Tornadoes and Earthquakes and Heat Waves, Oh My!

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Emily Hazell

When travelling in South East Asia a couple of years back, I remember thinking how tranquil and peaceful living in Canada was, with our relatively mundane weather and lack of life-threatening natural disasters. More recently however, it seems I have been proven wrong in my naive perspectives. With the onset of tornadoes, earthquakes and heat waves happening across Ontario perhaps we no longer live in a serene area defined by snowy winters, sunny summers and some moderate seasons in between?

Talks of global warming have been prominent in last decade yet it seems few have made the fundamental changes necessary to reverse the inevitable changes coming our way. Whether you acknowledge impacts of Global warming or not, we can all agree that adopting more sustainable ways is always a best practice.

So how do you get started?

Well, a quick Google search of ‘how to be sustainable’ will result in numerous sources with expertise in everything from how to be sustainable at home or the office, to sustainable business practices and communities and sustainable living guides in general. However if you’d like to chat in person with some local experts in sustainability and green living there are a couple of shows coming up in August that could put you in the right direction.

The Green Lifestyle Show:

August 21st, 2010: To showcase Green Businesses and Organizations to the general public. 308 Green Candiditates and 400 Green Convention participants and their families from across Canada will demonstrate ways of living that embody and inspire Green Policies. Check out their site for more details.

Live Green Toronto Festival

August 28th and 29th, 2010: Toronto’s annual celebration of all things green turns Yonge Street into ‘green street’ with more than 100 exhibitors of green products and services, local food, live music, and more Check out their site for more details.

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5th Calgary Timeraiser – 6,825 hours raised!

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Civic Footprint
Last Saturday, June 17th, over 450 people energetically rolled Flames Central to participate in Cow Town’s fifth Timeraiser.  When the doors opened at 7pm, there was already a lineup of people ready to get on with talking to agencies, checking out amazing local art, and meeting new people.
There were lots of highlights.  The first is obviously that we exceeded our goal of raising 6,500 hours – the total amount pledged by participants at the 5th Calgary Timeraiser is 6,825!  Good work Calgary!
We were thrilled with the support leading up to, and at the Timeraiser.  Our founding partners in Calgary were in attendance.  Thank you Enbridge, Nexen and First Calgary Savings!  Your ongoing support is invaluable.
And of course we had reps from WestJet, our wonderful national presenting partner.  We live streamed the Timeraiser via Twitter and received a tweet a minute!  A lot of posts talked about our WestJet partnership and the contest we ran.  On creative Timeraiser attendee won a pair of tickets to anywhere WestJet flies with her entry: “Timeraiser is a perfect storm. It connects passionate agencies with eager volunteers who are all interested in the same thing: making and sustaining great communities!”
One notable tweet was from W. Brett Wilson from CBC’s Dragon’s Den who stopped by to check out his first Timeraiser: “Am at #TimeRaiser event in Calgary. Incredible vision. Love the model. @WestJet stepped up big. Google it!” Brett is a huge supporter of local Calgary causes and we were stoked he dropped in.
Another new feature of this Timeraiser was a fun contest sponsored by WIND Mobile.  One lucky attendee won a BlackBerry Bold 9700 as well as a month Always Shout voice plan on the WIND network.  What a nice perk!  Thanks WIND Mobile for highlighting the power of conversation!
In additional to all the great conversations between volunteers and agencies, many of this year’s artist were in attendance too.  (Here’s Kimberley Weiting, a Timeraiser veteran!)  It’s a great chance to meet artists and talk about their work.  The $17,000 that Timeraiser paid to local artists this year alone, on behalf of our corporate partners, makes a big difference in their careers.
As the night wound down, I heard from a lot of the 28 agencies that were in the room – they were all super positive about the conversations they had, the enthusiasm of the participants, and the vibe in the room.  I also had the fun job of talking with this year’s art winners – I love seeing their excitement!  And while others left a bit disappointed that they didn’t win art, I still heard, “Ya, it’s too bad.  But I’ll still be volunteering of course!”
If you want to see some lovely pictures from the night, check out Jeremy Fokkens‘ images here, he graciously volunteered to document the night for us.
Speaking of volunteers, THANKS to the 30 volunteers who helped make this night such a success.  A special shout out to our emcees for the night, Kelly Doody (Kelly now writes occassionally for the Calgary Herald, check out her article about Timeraiser here) and Roger Kingkade from  X 92.9 radio as well as our community partners Volunteer Calgary and Because, a United Way Initiative.
All in all, our fifth year in Calgary was a smashing success!  Thanks to everyone who attended.  We look forward to hearing stories about your volunteer experiences!  See you next year, June 2011, for the 6th Calgary Timeraiser.
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Live from the 5th Calgary Timeraiser!

