This Is Not Okay

You know that feeling when you're in a public place and a young child is being an absolute nuisance? And your first impulse is to get upset at the child? Then you realize that the child is only partially to blame for its behaviour, and your frustration is best directed at the child's parents? Strange analogy, yes, but pretty accurate in this case: I'm angry with the TTC, but really, I'm mad at Toronto's Mayor, Rob Ford (the analogy fails because between Ford and the TTC, it's Ford who's the child).

So what did he do this time, he who is at war with everything but the car (after proclaiming that the war on cars is over)? As part of his misguided attempt to stop the gravy train at City Hall, he has asked the Toronto Transit Commission to cut their spending by 10%. This, when ridership is at an all-time high, overcrowding is standard on many routes, and more and more disgruntled drivers seek an alternative to their usual nightmare commute - the average is 80 minutes, longer than New York, Montreal, Berlin, L.A., and London. Shameful.

Back in September, the TTC came up with a solution that would help it meet its new budget: altering load standards. In other words, switch from more vehicles with fewer passengers to fewer vehicles with more passengers, which allows the TTC to avoid cutting out entire routes to save money. What it also provides is longer wait times and, tragically, more overcrowding. For those of us living in Toronto and using transit on a regular basis, it's hard to image how more people could be crammed onto buses and streetcars. Maybe TTC staff will stand on the loading platforms and push us in like they do in the Tokyo subway system?

When a document was leaked yesterday showing the planned service changes, my heart sank. There will be cuts to 56 bus routes and six streetcar lines as of January 8th. Several high traffic routes are affected, and while it may seem that lengthening the wait times along those routes by just one minute is no big deal, I challenge you to get on a bus or streetcar that is running a minute later than normal during the morning rush in this City.

All three bus routes and the streetcar line near my home will suffer. And while it's true that I'm upset with the TTC for further ruining their service rather than increasing our fares (though those are much too high for what we get - still, I'd rather pay more than face this), my anger is actually directed at Mayor Ford. It's not okay to impose budget cuts on a poorly-functioning transit system in a city as big as Toronto. Transit is not gravy. Gravy is the luxury leaf collection program in Ford's home neighbourhood of Etobicoke, which costs $500,000 per year and is, unsurprisingly, not on the chopping block, not even up for consideration. I'm so angry.


Photo of Fordzilla eating a streetcar used under Creative Commons from malstad (flickr).
Photo of crowded TTC streetcar used under Creative Commons from Tina Li (flickr).

How Not to Make Friends

It seems the folks at General Motors believe they can look good by putting others down. In a WTF?!-worthy move, the car company published this ad in college newspapers across the U.S.:

"Reality sucks... luckily the GM College Discount Doesn't"? WTF?! I have never seen anyone laugh at the sight of a cyclist - not even the ones wearing neon spandex. Spend even half an hour during the morning commute on a Toronto street and you'll see drivers glancing wistfully at the cyclists speeding past them while they sit, idling, in bumper-to-bumper traffic. When I take public transit these days, I feel jealous of those who can bundle up and ride in the cold - and get to their destinations much more quickly than me.

GM, of course, had to pull the ad after receiving many complaints from the public. The reality that sucks isn't that cyclists are made fun of, it's that car companies think they can increase their sales with a low blow to a portion of the population that is smart, in good shape, and unstressed by their commute. Cyclists are well off, too, having saved money while drivers bought cars and insurance, saved some more money while drivers filled up on gas, and saved even more money while drivers maintained, repaired, and eventually replaced their vehicles. It's a no-brainer, folks. Ah, but perhaps the folks at GM have no brains? :)

Friday Feel Good News

It's Friday, and in my books, that means it's time to feel good. Let's set aside the doom-and-gloom stories for a moment and focus on some good news!

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Today's FFGN is less about news and more about feeling good. Check out this cute Star Wars-themed parody of the war between conventional and organic food:



It's so cheesy but so funny at the same time! The facts about unsustainable practices in modern industrial farming must get out to more people; why not speak in a language that a huge chunk of the population understands? Obi-Wan Cannoli is right when he says that people don't even want to know where their food comes from, they just want low prices. Who knows, maybe someday it will be possible for a potato "father" to have a cucumber "son" thanks to genetic engineering.

I hope you enjoyed the video, and have a great weekend!

