April 1, 2009

Page 8

Local schools part of sustainable future

By Tony Reddin Guest Opinion

Can Islanders take control of our future? If the oceans don’t rise too soon, the bridge doesn’t get knocked out by ice jams this spring, and Mike Duffy gets re- called from the Senate, we may still have time to turn things around.

The down-turn in the economy and overwhelming evidence of global climate crisis has motivated more and more citizens to take a critical view of ‘modern’ consumptive lifestyles and policies that favour unfet- tered growth and high-profit corporations.

We need to find new ways of living that doesn’t de- pend so much on fossil

SOE

The Editor:

Canadians often contribute to the better well-being of other people in the world. This was the case with the fair trade coffee, where

the sales have increased

by 30 per cent each year

in Canada. This could also become the case with some other consumer goods, such as chocolate.

The purchase of fair trade certified products has important consequences.

It allows many produc- ers to receive reasonable prices for their products and numerous workers to

OPINION

fuels and global trade.

Meanwhile recent threats to small schools have motivated many Islanders to share ideas and work toward strengthening small communi- ties and neigh- bourhoods.

One good tool which communi- ties can use to plan a sus- tainable local economy is The Natural Step, which provides a framework for ecological sustainability and social justice.

A lot of emphasis is placed on reaching agreement at the local level regarding what kind of development is desirable and_how to

A free trade Easter

climb out of poverty. It also has positive impacts on the environment.

We believe that about 15,000 slave children are working on farms and cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast, and this is only a small sample off all the misery linked to the pro- duction of chocolate.

We should all work to- wards a world where solidarity is at the heart of economic development. A — fair trade Easter would be a big step in this direction. Bruno Marquis Gatineau, Que.

achieve it (e.g. local or- ganic farms would fit with the framework much more readily than big box stores).

See: www.atlanticsus- tainability.ca , and www. gpiatlantic.org , which has a slide show on “Community Sustainability”.

In that light, it makes the most sense to have schools, and workplaces, close to

home, as well as make bet- ter use of our public build- ings, including schools. This would minimize transportation needs, support small local businesses and encourage inter- action between community members, in- cluding schoolchildren and elders. Schools that have extra space could be both retrofitted to save energy costs [see www.brita-in- pubs.eu for extensive details about innovative retrofits of public buildings in Europe, as mentioned recently on CBC Maritime Noon], and adapted to include other

ing fossil fuel shortages,

PANTHER POST

services such as day cares, CAP sites, health services and seniors’ centres. These - school/community centres could be supplied with en- ergy from wind and wood, using smart electricity grids and energy storage systems (info at www.ecopei.ca : Energy Project).

In these days of global climate change and impend-

we and our governments need to make the transition to a sustainable economy, by creating de-centralized ‘green’ jobs, building ‘green’ infrastructure and transportation, and invest- ing in education, health promotion, and renewable energy.

Tony Reddin is a resident of Bonshaw