Article Archives - Page 25 of 26 - Creatively United Community

From climate change to local developments, these links contain lots of great information about trees and keeping our forest communities green.

Future Proofing Victoria: The Conversation You Won’t Hear During the Municipal Election Campaign

A month from now Victorians will vote for mayor and council. As of this writing, there are 10 candidates for mayor and 29 for council. Perhaps the best that can be said about this flood of candidates is that civic interest in the political process is robust. Sadly,... Read more

Evolution of a Healing Prayer to the Universe

Here is a healing prayer that considers the universe itself to be the creator. It’s a prayer that both theists and non-theists can be comfortable with. The evolution from a Sufi prayer in 1920 to this version is discussed

We Don’t Pay The Full Cost of Goods and Services

We need to create a societal system that is perfectly designed to enable all the people of the world to live good quality lives within the bounds of the Earth and its ecological systems. What might such a system look like?

Nature Doesn’t Negotiate

Article, Food & Health, Nature & Conservation

There are some things that we just have to accept. Basic fundamental truths of math, physics, chemistry, and biology are simply not up for negotiation. As humans we have shown that we get these natural laws, or we wouldn’t have been able to create human flight,... Read more

A Victory To Celebrate

Victories are being won that bring power back to the people and help protect our planet and democracy from abuse. This story is one to celebrate. It’s a victory for all of us. — Dear Avaazers, Our hearing just ended, and the judge absolutely DESTROYED... Read more

We need to reform our electoral system, with proportional representation

Beyond my 15 years as an M.L.A. and Cabinet Minister, I was a party activist for another 16 years. I am deeply committed to democracy and, on the basis of experience and commitment, I urge British Columbians to affirm the move from our current ‘first past the post’ system to some form of proportional representation.

Better Living Through Green Chemistry

The phrase — often shortened to: “Better living through chemistry” — has lodged in the public mind as an unintentionally ironic comment on the sometimes dubious benefits of the chemical industry. This industry is the largest manufacturing sector in the world, according to GreenCentre Canada, which claims that: “Chemistry makes everything we do possible.”

BC’s Climate Intentions Papers: A Timid Response – and the Twelve Solutions We Really Need

Article, Arts, Community, & Inclusivity, Community Creativity, Energy, Housing, & Buildings, Food & Health, Nature & Conservation, Transportation, Video, Zero Waste & Circular Economy

I wish I didn’t have to write this. I count myself a friend of the NDP/Green Alliance, and I had high hopes for the government’s new climate action plans. BC’s Ministry of Environment has published a series of Clean Growth Intentions Papers, with a deadline for public feedback of August 24th, in the heart of this fire and smoke-filled summer.

Watch Now: Creating a One Planet Community Event

Everyone wondered how we could possibly feature more than 20 presentations in less than two hours, but we did it! Inspiring stories of innovation, collaboration, community and creativity were shared with both a live and livestream audience worldwide around the theme... Read more

My Journey of Compassion

Article, Energy, Housing, & Buildings

I love that the word passion is in the word compassion. My compassion for the underdog has become one of the reasons why I volunteer thousands of hours to my passion project, Creatively United for the Planet, in support of our community. I suppose I’ve always related... Read more

Book Review: The Man Who Planted Trees: Lost Groves, Champion Trees, and an Urgent Plan to Save the Planet

Article, Nature & Conservation, Review

Jim Robbins was incredulous when David Milarch first told him he was cloning ‘champion trees’ because angels had told him to during a near-death experience. “I thought he was joking or spinning a yarn, but he said it all with a straight face,” Robbins said.

Film Review of Call of the Forest: The Forgotten Wisdom of Trees

Article, Nature & Conservation, Review

Call of the Forest is all about the incredible and vital importance of trees. If you want to get motivated to plant trees, this is the film to watch! “For every breath you take, thank a tree,” says Diana Beresford-Kroeger, the Canadian botanist, author and medical... Read more

Healthy Homes – The Basics & Beyond

The environment of our buildings, and especially our homes, is enormously important for us. As Sir Winston Churchill remarked: “First we shape our buildings, then they shape us.”

