Staying green in a wasteful place.

This blog will always have a slight environmental bent to it. It is who I am however I must admit that it is hard to maintain a green streak when you live in the burbs.

To recap - we moved to Burlington from South Riverdale in Toronto in July of 2005. We moved because we grew out of our small and old row house. We moved to Burlington because we could not afford to buy a larger home in TO.

We did our research and looked at many communities in the GTA. We looked north, east and finally west. We are happy where we ended up and although our "new" home is smallish and older, we like the fact that we can walk to the Library, the YMCA and downtown. I love the fact that I can ride my bike or walk to the GO train.

But all is not perfect.

There are still challenges. Like my 2 hour commute, like too many malls, too many cars and too much traffic. Like narrow views and tiny worlds where a sense of entitlement means that people still drive honking SUV's and pick-up trucks. Making connections is hard, meeting like-minded people is challenging and finding a well paying job closer to home is next to impossible.

Often, when I travel on the long train ride home, I see people that I might find interesting and that might find me interesting. They might have a certain look about them that comes off as looking intelligent, educated and aware. Then I watch them get off the train and get in to their SUV and my opinion changes. Sadly I turn judgmental and pious. Not on purpose, and for no good reason - if I could afford a big SUV would I buy one? Never.

And that is a fundamental difference between my family and many of the people that I have met so far. I like to feel that my family and I think globally and act locally. We try to shop and support the smaller stores downtown, we avoid the malls as much as possible, we drive a small car, we ride and walk more often than not, we use a reel mower (on a corner lot no less). These are not hardships for us and I am not bragging about how we live. I certainly do not feel that we are better than anyone else and there are days where we throw out too much plastic or don't recycle 100% or buy too much stuff. But on the whole we are at least aware of our actions. And when we do slip up I know that I feel good and guilty.

So why can't everyone live like us?

Well the suburbs have been built around the car and as anyone who has spent anytime north of the QEW can tell you - walking around up there is not much fun. Cycling is downright dangerous and despite the best intentions of the City of Burlington, transit is inconvenient and time consuming. Conspicuous consumption is, well, conspicuous and the mall is a hang out.

There are bright lights to be sure, like the better recycling of garbage and waste that will come to the Halton region next year. Like the heightened awareness about pesticides, plastic bags, and pollution. Like the high price of gas that might force drivers to rethink their mode of transportation. Things will change and I know that Burlington will, over time, become a slightly greener town.

Do we regret the move?

Some days yes. We lament the change of pace, from fast and furious, to slow and steady. We sometimes feel like outsiders. We miss our friends, who knew 40 minutes down the road would be so far to travel?

Other days we are thankful for the space, the tranquil sense of piece that we get when sitting in our backyard next to the fish pond, the friendly people we meet at our children's school, the older well-meaning steady neighbours who willingly (some might say eagerly) share the history of the street we live on. We love the waterfront, downtown the Library and the clean well maintained community centres.

On the balance it was the right move at the right time for right now.