Sustainability category
Rail rides
We are jealous, and envious, of the european train system, and wonder why north america is still left without high speed train in most commuted travel lines (such as NYC - Montreal!). When will we move on? Read more about the topic, High speed rail initiative for California.Vivre en ville
regroupement Québecois pour le développement urbain rural et villageois viable. À voir ici.Master of your time
“Change doesn’t happen because of how we invest our money. Change happens because of how we invest our human energy, and it always has since we came down from the trees.
Everyone’s got a margin of discretionary energy — ten percent, twenty percent — that isn’t used up making their way in the world. That’s the energy that’s available for social change.”
Daniel Taylor of Future Generation. Via.
How do you use your energy, and how much do you have left to help us move on to a next, more sustaining level?
Managing energy is one of the most important thing in our current times - we must each day, more and more, consciously choose to whom and how we’ll share this precious resource, our energy, which was for years sucked out without us noticing.
Managing energy means to carefully select our activities, manage our time, our health, our creativity. As a freelance or full time worker, it is a question we’re all facing: how much money are worth your hours? How much money is worth your energy? Your health and well being? Are all these hours worked really worth? Is there not a more creative and healthy way to spend your time and energy?
Among the most common time and energy sucking activities are an employer needing you more than 35 hours per week, friends or family meetings leaving you empty, shopping in a quest to find something that will fill the emptiness, over cleaning the house every week inside and outside, and tv watching.
All this precious time could be used in a creative way, to make small and big changes.
As i wrote some days ago, our present culture does not emphasize free and quiet time. Instead, we are pushed to fill the agenda until there is not a minute left to be alone in silence, or to have some time to think and take new actions, on a personal or community level, towards a brighter future. Having a lot of free time might be seen as not usual, wrong, as if someone would be out of a system, not worthy, slacking and even depressed.
You must ask yourself, who is ruling your life?
Become your own authority, be more aware of where and how you want to spend your energy, your health, and your time. We’ll all have to make choices, what will yours be?
Conscious travelling
If you are about to plan your next holidays in Central and South America, it’s a must to have a look at Whole Travel, who’s mission is:
To provide the best travel opportunities to unique and authentic destinations that preserve the environment, support local cultures and promote sustainable lifestyles.
This sounds promising - take a look at their sustainable tour search engine.
Via CITIZENShift.
Pecha Kucha Montreal
Et voilà Guylaine dans mon inbox qui me demande “pis pis, c’était comment Pecha Kucha?”… Dommage qu’elle n’ait pu y être, elle aurait adoré.
C’était mon baptême, car en toute honnêteté, j’ai bien de la misère à me déplacer dans des événements mondains c’est temps ci (le confort de ma maison, et les périodes de créativité où je dois incuber sont très nombreuses dans ma vie…) et la SAT avec son environnement sombre ne fait pas partie de mes endroits préférés, mais bon, un bon coup de pieds au derrière et moi et mon beau étions sortis de la maison.
Le concept Pecha Kucha grosso modo: une soirée “démo et présentation” où 15 créateurs de tous les domaines viennent présenter leurs projets - urbanisme, développement durable, design, science, etc. - et ils n’ont droit qu’à 20 diapos (slides en bon français) de 20 secondes. Cela fonctionne à merveille, empêchant que les présentations deviennent trop lourdes. Mentionnons aussi que chaque présentateur est debout au micro, pas caché derrière une table en train de nous endormir tous.
Ce fonctionnement me fait unpeu penser à une dégustation, un genre de all you can eat, un buffet où l’on peut prendre une bouchée de tout ce qui nous intéresse, et jeter le reste à la poubelle sans trop se sentir mal - et cela va sûrement de pair avec notre société de consommation en 5ième vitesse. Mais rassurez-vous, l’image d’un buffet de sandwich mou ne représente aucunement l’événement d’hier soir, car le contenu de cette soirée Pecha Kucha Montreal était à la hauteur et de qualité, loin d’être superficielle, avec des présentateurs engagés, quelques fois éclectiques, et passionnés.
Une occasion en or de voir ceux qu’on entend pas assez souvent, nos Movers & Shakers locaux.
Un compte rendu détaillant les présentations se trouve ici.
Easy Gardening
This year we’ll dig deep into balcony gardening - for this, i just ordered a copy of Toronto based Gayla Trail’s book You Grow Girl, a contemporary, laid-back approach to gardening.Verdir à son rythme
Première entreprise d’écoconception au Québec, Perennia contribue à l’amélioration de la performance environnementale des organisations.What are you driving with? Oh, I run on air!
This was for me a stunning news… the french company Motor Development International (MDI) is about to start the mass production of a car which is only driven by compressed air! They claim the car can drive for 100 km with a single air tank, and producing zero emissions!
