Author: Farida Hussain

Steel fences and barbed wire surround the squat warehouses and buildings on Industrial avenue. Distant sounds of metal clanging, loads dropping and radios droning filled the air. At the CN railway yard, a single truck was fork-lifting rusty containers from one spot to another.

Eric Jorgens, a visiting manager at the yard pointed to six stationary tankers lined up on the tracks. The capacity of each tanker is marked in bright yellow paint: 25601 gallons. “Those ones contain biodiesel from Iowa. This yard is where steel wheel meets rubber wheel. From here, the diesel will go off to Chevron or Shell and such, and be diluted down to 5% or 10% and sold at gas stations. A lot of this biofuel coming into B.C.”

According to The B.C. government’s Livesmart website, “As B.C. continues to implement the Climate Action Plan, it is also moving ahead with coordinated actions to help the province adapt to climate change.” One of these actions is the imposition of the carbon tax and the motor fuel tax.

Two blocks west of CN railways, on 360 Industrial Avenue, is the green and yellow building of The Recycling Alternative, which houses the city’s only 100% biodiesel pump. The pump is run by the Vancouver Biodiesel Co-op, which has approximately 200 members who use 100% biodiesel to run their cars.

Alex Day, founder member of the co-operative, had something to say about the B.C. government’s efforts to “help British Columbians make green choices that save money at home, at work and on the road.”

“Since January 1st, 2010, the motor fuel tax, which biodiesel was previously exempt from, adds 25.11 cents per litre more to the cost of biodiesel. The government decided that it is too onerous to distinguish between the two, since they now have the renewable fuel standard so they’re just not distinguishing, so all renewable fuels are also being charged the carbon tax, which makes no sense.”

“The carbon tax is mostly just a slap in the face,” added Day. “The intention of the carbon tax is to put a disincentive on carbon based fuels and therefore create an incentive for renewable fuels. All the members talk about it , and are not happy about, and while they made the decision to choose renewable fuel, it is souring for them to know that the government won’t take the effort to exempt 100% biodiesel from the carbon and motor vehicle taxes instead of just bundling them in with other carbon-based fuels. Our membership is still growing, but some old members use less biodiesel and some have just stopped using it.

How backwards it is to charge carbon tax to renewable fuels, and how unhelpful it is to charge the motor fuel tax to biodiesel in a growing industry.” Day was not satisfied with the government’s steps to reduce British Columbia’s carbon footprint.

Six giant dumpsters were slumped against the wall, just barely concealing the heaps of garbage that festered beneath them. A broken television was stacked atop some damp furniture and had empty coffee containers perched delicately on top of it. The alleyway was fraught with bits of paper, plastic, and cigarette butts, and reeked of mould and urine.

Robert Sutherland grabbed a broom, while Varouj Gumuchian, Travis Martin and Jasiriat Somjee busied themselves with moving the dumpsters. Under the co-ordination of Sutherland, the four had taken it upon themselves to transform the alley north of Broadway, alongside Main Street, into a “Liveable Laneway,” a public space that would encourage pedestrians to linger in the space rather than flee from it.

Coinciding with the Autumn Shift car-free festival on Main Street, Liveable Laneways is an event spearheaded by Sutherland to facilitate long term change that would make the area cleaner and more people-friendly, benefiting merchants, visitors and residents. “We need more people spaces in Mount Pleasant,” said Sutherland, “I want this to be a public place with green roofs, green cafes, arts and activity”

From noon till 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, the alleyway will be converted into a vibrant public space, with a farmers market, a BBQ, cottage industry stalls, art installations, food, a skate park, pony rides and a stage for music.

Raking bits of rubbish out from the grass, Somjee said “I’m here to make the city greener and more pedestrian friendly.” She had come to help out as part of the Environmental Youth Alliance.

Gumuchian wanted to contribute his art. “My thing is sculpture – installation art. People bring their culture to the place. Lanes become alive with trades, crafts, and that relates to sustainability. Symbiotically creating micro businesses in the alley, as opposed to Main Street, which is more store-front stuff.” Gumuchian said he felt positive about the event, but that there were always some challenges and obstacles. “Cleaning is horrific. This place has been unkempt and unclean for years. The city doesn’t co-operate, cleaners don’t show up, there is red tape around licensing for the event, everything costs money.”