Fighting Food Deserts in Toronto

Remember when I posted the video about Fresh Moves, the fresh food market inside of a bus that makes stops within the food deserts in Chicago? (In case you missed it, click here.) Well, it turns out that the Toronto Food Policy Council (TFPC) wants to apply the same kind of solution to the problem of food deserts right here in Toronto, and I can't wait to see how well it turns out!

There are, sadly, many food deserts in Toronto. Parts of Scarborough, North Etobicoke, and North York contain neighbourhoods where people have to travel farther than 1.5 km to reach a supermarket. Unfortunately, these are low-income areas where residents don't typically own cars, can't afford to take a taxi, and have a difficult time accessing public transit (fewer routes, less frequent schedules). That's a little backwards, no? To make sure residents still have access to fresh produce, some folks have gotten into the habit of illegally selling fruits and veggies from vehicles, right on the street, in what looks like a quick and dirty drug deal. The goods are legal and healthy; the method of selling them isn't.

The alternative is clear: have the City run a mobile produce program that stays within the boundaries of the law. The TFPC wants to pilot this type of project in 2012, with the possibility of allowing entrepreneurs to make the deliveries - much like how a food truck program is launched by a municipal government, then run by a collection of street food vendors. One major difference between Chicago's Fresh Moves project and what we're likely to see here next year is the location of the mobile produce stands: they won't be on the street for safety reasons; the risk of vendors and consumers being struck by other vehicles is just too great. Clearly, there are many issues that must be considered, but I have a lot of faith in the Council and its ability to come up with workable solutions to the food security issues in this city. Stay tuned for the launch!

To read Sarah's Elton's article covering this story, including a brief history of the TFPC, click here.


Image of empty grocery cart used under Creative Commons from IndyDina with Mr. Wonderful (flickr).

Guest Post: Edit My Closet

If you're a regular visitor to my blog, you know that I like to figure out the motivation behind people's green actions - or lack thereof - in an attempt to find more effective ways to encourage the public to make the world a better place. It will come as no surprise, then, that I was intrigued by Edit My Closet, a service that helps clients de-clutter their homes by identifying the barriers that stand in the way and reinforcing a simpler, greener attitude about consumption. I asked founders Beth and Cheryl to tell us more in this guest post.

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Beth and Cheryl, the founders of Edit My Closet, have been providing their customers with emotional support while physically assisting in de-cluttering, organizing, and removing no longer needed/wanted items, for over five years. Their background in Social Work enables them to read body language, validate experiences, and be conscious of the emotional charge associated with de-cluttering. Beth and Cheryl both live in Toronto and have sparkling closets.

Dollar stores, leisure time, "I deserve it" upgrades, larger living space, disposable incomes, "just in case" mentality (holding on to things, physically or otherwise, out of fear one will never have access to them again), and shopping as a form of self-medication have all played an integral role in producing the cultural epidemic known as clutter.

Clutter is defined as "a confused or disordered state or collection". It's not difficult to be confused or disordered when we have an abundance of meaningless, useless objects surrounding us. This state can easily lead to feelings of being overwhelmed and out of control. This is why the process of de-cluttering (carving out time to consciously go through your stuff and discard items that are no longer useful) is considered therapeutic.

The process of letting things go and saying goodbye can be a difficult and emotionally charged experience. Our consumption and "holding-on" patterns are brought into awareness as we move through this process. The typical result, however, is one of liberation and clarity, especially when the process is executed in an environmentally conscious and sustainable way.

We provide our customers with five steps to make the de-cluttering process easier:

1. Identify a cluttered space that requires organization. Easy!


2. Establish expectations. Is there a specific vision for the space, i.e. easier access to items hanging in a closet, or wanting a drawer to close? Be clear around the intentions; writing them down helps significantly.


3. Compartmentalize and assess! Empty all of the items from the space and sort them into smaller, categorized piles. For example, when organizing an office you may have a stationery pile, an electronics pile, a decorative pile, etc.


4. Create 3 separate piles labelled Toss, Maybe, and Keep. Baskets or bins can be used in lieu of piles.
   • Go through each item piece by piece and ask: Is this essential? What’s its purpose? Has it been used in the past six months? Could someone else benefit from the item? Taking pictures of items that evoke sentimentality is a great way to "hold on" without compromising storage space.
   • Look at the empty space and think back to your vision. Are you missing anything? Would additional storage solutions help? Are there things in the “Keep” pile that actually belong in another room or area? If yes, where?
   • Further compartmentalize items in the "Toss" pile to Recycle, Donate, Return, and Give-Away piles. Take the time to donate items to shelters, libraries, and second hand stores that rely heavily on donations to serve the community effectively. Donate/recycle as quickly as possible to avoid rooting through the bags and reclaiming items.


