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PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, November 26, 1991 - 33 "A Family Tradition for 125 Years" Stefan Timms, from Port Perry, was recently award- ed the J. Howard Crocker Faculty of Kinesiology Award at the University of Western Ontario. ADVERTISING DEADLINES REAL ESTATE 5:00 P.M. Thursday DISPLAY ADVERTISING 12 NOON MONDAY Environmental Partners Fund aims to solve local problems by working together By Ross Stevenson, M.P. for Durham To most of us the environment is a major personal concern. Natural forests, with sparkling clean lakes and rivers and abun- dant wildlife, are very much a part of our Canadian image. Not so long ago we took all that for granted. Then there was a grow- ing awareness of threats to our environment from industrial and domestic wastes and from some of the new technological and scientific advances. Today, preserving and enhanc- ing our environment has become a top priority. To help find lasting solutions, the federal government has allotted $3 billion for The Green Plan. But no single govern- ment or industry, however large, and no individual, however strongly committed, can tackle our environment problems alone. That was the reason Ottawa established the Environmental Partners Fund - to help people work together on overcoming specific local problems and preventing new ones. Earlier this month the Minister of State for the Environment, the Hon. Pauline Browes, announced this program has worked so well that it is being extended until 1997, with further $20 million in funding. Since it was established in 1989 the Environment Partners Fund has provided more than $19 million for 491 environmental pro- jects with a total value of $81 million. The program offers financing for up to 50 per cent of the total cost, to a maximum of $200,000 over a three-year period, to initiate conservation or clean- up activities. The aim is to achieve a partnership through community groups, businesses and other levels of government working together and sharing the costs. Many of the projects promote recycling and composting, to divert waste from landfill sites. Others have restored or enhanc- ed the natural habitat for fish and wildlife. Program proposals are reviewed every six months, with application deadlines every Dec. 1 and June 1. Environment Canada also is ac- cepting applications for assistance to special community projects planned during Environ- ment Week 1992, which will be held June 1 to 7. Next year's theme, "It's Up To all Of Us," em- phasizes that, while each of our own individual contributions to the environment may seem in- significant, 26 million Canadians acting together can have a massive impact. One million dollars are allocated to help non-profit organizations at the local level - such as small municipalities, schools, librairies, social groups - to organize wnvironment Week projects involving their communi- ty in specific practical activities. Deadline for these applications is Jan. 15. For further information and ap- plication kits for either of these programs, you can contact the following in Toronto: Paul Bubelis, Environmental Partners Fund - phone (416) 973-1076; or Maureen Martinuk, Environment Week 1992 - phone (416) 973-6481. Or you can write to them at the regional office in Toronto, as follows: Environment Canada, 25 St. Clair Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario M4T 1M2. Working together for the en- vironment, we can all make a difference. BB SE BR ES BS ER SER, Natural Ingredients adn ESTABLISHED wl RIp No Additives - by Michelle Bull DREAMING OF A GREEN CHRISTMAS _ Christmas, as it is usually celebrated in this coun- try, is a major problem for the environment. Most of us spend November and December rushing about trying to think of something, anything, to buy for Aunt Maude and cousin Wilbur. When we find some- thing they might possibly like, we snatch it up, even though it is out of the price range we decided on. We wrap it up in several layers of unnecessary packaging, and send it off. We're very lucky if we manage to get our credit cards paid off by March or April. When the big day finally arrives, we open our par- cel from Aunt Maude and ask our spouse "What could she have been thinking? What an ugly thing. Whatever are we going to do with it?" The kids have a fight because they are bored of opening a whole lot of presents, most of which they will never play with. And then you all spend an hour picking up the packaging and stuffing it into six gar- bage bags. All right, this may be a bit of an exaggeration, but doesn't much of it ring true? And here's the problem. Aside from the packaging, which doesn't do our gar- bage dumps or our forests any good, there are the huge number of cheap consumer items that we don't need or want, and which consume our valuable re- sources and energy to make, and which usually end up in the garbage. And then there is the encourage- ment the season gives to the North American consu- mer mentality, which is