PaintedTurtleWine Blog

Some Laid Back Inspiration

We've been exercising our environmental muscles lately, but now that it’s getting colder out and the days are getting shorter, it's time to get back to our roots and lay back a little! We're a slow laid back wine, so we're going to share some fun artwork and videos that best capture our slow pace philosophy. We're going cull the depths of the internet to bring you some slow and easy, laid back inspiration.

We thought we'd start off with this awesome print we found on Flickr! Created by a talented print maker who goes by the moniker RadRobot. This letter heavy print is spelling things out for us..

 

Dr. Andrew Weaver Keynote Speech Recap

Wednesday morning I headed down to the brand new Creekside Community Centre in False Creek to see the key note speech from Dr. Andrew Weaver. It was only fitting that the event would take place in the new South False Creek community, heralded as one of the greenest neighborhoods in North America.  The home of events for Eco Fashion Week, the morning was abuzz after a sold out runway show just the night before.  I scooped up my complimentary SIGG renewable water bottle and grabbed a seat.

On hand to introduce Dr. Weaver was non other than Vancouver's Deputy City Manager Sadhu Johnson. The environmental czar of the city was quick to point out that Vancouver is leading the charge to reduce carbon emissions having reduced our output to less than 1990 levels, the year Canada signed the famed Kyoto accord.  Mr. Johnson stressed that with Vancouver's economy in strong shape, "going green" doesn't have to come at an economic price tag.

After the warm welcome, Dr. Weaver was soon at the podium and jumping straight into his thesis about the state of climate change and it's current public perception. I wasn't sure if it was positive fact or not that 80% of BC's current population believe that global warming is real. Is it me or does that just seem low? Turns out we're second highest in Canada after Quebec!  Dr. Weaver then when on to discuss the disconnect in the media, between what scientist present as fact and the "balanced" story that journalists end up writing. Along with the dreaded sensationalistic tactics used, it's not completely surprising that people have become skeptics.

In the end, at the very meat of the issue was one underlying question: "Do we as a present generation feel we owe future generations the same living conditions in-which we ourselves inherited?" We have a clear picture how our  future will look, given our current path, but do we want to take the steps needed to change our direction for those generations to come. Do we want to instill taxes on emissions that may be costly in the short run?  As Dr. Weaver repeated, he is a scientist who's roleis to unveil the enigmas of nature. It's up to us to make the big decisions from those facts and effect change on our communities.

To learn about theCanadian government's efforts to combat climate change visit: www.climatechange.gc.ca 

Eco Fashion Week - Facebook Tickets Giveaway!

 

The great people at Eco Fashion Week have been nice enough to provide us with a handful of tickets to giveaway! We're keeping this one really simple. All you have to do to enter is to be an active member of our Facebook community. So just pop over to our Facebook Page and 'Like' us!  We'll be drawing the winners this coming Monday, Sept 27th.  

 

First up is a fun night of fashion! You could win 2 tickets to the International Collective featuring Lara Miller and Pure Pod on Tuesday, September 28 at 5:30pm. Lara Miller's pieces have been called “sultry, sophisticated, and as endlessly variable as the woman who wears them” by elle.com. Pure Pod, founded by Kelli Donovan, has become one of the largest dedicated ethical fashion labels in Australia. Both designers are at the forefront of sustainability within fashion!

Second, you could win 2 tickets to Nobel Prize winning Dr. Andrew Weaver taking place on Wednesday, September 29 at 10:00am.  We highlighted Andrew Weaver last week on the blog and can't say enough good things. This is a fantastic opportunity to hear from one of the most brilliant minds working on the issue of climate change today.

So get over to the Facebook Page and join us to win!

Nobel Prize Winner Dr Andrew Weaver Speaks At Eco Fashion Week

Eco Fashion Week is fast approaching as we seem to be racing through September and the beginning of Fall! As we mentioned, we're looking forward not only to the fashion events, but also the various seminars taking place through out the day on Sept 28 + 29.

Over the next week and a half,  we're hoping to spotlight some of the different seminars taking place to help spread the word on these amazing speakers coming to Vancouver. We're going to kick things off with the Keynote speaker at this year's event!

Dr. Andrew Weaver // Global Warming: The Scale of the Problem, the Path to the Solution

10:00 am — Wednesday, September 29 @ Creekside Community Centre.

One of the world’s leading authorities on global warming and climate change, Nobel Prize winning Andrew Weaver is the author of numerous articles on climate change and has served as a lead author on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Currently professor in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria,  Dr. Weaver’s exceptional research achievements, scholarly writing, and efforts to share his knowledge are truly remarkable and have been critically influential world-wide and at home.

During the seminar, the foundations of the science of global warming will be presented and a discussion of our present climate will be framed within a historical perspective of the Earth’s climate over the last 800,000 years. The range of projections of climate change over the next century will be summarized and the public confusion arising from the media portrayal of the science and its entry into the political arena will be discussed

This talk will be based on the book: Keeping our Cool: Canada in a Warming World.

For Tickets to the Semiar can be purchace HERE

 

Painted Turtle Supports Eco Fashion Week Vancouver!

 
 

We are very proud to support this year's Eco Fashion Week running Sept 27-30 in Vancouver. And what a week it's going to be!

We're defintely looking forward to the glitzy fashion shows, showing off a selection of the best eco-designers from around the world, showcasing their latest collections of environmentally friendly, trend-setting fashion.

