of the world averages less than 5 tonnes for each individual. Canadians would need to lower their emissions to a European level. Otherwise why should the rest of the world believe that any negotiations are credible between the rich and poor? Why would an Indian negotiator ever consider his Canadian counterpart’s proposals are made in good faith when we would not budge on our emissions? This just happened when the G8 industrial powers met the Group of 5 emerging powers last week in L’Aquila, Italy. Canada refused to accept more than “aspirational” goals in meeting temperature and greenhouse gas mitigation targets for 2050. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was not at all pleased with the Group of 8’s action plans. According to World Wildlife Fund, Canada is the worst offender of the Group of 8.
YOUNG ADULTS in ACTION: Mentoring Families through the Clotheslines Climate Action Project
“Actions on climate change require the current generation to make decisions …that will have profound implications for future generations… The cost of inaction is the greatly increased probability of high temperatures with their associated severe consequences. Nicholas Stern, “A Blueprint for a Safer Planet”
Looking for paid employment that makes a difference to our planet and the health of our community? READ ON! Georgian Triangle Earth Days Celebrations is a charitable organization dedicated to energy conservation strategies and climate change mitigation approaches. It starts with science based education and moves as quickly as possible towards action in solving problems for our Earth. GTEDC will be hiring 2 people under 30 and one coordinator to install clotheslines as an alternative energy project to help homeowners and apartment dwellers stop using clothes dryers that consume large amounts of natural gas or electricity.
Here is how it works: a representative will first come to a home to see where the clothesline would be placed. They will have homeowners sign a contract agreeing to the long-term usage of the clothesline. This project will help families cut greenhouse gas emissions. Families also save $100 a year or reduce 6 to 10 percent of their electric bills by using clotheslines. In fact, if we got rid of all our electric/gas dryers we would reduce the emissions equal to145,000 cars in Ontario. That is why this work is so important. Since the goal is to dramatically lower emissions, bicycles will be ridden most days to the various sites. Work will start as early as May 1st. Some employment will run only for the summer but other work will continue to spring.
This pilot project is only the first step in implementing many other low- cost but extremely effective projects. Youth can be the leaders in achieving successful change and be paid to do so! As engaged and informed persons on climate issues know, older adults need help in finding alternatives to an out-dated ‘growth-is-best’ consumer driven ethos. Many young people feel hopeless with regards to fighting climate change, but hope means rolling up your sleeves and turning good ideas into actions.
Write to celebrateearth@yahoo.ca if you are a motivated young adult who wants to lead the way with meaningful actions and desires to work on this innovative team project. Tell us about yourself and when you are interested in working. Our corporate partner, Home Hardware in Thornbury, will reduce the cost of a clothesline package by 25 per cent to help make this a successful project. This project will go ahead in early July if public sector funding is also received.
Recently EcoJustice and one of its lawyers, Albert Koehl, worked to make all municipalities in Ontario clotheslines-friendly, thus overturning bylaws that had previously prohibited them. GTEDC wants to celebrate their efforts by putting into action this Ontario law. Projects such as Clothesline Action need young adults to be in the vanguard because they know what is at stake and can inspire other people to make a huge difference.
