EnviroMatters

Environmental issues matter. They matter to me and should matter to everybody. In this blog, I share news and thoughts about why and how environment issues should be and are addressed, so that we can all strive to live in a better place.

[enviromatters]

FILM review: A father-daughter bond strenghtened by nature

Inspired by a true story and the book My Abandonment by Peter Rock, this beautiful and raw film - Leave no trace - is set in the U.S, and takes us on  the journey of an unlikely duo, a father and his teenage daughter, as they strive to live quasi-independently off-grid in the suburban mature forests. 

Until they become evicted (it is illegal to live on public lands), we see how organized and happy they live, despite obvious challenges imposed by the weather, amongst other factors. The young girl partakes in foraging, harvesting rainwater and basically learning survival skills, while maintaining a good level of education (probably higher than most kids her age busying themselves with other occupations). 

While the intermittent placement in ‘society’ of these forest-refugees places too much strain on the father - a war veteran who has lost faith in most of today’s consumerist attitudes it seems - the daughters’ innocence and openness brings about hope. Hope to live in a world where it appears possible for pockets of society to retain a love for nature while still engaging with it humanely. Hope to create social links with ‘invisible’ to most people, attached to their primeval desire to live as outcasts in nature. 

This film highlights how nature makes us grow by teaching us how precious resources are, and how easily overcome and lost we can be if we don’t look after it or ourselves within it. As Florence Williams’ wonderful book The Nature Fix explains, it is no surprise that veterans may find solace in nature, to heal their PTSD wounds, thanks to the many ways in which the natural environment can help save us in various ways by (re-)connecting us to nature. 

I argue, it is no surprise we feel all the more strenghtened to go out into forests after seeing this film, armed with a fresh set of eyes to appreciate that we, in North America, still have access to rich, diverse forest resources that we could very happily live in. 

[enviromatters]

The place of eco-tourism in today’s changing environment

Amidst global warming indications and the effects that human populations have on the environment, eco-tourism is an ambiguous practice, which can be seen by some as being detrimental to the environment and by others, rather as being environment-friendly. 

Already I would argue that the “eco” part of the term can both relate to “ecology” as much as “economy”, which could cause confusion as to its purpose. Tourism at least has a clear meaning. Together, eco-tourism can therefore imply that we (holiday-goers) can discover new places and enjoy them for their ecological wonder in a bid to raise awareness of their existence and ultimately protect them, but at the same time, it implies that the economic impacts of this type of tourism should go towards their preservation. 

Protection against what? Poachers or industrial developers for instance but also mass tourism perhaps, which again raises the question: when does controlled encroachment become overly perturbing to nature? By seeking out to view endangered species or environments directly, albeit in controlled numbers through restricted touring organisations, eco-tourists themselves contribute to impacting these species and habitats. 

An example of this is given in Zac Unger’s book, Never Look a Polar Bear in the Eye, which recounts the rise of eco-tourism in the Canadian Greath North in relation to polar bear excursions. It particularly highlights the senseless mass euphoria that can be generated from a single stark image (e.g. an emaciated polar bear) prompting people to go and see (supposedly) the last of these dwindling  species in the wild. While, in contrast, scientific data can sometimes contradict what is widely reported in the media, counter-balancing the drastic and simplistic assumptions of a few. 

The question about economic returns generated through eco-tourism is also raised, as the businesses involved in all aspects of the eco-tourism chain do not all have a mandate to primarily safeguard said species. In particular, downstream providers such as the companies involved in transporting, lodging and feeding these tourists are more likely to operate based on profit while likely damaging further the environment which it is supposed to preserve. 

So how should we apprehend the prospect of eco-tourism? As thrilling and exciting as it may be to see wild animals in their natural habitat (such as that bear in photo that I saw in the Mauricie area, courtesy of this small outfitter), I would hope that wilderness reserve managers and alike adopt or maintain strict measures to monitor intrusions in order to preserve habitats and wildlife. 

Measures could include direct entry tracking via paid licences or similar taxes, or even indirect passive monitoring to observe larger-scale phenomena (e.g. viewing vehicle traffic through remote sensed imagery in parks such as Yellowstone) to better manage human-animal interactions. 