Tools For Healthier Built Environments

We are lucky in B.C. to have two useful initiatives to help us create healthier built environments. The first, which I described briefly last week, is the Healthy Built Environment Linkages Toolkit. The second is a B.C. Ministry of Health-funded initiative, PlanH,... Read more

Hope Is A Verb

Article, Energy, Housing, & Buildings, Nature & Conservation

Thomas Teuwen shares a wealth of information on a variety of topical subject matter from a federal Green Party perspective. We were happy to see Creatively United’s recent Creating a One Planet Region event included.

Light Pollution: The One Form of Pollution That Can Be Fixed in a Flash

We often do not realize the effects we are having on our natural surroundings. Last fall, Tri-City Greendrinks featured lighting specialist and long-time member of the International Dark Sky Association (IDA), Brian Bury, to enlighten us about one of the least talked... Read more

We Can Create Healthy Built Environments

The B.C. Healthy Built Environment Alliance was established by the Provincial Health Services Authority in 2007 to provide leadership and action for healthier, more livable communities.

City of Victoria Honorary Citizen Awards 2018

What a huge honour to receive a City of Victoria Honorary Citizen Award today at the Victoria Conference Center with so many lovely and well-deserving people as: Marika Albert, Mark Ashfield, Fiona Bramble, Diya Courty-Stephens, Denis Donnelly and Siobhan Robinsong,... Read more

Summer Reading – Journey to the Future

If you are wondering about a great summer read, can I gently suggest this for your consideration? I spent over three years years crafting this positive, uplifting vision of a future in which we tackle our many problems successfully and begin to build an ecotopia right... Read more

Population Growth Only Part of Our Ecological Problem

My recent columns about the ecological crisis we face and the need to reduce our ecological footprint generated emails from several people saying I should address the issue of population growth. They have a good point, but the issue is complex, and the solution is not just a matter of family planning.

Environmental Lawyer to lead Sierra Club BC into 50th Year

Environmental lawyer Hannah Askew will be leading the Sierra Club of BC as its new Executive Director. She replaces Bob Peart, former Executive Director, who retired last year. 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of Sierra Club BC’s founding. Confronting the climate... Read more

Finding Hope For Our Planet’s Future

Finding hope can be challenging these days, what with the global ecological crisis, high levels of poverty and inequality, nasty xenophobic and nationalistic politics, and the general failure of governments and societies to respond effectively to these and other challenges of the 21st century.

One Planet One People Please!

The serious issues facing our world – climate change, pollution, ecological degradation, poverty, etc. are global in nature and require a global response. The challenge is how and when the peoples of the world will make this happen.

A Roman Catholic Response to One Planet

The ecological crisis that we are facing is the degradation of life as we know it. Our vary survival is at stake. It raises questions of meaning for us. Who are we, where did we come from and why are we here? These are questions that are central to all religious communities.

Films on Food Issues & Food Security

Article, Food & Health, Video

Enjoy a compiled list of films and documentaries related to food issues throughout the world.

Issue: Food Security

Food security can be described as the state of having reliable access to an adequate quantity of nutritious and affordable food, while food sovereignty is the right of communities to have authority over their own food systems, to produce food that is healthy, culturally appropriate, and ecologically sustainable.

National Indigenous People’s Day 2018

Creatively United was honoured to be invited to take part in the 2018 National Indigenous People’s Day at the invitation of the Victoria Native Friendship Centre (VNFC) at their fabulous Regina Avenue location in the Burnside/Tillicum area. The drumming, dancing,... Read more

A Jewish Perspective for One Planet Region Conversation with Faith Communities

Article, Arts, Community, & Inclusivity, Nature & Conservation

8 Jewish Practices to Help Mitigate Humanity’s Impact During the Anthropocene 1). Who is happy that tomorrow is Friday? TGIF! For Jews, it’s TGIS: Thank G-d it’s Shabbos (Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, runs from just before sunset Friday to an hour after sundown on... Read more

One Planet Conversation

How is my faith tradition (the Christian tradition) equipping myself (and others) … to live into this vision of the Greater Victoria Region “achieving social and ecological sustainability, with a high quality of life and a long life in good health for all its... Read more

Let’s Shed A Couple of Planets’ Worth of Ecological Footprint

The ecological footprint measures our impact in terms of the amount of biologically productive land and sea we need to provide the crops and fish we use for food, the grass and feed crops we use for livestock, the timber we use for paper and wood, and the land we need planted in trees to absorb our carbon emissions (“energy land”).

