Flapping in the breeze!

Doing our bit sometimes means working harder. We have a corner lot in the burbs and we cut it with a reel mower. Takes a bit longer and is more excercise but it is worth it.

In the same realm of harder work is a clothes line. Ontario recently struck the bylaw that banned outdoor dryers off the law books which means that we can all hang our skivvies in clean fresh air and sunlight. Gives a whole new meaning to a good fence makes good neighbours.

So to celebrate the spring sun, new law and fresh breeze we sunk a cedar 4x4 into the ground this weekend and strung our very own Canadian Tire deluxe clothes line.

Very exciting. We'll see how long the excitement lasts - I give it a week of lugging wet laundry from the basement before the novelty wears off.

Pesticide presentation

Since this has now been publicly presented and distributed (and written about in the Burlington Post) I thought it would be fun to share the with a larger audience. You can read the entire presentation with notes in PDF format here.

Some highlights:

"We have to ask what is the City of Burlington waiting for? Where is our leadership and vision?

As you can see from the numbers on this slide (130 Canadian municipalities of which there are 25 Ontario Municipalities) there is a groundswell of smart, environmentally aware communities who are acting on the concerns from residents and recommendations from professionals like the Canadian Cancer Society, the Ontario College of Physicians and environmental lobby groups.

These municipalities are passing and enacting pesticide by-laws that protect the health and environment of their people. And today the city of Hamilton announced that a partial ban on lawn and garden pesticides will go into effect in Hamilton on Labour Day 2008.

It is important to remember that these communities are demonstrating environmental awareness and strong leadership. Where is Burlington’s leadership?

Anyone of us can search on the internet or in libraries for information that supports or denies the health effects of exposure to pesticides. Healthy and vigorous debate is an important part of the democratic process, but as more and more communities enact bylaws banning pesticides the tipping point of public pressure will only increase.

We urge you to take the time to absorb the information presented to you tonight and reflect on Mayor Jackson’s vision from the May 9 Burlington Post “My vision for Burlington’s future is one where we can live, work, and play in a clean and healthy environment.”

Finally as the great ad man David Ogilvy once said “Don't bunt. Aim out of the ballpark.”

The meeting was...

I found the meeting to review the pesticide bylaw quite educational.

I was very impressed with the dedication of staff, council and the mayor to sit through 4 hours of delegates and then have a fairly vigorous debate afterward. These people work very hard and I am sure that by the end of it most people just wanted to go home - I know I certainly did.

There were a few odd and tense moments - apparently this is not a black and white issue. Over the next few months I am sure there will be lots of posturing and positioning and consultation. Will be interesting to watch from the sidelines.

I am looking forward to the Post's take on it Friday's paper.

Oh and welcome to all the new readers.

Leading up to my first time as a delegate.

I am starting to get nervous and jittery about my appearance and presentation at city hall this Tuesday evening. Here is a Burlington Post article on the meeting with the CDC committee quoting Kurt Koster the chair of the Pesticide Action Burlington committee.

There are 12 delegates on the agenda for Tuesday's review of the staff report on pesticide use in Burlington. The revised agenda was released on Friday. The email that informed us of the revised report and agenda included this paragraph.

"Please be advised that a Revised Agenda and staff report have been issued for the September 25th "Special" Community Development Committee meeting to deal with the cosmetic use of pesticides in the City of Burlington as a result of a staff direction was approved at the September 17th regular meeting of Community Development Committee. Committee will not entertain delegations on the original report."

I do not know what "Committee will not entertain delegations on the original report." means, but I am sure this will make things more entertaining.

And just for the record the staff report was revised to remove this recommendation - "That staff proceed with a proposed by-law to restrict the cosmetic use of pesticides within the city of Burlington."

You can see the full agenda and matter for consideration here.

Hey let's keep poisoning ourselves!

Not feeling overly positive that the city of Burlington will even consider a pesticide bylaw even after the meeting on Tuesday, September 25. I am not sure what the reluctance is.

According to a poll from the Canadian Cancer Society 60% of residents support a ban, 20% are on the fence and 20% oppose a ban outright.

Apparently 2 councilors will not move on this issue. No matter how much evidence is presented to them they will not vote for a pesticide bylaw.

Of course reports like this one from the EPA (an agency with a poor track record at best) where the EPA announces that "...2,4-D poses no risk to human health" don't really help.

Great.

What happens when we no longer can fuel our cars?

There has been a lot of speculation about the death of the suburbs over the last year or so including dire predictions on peak oil and what will happen to the economy and the world when we can no longer rely on cheap gas to survive.

Is there any truth to the matter? A quick online search on death of the suburbs returns naysayers, doom and gloomers and links to books on how to regain your spirituality while embracing the suburbanite "culture".

The fact is the 'burbs are a car lovers world. Always have been and for the most part always will be - only thing is car worship is not sustainable. Which of course means that when we do run out of oil whether it is next week or in 100 years we will have to find a better way to get around. Until then necessity is the mother of invention and if there is no need to change we won't. That my dear readers is human nature.

Just getting mellow

It is the kind of Sunday morning I love - sunny, calm and still with a hint of the heat of the day to come.

The goldfish are out of the murky depths of the pond breaking the surface to nudge at a piece of apple - one of their favourite treats.

And the Rhubarb faces the sun its broad green leaves. And the new yellow tomatoes sag on the vine ripe and ready for the table. The coffee is hot and life feels full of promise and hope.