Ensuring wildlife safety and perennity should be on everyone’s conscience when planning one’s next vacation. Fortunately, as this Conde Nast article highlights, national authorities in the U.S. have already started looking into the ‘wildlife jam’ issues, to ensure that nature loving enthusiasts can continue to travel in harmony with the environment they so wish to continue seeing.  

...

Photo from: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/yellowstone-national-parks-traffic-problem-might-force-big-changes 

[enviromatters]

Reusable food wraps

Grabbed myself a couple of these wax, resin and olive-oil infused cloth sheets from this vendor while visiting the homeland. 

Seems to be a French thing as this post explains how to do one yourself - looks pretty simple! 

Time to ditch the plastics and reuse with unique designs and custom shapes to fit your food container needs! 

[enviromatters]

Plantation to Harvest 2018 by Infogram

Statistics are in - what a year it's been! Over 34kg of food harvested, eaten, transformed or frozen. Variety was omnipresent, providing enough food for the insects and continuous grazing for the humans over 4 months of Canadian summer.

Show and tell of the 2018 urban garden vegetable plot story...

But it’s not all over yet! Green tomatoes will be pickled, record-breaking (in height) Jerusalem artichokes should be dug out after the first frost, kolrabis, celeriacs and parsnips are slowly growing until their harvest time. 

I carefully recorded species selection at the start of the season, attempted to update data when seedlings failed and were restarted and weighed the outputs throughout the harvest season. Not all details managed to be logged; still, enough to give an idea as to what went in and what grew up!

N.B. This was mainly grown across THREE areas (approx 4x8 feet), the smallest ONE being a 2x8 planter, and a few pots (mainly herbs). 

Infographic: Plantation to Harvest 2018

[pinklooch]

Les Fros

En Abitibi, à des centaines de kilomètres de la ville, des milliers de travailleurs montent au Nord, comme Jos Montferrand ou François Paradis. Ces bûcherons du XXIe siècle ...

I saw this docu-film last week which depicts the act of clearing forest land by means of brushcutters. It features a few of the workers, mostly foreigners, arduously working their portable cutting machines across the inhospitable Quebec forests in the North. 

Unknown to most, these manually demanding jobs are not for the faint hearted. Working requires strong mental determination as well as physical stamina, due to the long and lonely hours, away from home and family, and the isolated camp life it requires. 

The documentary did not go into the why’s of this practice, but rather into the personalities of the workers and reasons that made them join this gang of blue-collared forest managers. 

So I asked myself, what is the point of all this? To prevent fires? Yes but not only, as the meagre scale of these human-led operations constitute only a fraction of the land mass covered by forest and would not prevent much reprieve to fire containment strategies. The point is, as I understand, to promote healthy growth of larger trees in order for them to reach their optimum sizes without competition from smaller infant trees sapping their energy from the soil. 

As such, the recipients - forestry companies - want to ensure that well established trees get their space to mature into one day exploitable and profitable specimen. 

A sequel, or rather reverse side of the story would be nice, to understand what happens next to these trees. How effective are these operations? What are the best ways to undertake these clearings? I wonder, seeing all this hardship in todays’ world where physical effort is being abandonned by young people especially, if methods for easing the forest clearing task would perhaps help continue this needed practice….

…One for the forest operations optimization professionals to combine with film makers to answer my questions :)

[enviromatters]

How much do you know about trees and cities?

Take the quick 10-question quizz here. 

I’m an Urban Park, i.e. I have a bit more studying to do!

[enviromatters]

Canadian Institute of Forestry on Instagram: “#DYK that there is wood product in ice-cream?! 🍦🌲 You'd be surprised to learn how many commonly used, everyday items contain wood product.…”

19 Likes, 1 Comments - Canadian Institute of Forestry (@cif_ifc) on Instagram: “#DYK that there is wood product in ice-cream?! 🍦🌲 You'd be surprised to learn how many commonly…”

Love the gifs on this link 🌳 🌲 - So instructive too!

[pinklooch]

Les Fros

En Abitibi, à des centaines de kilomètres de la ville, des milliers de travailleurs montent au Nord, comme Jos Montferrand ou François Paradis. Ces bûcherons du XXIe siècle ...

I saw this docu-film last week which depicts the act of clearing forest land by means of brushcutters. It features a few of the workers, mostly foreigners, arduously working their portable cutting machines across the inhospitable Quebec forests in the North. 

