Saturday, January 3, 2009

Sustaining Ourselves


One of the things I'll be looking at in the new year are hints that we are moving to a more sustainable life-style here on the planet. Certainly here in Canada there is much work to do, especially in moving the powers-that-be into the realization that we are doing great harm to ourselves and our collective future by living in climatic denial any longer. The nest is fouled. It's time to clean up our mess and live differently.

One little hint that change is out there, is the kayak in the photo above. While it seems to be just another kayak, it was built in Australia by Nadgee Kayaks, a company operating in a solar powered factory. If you think that might mean the boats are less than top quality products, you might be interested to learn that they have been used in a number of well known expeditions including the crossing of the Bass Strait viewed in This is the Sea 4.

This is a great example of where we need to go in the coming years. A place where "less is more"!

Photo from Nadgee Kayaks Australia

4 comments:

Tony said...

Couldn't agree more, we're on the same wavelength as I had a post on this topic yesterday. Even if the Government doesn't want to act, we as individuals can make an impact however small. And, we can have a clear conscience.

Tony :-)

Silbs said...

Excellent post and good oints by Tony. I have to say that the picture reminded me of how kidsused to see how many of them they could stuff into a telephone booth.

Anonymous said...

Hi Michael,
Well said!
If many people make even small changes, it will make a difference. The trick is to convince people that the changes don't have to be hard or life-altering. So many people keep their old habits thinking it is too hard to change them (using disposable mugs instead of re-useable for example).
I found a video online called "The Story of Stuff" that does a great job explaining consumerism and the life of all the stuff we buy. I'm sharing it with students and staff at my school as well as a documentary called "The End of Oil" and another very clever one "Radiant City".
I've also taken to wearing t-shirts with slogans like "stop destroying our planet" to try to start conversations with people.
Cheers,
Jennifer of Nunablog

Anonymous said...

Spot on Michael. If we all started making more informed decisions when we consume perhaps a change would be at hand.
Nadgee kayaks certainly have a good reputation here in Australia as a well made serious expedition boat.