Blog by Patricia Houlihan

Live Green Even over the Holidays!

November 30th, 2007
I was just writing a blog about how to minimize the impacts of the holidays-Christmas and others-on the environment.  Of course there are the obvious things that many have been doing for years-minimize the use of lights and using energy efficient lights, use cartoons from the newspaper as wrapping (my mom used to look for cartoons or articles that would be significant to the recipient-some of ...

Canada's position on climate change

November 29th, 2007

Hard to believe Canada's position on climate change!

I am so choked after listening to Harper drone on and refuse to take responsibility on action on climate change... I can't be bothered to reiterate his position and most of you are likely aware of it anyhow.  If not, and if you are interested, it is all over the papers and tv and radio news-or Google Commonwealth conference on climate chang ...

World Real Estate

November 29th, 2007

A week away from Vancouver real estate to learn about what's going on in the "world" (literally) of real estate!

 

Last week I attended the National Association of Realtors conference in Las Vegas.  After I recovered from my amazement at the level of environmental damage caused just in the small area of the Vegas strip (neon signs beyond belief and way too much water sucking, pesticide inhali ...

Green Tongues Speak Out in Vancouver

November 27th, 2007
As the green revolution continues to inspire us to re-evaluate our lifestyles the green lecture circuit in Vancouver is getting busy.  This summer there were three major conferences, in Vancouver and Victoria, to discuss ideas and strategies to make our cities more sustainable by reducing carbon use and using sustainable energy.

 

David Suzuki gave an environmental consciousness raising talk ...

A More Sustainable Dubai Using The US LEED System

November 9th, 2007
I personally think of Dubai as somewhat of an environmental nightmare-what with the creation of a ski hill in the desert, etc.....but recently I have read a few articles on how the country is apparently attempting to implement some measures to reduce its environmental impacts.  If the measures are "real" as opposed to "paper" initiatives, then the green revolution really is spreading I guess. ...

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall Is The Conservative Party Not The Greenest Of Them All?

November 8th, 2007
Green party Leader Elizabeth May recently outlined her party's green vision to ensure that Canadians continue to enjoy a high quality of life and wellness.  May outlined her party's vision for Canada in response to the Conservative Speech from the Throne, given by Stephen Harper on October 16, which focused on taxes, crime and extending Canada's participation in the Afghanistan mission.

 

In ...

Green Cars becoming more high end? Fuel Efficient and Fast!!!!

November 7th, 2007
If you are one of the people who think that buying a hybrid car means sacrificing power and speed Japanese automakers are about to change your perception.  Japanese automakers are hoping that a new line of fuel-efficient muscle cars will breathe new life into their dwindling sales by appealing to western buyer's environmental conscousness, as well as their passion for speed.  Having said this ...

Carbon Neutral takes to the sky

November 1st, 2007

I just came across this the other day - feel a bit less guilty about flying on the seaplane...and of course you can buy carbon credits to offset your own travel on some airlines, like WestJet but this move goes a lot further (taken from Offsetters.ca enewsletter):

 

Announcing North America's first Carbon Neutral Airline.

Offsetters.ca is thrilled to announce that Harbour Air Ltd, the world' ...