Clearly, young people can no longer take the chance that older generations will act on their behalf. University of Calgary’s David Keith says “People talk a lot about spending money for future generations but typically they don’t do it very much.” Just take a look at the recent UN Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations in Bonn, Germany. “As the Secretariat’s analysis shows, the pledges of rich countries add up to a negligible cut in carbon pollution, jeopardizing the welfare of our children.” See www.climatenetwork.org
“The trick now, of course, is to actually use our foresight and abilities not only to dodge but also to deflect the bullets heading our way- including, perhaps especially, the ones aimed squarely at Earth’s ecological heart…The reason Earth is in peril is because of individual actions. Just as the problem is the sum of what each one of us is doing, so is fixing the problem. That means we each hold a little part of the future or the world in our hands… It’s never been easier for you to help change the course of the planet. “
Anthony Barnosky, “Heatstroke: Nature in an Age of Global Warming”
World Environment Day on June 5 points us towards Copenhagen in December
“The Campaign against climate change is an odd one. Unlike almost all the public protests which have preceded it, it is a campaign not for abundance but for austerity. It is a campaign not for more freedom but for less. Strangest of all, it is a campaign not just against other people, but also against ourselves.” George Monbiot,”Heat; How to stop the planet from burning”
The United Nations is framing World Environment Day on June 5 as a day of action by saying, “Your Planet needs you: Unite to Combat Climate Change”. The host for this year’s Billion Tree Campaign is Mexico who promises to plant a quarter of these trees. This is also part of a campaign to highlight the urgency to act now and make the December climate negotiations in Copenhagen succeed in bringing about a post-Kyoto deal on drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
On May 30, Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon from University of Waterloo gave an impassioned talk in Collingwood on climate change. The two-hour talk and discussion started off with a picture of his young children. He believes that in the next twenty years his children will question him as to his role in stopping the collapse of the natural world and civilization. The talk was an exploration of how we can make our societies more resilient through renewable energy, changing our values and our willingness to fully embrace a conservation ethic. He backed up his cogent arguments with the latest scientific evidence that unequivocally flags the need to act aggressively to combat climate change. Thomas also says that we must find the courage to demand creative alternatives to the business-as-usual, rigid growth models that can’t continue without the destruction of a benign climate. “A value system that makes endless growth the primary source of our social stability and spiritual well-being will destroy us…Alternative values might… promote broader, fairer and more vigorous democracy”, he says in “Upside of Down” and in his lecture. Alternative values that celebrate Earth as opposed to conquering it, could support a steady state economy.
Professor Homer-Dixon speaks of a power shift happening around the world that can bring huge suffering to humanity. There are two billion people who don’t make $2 a day and it is an explosive situation. “Dislocated lives, worsened poverty, and wider income gaps affect the motivation to participate in violence by providing fodder for extremist leaders.” Climate change will exacerbate the deep divide between groups and the disparity between rich and poor will widen. A ‘power shift’ will mean that there is a greater possibility for terrorism.
Fortunately, there is another ‘power shift’ that is gaining ground; youth are leading the way. Canadian Youth Climate Coalition (See www.ourclimate.ca) will be having a three day (October 21-23) forum. They have decided to reach out towards the international Power Shift (See www.powershift2009.org) movement in the U.S., U.K. and Australia. All levels of Canadian government are asked to cut carbon dramatically and immediately, invest in a green economy, power our future with clean energy and not dirty fuels, and lead the world to a clean and equitable energy future. Their inaugural conference call last week brought together 40 people from across Canada, and it became abundantly clear that these bright and articulate youth can put together the workshops and strategy sessions culminating in a huge ‘lobby’ day on October 23. “We will deliver our message of change to our elected officials and push the federal government to take bold steps in tackling climate change.” Youth are embarrassed at seeing the Canadian government declared a “laggard” in not implementing, and in many cases blocking, international climate initiatives.
World Environment Day is a sign post that directs us towards taking our planetary responsibilities seriously. It is one of many vital clarion calls to action. Please visit Ottawa this October 21-23 and unite with young people in their fervent wish for a safe future. They deserve your full commitment.
Open Letter to the Graduating High School and University Class of 2009: Celebrate International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22
“Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” Mark Twain
“I found that a piece of turf, three feet by four in size, which had been exposed for many years to exactly the same conditions , supported twenty species of plants, and these belonged to eighteen genera and to eight orders, which shows how much these plants differed from each other. So it is with the plants and insects on small and uniform islets; and so in small ponds of fresh water.” Charles Darwin, “Origin of Species” printed1859
“We are a dumbed down society with the alarms switched off…while navigating a hazardous passage through the night at full speed with fully distracted deck officers. Michael Major
The Truth does not Change according to our ability to stomach it.” Flannery O’Connor
Elizabeth May’s new book, “Global Warming for Dummies” describes biological diversity as “the planet’s variety of living species…from the deep forests of China, to the mountains of Canada, to the icy waters of Antarctica”. (Ms May apologized when she visited Collingwood on May 16 for the name “Dummies”. She explained that the “For Dummies” series of books uses a specific way to get to the heart of a particular subject, and her book is for people like you who are passionate about making a difference in stopping climate change.) Her book is a fantastic opportunity to bring you up to speed on climate change and related issues. You can get a copy from your library; discuss it with your friends and create an action plan to reconsider old 20th century models for success.
