Friday 13 July 2007

Eco-friendly Canadians? Well, sort of...

The news has been full of how kind of, sort of eco-friendly Canadians are.

Statistics Canada reported Wednesday that the 2006 Households and Environment Survey showed that nearly 60 per cent of Canadian households have some compact fluorescent light bulbs, up considerably in recent years.. More people composted, too, and more had “water-saving shower heads and toilets,” Statscan said in a press release.

That’s nice.

But the survey also found that more than half of Canadians commuted to work alone in a private car or truck. That is definitely not good, and if people think they’re being ecological just because they’ve got a few of those funny light bulbs, they’re deluding themselves. The Canadian transportation sector accounts for at least 50 per cent of energy related greenhouse gas emissions. If we want to make changes that matter, transportation is the sector on which we should concentrate, through more fuel-efficient vehicles, better public transportation, and higher urban densities.

Photo: Two signs of hope for green cities: buses and the persistance of growing things.

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