I have to admit, we often hear about ground-breaking innovations and most of the time the product is far from being ready to sell, but in this case it seems that MDI is taking it seriously. One of the investing companies is the Indian car manufacturer Tata. Production should start in September 2008 in France, and a US company is about to license the concept to produce similar cars in the US in 2010. Possible uses for the air car are taxis as well as hybrid cars.
But what makes me really think is that it is obviously possible to create a car which runs with air! I mean if this is possible, then I guess that there must be many other alternative solutions available for problems which we are facing nowadays (not only environmental problems). I think the only show stopper for these alternatives must then be companies and lobbying organizations which have the power to decide over markets… I cannot explain it in a different way for myself.
So, did you get my point? Throw 100 million dollars of research money at them and they will build a car which drives on air forever… without filling any tank or whatever.
Links for more infos:
News article (in german)
Air Car Factories
Litière bio 2ième partie, et Weleda
On en avait déjà parlé sur Vu d’ici, et le chat de Janick a fait le test. Ce mercredi l’émission La vie en vert fera un topo sur la litière bio!
Pendant qu’on est dans les achats écolos, voici ma sélection écosanté du mois: déo Weleda à la sauge pour lui, Wild Rose déo pour moi, dentifrice végétal Weleda et savon à linge écofriendly de chez Lemieux. J’ai aussi déniché le livre ‘Tout sur le Compost‘.
Je suis une consommatrice aguérie des produits Weleda depuis ma tranche de vie Allemande, moment où j’ai découvert l’anthroposophie et son fondateur Rudolf Steiner dont je vous ai déjà parlé.
Voici un court résumé sur l’origine de la marque, ainsi que l’inspirante signification derrière le nom Weledas, ou déesses aux mystérieux pouvoirs de guérison…
Weleda Company was founded in Europe in 1921 in collaboration with Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), Austrian born scientist, educator and philosopher. Steiner conceived the philosophy known as anthroposophy which, in very broad terms, sees the human being as a totality of body, soul and spirit standing between nature and the cosmos.
A group of European physicians became interested in Steiner’s teachings, which also touched on the causes of illness. After a series of study courses and lectures beginning in 1920, an anthroposophical clinic was founded along with medical laboratory in Arlesheim, Switzerland. Medicines were made based on guidelines supplied by the doctors. This laboratory quickly expanded. Franchises were soon opened in Germany, England, France, Holland and other countries and given the name Weleda. In America, Weleda was incorporated in 1931. Since 1994, Weleda, Inc. is a subsidiary of Weleda AG, Arlesheim, Switzerland.
“Weledas” or “Velledas” were Celtic wise women who guided their followers to an understanding of nature. Traces of them are found in Ireland, Germany and France.
The last individual to bear the name “Weleda” was mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus. According to Tacitus, Weleda was a healer priestess who, at the beginning of the Christian era, lived near a famous shrine by the river Lippe. She was a seer and prophetess respected by the Germanic tribes. She was taken prisoner by the Romans and died in Rome about 80 AD.
Zero-waste cutting edge city experiment
The United Arab Emirates began to build on the Masdar City project, which will be a zero-carbon, zero-waste city using cutting-edge solar power technology in the middle of the deserts of Abu Dhabi.
Finished by 2015 this city will be inhabited by 50,000 people and a showcase of how cities will look like in the future.
Critics say that the 22 billion dollars used by this project should rather be invested in the “greening” of existing cities. Nevertheless this project will be an important information and experience hub - not only for the building companies - but for everyone interested in sustainability and environmental issues.
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Current loved ones:
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Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
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The Power of Your Other Hand : A Course in Channeling the Inner Wisdom of the Right Brain, by Lucia Capacchione
Recently loved:
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New York Notebook, by Laurie Rosenwald
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The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, by Timothy Ferriss
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Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert
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Succulent Wild Woman, by Sark
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Energy Medicine, by Donna Eden
Soon:
- A Room of One’s Own, by Virginia Woolf
- Tout sur le compost, by Lili Michaud
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Hello!
I am m-c, an artist and communicator. I love to inspire people through my art, writing, and my passion for the creative potential of web publishing tools. I run meïdia, a creative studio, and Creacamp.
Bonjour! Je suis m-c, artiste et communicatrice. Ma mission est d'inspirer les gens, et ce, à travers mon art, mes livres, et ma passion pour les outils web. Je suis à la tête du studio de création meïdia, et de Creacamp.
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Je suis co-auteure de Pourquoi bloguer. Mon chapitre, Bloguer pour réseauter, a été rédigé dans le but d'inspirer les gens intéressés par le potentiel de réseautage des outils de blogues : étudiants, artistes, travailleurs autonomes, gestionnaires d'entreprise, curieux et patenteux de tout genres. Commandez votre copie dédicacée en me fesant parvenir un courriel.
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