LE(A)D Christmas Lights

Big surprise – another blogger, another gratuitous post about Christmas. But I actually can’t help it – I’m besotted by everything the 25 Days of December promises: togetherness, compassion, consideration, kindness, patience, and warmth. And I’m forced to write about it. So here we go.

Christmas brings out the best in all of us. December 1st rolls around (crawls at a snail’s pace, to be exact) and our hearts instantly grow three sizes. We become inspired and compelled to share our gratitude and thanks with strangers and friends alike. We donate more. We reflect more. We join in community more. We don’t even get paid to put up Christmas lights, but every major Western city manages to be awash in them. It’s this kind of neighbourly planning and collaboration that can only be brought on by the magic of shared Christmas and cultural values: togetherness, inclusiveness, self-satisfaction.

We are all the more grateful…

But amidst all of the lights, the baking, the decorating, the shopping, and the wrapping, it is easy to forget that for every person reading this, there are a thousand people in underprivileged nations and situations that would love to call our opportunities, festivities, even problems, their own (my Dad’s subscription only makes that two thousand in total, so let’s be more accurate: billion people per reader). We live in a time of massive institutional failure, collectively creating results that nobody wants. Climate change. Hunger. Poverty.  Destruction of communities, nature, and the foundations of our social, economic, ecological, and spiritual well being.

And as much we are giving, donating, sharing, and grateful this time of year, it becomes harder to imagine just how our other actions (wrapping,  buying, wanting, wasting) is compounding global issues (exploiting third world countries, destroying rainforests, the list goes on). And we’ve already learned the hard way that these facts alone are ineffective in motivating us towards change (consuming less, reusing more, staying local).

So maybe the answers are already in the communities full of Christmas lights. Analogous to the broken windows theory - which asserts that in cities with small acts of vandalism and unrepaired facades, crime increases – Seth Godin and the Christmas Light corollary might suggest that in towns fully lit, there’s a higher rate of profit-free community contribution, happiness and self-satisfaction. Maybe it’s here, where our cultural values are already in full display, that we find the collective leadership capacity needed to meet challenges in a more conscious, intentional, and strategic way. 

“Sustainability always involves the whole community. This is the profound lesson we learn from nature.” Fritjof Capra

Every time you turn on your Christmas lights, be reminded that you  have the power to leverage your community’s norms, and help to integrate the magic of Christmas all year long, all over the planet.

Does anyone have Rumpelstiltskin’s number?

I like fashion. In fact, I like clothes so much that I might give up the rights to my first born, if Rumplestiltskin could offer me unlimited access and exclusive rights to every beautiful dress in the world (and Sienna Miller’s closet), at the spin of my straw.

(Oh and Mom, that was a joke – just like the fable, I would love my little first unborn brat too much to give him/her away).

BUT I also have a conscience, and I really believe in living an accountable existence where I can try to give more back to the earth than I take. I’m not trying to be ironic. It may seem unimaginable that this is possible since fashion and clothes can be centred around vanity, self indulgence, and self expression.  But fashion that screams “me, me, me” can also scream “I’m accountable for my choices!” It can scream “In my pursuit of sartorial greatness, I don’t have to take advantage of natural resources or people!” I’m going to work hard at not being preachy (I’m getting a little preachy here, I can feel it).

I don’t think I’m better than anyone else and I definitely don’t think I have any more willpower than the next guy or gal. Trust me. I’m guilty of buying watermelons harvested in Mexico, in January; drinking wine produced in New Zealand, in well, I do it weekly; and reading paperback books published in New York, from 80% virgin fibre. And I’m constantly tempted again and again by scrumptious silks and cute colorful pumps that, after one night on the dance floor (with these “moves”), are doomed for eternal closet darkness.

… So, lately I’ve really tried to spend time on quietly reflecting on what really matters to me. Here’s a peek:

• I care about sustainability.
• I care about putting money back into local economies.
• I care about giving my money to local artists and designers who give back more than they take.
• I care about feeling classic, confident and comfortable in the clothes I put on.
• I don’t want to buy things that I can only use once.
• I don’t want to care about trends in mainstream culture.
• And I don’t want to base my happiness on something that changes as frequently as people’s opinions or trends.

So more than anything, I’m going to need your moral support as I start living my life as a more sustainable buyer. I’m going to ask the lovely Aritzia girls, “Is this oh so delectable blouse made locally?” (I think I already know the answer to that one); and I’m going to say to the shoe man at Holt’s, “Please point to your vegan line.” (Dior and Natalie Portman have designed a great one together). Yup, I’m doing it.