Unknown to most, these manually demanding jobs are not for the faint hearted. Working requires strong mental determination as well as physical stamina, due to the long and lonely hours, away from home and family, and the isolated camp life it requires. 

The documentary did not go into the why’s of this practice, but rather into the personalities of the workers and reasons that made them join this gang of blue-collared forest managers. 

So I asked myself, what is the point of all this? To prevent fires? Yes but not only, as the meagre scale of these human-led operations constitute only a fraction of the land mass covered by forest and would not prevent much reprieve to fire containment strategies. The point is, as I understand, to promote healthy growth of larger trees in order for them to reach their optimum sizes without competition from smaller infant trees sapping their energy from the soil. 

As such, the recipients - forestry companies - want to ensure that well established trees get their space to mature into one day exploitable and profitable specimen. 

A sequel, or rather reverse side of the story would be nice, to understand what happens next to these trees. How effective are these operations? What are the best ways to undertake these clearings? I wonder, seeing all this hardship in todays’ world where physical effort is being abandonned by young people especially, if methods for easing the forest clearing task would perhaps help continue this needed practice….

…One for the forest operations optimization professionals to combine with film makers to answer my questions :)

[enviromatters]

Vegetable plot July status

Last spring, some friends and I launched the ‘Women who suc-seed’ group - cheesy name but appropriate, as the mission was to exchange seeds for the upcoming growing season. 

After a few months of sun and heat, we are happily seeing the fruit (literally) of our labour and initial struggles to narrow down the types of tomato, salad, beans etc that we would grow. 

Gardening, and especially harvesting your fresh produce minutes before eating it brings such a satisfactory feeling. Here’s to ongoing growth and continued joy from garden to stomach!

[enviromatters]

If all you hear these days are chainsaw sounds, it’s probably because there’s lots of tree cutting going on. 

I was amazed to watch the sad yet necessary show that was my neighbor’s maple tree being cut last fall after violent storms ripped it (and parts of his house) apart. A team of 3 arborists worked collectively to gradually cut down this huge feature of their garden and our sky view, relentlessly for a few days. 

Although the tree dust smelt nice, the noise did go on for quite a while. Sadly,  it was not possible for the owners to keep any of the larger pieces, as a momento, for instance to recycle as a table stand. 

In all, I observed what it takes to do this unusual job - a  desire to live dangerously, teamwork and a love of heights + trees of course, even if you have to cut them down completely. 

[enviromatters]

Suburban harvests have begun. Happy to present my first 85g of Saskatoon berry or Juneberry, i.e. the fruit from the more commonly known “amélanchier”. Tasting a little like blueberry, I managed to pick some before the birds snatch them, from the tree we planted around 2 years ago.  Along with a healthy and steady harvest of greens from the back garden vegi-patch projects (aragula, rapini, peas, kale and salads so far), this years’ harvest is looking promising! It is already proving one can cut down on grocery $$$ from a little investment and lots of gardening energy/creativity put into a little suburban green space.

[pinklooch]

Why Heirlooms Seeds Matter

Heirloom seeds, along with heirloom herbs and flowers have seen a tremendous growth in the past few years. Why do heirloom seeds matter?

Gardening Season Begins! How to ‘suc-seed’ keeping natural species strong

Photo: Sayanjo65/Shutterstock

My friends and I love gardening and we recently decided to meet and share ideas and tips about the upcoming planting season. 

We’re starting a group whose mission is to help each other in matters related to planting, starting with indoor seedlings. 

As we are mainly focusing on vegetables and herbs, we are seeking to start early (hence the indoor seedlings) to maximize the little plants’ fruitful lifespan as they will be subject to a short Canadian summer. And, as we all like to be healthy and authentic, we ordered a bunch of seeds from rare & endangered seed suppliers, such as Manitoba-based Heritage Harvest Seed. 

In a bid to preserve vegetable and flower species that have been around for centuries, their goal is to preserve “time honoured cherished heirlooms”. 

Not only does it make sense to use seeds that have been around in a native region as they help preserve local nature, these seeds also provide more genetic diversity than modern varieties which through genetic modification (or not) are often produced for the mass market whose values often differ from those of the domestic gardner (e.g. high productivity versus taste).  Indeed, Heritage Harvest Seed claim their products are well known for exceptional taste, aroma and higher nutrient content - We shall test and hopefully agree at the end of the 2018 season! 

