stop the tankers?

you can sign the petition to stop tankers in northern coastal waters

5 reasons why

1. The certainty of spills At a rate of 130 tankers a year traveling through the Hectate Strait, Queen Charlotte Sound and the Douglas Channel oil spills are a matter of when and how large, not if. Industry averages suggest that there would be a "moderate" spill of over 1,000 barrels every 6-7 years and a "major" spill of over 10,000 barrels every 16 years.

2. The impossible clean-up In ideal conditions the oil industry considers a 15% clean-up of spills a success, a target they have never actually achieved. The deeply indented coastline of northern BC poses far from ideal conditions. Extreme weather and the lack of natural flushing in the Douglas Channel will make cleanup from the inevitable spills even more difficult.

3. The local ecology Tankers would be traveling along the labyrinthine coastline of BC, through grey whale migratory routes, past approximately 650 salmon spawning rivers and through the feeding grounds for humpback and orca whales. Over 20 threatened and endangered species would be negatively impacted by a spill.

4. Jobs and communities An oil spill would devastate the coastal communities and First Nations that rely on tourism and fishing for their livelihoods. Cruise ships take between 300,000 - 500,000 people a year through the inside passage to Prince Rupert. BC's coastal fishery generates over $1.7 billion and more than 16,000 jobs.

5. Global warming Oil tankers in BC facilitate the massive projected expansion of the Alberta tar sands, the single largest contributor to the growth of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. A barrel of tar sands crude takes 5 to 10 times more energy to produce than a barrel of conventional oil.

action to increase awareness

robert bateman's symbolic gesture:
black paint brushed on a digital reproduction
read article

would real oil spilled on a real painting have been much more of a statement?

the story of stuff

have you seen the story of stuff with Annie Leonard?
click here
makes sense to me. you, too?

plastic is made from oil

we all know that right? 72% of americans surveyed didn't
> want to know know more about plastics? what's happening anyway?!
please see fake plastic fish

sustainable placemats

got newspaper flyers?
why not weave 100% recycled and recycleable place mats?
aren't these loverly?! low tech beauty ;)

sustainability clues

A handy list of questions that give general clues as to the environmental sustainability of a product can be found at www.worldwise.com

sustainable dish cloths

in thinking about something that I could make out of 100% post consumer materials, I came up with dish cloths

(I know, I know, dish cloths can be bought for $ .99 just up the street, but these last longer, are nicer & actually cost way less)




there is joy in finding
the materials,
in making, in gifting
& in using



the lovely metal knitting needles were found at a thrift shop
made in canada, fingertip, size 9
the yarn is 100% cotton or close, whatever's at the local thrift shop

the colours? as I find them, some beautiful beiges - really
the textures? lovely - smooth, bumpy & lumpy

















the adventure is in seeing the yarn "knit-up"
the fascination is in knowing it's just one continuous thread,
all looped & knotted

the oh so low tech method for knitting on the diagonal:
* co4, k 1 row
* next row, k2 inc in next st, k1
* next row, k2,yo,k to end of row
* repeat the k2, yo, k
until one side is as wide as you want the final dish cloth
* next row, k1, k2Tog, yo, k2Tog, k to end of row
* continue to do this, decreasing each row until 5 stitches are left
* then, k2, k2Tog, k1
* k 2 rows
* cast off the 4 stitches
* with a darning needle sew in the yarn ends