Rantin' and a ravin'!

OK - time for a mini rant! Really, it's just some thoughts and observations on some of the stuff going on in the news this week.

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American Elections!

Sigh. Yes like the majority of Canadians, I am more engaged in the American Election process than with our own meagre one pony show that is the Canadian election process. I have been glued to the TV and internet, reading and watching everything on the candidates, their lives and their platforms (and I do use that term lightly - we have yet to really see what anyone's platform is except for why not to vote for the other guys!) It's like watching an horrific train wreck - oooh, gross, let me look! I just can't help myself I am ashamed to say!

Mr. Harper et al need to drag our attention away from the glitz and glamour of the US elections and get Canadians interested and engaged again. We have some serious issues to be solved and we need serious people to solve them. Ads presenting Steven Harper in blue sweater vests playing the piano is not going to cut it! Mr. Layton pretending he is the next Barack Obama is not what I had in mind. I am not inspired by any of the leaders and the political parties they represent. No wonder Canadians are so apathetic towards politics. Let's see some interesting debate on practical solutions to the economy, renewable energy sources, crime and guns, and education, not sound bites of pooping puffins and carbon footprints.


The dirge of the coffee cup.

So, once again, the City of Toronto is jumping on the bandwagon of environmental issues and has announced they want to ban disposable coffee cups at coffee shops and in the workplace. While I applaud the goal (reducing landfill waste by 70% by 2010), the City needs to look at the cause not the effect. We are a society of ready to wear, I want it now consumers. We aren't willing to make small concessions in our everyday life to help the environment. It has taken years to persuade the general population that it is cool to take your own bags to the grocery store. I even take my own bag when I go to the Eaton Centre! And it's not because I want to be cool (I don't need my own shopping bag to be cool!!!) it just makes sense.

Insetad of banning disposable cups completely, offer an incentive to businesses who provide their emplyees with travel mugs. Imagine the free advertising companies would receive if all their employees are out and about in the city with their company logo on the mug? All coffee shops should give a small discount on a coffee or tea for those who have their own mug. It is not reasonable to have a moratorium on disposable cups as not everyone who buys a coffee is a resident of the city - what if you are a tourist? Will they be denied a coffee because they don't have their own cup?

I have used my own travel mug for years and enjoy a 10c discount for coffee at Starbucks, Lettieri, Second Cup etc., and I am always amazed at the response I get from co-workers when they see me with my mug - wow, they say, I could never do that. I can never remember to bring a mug with me! There's not much you can say to that!

But disposable cups are not the only issue. I see the amount of plastic cutlery and styrofoam cups and takeout containers used in our office kitchen and it's shocking. These items should be removed completely and employees encouraged to use the real cutlery provided by the compnay - or use their own if they have an issue with eating from communal cutlery. Again, I have my own knife, fork, spoon, glass and mug at the office. But most people are too lazy to take the time to clean their fork after lunch.

It isn't a matter of banning water bottles or disposable cups - this only serves to annoy the general public - but rather a shift in our daily actions and attitudes. Govern by example - I challenge the City of Toronto to provide all its employees with City of Toronto travel mugs. Let's make it uncool to use a disposable cup, plastic fork, or plastic bag. As they say, a little really does go a long way. If we all make a small effort to change our habits, we truly can make a difference.

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Well, I think I have exhausted myself! Thanks for putting up with the rant! Comments are welcome as always!