CHBE Sustainability Newsletter (February 2010)
Caroline Cloutier
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Canada Hitchhiking Down the US Road to Recovery
The 2010 US budget outlined today by President Obama focused on bringing the US out of deficit and unemployment. By putting a freeze on most
government spending and increasing taxes on the wealthy Obama has decided to move the US towards economic sustainability. Although it
would be inspiring to see Americans land on the moon again, the 250 million saved through the scrapping of that program will likely go to
better use elsewhere. It's good to see the US president making tough, unpopular decisions in order to get the country back on track.
The same cannot be said for the current Canadian government. Instead giving budget speeches, and outlining how they plan on dealing with the
mounting deficit and continuing high unemployment, the Harper government has decided to take a vacation in order to attend the Olympics. In fact
the only conservative press conference I have seen in recent weeks has been regarding the snow situation at Cypress. It's time to stop playing
political games and get back to work. Get to work reducing the deficit. Get to work on reducing unemployment. Get to work reducing CO2
emissions. Just get to work!!James, CHBE Sustainability Club President
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Comment this newsletter on our blog: http://chbe-sustainability-club.blogspot.com/*Got an event to share? Email my teammate Saul: saul...@gmail.com*
*Got news to share? Email my teammate Caroline: cclo...@chbe.ubc.ca*
http://groups.google.com/group/CHBE-Sustainability
News Section
In the news:
*Good news*
UN's International Year of Biodiversity Kicks Off in Berlin
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=608&ArticleID=6441&l=en
UNEP to lead environmental recovery efforts in Haiti
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=608&ArticleID=6448&l=en
Haiti Earthquake: Converting Shipping Containers into Emergency Housing
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100115182633.htm
Federal Spending on Wind Farms a Smart Investment
Pollutants plucked from air with copper
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100114/full/news.2010.12.html
*Bad news*
Models Foresee More-Intense Hurricanes in the Greenhouse
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/327/5964/399
Major environmental issues arising for Haiti recovery
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=608&ArticleID=6454&l=en
UNEP and WGMS report highlights global trends on glaciers and ice caps
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=608&ArticleID=6449&l=en&t=long
Ignoring Oil Sands Impacts Undermines Pipeline Review
http://bc.pembina.org/media-release/1957
Algal power not so green after all, yet
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527452.800-algal-power-not-so-green-after-all-yet.html
In French:
Les 100 entreprises les plus responsables au monde
http://novae.ca/article.aspx?id=33693
Des réseaux intelligents pour économiser l'énergie
Le FMI propose la création d'un "fonds vert"
In More Details:
Climate-induced hotspots in surface energy fluxes from 1948 to 2000
http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1748-9326/5/1/014001/erl10_1_014001.html
An issue of trust: state corruption, responsibility and greenhouse gas emissions
http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1748-9326/5/1/014004/erl10_1_014004.html
Sustainable Habitation:
2010 Winter Olympics Village in Vancouver Going Green
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/07/10/2010-winter-olympics-going-green/
Sustainable Transportation:
Ahmedabad wins Sustainable Transport Award 2010
http://www.igovernment.in/site/ahmedabad-wins-sustainable-transport-award-2010-36662
Next Steps after Copenhagen: Transportation
http://www.wri.org/stories/2010/01/next-steps-after-copenhagen-transportation
7 car-free cities
http://www.mnn.com/transportation/cars/photos/7-car-free-cities/independent-of-the-auto#image
Air Liquide's Hydrogen Energy Technologies Filling BC Transit's Zero-Emission Bus Fleet
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2010/22/c3277.html
Take Action:
Save Talamone Bay in Italy
http://passport.panda.org/campaigns/campaign.cfm?uNC=77660049&uCampaignId=1981
Stop Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
http://environment.change.org/actions/view/stop_mountaintop_removal_coal_mining
Preserve Suffield National Wildlife Area with Your Letter
http://supporter.naturecanada.ca/site/PageServer?pagename=ActionAlert_Suffield2009
The Mealy Mountains are a global treasure worth preserving
http://supporter.naturecanada.ca/site/PageServer?pagename=ActionAlert_Mealy
Conferences:
Living Plants, Liveable Communities: Exploring Sustainable Horticulture for the 21st Century
6 to 19 February 2010, Burlington, Ontario, Canada http://rbg.ca/cisb/2010symp/
Upwind Downwind 2010: Air Knows No Boundaries
22 February 2010, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada http://www.cleanair.hamilton.ca
Cleantech Forum XXVI, San Francisco: Taking Cleantech To Scale 24 to 26 February 2010, San Francisco, California, United States
http://cleantech.com/sanfranciscoforum
The Third Annual Sustainability Summit: After Copenhagen: How can business face the climate change challenge
25 February 2010, London, United Kingdom http://www.economistconferences.co.uk/event/third-annual-sustainability-summit/176
Events Section
UBC Events:
1. NOW! No Other World Conference: Sustainability Talks
2. International Health Aid: What can we learn from Cuba?
3. Experience Winter at UBC Botanical Garden during the Games
Vancouver Events:
1. Marlyna Los - Guest Expert on Feng Shui; Feb 06, 2010
2. Darwin Turns 201 - The Life and times of Charles Darwin; Feb 09, 2010
3. Harnessing the Economic Advantages of Going Green: a Webinar with Andrew Winston; Feb 09, 2010
4. 2010 GreenStream Event; Feb 11, 2010
5. Guest Expert Speaker Series - Chris Mattock on Harmony Housing Project; Feb 13, 2010
UBC Event Details:
NOW! No Other World Conference: Sustainability Talks apply to speak today
• Date: March 11th-13th, 2010
• Location: UBC (mixed locations)
• Cost: Free for students
• Organizer: Common Energy UBC and UBC Student Environment Centre
• Details: If you have an idea about climate change or sustainability? Come share it at the NOW! UBC Climate Change Conference! NOW! is a climate action conference empowering students to become climate leaders through their lifestyles, careers, and political voices. UBC's March 2010 NOW! UBC Climate Change Conference is seeking inspirational and creative speakers for the talk of their life! Selected talks will be centered around sustainability or climate change ideas, innovations, or insights with the aim of promoting sustainable thinking and motivating students towards climate activism. Talks will take place on March 13, 2010, specific time slot TBA shortly. To apply: Please send your name, contact info, one paragraph about yourself, and one paragraph outlining your talk idea (approx. 200 words each) to now...@gmail.com. Applicants do not need to be UBC students. SFU, UVic & high school students as well as community members are encouraged to apply. DEADLINE is February 28th, 2010.
• Website: http://nowubc.wordpress.com/
International Health Aid: What can we learn from Cuba?
• Date: Tuesday, February 9, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
• Location: Liu Institute for Global Issues, Multipurpose Room
• 6476 NW Marine Drive, UBC
• Cost: Free
• Organizer: Liu Institute for Global Issues
• Details: The Haiti earthquake has drawn the world’s attention to the vulnerabilities of people living in low and middle income countries where capacities to respond to daily health needs remains dangerously weak. Despite the outpouring of humanitarian aid in the aftermath of this tragedy, and furthermore the billions of dollars going to global health in the past decade, we see that international health aid has contributed very little to building capabilities in countries for responding to day-to-day needs, let alone crises like the recent earthquake. The small island nation of Cuba has not only produced excellent health results in a low income country, but has contributed tens of thousands of health workers internationally and has trained over 15,000 medical students from low and middle income countries for areas where they are needed. This session will explore what we can learn from this example – and how we can apply such lessons. Watch the trailer and find out more at
• Website: http://www.saludthefilm.net/ns/index.html
Experience Winter at UBC Botanical Garden during the Games
• Date: Feb. 12 – Feb. 28, Daily Drop-in tours 11am-12pm
• Location: UBC Botanical Garden
• Cost: Free
• Organizer: UBC Botanical Gardens
• Details: Visit Canada’s oldest continually operating University Botanical Garden. Includes over 8000 different plants in roughly 12 000 living accessions. As well as Botanical and Nitobe gardens, nursery, greenhouses, research plots (Totem Field), and research laboratories. For more information:
• Website: Visit ubcbotanicalgarden.org or call 604-822-4208
Vancouver Event Details:
Marlyna Los - Guest Expert on Feng Shui; Feb 06, 2010
• 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
• Location: 2060 Pine Street, Vancouver
• Organizer: Light House Sustainable Building Centre
• Details: What does classical Feng Shui have to do with Sustainability and the environment? Marlyna Los will present a discussion on classical Feng Shui, its application and benefits. Most of what is regarded as Feng Shui is in fact something that was created in the last 30 years and is very loosely related to the principles of feng shui. Discussion will include, what is good Feng Shui and why many buildings today that fall under good design environmentally are not considered good feng shui and from that perspective how it does not benefit the inhabitants. Cost: $5. Due to space limitations, please RSVP by 5pm on Friday to in...@sustainablebuildingcentre.com or 604-682-5960 for guaranteed entrance.
• Website: http://www.sustainablebuildingcentre.com/event/%5Btitle%5D_117
Darwin Turns 201 - The Life and times of Charles Darwin; Feb 09, 2010
• 7:00 PM
• Location: Aquatic Ecosystems Research Labs Auditorium
• Organizer: The Beaty Biodiversity Museum
• Details: Dr. Greg Bole tells us more about the man behind the idea. We'll see if we can't manage a birthday surprise for the guest of honour while we have him. Greg Bole is a Biology Instructor at the University of British Columbia and recpient of the 2007/08 Faculty of Science Killam Prize for Excellence in Teaching. His Ph.D. is in Ecology and Evolution from the University of Stony Brook, NY for work on sexual selection and speciation in fireflies. Bole also has an interest in acting and has been portraying a young Charles Darwin for the past four years to classes and conferences in a wide variety of locations. Registration required. Details online.