Chindi Varadarajulu, owner of Chutney Villa, a restaurant adjacent to the alley, said “Everybody is so nasty with their garbage. Stacks of old mattresses, paint, gardening stuff, furniture, they use it as a toilet – I’ve seen a guy taking a dump there. It is the most abused space.” She hopes that this event will help keep the alley clean, while bringing a lot more life and attitude to the city.

The crowd chuckled as Hannah Carpendale delicately held up a drone between her fingertips and continued to explain the social organization of a beehive. Carpendale, 22, was one of the eight youth who, as part of an apprenticeship program with the Environmental Youth Alliance, were taking care of two hives at the Means of Production community garden.

The culmination of the summer-long apprenticeship program was a mini-symposium held on Sunday under a single tent in China Creek park. Locals were invited to learn more about bee species and their habits. Yellow and black balloons marked tables that displayed an assortment of beekeeping books and paraphernalia. A little table of honey goodies was set up, and hot cups of ginger -lemon-honey tea were served up to the few people who braved the grey skies to attend.

Brian Campbell, master beekeeper of the Blessed Bee Farm in Richmond was there to support the youth. “What’s happening is that there are about half as many beekeepers as there were 25 years ago. Older beekeepers are giving up and so it is important to engage with youth and teach them about beekeeping.” He also talked about the importance of preserving the rapidly declining bee population, citing the carrot-seed shortage that had recently troubled West Coast Seeds as a case in point “We already see the impact on our food. No bees to make the seeds means no seeds to plant the carrot.”

Campbell said that preserving the delicate balance between flora and fauna is a matter of immediate concern. “People need to take personal responsibility for their actions. The use of pesticides is incredibly harmful to B.C.’s wild bees. They are being killed off and this means that we lose native plants, which means we lose native wildlife.”

The youth-led presentations included an overview of the evolving BC beekeeping bylaws, beekeeping practices from around the world. In his presentation titled “Other reasons why bees are better than you and I,” Bryan Brent talked about how bees were being used to diagnose illness because of their acute sense of smell. According to Brent, bees can detect pheromones for cancer, diabetes, and tuberculosis. They have also been trained to find land mines by smelling out TNT residue.

“The idea is to bring awareness into the community, bring bees to them, educate, inspire and connect to this sacred species,” said Shielagh Mckenna, the program coordinator with the EYA who mentored the youth through their apprenticeship.

“Pphhhhhhhhrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeoooooo…” men and women gathered at Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House collectively released their lower lips and their inhibitions as they dropped their limp torsos over their feet. Anna Baignoche, the ring leader made small humming sounds and instructed them to slowly lift themselves into a standing position. “Aaaaaooooaaaaaaaooooooaaaaaooommmm…” the room resounded with the sound of their humming. Their eyes, now open, glimmered with satisfaction and expectation. The warm up complete, it was time to get down to business.

Local Vocals reconvened for their fall season this Monday. Led by Baignoche, the community choir meet once a week to sing songs from all over the world: Bluegrass, Afro-Cuban, Jazz, Samba Bulgarian, Japanese. They don’t sing for a concert or a show, but rather for the sheer joy of it. Singing with the choir requires no formal training or experience. If you can talk, you can sing, it says on their handout.

Sawn-you may-oo, Vay doosh kar keng.” Hand-written, phonetic, lyrics were posted on a wall for everyone to see. The group divided itself into Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Base sections, and Baignoche gave everyone their parts. Their vocal chords limber from the somewhat unusual vocal warm up, the mixed choir of first timers and experts delivered flawless harmonies, singing in languages they didn’t understand, making sounds that many of them had probably never made before. They started the evening with some old favourites like “Oh when the saints” and quickly moved on to a song from South Africa. They followed it with a Brazilian Samba song in Portugese and finished off with a traditional Scottish lyric that brought tears to some of the singers eyes.

After an hour and a half of singing, dancing, sharing stories and information, the group made their way out of the neighbourhood house, past walls with posters and banners for Immigrant and refugee health services, Citizen Preparation Workshops, Job shops for immigrants, and an English Corner to practice speaking the language. Outside, the aroma from an Ethiopian restaurant mingled with the smell of Kentucky fried chicken. A Bangladeshi-run meat shop (directly opposite the Sri Lankan-run grocery store) advertised halal meat and Bengali cuisine. “(After) all that singing I need a second dinner,” said a grey haired soprano as she walked to her car.  The choir split into smaller groups, and samosa seekers and Subway supporters spread out into the multicultural experience of East Van.