And in making choices that have less of an impact on the environment, and that treat people who make clothing throughout the world more fairly, I’m going to try even harder to find clothing with scrumptious stories of past lives, rich in history and bold with character. Buying or swapping used goodies, as cheesy as it sounds, is really really good for the soul; and for inspiration, I recommend checking out Kelsey Dundon’s website, The Anthology - she can transform  curtains into Cinderella’s ball gown at the helm of scissors and thread. Almost as fast as I can spin straw into… well, more straw.

What’s Mine is Yours

I have a feeling that someday we’ll look back on the 20th century and wonder why we ever owned so much stuff…

Time Magazine created “10 Ideas That Will Change The World” – its writers’ best shots for tackling our worst problems, from war and disease, to unemployment and deficits – and cited “Don’t Own. Share.” as an absolutely fundamental mechanism for societal transformation.

And sure enough, it’s the (most seemingly impressionable audience to savvy marketers) young who have been leading the way towards collaborative consumption: the borrowing, renting, lending and sharing, rather than buying, of goods. Successful co-operatives, like Modo, have further proved that, for example, “carsharing is easier, less expensive, and better for our environment than owning a car.” 

I can’t help but think this model is the way of the future. So what else would could work? A tool library, perhaps?

The Vancouver Tool Library is exactly as it sounds: a community based co-op where members can seek expertise, borrow tools, share project ideas, and build a social network of like-minded people, all at various points of the “DIY” spectrum. You don’t need to own every tool in the box to be the next Tim Taylor (or perhaps more desirably, his sidekick, Al Borland), so if you want to lighten your footprint, deepen your pockets, or save on valuable closet space, this may be the place for you.

But the real benefit of this kind of collaborative consumption turns out to be that of relationship building. In an era when families are scattered and we may not know the people down the street, sharing things — even with strangers we’ve just met online — allows us to make meaningful connections.

Peer-pressure to own today’s best and brightest gadgets can lead to self-doubt, unhappiness, and disappointment. Meanwhile, peer-to-peer sharing involves a re-emergence of community, compassion, confidence, and fulfillment.

So what kind of co-op would you like to see or like to start? The boyfriend already has his idea, but I promised not to share. Pot, kettle, black…?

Occupy (Insert your street name here).

I am always beaming in awe of my sister’s profound beauty and abiding love for those around her. When we were growing up, if she wasn’t walking the neighbours’ dogs, or raising money for the SPCA, she was on Encarta (yes, Encarta) learning about social and environmental opportunities for change. She has always been the most loyal, confident, and eloquent woman I know. And lately, I couldn’t be more proud.

As a fourth year Communications Major at SFU, she has beautifully uncovered that rare intersection, between skill set and passion, to design and co-create “Th!nk VanCity” (TVC). In conjunction with three other students, TVC is asking Vancouver thoughtful questions, and listening openly to its answers, to bring real dialogue (and eventually feasible solutions) to the City’s deepest concerns.

And, on Saturday, October 15, when Vancouver leveraged the global attention garnered by Occupy Wall Street to host its own movement for change, TVC was there to bring cohesion and focus to a wide range of themes and topics. The group applied interest and value exploration techniques to cultivate a rich and inclusive interchange of opinions and ideas, and will be sharing its video footage here, in the coming weeks.

Whether its through Facebook or film, Twitter or TV, we can see that the world is awakening to a broken financial system; our current economic model fails to account for the cost of rainforest destruction, or the expense of social oppression, in the price of a coffee or sweater.  These intangible, yet invaluable, externalities are now being realized through debt, civil war, and climate change. And even if Occupy (Insert your street name here) isn’t the solution to our deeply rooted problems, it certainly is capturing the audience of the world, including that 1%.

Most importantly, though, because of groups like TVC and people like you, we are part of a growing movement that is building the emotional capacity needed for a safe, united, and sustainable world. You can still be rich…

Like TVC here.

Follow TVC here.

Got Dirty Laundry?

You know…. not the type you aired out over too many glasses of wine the night before, but the kind that made you really wish that last glass had landed on your palette, and not your pants?

I may not be speaking for the masses here, but with a nickname like “Spillypants,” I have definitely made my fair share of Dirty Laundry. And since I can’t seem to leave my perpetual clumsiness behind, I may as well try to rid myself of its environmental impact.

And so, two weeks ago, when my boyfriend and I had finished Dirty Laundry’s (what  a great name for a vineyard that used to be a brothel) Okanagan Pinot Gris, and had only two things to show for it:  a stained pair of jeans and an empty glass bottle, it was time to make use of my self-inflected pun.

