SUSTAINABLE LIVING HOME SHOW MANSON'S HALL, CORTES ISLAND,BC October 23, 2004 by Dwayne Edward Rourke

 

One of the things that has always been a source of pleasure to me about living on Cortes Island has been the experience of robust community spirit to be found here. Nowhere have I experience that more fully than last weekend at the Sustainable Living Home Show at Manson's Hall. Sponsored by Friends of Cortes Island and spearheaded by Lovena Harvey, the all day event was well attended and full, in every respect.

I attended the morning talks where I was inspired, informed and excited by speakers drawn from our local community , and beyond. Noba Anderson from the Cortes Ecoforestry Society led things off with an insightful and excitedly optimistic assessment of the Cortes community forest situation. Noba's enthusiasm for the Cortes lifestyle, complete with its abundance of innovation and expertise, was very contagious and really set the stage for the speakers that followed. I came away from her talk feeling so positive about Cortes Island that I am sure we could actually take the Dalai Lama's suggestion for the establishment of a Gross National Happiness index, for Canada!

Next up was Nick Stanger from The Land Conservancy, speaking about conservation covenants as a tool for sustainability. TLC's initiatives also include outright purchase to protect endangered lands, and stewardship agreements with existing landowners. They also offer a Conservation Partners Program for landowners willing to set aside particular portions of land for specific conservation purposes. One of their initiatives has been to purchase and to perpetuate, the now famous, Wildwood Forest pioneered by Merv Wilkinson. Nick's bottom line regarding sustainability is that humility is the key and that meeting our needs, by making as small a footprint as possible, is what is required.

Joel Solomon, representing both Land Renewal Corp. and Hollyhock, spoke next. He emphasized the fact that every dollar we spend is a political act and that spending locally is of paramount importance in sustaining a robust economy. Go for quality, and go for close to home, says Joel. Sustainability, to Joel, means keeping the ecosystem healthy, while simultaneously keeping the culture healthy. he stressed the need for anticipatory management in this regard, so that changes can be regulated at a pace that is harmonious with all concerned. He went on to cite the complexities involved in just the housing shortage issue itself. He went on to emphasize the impact of recent rezoning changes that have opened up new housing opportunities on many properties on the island. Joel further suggested that it was a good idea for us, as a community, to identify what IS working for us.

Delores Broten, editor and publisher of the Watershed Sentinel, sponsored initially by F.O.C.I., gave an impassioned account of the growth of her mag. She emphasized that "little choices lead to transformation" and that at no time in our history, has the need for radical change been more apparent. Her recent efforts in bringing public awareness to the reality of the Crofton Pulp Mill plan to burn coal for power, were given as proof of what she says. Citing what looks to be a recent raid of IndyMedia's web servers by the FBI, she compelled us to get that the free press in general, is an endangered species!

Final speaker of the morning was Guy Dauncey, well-known West Coast environmentalist whose breadth of scope and passionate delivery of fact, inspired and enlivened an already keen audience. Beginning with the Big Picture, Guy highlighted global warming as the number one issue facing humanity at this time. It is much more of a threat than has been previously imagined and Guy's statistics around this fact were scary indeed. Nonetheless, an innate optimism pervaded the rest of Guy's presentation and he had many very positive suggestions for us at the local community level. Bottom line for Guy was the need for people to approach life from VISION rather than from FEAR.

Find out much more from his web site, included on the following links page, Click here.