Oh, Canada: We Are Green With Envy
Why is it so easy to be green in Canada?
I spent the first night of my summer vacation in a bed-and-breakfast in Toronto with my family. (Yes, I blogged while on vacation. That’s what happens when free wireless is available everywhere and you have obsessive-compulsive disorder.) We drove from Chicago in our Toyota Camry. It’s not exactly a Prius, but while averaging about 30 MPG, we had a smaller carbon footprint than we would if the three of us traveled by plane. We brought most of our own meals and snacks in reusable containers, printed out travel and maps on previously used paper, and reused our water bottles. So we thought we were being green. But a morning walk around Toronto made us feel only light green, at best.
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What did I notice in Toronto? Though people certainly drive to work in the morning, a huge number of people ride their bikes. While walking around looking for an open cafe for my morning coffee, I kept seeing one person dressed for work and whizzing past me in the bike lane. Commuting to work by bike seemed to be the norm for our neighbors to the north, not the exception.
Canadians also have easy-access recycling. A recycling bin stands next to every conventional garbage can in Toronto. So if you are walking down the street, you can recycle your newspaper, a water bottle, a flyer as easily as you can throw these common items into the trash. Even McDonald’s offers a full array of recycling services. (Full disclosure: we stopped at a McDonald’s on the highway to use the restrooms, but did not purchase anything.)
I spent less than a full day in Ontario this summer, and I made these remarkable observations. Had I spent a longer time in Canada and visited other parts of this eco-friendly country, I would have other green practices to report. Readers, feel free to comment about additional activities that make Canada green so we in the U.S. can learn a thing or to about greening North America.
Photo from my own personal collection.
I live north of Toronto and not only do we have recycling pick-up, we also have “Green Bin” compost pick-up for food waste.
You mean to say the public recycling bins aren’t normally found in the States?
Yikes… it’s pretty normal and commonplace in cities (in Ontario, at least). I can’t remember how long ago those were put into place.
In London Ontario, once a year the city brought in truckloads of compost bins that they sold for $5. When I moved to the U.S. I could not even find one locally, I had to have one shipped from California. (I know, I should build them, but I am possibly the world’s worst carpenter)
Hey, you should come and visit Toronto when there’s a foot of snow on the ground, and the bikers are still on the roads;-) We might be a bit greener, but I seriously think that’s because our political system allows multi-party democracy to work. About 10% of the voters support the Green Party, and the other party’s are scrapping it out at 25%-40%. If they want to get elected, they HAVE to appeal directly to Green Party supporters. In the USA, you only have two choices, so you’re stuck with the green policies that congress, and Pres. can offer on the cheap. Vote green at the municipal level! It’s your planet too ya know
This is a pardoy, right?
“we had a smaller carbon footprint than we would if the three of us traveled by plane.”
Of course you would have no footprint at all if you’d stayed home. Are you pretending to be Al Gore who takes a train while his luggage goes by SUV and is a founder of and buys carbon credits from GIM which has exactly no investments in green companies?
Toronto’s recycling program is a fraud. Search “Green Bins” at http://www.thestar.com.
The city pays to store recycled materials and 70% of the material collected for recycling is land filled anyway.