SOIL : The Secret Solution to Global Warming

The new online video SOIL: The Secret Solution to Global Warming (22 minutes) addresses the number one and number two concerns of citizens: It can be executed at no extra cost, could lead to significant health care savings and provides industry with time to reduce their greenhouse emissions.

In the video, Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser makes the case: shifting existing subsidies to sustainable organic farming practices could offset greenhouse emissions 10% to 20% by annually sequester millions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere by storing more carbon in the soil. (597 million for the USA, 152 million for Canada and 56 million for the UK)

Percy Schmeiser is a Saskatchewan canola farmer who was charged with patent infringement by Monsanto in 1997 and brought it all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. In October of 2000, Schmeiser received the Mahatma Gandhi Award for working for the good of mankind in a non-violent way.

A 23-year comparable study by the Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania clearly demonstrates that land farmed organically through methods like no till and winter cover crops, absorb 30% more CO2 than conventionally farmed land. This translates to a decrease of 1.8 metric tonnes of CO2 in the atmosphere per acre of land converted to organic farming methods. In turn the extra carbon in the soil increases food nutrients, which could reduce healthcare costs by billions.

According to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, healthier diets could prevent at least $71 billion per year in medical costs, lost productivity and lost lives.

SOIL: The Secret Solution to Global Warming can be watched here at Quantum Shift TV, a Canadian web-based television network who has proposed a government policy that could reduce greenhouse emissions by 10% to 20%.

If you agree with the content of the video and want to do something about global warming and the quality of life of future generations, please take time to vote on policy proposal via online poll at Quantum Shift TV.

For those interested in learning more about the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade, I strongly recommend viewing the documentaries The Future of Food.

Get Naturally High at Whistler Wellness

Whistler gets "Naturally High" at the opening reception of Whistler Wellness Week last Saturday.

Whistler Wellness Week will Showcase an Incredible Collection of Wellness

Whistler Wellness Week from May 5 to May 13th will be a 10 day festival offering many of the wonderful wellness opportunities. This is the 2nd year of Whistler Wellness Week and 4th year of the Wellness Fair.

The organizers of Wellness Week and the Wellness Fair have again joined forces. The informative Wellness Fair will be held this year at the Whistler Telus Conference Centre on Saturday May 12th.

Whistler wellness encompasses many traditional practices and will also profile a collection of innovative and specialized wellness therapies. From our traditional recreational products such as skiing, snowboarding, golf and mountain biking to varied unique therapies and spiritual practices the diversity makes Whistler a wonderful wellness destination. Darlene Samer of Whistler Wellness comments that “This year’s version of Whistler Wellness Week will enhance the profile of local business and will also offer a selection of activities from wellness specialists outside of Whistler.”

“The support from the wellness community in first year was incredible and began to build a foundation that will help us grow and build on our vision as North America’s premier wellness festival” states co-founder of Whistler Wellness, Glenn Iles.

Whistler Wellness Week was created to help build awareness of the incredible variety of wellness offerings within our mountain community and to offer a variety of unique and interesting wellness opportunities to both visitors and locals during the week.

For more information visit Whistler Wellness at www.whistlerwellness.com

Get inspired by an artistic evening on Earth Day with Hilltrip

Building on the momentum of Step it Up series, Hilltrip is happy to invite the community to come to the sixth and final Step it Up event at MAXX FISH, nicely coordinated to happen on Earth Day. Celebrated every April 22, Earth Day is the largest, most celebrated environmental event worldwide. First launched as an environmental awareness event in the United States in 1970, Earth Day is celebrated as the birth of the environmental movement and is the only event celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities.

For Step it Up no6, Hilltrip is presenting an Expression Session including Kostaman & The Vibrations opening at 7pm sharp, followed by a slate of local artists including Angie Nolan with poems, MollyFi with spoken words, Daniel Poisson and Chris Dyer with visual art, Chili Thom & Feet Banks with “High in the Mountain”, Animal Nation with a few raps, John Parris with a few mixes and more.