I sought out David Suzuki’s Queen of Green’s sustainability advice, and downloaded her nontoxic liquid laundry soap recipe. After reducing the ingredients to 1/6 of the recommended amount, I had made enough to fill up my empty bottle  and to do a full load of laundry. I also added a few drops of lavender for its anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties – I really really do encourage you try it – or one of her many easy cleaning recipes online!

In the face of an issue as serious as climate change, it’s hard to believe that creating your own detergents, converting to cold water washes, or airing your out your laundry (to dry), can amount to anything more than a  decreased energy bill. But the truth is, personal responsibility does lead to global change. And even if it doesn’t (it DOES!), wouldn’t you rather put your hard earned dollars towards BC wine, instead of BC Hydro?

laicos smron?

Despite today’s burgeoning neo-hippie trend and powerful anti climate-change movements, have we let our social norms drift backwards, against the times?

—–

Just two years ago, Thrifty Foods (TF) had swiftly, (virtually overnight, as a matter of fact), moved from a laggard to a leader in the eyes of environmentalists  and patrons everywhere. The grocery chain had announced its decision to abolish plastic bags; the first step of many, along its own critical path to sustainability.

—–

“We think eliminating plastic grocery bags is the right thing to do and we are confident our customers will understand and accept this as a positive step in the right direction. In fact, we know from asking our Customer Panel that some 80 per cent of Thrifty Foods customers surveyed agree that plastic grocery bags should not be used,” said Milford Sorensen, President & CEO of Thrifty Foods.

But two years later, something changed. And well, it was us.

On August 18, 2011, Thrifty Foods reintroduced the disposable bag, claiming “customers prefer plastic.”

Hearing that, one must think, how far will society be pushed, until the planet’s needs are no longer trumped by our own perpetual desire for short term convenience?

Will it be when governments declare a global ban on bags, simply because we’ve extracted the last drop of oil needed to produce them? Or will it be because the 46,000 pieces of plastic in every square mile of the ocean has reached an irreversibly damaging 50,000?

The need for group validation is wide spread. This is why people look around before they stand up to offer an ovation at the end of a concert. Why should it matter if any of these strangers felt the way you did about the event? Because it does. A lot. Social proof matters.

So let’s look around together, at each other, and be the early adopters everyone else so desperately needs to see. Bring a canvas bag, carry a reusable mug, ride your bike, take transit, establish your office’s environmental policy. Tell your kids you were the part of the lasting environmental movement; the one that kept moving forward until we got it right.

We Bet the Farm…

(…Well maybe not the farm, but at least eight hours at the office). And we won.

Reminiscent of a field trip with the perfectly wacky Ms. Frizzle, I shut down my laptop, pulled up my gumboots, and jumped on the (Magic School) bus, to join the Purchasers of Earls and Joey Restaurants, at UBC Farm.

We had been in hot pursuit of local/Organic buying opportunities, creative ways to tackle our sustainability issues, and the kind of invigoration that comes from cultural norm “unlearning”. And what better place to do this, than a very rural location whose mission is fundamentally linked to the future success of our very urban business?

With the vastly knowledgeable and highly engaging Mark Bomford, Director of UBC Land and Food Systems, by our side, we spent the day observing the Farm’s role as a global underpinning for sustainable food systems, and its link to the emerging local and Organic food renaissance in Vancouver and across North America. All fascinating! (Click here to watch the “GROW!” trailer !)

With its impressive 24 hectare landscape, UBC Farm is host to Aboriginal healing gardens, teaching plots, youth learning camps, research, chicken flocks, honeybees, and over 200 varieties of annual and perennial crops, all of which are surrounded 90 year old coastal hemlock forest.

What I love most about the farm (besides the fact that they recently uncovered grapes vines for Gewürztraminer production, and, of course, the honeybees) is that it is representative of transdisciplinary collaboration and leadership. Whether you’re knee deep in a garden plot, concluding a feasibility analysis on the expansion of the Farmer’s Market, or continuing to observe the psychology of cows on an Organic whole grain diet, the Farm is an incubator for experiential learning.  It is a safe place that encourages discovery, failure, innovation, paradigm shifts in thinking, and success, and often rewards it all. It empowers generative conversations among a broad range of practitioners, teachers, scholars, community members, and students, from elementary school to post doctorate levels. It’s the kind of place that pulls you out of a traditional way of looking at challenges or problems, and forces you to redesign your thought process.