GO train not so green?

This morning I wanted to recycle a water bottle I had been carrying around in my bag for a week or so - I know water bottles suck and I should not use them, mea culpa - and looked for a recycling bin on the platform of the Burlington GO station.

Turns out there is no recycling bin on these platforms. Sorta silly, I thought that in this day and age every public space should have-easy-to-find and easy-to-use recycling receptacles.

Whew!

It is hot, dry and brown in southern Ontario. Sure are a lot of dusty lawns and parks out there. Are we officially in a drought?

UPDATE: Apparently we have had (if I am reading this correctly, as the wording seems a little, well wordy) 60% less rain fall from May to July.

Our cities' poor trees are wilting under the waterless onslaught - in fact I have seen some maples (shown in a bad cell phone shot to the left) in the parking lot of the Catholic School board facility at the corner of Drury Lane and Fairview turning red and brown and start to drop their leaves. I pass these trees each day on my morning and nightly bike commute home from the GO station. Every time I pass by I wince. Maybe the city could spare some water from the soccer fields?

Bedroom community, city or suburb

The name of this blog is probably a little misleading.

I had a conversation last week with someone who said that Burlington is not a suburb but a city or at a stretch a bedroom community.

According to Wikipedia "Most modern suburbs are commuter towns with many single-family homes. Many suburbs have some degree of political autonomy and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods."

Well Burlington seems to qualify for that - it is a commuter town for many, does have a degree of autonomy and is certainly less dense than inner city areas, but it is probably not a bedroom community. Again from Wikipedia "As a general rule, suburbs are developed in areas adjacent to main employment centres, such as a town or a city, but may or may not have many jobs locally, whereas bedroom communities have few local businesses and most residents commute to employment centers some distance away."

Maybe I should change the name of the blog to Musings from Burlington: a commuter town for some a home for everyone else even though I still think Burlington can be classified as a suburb.

Greening goes awry

Not nearly as green as we think.

Uh no kidding. For anyone who has spent any time in cities like Mississauga, Oakville or Burlington it is evidently clear that most Canadians could care less about the environment. Shop at Longos and see how many plastic bags you can collect. And now that has been somewhat validated by a recent survey.

Full story on the Globe and Mail.
SNIP:

"A national survey of household habits says Canadians have made some changes for conservation, but still hold onto habits that go against the green-living grain.

Six in 10 households now use fluorescent bulbs, over four in 10 have programmable thermostats, recycling rates have jumped and 60 per cent of homes have water-saving shower heads since the last household efficiency survey in 1994.

But the use of chemical pesticides is only slight down from 1994 levels — with the sole exception of Quebec, where pesticide use has plunged — most Canadians still commute to work alone in private vehicles, and rising numbers of people drink water from plastic containers."

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.

New rail line and platform

The Burlington GO train station is getting a new platform and rail line. I have been following the snail like construction for the last few months and it looks like they may be done before the snow files again.

As far as I can tell (there are no artist renderings anywhere) the whole platform looks like it will get some sort of shelter doohickey. This will be a very welcome retreat on those cold and blustery winter mornings when we all huddle together for warmth waiting for the switches to get unstuck and the wayward 6:35 train to roll in at 7 or so.

The biggest benefit for the folks traveling homeward from Union Station on the 5:02 is that we will no longer have to wait, up to 10 minutes some days, for the east bound train to leave Burlington. If all works according to plan we should be able to just roll-in like all of the other station stops. I can tell you that there is nothing more frustrating than being slow close to home that you can feel it only to be stopped up at the last minute for an empty train heading in to Union Station. Somewhat frustrating to say the least.

Soccer Dad.

Signed my 5 year old up lad up for soccer this past winter.

Stood in line on a cold winter day for about 90 minutes or so while the line for the sign-up snaked it's way around the building and up the stairs of the Burlington Youth Soccer Club. The building was butt ugly and the view encompassed a parking lot and the QEW. Not much to keep 2 squirming, bored children interested or engaged, but I kept telling myself that this would be a good thing for him.

Plunked my cash down and we, or rather I, gleefully waited for the start of J 's first season as a bona-fide player of the classic suburban sport - soccer. The whole experience felt like a right of passage and I could hardly wait for the Wednesday after Victoria day when it would all begin,

Things did not go well.

And to understand why you have to understand my son. J is a stubborn and willful lad. When he digs his five-year-old heels in there is no moving him until he is ready. When we first moved to Burlington from the Big Smoke he was set to start JK in September. He started in May. And it was not for lack of trying on our part (or the teacher's, principal, special ed teacher etc..). He simply decided there was no way in hell he was going to school and that was that.

So my wife and I approached soccer with levity and enthusiasm and joy and support and love. The big day came. I took an early GO train home so I could get him fed and to the game on time. It was at Optimist park and even I felt overwhelmed with the mayhem and noise of 10 teams of small boys running around and kicking yellow balls in every direction. So I can only imagine how he felt.

We found the coach, got the uniform and ball and off he went to show-off his skills. So far, so good. I grinned like a Cheshire cat, I was so happy. The team finished up the 20 minute practice and then gathered round the coach for the pre-game pep talk. And then it happened. Someone stepped on his hand and he started crying and that, my dear readers, was that. We tried the next week but he would not even come out of the house. He yelled and cried and kicked and screamed and no matter what form of persuasion or bribe we tried he had decided that he would not play soccer.

At least we got a refund.