Drinking in the "Unbottle It" tour

The "Unbottle It" tour, affectionately known as "Here Comes Maude" was welcomed in London on January 13th by a crowd stuffed into Aeolian Hall. Don't take this the wrong way the Aeolian is big and beautiful, it's just that the crowd was also big and beautiful. And they got what they came for....inspiration from a passionate water warrior. Maude Barlow, President of Council of Canadians and recently appointed to the UN as Senior Advisor on Water spoke to the packed house consisting of high school students to retirees.

Two issues were dealt with: water and plastic. Water needs to be protected and made a basic human right and not sold to the highest bidder. Without water nothing survives. Plastic needs to be discontinued since nothing can use it as a source of food and it stays in our environment forever contributing to the destruction of a healthy planet.

So what does this have to do with our journey to being waste free in 2009? Everything. Every journey one embarks on requires inspiration to keep going. That is what Maude provided, the inspiration to keep going. In addition, there was inspiration from the management and staff at the Aeolian. This was a waste free event. Hot drinks and condiments were fair trade and were served in reusable mugs. Clark Bryan, the owner, also announced to the audience that even though it meant a reduction in revenue that they had made a conscious decision to not sell bottled water. Thank you Clark and staff.

We do see a small wave of change occurring throughout our city and with each step we can actually see a healthier more vibrant city beginning to emerge. Taking bold steps is never easy but doing nothing is not an option.