If you get a chance to visit, volunteer, or work at the farm, I highly recommend it. And just like Ms. Frizzle says, be sure to “Take Chances! Make mistakes! And Get messy!” – otherwise things will never change.

PS. Did you know that honeybees are responsible for 1 out of every 3 bites of food we eat?

Harry Plotter - One of the many children's garden plots!

Summer’s Simplicities

Summer and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember. The slightest mention of her perfections, and iconic images of marshmallow roasts, camp-style latterns, and that oh-so-ubiquitous row of white Adirondack chairs lined up, instantly flash by. I picture the long harvest table where I’ve shucked sweet corn with my sister, shelled fresh peas for my Grandma, and mediated boisterous card games with close friends. I get lost in the taste of a ripe red watermelon, and then linger just a little bit longer in the hours spent picking dandelions, running through sprinklers, and playing outside until well after dusk.

But I know I am not the only one who’s spent a lifetime smitten by summer’s simplicities. Whether it makes you feel as though you’re napping in a rope hammock under a canopy of trees, dining with the sounds of the forest, or curling up with a book at the cottage, I am certain that she’s wooed you too.

And, I know that if each day we conjure the magic of summer, we’ll live the belief that minimizing our footprint can actually maximize our happiness. And well, I can’t think of anything better.

It’s selfish to be happier.

It’s selfish to be happier.

FALSE.

Gretchen Rubin, author of the well received and highly coveted novel, “The Happiness Project”, spent 365 days attempting to achieve what so many of us spend our lives searching for: true happiness. Along the way, friends reproached her, and critics suggested the quest was purely self-motivated, with little benefit for the greater whole. Boy, were they wrong.

Studies show that, quite to the contrary, happier people are more likely to help other people, they’re more interested in social problems, they do more volunteer work, and they contribute more to charity. They’re less preoccupied with their personal problems, and they demonstrate resilience, compassion, and empathy as a result. Quite poignantly so, Rubin is also able to underscore the futility of perpetual guilt, and the need to truly express, rather than to subdue, your happiness – it is contagious, after all.

In our cultural era of personal development and self enlightenment, one of the ways I have learned to realize my passions and heighten my happiness is through the art of travel. Ironically, it is when I am away from it all: the daily routines and the never-ending to-do lists, that I feel more aligned with, more connected to, and more inspired by the greater things in life. It is in these moments that I recognize my ability to do something meaningful.

Now well into our two-week vacation in North Shore, Hawaii, we are reveling in the effects of happiness – and not afraid to show it. Joining up with Save the Sea Turtles International, our group of four spent our second morning, of an otherwise perfectly selfish vacation, picking up trash along the shorelines of Oahu. Donning rubber gloves and metal tongs, we set out to prove to even the most seasoned Hawaiian beachcombers that we pale Canadians meant serious beach-cleaning business.

While a few hours of garbage duty wasn’t the most virtuous activity, nor did it offset our 5414 miles of air travel, or the specific-number-need-not-be-mentioned of not-so-local beer and wine bottles consumed, I have no doubt that the experience created something meaningful: something that we will hold on to long after the tans have faded.

In one of the most pristine areas of the world, I am certainly grateful for the people, the beauty, and the possibilities that surround me. And I am certainly happy.

Soul-cial Call

It’s a big decision - and we’re lucky if we give ourselves the chance to make it.

But, how do you know when it’s time to do something bigger than yourself, and set in motion a turn of events that better the soul, and benefit the planet? I mean, if we’re always ready to answer that call, then why are so many of us still settling for something else?

I can’t answer this question - and trying to has only left me stuck in the middle, fitting the mold of a half-hippie: still long-haired and peace sign-loving, with an over-zealous love for the environment, but with just as many cravings for San Pellegrino-by-the-unrecycled-bottle-from-Italy to give it up, and enough indecisiveness to keep me floating between what I should do, and what I want to do, for two more half-hippies.

So, in the meantime, while I’m not protecting polar bears for WWF, or lobbying for clean technology for The David Suzuki Foundation (yet), I have realized that I do feel lucky enough to have a job where, in between giggle fits and 3pm wine breaks, I can contribute to something meaningful, and a life that is so good, I have yet to realize how to make the most of it.

Not all of us have figured out how to change the world (yet), but, in the meantime, we can spend five minutes a day to deliver an act of generosity that changes someone,  or take five minutes to do exceptional work, remarkable work, work that matters, and work that makes a difference. Until it’s happily ever-after, make it better right now.