Mahatma Gandhi deeply understood that happiness and well being had little to do with acquiring more things. You, the youth of the world, might want to learn more about this wonderful man, if you are going to be inspired to change the world’s growing obsession to convert the natural world into a parking lot for consumption. You may wish to ponder what the older generations have been selling you, including the all-in-one-save-the-world organic cloth shopping bag full of ‘green’ products signifying a bankrupt generation’s shop-to-you-drop answer to when huge doses of permafrost and livestock methane hit the bag of goodies. So please cozy up to Nature and take the bus, walk or cycle instead of accepting the hybrid car Dad or Mom wants to give you when you graduate.
Start off your new independence with a visit to The Schad Gallery of Biodiversity at the Royal Ontario Museum which just opened on May 16 to celebrate the United Nation’s International Day for Biological Diversity. The Gallery looks at the diversity of life on earth and how species and habitats are threatened by human activity. Life Is Diverse, Life Is Interrelated and Life Is in Crisis are the three main areas of interest. www.rom.on.ca/schad/ On Friday, May 22, the Gallery looks at how humans can help stop Invasive species that have no natural predators in their adopted habitat. Take the train for the day from Barrie to Toronto to the museum. The event is called “Partners in Protection: Invasive Species”, 10 am – 3 pm.
Speaking about being better informed, Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon comes to Collingwood on May 30. He is in Collingwood to talk about making intelligent choices for humanity and our planet. Check out a copy of his newly printed “Carbon Shift” or “The Upside of Down” to be ready for his talk-$5 for youth. Find out how unbridled growth causes balanced and resilient ecological systems to become unhinged and collapse.
Now that you’re graduating, it’s your turn to take the helm and steer the ship, Earth, towards safety. Don’t wait till tomorrow.
AN OPEN EARTH WEEK LETTER TO YOUTH: TAKE THE LEAD AND BE THE SOLUTION
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” John Muir
Humans are now changing our climate so rapidly that all of civilization is in the balance. Our Earth desperately needs you, the youth of our nation, to show leadership if our planet is to have a sustainable future. There is no time to wait for someone else to act. Please read the below suggestions; these are just a start.
The Sword of Damocles
By Dr. James Hansen
Over a year ago I wrote to Prime Minister Brown asking him to place a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in Britain. I have asked the same of Angela Merkel, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd and other world leaders. The reason is this – coal is the single greatest threat to civilization and all life on our planet.
Our global climate is nearing tipping points. Changes are beginning to appear, and there is a potential for explosive changes with effects that would be irreversible – if we do not rapidly slow fossil fuel emissions over the next few decades.
Tipping points are fed by amplifying feedbacks. As Arctic sea ice melts, the darker ocean absorbs more sunlight and speeds melting. As tundra melts, methane a strong greenhouse gas, is released, causing more warming. As species are pressured and exterminated by shifting climate zones, ecosystems can collapse, destroying more species.
World Water Day on March 22 brings with it new commitments
What Would It Take?
How much money would solve the world water crisis? Most people are taking a serious look at the numbers within the context of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to “reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.” So most of the best numbers only address half the need, but include providing adequate sanitation for the world’s 2.5 billion who are lacking it, and we are left to wonder what the cost would be for providing only water to those 1.1 billion lacking.
The question itself is not entirely clear either. When is the “world water crisis” no longer a crisis? When we’ve met the UN’s MDG? When everybody has access to clean water? When people have clean water? Or “improved” water, which may only be a covered shallow hand-dug well? Could some non-profit sectors provide sustainable water more efficiently than the mostly governmental agencies whose data is being extrapolated to arrive at our figures? Is the number even relevant if sufficient reliable implementing agencies do not currently exist?
The World Bank offers a range of cost estimates to reach MDG goals. They estimate the cost of reaching “basic levels of coverage…in water and sanitation” to be $9 billion at the low end, and $30 billion a year for “achieving universal coverage” for water and sanitation. The same report acknowledges that the “institutional arrangements” do not exist to reach the goal in any case, and concludes that, “taking these estimates and their caveats together, we estimate that the cost… is between $5 and $21 billion.”1
The United Nations Development Programme estimates the cost of meeting the MGD to be about $10 billion a year.” Again, that is for water and sanitation for half of those lacking. They add that the figure “…represents less than five days’ worth of global military spending and less than half what rich countries spend each year on mineral water.”
