GreenSudbury: GreenWeekend Food for Thought

"every time you do buy something you’re advocating the way that company does business, and by buying a hybrid car or buying something organic, you’re essentially making them create more for the marketplace out there" Leonardo Di Caprio on The 11thHour

GreenWeekend is a recap of some local issues and ideas to mulch over the long weekend as Food for thought. Brain Food. GreenFood. Good timely information. Take the 15 minutes to read, click and commit to helping build a GreenSudbury.

Close to 3o members of the public attended last weeks free showing of the 11th hour at the Older Adults Center at the Y.M.C.A. hosted by the Sudbury Green Party and T.A.G. Gallery. The same week Science North launched Mysteries of the Great Lakes - a locally produced and narrated film that showcases and builds on Sudbury's film production, science and environmental record. This followed closely on the heels of The Sudbury Earth Day 2008 organizing committee's successful Enviro-film showing at the Rainbow cinema and suggest that enough local support may exist for a semi-regular Green film showcase or perhaps a Green component in next years Cinefest.

Mayor John Rodriquez recently returned from a GreenJobs conference in Pittsburg hosted by the GreenBlueAlliance (a Steelworkers based organization) based on a 20 year old recognition of Sudbury's 1980's regreening efforts. In fact the city declared in 2004 that one of its top 5 priorities was to become an eco-industrial economy. In fact, maybe Sudbury could consider becoming Ecopolitan rather than Cosmopolitan! The GlobalOnesness site suggests that Green business may be one viable answer to downtown urban renewal. Eating local, supporting local farmers, starting small green businesses?

Take the example of EcoNeutral a British Colombia company that has taken regreening and restoration experience to Municipalities, First Nations and other landowners and provides GreenJobs. Do we not have the same specialized experience and resources here? Who will take the next steps towards Green economic development locally?

In Greensburg Kansas it took a tornado to turn the town green but with Sudbury's desire to host a school of architecture, a Leed's standard building under construction for the Living With Lakes Center and Cambrian Colleges Sustainable Energy Building we may not need a natural disaster. The international Institute for Sustainable Development has plenty of information that matches smart cities and new technologies to a new model of growth.

Take a look at what the City of Vancouver has available if you wonder what smart steps we can take towards local Green jobs in a GreenSudbury economy. Industrial eco-models networks and resources exist that can help Sudbury on its way. We need to change how we view ourselves, our city and the importance of the making the changes required! And tools exist for the city to consider enacting to support the coming changes as well.