But there's more! The week of events will also include seminars throughout the day, discussing the latest trends and movements within the Fashion world, sharing information and resources related to eco-friendly practices in the clothing industry.

The Keynote speaker will be non other than Dr. Andrew Weaver, who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore for “their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.” Wow!

We're pretty pumped to be a partner in this year's events and will be sharing new info and highlighting seminars and shows over the coming weeks. We will even have tickets to events to give away!  So check back often for your chance to win.

 

Call For Conservation Ideas!

 

 

Each year since 1974, the Province of British Columbia and Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation have made grants available to organizations and individuals who wanted to carry out a conservation project but needed some financial help to get going.

This year there are still many potential grants available. If you or someone you know has a worth conservation cause, make sure to visit the HCTF Website for all the details.

 

I hate to "dredge" up the past but...

 
It looks like the Burnaby Lake dredging project is moving full steam ahead.

The lake cleanup was originally scheduled for September 2009, but was stalled due to concerns regarding the endangered Western Painted Turtle. Research shows that an estimated 100 turtles live in or around the lake year-round. During the cold winter months the turtles bury themselves deep into the silt at the bottom of the lake. It is this very silt that is now being removed.

Currently the lake bottom is clogged with garbage, pop cans, plastic, glass, needles (ick!), lilly pond roots and yes, plenty of silt and sediment. Clearly the garbage is not healthy for the lake itself, or the tiny turtles taking up residence within. However, simply removing the garbage and sediment would remove the turtles themselves, and cause serious harm to one of the largest remaining clusters of the species.

 

Thanks to the Environment Ministry, dredging was postponed until ground penetrating radar could be tested and applied to detect the hibernating turtles. If any turtles are detected, dredging must stop in that area, or the turtles must be transported to another section of the lake, depending on how many are found.

In an article by Wanda Chow from the Burnaby News Leader, Project Manager Michael Wood is reported as saying; “This lake is somewhat of a landfill. Cleaning this lake out is going to have a huge benefit to all the [wildlife] that use this lake.”

Kudos to the Environment Ministry for looking out for the little guy, and kudos to the City of Burnaby for finding a workable solution! We're certainly looking forward to a clean lake, and a happy home for the Western painted Turtles.

An Ode to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics

Thank you Vancouver Police Department for keeping the peace in our hometown, for keeping traffic moving at a fairly steady pace, for giving me directions to the Bedowin Soundclash concert - and for smiling all the while.

Thank you Yaletown for your free entertainment, covered patios with delicious beverages, stunning fireworks displays and cheery hot dog vendors.

Thank you Mother Nature for the beautiful sunshine that lit up our fair city, and the snow that graced the peaks of Whistler. (Thank you Cypress volunteers for creating a winter wonderland out of hay and dry ice).

Thank you athletes of Team Canada for, well, you know!

Finally, thank you International visitors. You are a spirited and lovely bunch, and you are welcome back anytime.

Thank you Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics!

$16 Million Dredging Project On Hold - For Now

 

It's recently been widely reported that the City of Burnaby planned to dredge Burnaby Lake in order to re-establish a rowing course that is up to international standards, and to prevent the lake from filling in with sediment. On the surface this all sounds great, but if one were to dig a little deeper (literally) one would discover the largest viable population of Western Painted Turtles in the Fraser Valley.

The Western Painted Turtle is on the Endangered Species list in Canada, and is one step away from being completely extinct. During the cooler winter months, turtles hibernate in mud beneath the water in lakes like the one in question in Burnaby. Dredging the lake would put the turtles in imminent danger, and was restricted by the Ministry of the Environment until it could be shown that this beautiful creature was out of harm's way.

According to Jennifer Moreau of the Burnaby Now, "the city came up with an unprecedented plan to use ground-penetrating radar to make sure dredging areas were clear of turtles, a plan the Environment Ministry agreed to as long as the turtles were located and avoided or handled safely and released in spring, depending on how many were found together at a time. But the radar unit is too sensitive and is picking up signals from things like rocks, root masses and debris".

Due to the hyper-sensitivity of this radar unit, it looks like the Painted Turtles are safe - for now.

Personally I'm hoping that by the time the radar unit has been tweaked, temperatures will have climbed into the high teens and the turtles will have climbed out of the lake, onto the rocks in the surrounding areas to sun themselves and enjoy a relaxing dredge-free existence.

Until next time - thanks for reading!

Let it be resolved

Happy 2010 to my fellow wine-lovers! 

If you're like me, January means more than just hanging up the new calendar. It's an exciting time, with fresh goals and stimulating challenges ahead. You probably also set resolutions. So far I am actively working on a number of them:

• Join the gym, check.
• Eat healthy, check.
• Clean out the closet, check.
• Expand horizons...hmmm.

Exand horizons. Better oneself. Be all you can be - wait, I think that's the American Army slogan. Regardless, I was sitting here today contemplating the future, and how exactly I wanted to expand my horizons. That's when I came across the website for the Art Institute of Vancouver and their vast offerings of wine education courses.

Whether you're a wine neophyte or a budding sommelier, there is something for everyone. The courses are certified by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), and upon completion you can hang your shiny new certificate or, if you go all the way, diploma on the wall.

It's an exciting time to be alive, and it's no time to stop learning.

So, what are your New Years resolutions?!