• Website: http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/events/lifeandtimes.html
Harnessing the Economic Advantages of Going Green: a Webinar with Andrew Winston; Feb 09, 2010
• 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
• Location: webinar
• Organizer: The Board of Change
• Details: Start your business off on the right foot for 2010! Andrew Winston is a globally recognized expert and speaker and green business, and has helped companies large and small tackle environmental issues. Andrew has advised Fortune 1000 companies such as IKEA, Coca-Cola, and Bank of America on profitting from environmental thinking. He is co-author of Green to Gold, and author of Green Recovery. Andrew will provide details and examples on how going green establishes your competitive positioning and help you emerge even stronger into a vastly changed economy: - Get Lean: Amp up your energy and resource efficiency to survive tough time - Get Smart: Use environmental data about products and supply chains for competitive advantage - Get Creative: Rejuvenate your innovation efforts by asking heretical questions such as “How would $500 a barrel change my business?” - Get Going: Engage and excite employees to solve the company’s, the customer’s, and the world’s environmental challenges. Participate in the webinar at your desk or join us on location in downtown Vancouver. Register today!
• Website: http://boardofchange.eventbrite.com/
2010 GreenStream Event; Feb 11, 2010
• 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
• Location: Lighthouse Sustainable Building Centre, 2060 Pine Street
• Organizer: Green Earth Organics
• Details: Calling all Vancouver Sustainable Organizations and Businesses! Join us to Celebrate and Show the World How Vancouver is Making Green the Mainstream. *Green. Sustainable. Environmentally Responsible. Social Justice. Zero Waste. Carbon Neutral. Changemakers. Call it what you will, but if the core of your work is making a positive difference in the world, then you must be at GreenStream 2010! Join other like minded, values based Vancouver organizations and businesses in celebrating and showing the world how Vancouver is making 'Green' Mainstream. Join us for a fun gathering of the sustainable community, media and world visitors on Thursday, February 11th from 5-8pm. Help us make this a great event by inviting friends, visitors, colleagues and whoever else needs to be there! Join us for an informal and highly social gathering of the sustainable community, media and world visitors. Let's stand with our Mayor and show the world how we are realizing our Green Dream of making Vancouver the Green Capital by 2020.
• Website: http://greenearthorganics.blogspot.com/2010/01/vancouver-is-living-green-dream-by.html
Guest Expert Speaker Series - Chris Mattock on Harmony Housing Project; Feb 13, 2010
• 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
• Location: 2060 Pine Street
• Organizer: Lighthouse Sustainable Building Centre
• Details: Chris Mattock will present on three recent green building projects. These will include the Harmony House Equilibrium net zero energy infill home project to be built this spring in Burnaby, the Tsuchiya Twoby Home Net Zero Energy Home constructed in Sapporo Japan and a six story dormitory building constructed at the Shandong Architectural University in Jinan China. All three projects incorporate a range of innovative energy conserving and renewable energy technologies that will be presented and discussed. Cost $5
• Website: http://www.sustainablebuildingcentre.com/event/%5Btitle%5D_113
The newsletter team include James Butler and Alexandre Vigneault for the comments, Ali Shafiei and Caroline R. Cloutier for the news,
Rebecca Beaton for the UBC events, and Saul Pazos-Knoop for the Vancouver events.
Vous avez reçu ce message, car vous êtes abonné au groupe Groupe "CHBE Sustainability Club" de Google Groupes.Pour transmettre des messages à ce groupe, envoyez un e-mail à l'adresse CHBE-Sust...@googlegroups.comPour résilier votre abonnement à ce groupe, envoyez un e-mail à l'adresse CHBE-Sustainabi...@googlegroups.comPour afficher d'autres options, visitez ce groupe à l'adresse http://groups.google.com/group/CHBE-Sustainability?hl=en
**
The newsletter team includes Alexandre Vigneault and James Butler for the
comments, Ali Shafiei and Caroline R. Cloutier for the news, Rebecca
Beaton for the UBC event list, and Saul Pazos-Knoop for the Vancouver event
list.
Vous avez reçu ce message, car vous êtes abonné au groupe Groupe "CHBE
Sustainability Club" de Google Groupes.
Pour transmettre des messages à ce groupe, envoyez un e-mail à l'adresse
CHBE-Sust...@googlegroups.com
Pour résilier votre abonnement à ce groupe, envoyez un e-mail à l'adresse
CHBE-Sustainabi...@googlegroups.com
Pour afficher d'autres options, visitez ce groupe à l'adresse
http://groups.google.com/group/CHBE-Sustainability?hl=en
**