Microplastics found in Bottled Water and Beyond

We, in Victoria, BC, Canada, have been blessed, more blessed than many other parts of North America. We’ve had some amazing warmish weather, bringing out the best in many things: flowers, blossoms and the urge to live a healthy life style. That includes eating... Read more

Springing in to Festival Season with Two Amazing Events

What a celebration of community these past two weekends have been! Creatively United was proud to help sponsor two inaugural festivals to launch. Starfields – A Festival of Hope, featured a wide variety of amazing speakers, Juno award-winning musicians, and... Read more

Global Warming: How It Works

Below you will find a short , easy to understand explanation of the science behind global warming and why it is so important to our life on this planet. The excerpt is from Oil’s Deep State by Kevin Taft, with permission of James Lorimer & Company Ltd.,... Read more

Does Mental Heath Matter Most?

There is an interesting common thread underlying many of my recent columns. It is the question in the headline: Does mental health matter most?

Solastalgia: The Painful Result of Man’s Ongoing Reviling of Nature

The term solastalgia was coined 15 years ago by Glenn Albrecht, an Australian philosopher. He derived it in part from the idea of nostalgia, which means home-sickness. In the 19th and into the 20th century, he wrote, it was considered a medical condition caused by a desire to return to one’s home.

Local Heroes Bringing Hope to Millions in Epic Plea

Article, Arts, Community, & Inclusivity, Community Trees, Nature & Conservation

Victoria’s own Compassionate Resource Warehouse (CRW) is partnering with ICROSS Canada in sending 2 x 40′ HC containers to YEMEN. I have personally visited the Compassionate Resource Warehouse and can say they are a vital, proactive volunteer organization... Read more

Book Excerpt: Conversations With A Tree by Jane Warren Campbell

The book explores Jane’s communication with trees, revealing that what they have to share is deep wisdom and pure love. Jane not only shares the heart-felt messages from the trees, she shows you how to experience for yourself the guidance and healing that the trees have to offer.

The Birth of a New Cooperative Economy

Article, Zero Waste & Circular Economy

They say we are self-interested, we’re always out to win. Always individualistic, though it used to be a sin. They say we need free markets, the better to compete, and the economy will flourish if we only think of greed. This is Economics 101, the way it’s taught... Read more

Recommended Reading: A World of Three Zeros

Open Innovation Challenge

Are you ready to unleash your most innovative ideas to help solve Greater Victoria’s real-world challenges and have the chance to win $15,000 in prize money? On November 25, the South Island Prosperity Project brought together residents, local leaders, First... Read more

Don’t Let Timber Salvage Damage Our Forests

Forest health is best understood as the rate of recovery from ecological stresses caused by fire, logging, insects, etc. Greater stress means poorer health and longer recovery.
Stewardship is not about “cleaning up the mess.” Salvage logging will rarely contribute directly to ecological recovery.

Canada C3: Honouring the past and looking towards the future

Canada C3 is an epic 150-day sailing journey from Toronto to Victoria via the Northwest Passage. Through this unprecedented journey, Canada C3 is celebrating our environment, sharing the stories of coastal communities and connecting Canadians from coast to coast to... Read more

ECOreport: What Do You Think Site C Is Really About?

“They are going about it in completely the wrong way. To force this project through on First Nations that does not want it, on a public that does not want it: is not how you build support and trust. “

Tapping into the Power of Ancient Indian Ceremony (Puja) for Personal and Global Transformation

In ancient Indian Vedic teachings, there is a science for tapping into that numinous energy for powerful transformation. This precise science has been handed down through the centuries in the form of a sacred ceremony to our Divine natures called a puja.

Climate action must include protecting old-growth rainforest

Eliminating destructive logging to protect ancient forests and their vital carbon reserves is a key step in the fight against climate change. Hardly a day passes without news of unprecedented wildfires, hurricanes, and other climate related-disasters. In British... Read more

Lieutenant Governor recognizes Government House Gardens as part of a NatureHood

The Honourable Judith Guichon, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia and Nature Canada, Canada’s oldest national nature conservation charity, officially designated the grounds of Government House, a NatureHood site, as part of the expansion of the existing Saanich... Read more

Local Senior Making A Difference | Planting the Way to a Sustainable Future