Posted on June 17, 2010 by Amanda Grainger

Welcome to our live broadcast of the 5th Calgary Timeraiser at Flames Central. Tonight we are hosting an exciting social media contest with WesJet.

Want to win a pair of tickets to ANYWHERE WESTJET FLIES?*

How to Enter:

1. Attend tonight’s Timeraiser (doors open at 7pm)

2. Send a tweet about the Timeraiser using your mobile phone. Entries MUST include the hashtag #Timeraiser, #TRWJ, or #TimeraiserWJ. Don’t have a Twitter account? Enter at our Civic Footprint Kiosk!

3. Watch the entries LIVE on our Civic Footprint Blog (live stream begins at 7pm). Winners will be announced later this evening.

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Book Review: Canada’s Locavore Inspires Young Farmers and Urban Farming

Posted on June 11, 2010 by Amanda Grainger

Sarah Elton’s Locavore is everything I love in a foodie read; detailed descriptions of organic, local food sources, a history (and shared love for) artisanal cheese in Canada, and lots of shout-outs to interesting community-based agriculture and food security organizations across Canada.

Sarah Elton, Food Columnist for CBC Radio’s Here and Now, details several unique and innovative farming organizations across Canada – such as Everdale Farm in Ontario and the Really Local Harvest Co-op in New Brunswick.

In her book, Sarah describes her travels across Canada talking to farmers working to supply Canada with healthy and sustainable food. I am particularly interested in the different urban farming initatives happening in Toronto, New Brunswick and Vancouver. I am now much more aware of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs that provide opportunities for micro-investing, sometimes in exchange for a weekly food basket. Elton describes the need to reinvent what farming looks like to Canada in order to sustain economical and eco-friendly food sources for our country.

Of note was Elton’s detailed descriptions of non-profit organizations across Canada working on bringing healthy and sustainable food to all residents – organizations such as Slow Food Toronto, The Stop and many more.

A highlight of the book for me was in the description of off-season, or year round farming in Canada. Though selecting local food choices may be easier in the summer months, it takes dedication and persistence for me to eat primarily Ontario grown vegetables and fruits in the deep winter months.

Growing local, organic lettuce and tomatoes in the thick of January seems wildly optimistic, it is a reality for some Ontario farmers using green technology to harvest healthy produce in the harshest of Canadian winter conditions. A strong Call to Action is needed for young, urban farmers to revitalize Canadian farming; Elton’s book provides the details on what this new future may entail, and the work needed to get us there.

After polishing off this current and insightful read, I feel encouraged and excited by new opportunities for Canadian Agriculture and the locavore movement. If you’re interested in Food Security, sustainable, organic and local food sources, and current information about business opportunities related to Canadian farming, Locavore must be on your summer read list.

Speaking of Food Security, Meal Exchange is currently hosting an awesome contest with the MMVAs. Check out their Facebook page for more info.

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Logistics, Logistics, Logistics. Buy, Rent, Lease

Posted on June 8, 2010 by Anil Patel

“Hairballs”. This is a word that I’ve been using a lot lately. I am not even really sure what it means, except it is always on the tip of my tongue whenever we are on the road picking up or dropping off Timeraiser materials: it is very time consuming. We have easels, lights, tents, registration supplies, painting supplies, clocks, hammers, drills, and bubble wrap. Essentially, a van full stuff. This does not include all the other things that we have to rent each Timeraiser from party rental supply companies. Rentals such as tables, chairs, glassware, and linens.
Here is what work is required leading up and shortly thereafter a Timeraiser:

+ 3 Days = Pick-up artwork from corporate partners, wrap each work of art safely for transportation

+ 2 Days = Final confirmation with vendors about their drop off and pick up

+ 1 Day  = Travel to storage locker, load van with supplies,  including print material from Eva’s Print Shop, The Printing House or IDA Print

Show time = Timeraiser (12 hours of set-up, tear-down)

- 1 Day  = Travel to storage locker, unload van with supplies

-2 Days = Drop off art to corporate partners

All, in all, lots of logistics. Logistics takes up about 15% of our time and energy to make sure things are delivered on time and where they are supposed to be. It also means that we are doing lots of calculations on whether to buy, rent or lease materials or supplies. For instance, do we rent easels at $10 per use or buy for  $25 per easel, but get to use each easel 4 time per year (add storage cost of $250/year for 4 square feet of the storage)

  • Lease Over three years = $20 x 10 x 3 years x 4 Timeraisers = $2,400
  • Purchase Over three years = $25 x 10 = $250 + (10% locker space @ $2,000/year) x 3 years = $1,350

These are rough calculations, but illustrates a growing level of financial and logistics planning that our team is doing more frequently. We will be contacting seasoned professionals to look at our annual plans and logistics to weigh-in on our options to keep costs down while at the same time scaling the program.

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