At 10pm, the winners for the Earth Raffle will be draw. Everybody attending the Expression Session will have a chance to enter the raffle to win one of the grand prizes by writing their name at the back of a Step it Up flyer and dropping it off at the Surfrider table during the session. All the ballots collected trough the whole series will be included in the raffle, so people who entered at previous Step it Up sessions will have their chances to win. Prizes include a 3-day Surf Experience Expedition sponsored by Deep Snow & Surf Experience, an Option snowboard, a pair of SPY goggle, O’Neill goodies among other.

After 10pm, Rainbo and Lexi Moon will perform hula hoops go-go dances to the sound of DJ Jamie Vale.

Also on the sensory extravaganza menu is Martinis at Midnight offering the ‘Oxymoron’ martini, a martini with a healthy twist containing FrequenSea, a unique ‘Superfood’ discovery containing all of Mother Nature’s essential nutrients. This martini has so much good stuff in it that it will relieve all the guilt of consuming alcohol.

“There are so many good messages from artistic expressions; and art is also a powerful catalyst for change. This event is going to be Hilltrip’s 3rd Earth Day event in Whistler and I hope to inspire people to be part of the solutions and care for our planet thought different art forms” says Marie Fortin, event organizer. “April 22 is the last day of the TWSSF, so this last Step it Up event will be like a cleansing evening for the body and the soul and a great way to close the festival and the series in beauty.”

Admission is a $10 donation and includes a free Cool Tag from Clif Bar and a beer from Whistler Brewing Company. A Cool Tag™ is a renewable wind energy credit that will keep an estimated 300 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) — the main contributor to global warming — out of the air. That’s roughly the same as neutralizing the global warming emissions generated from traveling 300 miles (more than 480 kms) in the average car.

As with every Step it Up event, proceed will support the Snowrider Project, a campaign of the Surfrider Foundation, which aims to bring greater understanding of the hydrological cycle and foster a sense of stewardship towards alpine and valley watersheds. One major initiative for Snowrider is organizing local mountain clean-ups in spring after the snow melts to pick up garbage haphazardly littered during the season by skiers and boarders.

Thanks to Clif Bar, Whistler Brewing Company, O’Neill, Option Snowboards, Spy. Deep Snow & Surf Experience and Maxx Fish for their support on the Step it Up series.

For more info visit www.hilltrip.com

Take Action on Global Waming

Write to your MP to ask him/her to take action on climate change now. Just copy our format letter to your email, add your name and send it.

Click here for our Format Letter to fight Global Warming here >>


Click here to get the email of your MP >>

Will Environmental Policy Shift with New Minister?

With the appointment of John Baird as environment minister on January 4th, the Conservative government has a new opportunity to deliver regulations and programs that protect Canada’s ecosystems and meet our international obligations says Sierra Club of Canada.

“John Baird is no environmentalist but he is an experienced cabinet minister. Still, he cannot succeed in the difficult environment portfolio unless he has a clear mandate to act from Prime Minister Stephen Harper,” said Stephen Hazell, executive director of Sierra Club of Canada.

The Prime Minister’s mandate to Minister Baird and other ministers regarding Climate Change must include:
• Recommitting to meeting Canada’s Kyoto targets and redeeming Canada’s international reputation;
• Accelerating issuance of regulations that reduce industrial emissions of greenhouse gases and drive innovations in energy efficiency;
• Eliminating the $1.5billion in annual subsidies to the oil and gas sector; and
• Regulating California vehicle emissions standards.

“This is an opportunity for the government to show real commitment to meeting its obligation to enforce the Species at Risk Act,” said Jean Langlois, national campaigns director of Sierra Club of Canada.

The Prime Minister’s mandate to Minister Baird and other ministers regarding Species at Risk must include:
• Keeping politics out of the listing of species at risk in Canada, which must be based on science;
• Ensuring that recovery strategies identify the habitat that species need; and
• Taking effective action to protect habitat.

