modern life vs. human nature

I am going to try to keep this political argument short. If you are younger than 45 you are not part of the majority in Canada.  Older people (ie. babyboomers) outnumber every other age group in the country besides their children; “echo boomers” or “Generation Y” or “spoiled brats” or “lazy media darlings” or even …well..most of my friends and people who are still naive enough to be excited about life and therefore more interesting than their parents who are busy limiting the salaries of Generation X so they can buy a condo in the city(for them and another for their kids) and a cottage in the country..plus a boat, a yearly vacation to Florida,  a golf membership, an in-house helper from Mexico and every other conceivable luxury for “their retirement”. And really, why shouldn’t they?  They have worked hard as the luckiest and richest demographic in the history of humankind.  They deserve to live out the rest of their lives comfortable, secure and wrapped in plastic, driving outdated gas guzzlers and continuing to create the biggest heaps of garbage the world will ever see. Oh, right… back to the argument.

Yes, well..if you are under 45 you are not being represented and you have only one real option when voting.  Most of the political parties in Canada represent ideas that are older than we are…like babyboomers..and although we may care about things like clean water, air and the environment (ie. the world) old people do not.  Yes, I am totally stereotyping “old people”. Why? Because if I am wrong I want the old buggers to prove it to me.  (Of course not all of them are like this but we are ignoring the good ones for this argument)

Old people care more about the economy and their money because they are old.  They are not going to be here much longer and they are scared.  This is exactly why the “politics of fear” works in the US and in Canada.  Fear creeps in when you are older and if you are not guarded you will be sucked in by it. If you don’t believe me then get on skateboard and try to do any trick without crapping your pants-then watch some 8 year old try the same trick; you have fear, they do not.  TV helps to create these economic fears and old people don’t really understand tv.  We, people who are younger than 45, understand things like the “internet”(yes, that collection of tubes) and understand that the media is sort of a bullshit game. We are wise (and bored) of their game and most importantly we are not yet scared and old. We are also learning (hopefully some of us) that money , and the economy 1) do not make you happy 2) cause shitloads of undue stress and 3)make you a miserable and boring person.  If you don’t understand this then you need to read a little more and figure your shit out before you become miserable and boring. (Yes, this is a warning!)

Where was I? Oh, the only way to really see that your opinions are represented in Canada if you are under 45 is to vote for minority parties. This year it’s an obvious choice; the Green party.   As a political science major I learned one thing about politics; power corrupts!  If the Conservatives have a majority government they will screw things up in a major way!  If the Liberals have a majority(which they won’t) the same will happen.  A minority government is the best way for Canada to operate as a true multi-cultural and multi-regional country.  But old people “en masse” are going to vote for the Conservatives especially given the latest stock market upheavals.  So young people have to vote “Green” to counter the “old” vote.

That is why I firmly advocate voting for the Green Party.  Voting for them will help dilute the center of power at the federal level and give it to the provinces .  Besides their smart environmental policies, more Greens in parliament means better environmental policies, less corruption and more checks and balances.

P.S. Don’t forward this to your mom.

I spent the summer hunting for recycled shoes. I told myself that I would not buy another pair of shoes until I found a pair with recycled content.  I looked in London, Zurich, Amsterdam, Las Vegas, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. Nothing. I asked everywhere I went and the most I got was that Timberland had some recycled content. Sorry, 30% was not enough and I am not really into post-modern Jesus boots.  The closest I found in a sneaker was the Adidas “Grun” collection but considering what they looked like I decided to pass.

Here is the thing. My biggest requirement for any “eco” shoe or garment is that they not look “eco”. It is kind of a test of the items true merit if it can fit into “non-treehugger” wardrobe.  In other words, If I wanted to look like a hippy I would shop at Value Village(BTW: buying used is the most sustainable and eco friendly you can get! So don’t let me talk you out of it.) My apologies to Value Village too.  You can find some great clothes there. It wasn’t until recently that Adidas seems to have stepped it up a notch. Even though they didn’t have them in stock the ZX 500 Grun is the latest offering and it is quite acceptable.

It still elements of “hippy” to it with the vomit brown accents but I could possibly wear them without embarassment and well over 50% of the materials used are from recycled pop bottles.  Adidas has alsodone a collaboartion with Canadian sneaker junkie store Goodfoot.  Again, the G’ is acceptable but it’s nothing that’s going to get sneaker kids freak’in. A for effort guys.

So if you want to buy eco friendly sneakers adidas seems to have the best offering right now in North America as far as I know. I’m still going to keep searching and wearing out my old sneaks.

Enjoy!

Recently, a friend of mine, after suggesting that coffee was bad for me, insisted that I try yerba mate(pronounced “herba mautay”).  She said that it was far healthier than coffee and it would still give me the “kick” I so desire from a coffee.  A few minutes later she bought me a cold yerba mate in a bottle and after slowly sipping it I quickly felt that coffee “kick”.  Although more subtle and calm than a coffee buzz I was quite enthused by the feeling of wakefulness.

Typically, yerba mate is a warm tea common in South America usually shared amongst friends by sipping through a metal straw. (Yes, they drink from the same cup.)  I think the sharing comes about because yerba mate can be “infused” several times. However, given our overly sanitized culture I don’t see many North Americans opting for the “sharing” component. The tea has a similar amount of caffeine as coffee but it is said to be “much gentler on the stomach”.  As far as being healthier than coffee, wikipedia suggests there isn’t any concrete evidence.  I did find that I didn’t get sweaty or agitated an hour or so after drinking the tea like I do with coffee.

Yerba mate tastes like tea so it doesn’t have the creamy, oily silky properties of a well brewed coffee but I wouldn’t disqualify it from my diet. In fact, I have started to drink it in the afternoon when I’m feeling a little sluggish and don’t want to get the anxiety that a second cup of coffee usually produces.

With relative confidence I can say that mixing up my caffeinated drinks won’t hurt and could possibly help my health so I’m all for it. Plus, it’s just easier and cheaper to consume.

Enjoy.

URL to article: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/08/30/ecollection-at-magic-day-one/

I launched my newest apparel brand offering at the Ecollection show at MAGIC just a few days ago. The response was awesome. Some people were amazed. Some people were confused. Some people didn’t get it. Some people cried. Well, I almost did. It was an exciting moment and it’s been a long process of development but Ecopurna is ready to take on the world of eco friendliness as the new smarter, better (more assertive) cousin..who was raised on performance sports and techno music.