5. Clean the area before putting the items back. De-cluttering is the perfect time to pull out the vacuum and make use of all of your favourite natural cleaning products. Miss Charlotte over at Les Bonnes Idees provides a recipe to make your own! Click here to view it.

We'd like to leave you with one last tip: de-cluttering is most often performed in the spring, as it is widely associated (for good reason) with new beginnings. However, we encourage you to try de-cluttering one space per month. Tackling areas in small steps like this is less overwhelming than a big once a year job and will certainly have a big impact over time. Good luck!

For more information about Edit My Closet, please check out our website or contact us at info(at)editmycloset.com.


Photo of cluttered room used under Creative Commons from Christopher Gollmar (flickr).
No clutter logo used under Creative Commons from Sean MacEntee (flickr).
Photo of homemade natural cleaning products used under Creative Commons from Mrs. Green (flickr).

The Story of Broke

Annie Leonard returns with Season 2 of The Story of Stuff! Watch her new movie, The Story of Broke: Why There's Still Plenty of Money to Build a Better Future, to bust the myth that the United States is broke. Annie talks about corporate tax loopholes, enormous tax breaks for the richest 1%, and military spending, and then she breaks down the different types of subsidies that the government hands out to big businesses - all of which give the impression that the country is too broke to build a healthy, green economy. My hope is that this information helps us realize that we can't keep electing the wrong people, people who will only continue this disastrous trend that offers such a bleak future for the generations to come. Please share this video with your friends and family!

Friday Feel Good News

It's Friday, and in my books, that means it's time to feel good. Let's set aside the doom-and-gloom stories for a moment and focus on some good news!

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A few weeks ago I finally got to check out the new food court at Toronto's Eaton Centre mall. The name, Urban Eatery, is a little cheesy, but I guess the idea is to encourage mallgoers to think of a hip, modern foodie destination - rather than the greasy, littered, last-resort dining option usually associated with the term "mall food court". And modern it was, with the layout and decor envisioned by Canadian designers as part of a $120 million revitalization of the basement level's north end. The glass, stainless steel, marble, and wood impressed me, as did the variety of seating options that are much easier on the eye than the uniform beige chairs and tables typically seen in food courts. I was also appreciative of the array of vendors: alongside a small number of fast food joints were take-out versions of some of Toronto's better restaurants featuring much healthier menus than I was expecting. But what actually made me smile was this:

Real cutlery! There are, in fact, over 100,000 pieces of reusable tableware in circulation at Urban Eatery, and somewhere on the order of 20,000 drinking glasses, too. As you can tell from the photo, plastic cutlery is available, but instead of automatically being handed your meal in a polystyrene foam container with single-use forks and spoons, you get to inform your server that you will be staying in to eat... and out come the real dishes! I'm not happy that the plates and bowls are made of sturdy plastic, but at least they're reusable.

This is what one of five collection stations looks like. Urban Eatery staff take the trays and separate food waste and dishes, bringing the reusable tableware to what I've been told is a giant, but energy-efficient, dishwasher hidden away in some back room somewhere. With 24 restaurants in the food court, I was surprised to see the stacks of clean dishes never run low, but then again, I also didn't see any of the staff slacking off. They just kept coming out with freshly washed plates, cups, and cutlery, and the whole system seemed to be running smoothly.

Three cheers for smart design: this is one of two hand-washing stations located right in the food court itself, i.e., not tucked away in a washroom. The soap dispenser, faucet, and paper towel dispenser are all motion-activated, which reduces waste and helps prevent the spread of germs. In fact, having a hand-washing station at all helps stop bacteria from getting around; I can imagine there are people who feel they're too busy to stop and walk all the way over to a washroom to wash their hands after eating. Those lazy fools have no excuse now!

That's right, help us preserve our environment. Looking around, I noticed only very few instances of trays being abandoned on tables. Whether that's due to efficient staff walking around to tidy up or due to a sense of shared responsibility, I do not know. What I can say with some certainty is that when a space is clean, tidy, and easy on the eyes, the people using the space are more likely to keep it in that condition. I hope this model is replicated all across the country!