To be continued…

[atmospheric-phenomena]

Antarctica from the Space © courtesy NASA

[karlrincon]

Happy Earth Day 🌎.

[emergentfutures]

New Data Show Electric Vehicles Continue to Get Cleaner

New data from the US EPA on power plant greenhouse gas emissions are in, and electric vehicles (EV) in the US are even cleaner than they were before. The climate change emissions created by driving on electricity depend on where you live, but on average, an EV driving on electricity in the U.S. toda

[enviromatters]

⚡ 🔌 🚙 Good news considering  there were over 32,000 Hybrids,  nearly 15,000 Battery Electrics and over 10,000 Plug-in Hybrids sold in the U.S. in 2017, according to HybridCars.com.  

[enviromatters]

L’ACCESSIBILITÉ – UN ENJEU MAJEUR POUR PROMOUVOIR LES TRANSPORTS EN COMMUN

Photo: courtesy of Transport for All. 

De nombreuses personnes privilégient l'usage de transports individuels car, pour diverses raisons, ils rencontrent de gros problèmes d'accessibilité lorsqu'ils veulent utiliser les transports publics. Cette amélioration de l'accessibilité constitue un enjeu majeur et un défi à relever pour ces derniers. Pour optimiser la qualité des services qui devront être mis en œuvre, il faut tout d'abord bien comprendre la nature des difficultés rencontrées.

Des obstacles variés affectent diverses démographies 

Plusieurs catégories de personnes éprouvent des difficultés physiques pour prendre les transports en commun notamment les personnes âgées et celles avec des handicaps ou incapacités permanentes.

Le vieillissement de la population est prévue de s'accentuer jusqu'en 2056 selon Transport Canada allant de pair avec une augmentation des handicaps  et, par là-même, une demande accrue de services de transports accessibles aux personnes à mobilité réduite.

D'autre part, une étude de 2012 montre que 10% des Québécois de 15 ans ou plus vivant en ménage privé, ont une incapacité pouvant affecter l'agilité, la mobilité, l'audition, la vision, beaucoup ayant recours pour les aider à des aides techniques (canne, fauteuil roulant etc.).

Enfin, il ne faut pas oublier  les usagers temporairement gênés dans leurs déplacements quotidiens par un « handicap » provisoire : voyageurs avec valises, usagers chargés de sacs à provision ou utilisant une poussette,  travailleurs transportant leur matériel professionnel.

Une étude de l’OPHQ a identifié 33 obstacles principaux aux déplacements des personnes handicapées, se rapportant notamment aux services de transport collectif régulier et de transport adapté. Parmi celles-ci, 27% éprouvaient des difficultés notamment pour monter à bord et descendre de véhicules ou effectuer des correspondances.  

Les besoins spéciaux en matière de transport sont donc nécessaires afin de permettre à ces personnes plus vulnérables de se déplacer, par exemple autour d’hôpitaux (Encadré 1).

Une meilleure conception globale des infrastructures est nécessaire

Pour permettre l’utilisation d’un système de transport collectif inclusif – et sans obstacle - il est nécessaire d’utiliser une approche intégrative, participative et flexible afin de proposer des solutions intelligentes.

La planification est cruciale pour que les solutions d’ingénierie soient adaptées aux situations actuelles et facilement reconfigurables selon les besoins (réparations des axes, nouveaux aménagements, diversions, etc).  

Malheureusement, des incohérences demeurent concernant l’aménagement des infrastructure de transport (Encadré 2).  Les politiques et autorités de transports se doivent d’être logiques et cohérentes, notamment en matière d’intermodalité et ce dès la conception des systèmes de transports pour permettre l’accessibilité d’un bout à l’autre.

Des solutions ‘end-to-end’ pour optimiser l’accès aux services

Des solutions techniques sont à notre portée. Elles seront d'autant plus efficaces si elles sont portées par la  consultation et la participation active des usagers concernés qui doivent devenir les champions de leur propre mobilité.

Des technologies comme celles proposées par Eco-Counter, qui déploie des bornes de comptage du traffic pédestre et à vélo, permettent d’analyser les déplacements à des emplacements stratégiques de manière objective. Ce type d’information complémentaire pourrait être utile aux gestionnaires urbains devant gérer et développer des milieux à vocation multi-modale.