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This weekend we attended the SOS BC Run in Richmond, BC, Canada.  The run is in support ofSOS BC Childrens Village located in Surrey, BC, Canada.  The organization was founded in BC 25 years ago by Lois and Gilles Bouchard.  Every year this organization is building more and more momentum and we are happy to support such an amazing organization.

We were also happy to see our friends from Sustainability Television down at the event filming!

Graham Anderson, Loretta Laurin, Robyn Ashwell, Grace Soo and Kevin Cooper, all university students studying various aspects of sustainability at university, are the entrepreneurs behind the new social enterprise SHIFT Delivery Co-op.

When sorting through your closet, it’s easy to see the items that you don’t wear as junk that no one would enjoy. However, your trash could be another person’s treasure. Rather than throw away rejected garments, why not recycle old clothing by trading it for new pieces with this year’s Frock Swap? Once Loved Threads founders Marjolyn Ustaris and Danielle Ow started the Frock Swap as a chance to trade some of their own pieces for new clothing items, and since that first swap in 2008, the event has only grown.

One of the most effective ways to improve the environmental state of a city is to connect with the youth of that community. Those young citizens are the most likely to incorporate sustainable practices into their lives and encourages other citizens to do the same. This is why Ian Gschwind and Vanessa LeBourdais work yearly to educate children on the importance of appreciating and cherishing our environment. DreamRider Theatre’s focus is to impact generations of society by teaching children all about recycling, conserving, and resisting consumerism.

 In an effort to have a totally new experience at the UBC Student Leadership Conference on January 8, I signed up for “Laughter Yoga” as my lunchtime activity. Granted, there were other options, such as watching the UBC Improvisation club perform. However, even though I don’t especially like the regular kind of yoga, I decided to try to laugh my way through the noontime.
 

CABIN SCIENCE FORUM - November 17, 2010
Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre
 
Last month I attended the first annual CABIN Science Forum being held at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre. No I’m not talking about the cabin you and the family use to get away on weekends, CABIN stands for the Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network program, and was developed in response to the need for a standard method everyone could use to determine the health of Canada’s freshwater streams, lakes and rivers. 
 

I was cleaning out my wardrobe the other day and I found so many clothes which are for the most part still totally wearable—but are now being donated away because I’ve simply got too many of them. And how many of us are like that? I probably could clothe five girls decently with the amount of clothes I have currently, excluding all the stuff I’ve already gotten rid of. And I suspect that, for the most part, many of us consume than is necessary.

 It has been a big change moving from a university residence to a shared house. This Fall I was lucky enough to move into a house with friends who share my value of living a low impact lifestyle. The way we decided to structure our house is inspired by the idea of collective living. The main difference between a shared house and a collective house is the idea of shared decision making and working together towards common goals. In our house a major common goal is to make our environmental footprint as light as possible, while ensuring there is always an abundance of tasty healthy food.

After a brief Olympic disappearance Kitsilano’s unofficial outdoor thrift store is back in action on the Northwest corner of 4th Ave and Macdonald Street.  Here the frugal shopper can choose from an ever-changing array of goods displayed on a chain-link fence.  Items range from common wardrobe additions such as sweaters and jeans to the slightly more eccentric painted unitards and Hello Kitty sleep masks.  The merchandise is by no means limited to clothing either; tape recorders, plants and even tables and chairs are often splayed out in front of the crowded fence.  But the best thing about

Sustainability Ideas from Hong Kong

Vinnie Yuen

During the Olympics, I took a two-week vacation to Hong Kong where I spent the first 8 years of my life.  The city is absolutely beautiful, but it was also intensely populated.  As I contemplate the sheer volume of people living there (7 million!), I wondered what steps this city was taking to eliminate waste and reduce pollution.  I was happy to find out that Hong Kong is taking steps towards greener living!

Hong Kong - Public Transportation that Works

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