a major part of our environ- mental problem. So what are our alternatives? How can we enjoy the season without destroying the environment? Here are some suggestions. Beginning at the end, when we come to wrap our presents, we should try to avoid buying tons of glitzy new paper. If we must use paper, we should use up last year's leftovers, and save anything that's still useable for next year. To make this easier, wrap without using tape. Use ribbon or yarn instead. Alter- natively, use reuseable gift bags, which you can make or buy. Or wrap gifts in useful things like tea towels or socks and a bit of ribbon. Now what to put in those environmentally friendly wrappings? Don't buy something just for the sake of buying something. If you really can't think of any- thing for Aunt Maude, then make a donation in her name to her favorite charity. Chances are she'll ap- preciate it much more than that piece of junk you bought because you couldn't think of anything else. If you don't know what her favorite charity is, here are some of my favorites: Friends of the Earth, 251 Laurier W., Ste. 701, Ottawa, K1P 9Z9, will plant a tree in your friend's name for $20; World Wildlife Fund, 90 Eglinton Ave. E., Ste. 504, Toronto, M4P 979, and Nature Conservancy of Canada, 794A Broadview Ave., Toronto, M4P 929, will buy the per- son an acre of tropical rain forest, or Canadian wild- erness for $25. Not a bad price for an acre of land! Keep gifts to a minimum. Give one or maybe two well thought out gifts to each person, gifts that will last. Make sure they are made of renewable re- sources, and not anything deriving from endan- gered species. Possibly buy your gifts from a com- pany that returns the money to the developing world, like Bridgehead (available at Earthdance at 67 King E. in Oshawa) or Selfhelp Crafts (available at the Care and Share Shoppe at 39 Main W. in Stouftville). In this way you are helping people of the third world as well as finding quality crafts at a reasonable price. Overly environmental gifts are also a good idea. These include anything from books about the envi- ronment to cloth napkins to a nice reuseable mug for the workplace. Or get the kids started on an earth-friendly hobby like bird-watching or ant farm- ing. Gifts that you have made yourself always mean a lot more than bought gifts, too, even if they are smaller. Many of us don't have the time for that, but perhaps we should have. Perhaps we need to make the time. And that brings me to my final idea. Give people time instead of things. Give an IOU for an evening out, or better yet, an evening in with your spouse. Give your kids an IOU for their favorite fam- ily outing, or just lunch together, the two of you. Kids give your parents an IOU for some household chores to be performed without grumbling. Or the whole family could give itself an evening a week to- gether without the TV, just relaxing together, maybe playing a game, spending the time together. These are the sort of gifts that will reap benefits years and years down the road. They will be remembered when all the plastic toys and gadgets have long since ended up at the dump. And they are free. These are just a few suggestions of ways to make the Christmas season a little greener while also strengthening friendships and family ties, sav- ing money, and perhaps coming a little closer to the actual meaning of the season. Here's wishing eve- ryone a very merry green Christmas. P.S. - You can now put telephone books in the blue box. 218) {eI NNN KOISVNB § 0% Breads, Bagels, Cinnamon Buns, Croissants, Tarts, 10* White Cherry Cake of & Christmas Cake Walch the Port Perry Star for our weekly specials. Hanks offers Special Holiday & Dutertaining combinations. Phone Orders oO85-2172 Welcome TI ewws 2° ooolegesy, o i» xP Sd en Come to the College Information Program at Durham College Representatives from 18 Ontario Community colleges will be available to distribute information and answer any questions you may have about programs, facilities, services and housing. WHEN? WHERE? November 27, 1991 Durham College 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Main Campus, Gymnasium EET For more information, call the DURHA M Admission Office at Durham College 576-0210 Ex. 268 or 529. Coste BRING ALL THE GREAT SPORTS HOME WITH AN AFFORDABLE SATELLITE SYSTEM ® Full function infra red remote control @ Parental lockout @® On screen graphics ® Direct satellite access fendnn™ COMPLETE SATELLITE SYSYTEM INSTALLED ONLY 2995 HY. 12 - 2nd Line of Brock - SUNDERLAND - Showroom Now Open 705-357-2575 416-852-3796 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ' The Star encourages our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column to. express their opinions and vi ints on just about any subject, as we feel a lively letters column Dr make a better community Newspaper. We insist, however, that all létter writers sign their name. Sorry, no anonymous letters will be printed. TR Tt hf a AL N= A a: a a a cor a ca ic ch a ~~ lh yy all ill iio we simp iil opin