Saturday, March 28, 2009

Cowichan Carbon Busters coverage gets national recognition

Two articles published in the News Leader Pictorial last year were judged the best of their kind in Canada.

Peter Rusland and Aaron Bichard received gold in Best Environmental Writing, Circulation 10,000 and Over in the annual Canadian Community Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Awards.

Rusland penned a series of stories covering the formation of the Cowichan Carbon Busters and their efforts in reducing their personal carbon footprint and that of their community.

Bichard — a former News Leader Pictorial reporter turned Carbon Buster — capped the series off with an opinion piece talking about the effort first-hand.

Meanwhile, John McKinley was awarded gold in the category Local Editorial, Circulation 12,500 and Over for a piece he wrote about the battle surrounding Buckley the mini-horse.

McKinley took silver in the same category the previous year.

The News Leader Pictorial also received a Blue Ribbon — signifying overall general excellence — from the awards program, which honours the best work of the CCNA’s more than 600 member newspapers from across the country.

The paper is also a five-time nominee in the separately judged B.C./Yukon Community Newspaper Association Ma Murray Awards, which will be presented next weekend in Vancouver.

** Note: Peter Rusland was also named a top-three finalist in the B.C./ Yukon Community Newspaper Association Ma Murray awards for his coverage of Cowichan Carbon Busters. **

Sunday, March 22, 2009

What? You bought a truck????

'tis true. 'tis true.

We, of the bike-ridin', outdoor-lovin', clean-air breathin' ilk, went out and bought a (gasp) truck.
Not just any truck. A North American built Chevy.



But, it's the imports that are leading the charge in fuel consumption, you say.
And it's the Fords, the Dodges, the Chevys that are plaguing the roads with monster trucks, sucking the earth dry of oil, you say.

Well, it turns out back in the early 80s, Chevrolet put out a small pick-up truck with a 2.2 litre Isuzu diesel engine. Only and handful were made for a couple a years, and we fortunately stumbled upon one.

So now we have a diesel truck running off locally made B100 Bio-Diesel made from waste vegetable oil collected from local restaurants.
It's kind of like completing, or at least complimenting, the circle of waste.

We pick up organics from restaurants like the Craig St. Brew Pub — who are also doing their part for the environment by brewing local beer, allowing folks like us to do our part for the environment by drinking it. The oil that comes from their restaurants powers our truck to keep their food waste out of the landfill, which in in turn is used to grow more food, which they can, in turn, cook in oil. Phew!
The foot-bone is connected to the head-bone, or so they say.

With K's trusty Jetta on its way to becoming a gigantic pop can, the truck has become our only vehicle.




Good thing we don't have many formal affairs to go to, dressed up fancy-like in our purdy gumboots....