Sierra Club of Canada hopes this Minister will bring a spirit of cooperation and consultation with all Canadians, and a commitment to halt human-caused climate change and loss of biodiversity.

Posting from The Sierra Club of Canada Press Released on January 4th, 2007.

Have a GREEN Christmas Holiday and a Happy New Year!

During the year, Canadians generate more waste per capita than any other country in the world, with a significant increase during the holiday season.

It is known that our choices have the biggest impact on the environment in 3 areas: transportation, energy use and food choices. Christmas is time for excess – more traveling, more consuming and more eating. For the occasion, Hilltrip thought educating people about how making informed choices during the holiday season could reduce their environmental footprint and be good for their own body environment by organizing a Sustainable Food Session in Whistler on December 22^nd. The session covered the concepts of SLOW food, RAW food and SUPER food and there was a slide show to give ideas to people on how they can green their holidays. Those ideas have been posted bellow so that YOU too can learn about how you can GREEN Christmas Holiday and a Happy New Year!

GREEN Gift Ideas
• Give gift certificates such as dinner out, massage, yoga, movie passes and theatre tickets
• Donate in somebody’s name to a local charity or non-profit
• Adopt an animal or a wild space though the World Wildlife Fund
• Make your own gifts from the kitchen such as cookies in reusable containers
• Make you own crafty gifts such as pictures frames, necklaces or beanies

Change your Buying Behaviors
• Buy less! Pick names this year instead of buying for everyone on your list
• Buy used, buy secondhand , buy recycled
• Buy local…food that has traveled less is fresher, tastier and contribute less to global warming.

Wrapping it Up
• Wrap your gifts in reused gift bags, newspaper, towels, or cloth bags instead of gift wrap...it’s the intention that counts right!?!
• If you buy wrapping paper, make sure it’s made of post-consumer paper

GREEN Decorating
• Use LED Christmas lights
• Use material that can be composted
• Make your own wreathes of tree branches and pinecones

Planning Ahead
• Plan your shopping trips…drive less and fight global warming.
• When traveling, take the bus, organize car pooling and use a fuel-efficient car…offset the emissions you produce by buying carbon credits.
• Plan your menu to avoid leftovers that end up in the garbage.

Food Choices
• Informed food choices can be a good way to reduce your impact during Christmas and throughout your entire life
• Buy locally and buy organic
• Cut back on meat
• Compost your organic waste
• Learn about SLOW, RAW and SUPER foods.

Resources:
www.slowfood.com
www.slowfood.ca
www.winningteamsolutions.com
www.hilltrip.com

For more info on Hilltrip’s Sustainable Food Session please read the Press Release by clicking here.

Roll-N-Green at Nedfest 2006

Lately, I was part of the Nedfest 2006 for the Roll-N-Green visual production. We attached the biodiesel program to it because there’s different way to Roll-N-Green, especially in boulder. Support the farmer and explain to people that the can make there own difference......because actions speak louder than words!

Biodiesel FYI

A 1998 biodiesel lifecycle study, jointly sponsored by the US Department of Energy and the US Department of Agriculture, concluded biodiesel reduces net CO2 emissions by 78% compared to petroleum diesel. This is due to biodiesel’s closed carbon cycle. The CO2 released into the atmosphere when biodiesel is burned is recycled by growing plants, witch are later processed into fuel.

Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to have fully completed the health effects testing requirement of the clean air act. I found biodiesel here in Fort Collins in two different stations. They had been in operation for the last 3 years and they just opened a new one in Boulder, Colorado.

Using biodiesel reduces carbon monoxide, lifecycle carbon dioxide, ozone-forming-hydrocarbons, acid rain-causing sulfur dioxide and hazardous diesel particulates.

Kate

Note: This post is part of Hilltrip.com’s Carbon Offset Program, which helped Kathleen Marcotte convert her car to run on biodiesel to travel south of Whistler and than back to Quebec. While traveling Kate wrote stories about her biodiesel experience and they are now available here on TerraTrip.org’s blog for everyone to read.