The same report estimates that “universal access (to water and sanitation) would raise this figure to $20–$30 billion…” and that not addressing the problem will “…cost roughly nine times more than resolving it. 2
Another United Nations document states that “providing safe drinking water and sanitation to those lacking them requires massive investment—estimated at $14 – 30 billion per year in addition to current annual spending levels…”3 Again, these estimates include the cost of basic sanitation.
The WHO and UNICEF report that it would cost “US$11.3 billion” to achieve the MDG for “drinking water and sanitation” and one is left to wonder what the cost would be for the water portion in their estimation.4 Again, 1.4 billion more people lack basic sanitation than lack water.
So where does LWI stand? Would it take $9 billion or $30 billion? What is the number for just water without sanitation? The fact of the matter is that a $9 billion or a $30 billion check written tomorrow to the UN or to any development agency in the world would not solve the world water crisis. As many of these experts point out, what is lacking are competent, responsible implementers. It would not be hard at all for $10 or $20 billion to be misused. That is why LWI is committed to training, consulting and equipping efficient, cost-effective, replicable, sustainable water solution systems and providers. Without implementers, it doesn’t matter if the world is dreaming of the most accurate dollar amount in the world or how many studies are done.
At LWI our next $10 million will go where our last $10 million went: to training, consulting and equipping people all over the world to execute the most appropriate, cost-effective integrated water solutions there are and having them teach others to do the same.
Water and Women
Many women spend 15-20 hours per week collecting water, often walking up to 7 miles in the dry season.
It is typically women who collect water, often waiting for long periods, and having to get up very early or go out late at night to get their water; they carry heavy water containers for long distances over uneven terrain. It is women who have to buy, scrounge, or beg for water, particularly when their usual sources run dry. The tragedy is that the water they work so hard to collect is often dirty, polluted, and unsafe to drink.
Women trapped in this situation have little time for other activities such as child care, rest, or productive work. The time spent collecting water disempowers women by reinforcing time-poverty and lowering income.
“Reasearch in Uganda found households spending on average 660 hours a year collecting water. This represents two full months of labor, with attendant opportunity costs for education, income generation, and female liesure time.” – United Nations Development Program, 2006
In sub-Saharan Africa alone, 40 billion hours of labor are wasted each year carrying water over long distances.
Access to clean water is the foundation for other forms of development. Without easy access to water that is safe, countless hours are spent in water collection, household income is spent on purchasing water and medical treatment for water-related
diseases. These factors contribute to keeping people trapped in poverty.
The statistics indicate a two-way relationship between extreme poverty and lack of access to safe water. About two-thirds of those without access to safe water live on less than $2 a day. Half of these—roughly equivalent to the population of the United States—live on less than $1 a day.
“Water management is a key factor in the global battle to remove the scourge of extreme poverty and to build secure and prosperous lives for hundreds of millions of people in the developing world.” – World Health Organization, 2007
Water and Education
Water-related diseases cost 443 million school days a year.
More than 150 million school-age children are severely affected by waterborne parasites like roundworm, whipworm, and hookworm. These children commonly carry up to 1000 parasites at a time, causing anemia, stunted growth, and other debilitating conditions.
Children who suffer from constant water-related illnesses carry the disadvantages into school. Poor health directly reduces cognitive potential and indirectly undermines schooling through absenteeism, attention deficits, and early drop-out.
“Over half of all schools worldwide lack safe water and sanitation, jeopardizing the health and education of millions of schoolchildren. Most of the 115 million children currently out of school are girls. Many are denied their place in the classroom by lack of access to decent toilets at school, or
Water and Health
At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from a water-related disease.
Nearly 90 percent of all diseases in the world are caused by unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene. Every year, there are 4 billion cases of diarrhea as a direct result of drinking contaminated water; this results in more than 2.2
million deaths each year—the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets crashing every day.
The weakest members of communities are the most vulnerable; every day water-related diseases claim the lives of 5000 children under the age of five. That’s roughly one every 15 seconds.
