Survival Day in Canada

Earth Day and the environmental movement are inextricably linked today. If you went back to 1970, however, this wasn't the case. Back on April 22, 1970, Earth Day celebrations were confined to the United States. There was some talk within Pollution Probe of bringing the event to Canada. Since the timing interfered with exams at the University of Toronto, however, it was feared students would not participate. Consequently, a Canadian equivalent -- Survival Day -- was set for October 1970. (Zena Cherry, "FOE focusses on pollution problems", Globe and Mail, April 16, 1970, W2.)

A lot of Pollution Probe's ideas have caught on. Celebrating Survival Day, rather than Earth Day, was not one of them.

Plastic water bottles and Brackley Beach

Over the weekend I took a stroll along Brackley Beach, located on the scenic North shore of Prince Edward Island. While it was a touch chilly, I found it heartening to see that the water was, more or less, ice free. I suspect the fishermen should have no problems laying their lines this year.

What I found disheartening was the number of plastic water bottle that littered the Island coastline. It seemed every other step I was stumbling over another one of these non-biodegradable holdovers from last fall. This bothered me for a number of reasons. Most immediately, the fact that people were willing to carry small plastic bottles full of water to the beach, but found it too burdensome to place them in recycling receptacles upon exiting, is unfortunate. Let's face it -- littering sucks. The fact that so many people now carry around disposable water bottles is also unfortunate. Perhaps my memory isn't sharp, but I don't recall this phenomenon a decade ago. I'm not against keeping your fluids replenished, but the commodification of drinking water is one of my pet peeves. I'd much rather see people carrying refillable water containers.

A lot of people recycle their plastic water bottles...so its okay, right? This reminds me of a recent interview I conducted with Peter Love, the Chief Energy Conservation Officer of Ontario. In his earlier days (1972-1975), Love worked for the "3Rs" team at Pollution Probe. This team was responsible for spreading the message of reducing waste through "Reducing" consumption, "Reusing" objects more than once in order to limit the need for consumption, and "Recycling" when an object could not be used again. As Love explained to me, his team's efforts were critical in establishing the first curbside recycling programs in Toronto. While he noted that he was "glad to see the success of the bluebox program", he was also disappointed "because I remember what the other two 'Rs' are. And we were not successful with those first two 'Rs.'" The lesson? People are willing, even happy, to recycle because it makes them feel ecologically sensitive while living a consumer-driven lifestyle. But ask the same people to alter their buying habits and you're likely to be ignored.

For the sake of the planet, all I ask is that you stop using disposable water bottles. Deal?