“Clean water and sanitation are among the most powerful preventative medicines for reducing child mortality. They are to diarrhea what immunization is to killer diseases such as measles or polio: a mechanism for reducing risk and averting death.” – United Nations Development Program, 2006
In 1992, the UN General Assembly designated March 22 as World Water Day to draw attention to this growing, global problem. In Haiti there are numerous organizations that are working to stave desertification, to preserve water tables, and to offer clean and safe drinking waters to entire cities. I strongly encourage you to visit the website of Living Water, a highly motivated and praiseworthy organization out of Houston, TX and the World Water Day homepage to learn more about how you can help the people of the world overcome this most basic problem.
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor a drop to drink.
The water, like witch’s oils,
Burnt green, and blue, and white.
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Coleridge
“As a result of both pollution and overuse of our rivers and lakes, about 40 percent of the world’s population now lacks sufficient water for basic sanitation and hygiene, and nearly one out of ever five people has not enough to drink.” The author of “The Upside of Down”, Thomas Homer-Dixon, will speak in Collingwood in April, 2009.
As a part of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, World Water Day brings into focus the incredible crisis that now confronts humanity. Water, as part of our biosphere, is our most important ecological resource, but we have exploited this gift of life to such an extent that now 2.6 billion people are in terrible jeopardy. The UN Water-for-Life booklet is a great place to become better acquainted with water issues. www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/pdf/waterforlifebklt-e.pdf
The United Nations Millennium Development Goals are all dependent on the success of humanity’s commitment to sharing water resources and knowledge. These goals are being coordinated with the UN Water for Life Decade 2005-2015
The Millennium Goals are:
1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
2. Achieve Universal Primary Education
3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
4. Reduce Child Mortality
5. Improve Maternal Health
6.Combat HIV, AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
7. Ensure Environmental sustainability.
8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development
“A single lawn sprinkler spraying 19 litres per minute uses more water in just one hour than a combination of ten toilet flushes, two 5-minute showers, two dishwasher loads, and a full load of clothes.” Take the water reduction pledge to save 10 gallons a day. www.naturecanada.ca
| EASY ways that you can save water around the house | Water Saved |
| Don’t run the tap while shaving or cleaning your teeth | 1 gallon (3.7 litres) a minute |
| Add an aerator to any tap | 1 gallon (3.7 litres) a minute |
| Reduce the length of a shower by one minute | 2.5 gallons (9.5 litres) |
| Install a low flow shower head | 3 gallons(11.3 litres)a minute |
| Install a toilet tank displacement device | .5 gallon (1.8 litres) a flush |
| Run the dishwasher only when it is totally full | 10 gallons (37.8 litres) each saved load |
| Water your lawn at night and save 65% lost to evaporation when watering during the day | 5 gallons (19 litres) a minute |
North Americans and Australians use more water than any other group of people. This has to change immediately. The need to conserve water is becoming more and more critical for our well-being. The protection of wetlands such as the Silver Creek Wetland ensures biodiversity and clean water. The long-term work by the Blue Mountain Watershed Trust has brought urgency and a responsibility for the Town and its people to conserve this wonderful wetland, and not just call it a “Preserve” as the developers wished to call their ill-advised building project.
The Town of Collingwood’s recent endeavour to protect this wetland should be applauded.
Flying Blindly Towards An Unsustainable Future
“A 90 per cent cut in carbon emissions means the end of distant foreign travel…It means that trans-continental journeys must be made by train… or coach. These privations affect a tiny proportion of the world’s people. The reason they seem so harsh is that this tiny proportion almost certainly includes you. If you fly, you destroy other people’s lives.” George Monbiot
“Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning”
It will soon be that time of the year when photos of Hawaiian, Cuban and Mexican beaches appear in the newspaper, television and magazine ads tempting us to take that vacation. Whether you are a Bruce Trail hiker going to Belize to be inspired by nature, a winter trip to Arizonia or on a weekend shopping trip to New York, our seemingly endless need to experience the ‘pleasures and meaning of life’ away from home will whittle away humanity’s future quality of life, let alone starving people now through drought and rising oceans. Monbiot puts it quite succinctly:”…well meaning people are as capable of destroying the biosphere as the executives of Exxon.”