Slow Down Vancouver: Working Less Equals Lower Footprint - Think about it
Slow it all down folks. Shorter work days, less stress, less racing about in cars, more time to walk to work, more time to think about your impact, more time to cook food, if you have time to cook you'll have time to eat whole foods - look for local products. Rushing about in our current culture is a recipe for unsustainability. Slow down Vancouver and Live Again. The facts are here...
"Shortening working time by 1% reduces the environmental impact by 0.8%, according to research carried out by Jörgen Larsson at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden - this indicates that reduced work time would limit energy use"
Great idea that comes down to personal choices, and discussion with those that set work schedules (labour unions, other employers).
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Aone commented
Sounds good. Let us know when you start up your company.
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Hannah Rose commented
I believe there should be a mandatory PAID hour long lunch break for all BC workers, as well as designated nap rooms in big corporations. (it is SO important to take breaks).
I was in France in 2007, and you could tell how happy people were to take longer lunch breaks. Also, it helps with obesity rates as eating slower has shown to decrease obesity- as it takes a person at least 20 minutes of eating before they get full.
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Drive More commented
Obviously, the only real way to have a lower footprint is to have less people.
Fewer people means less consumption, which is really what the governments do not want because that will cause deflation. Companies are flocking to China because the middle class is growing and lots of new consumers but at the expense of the environment.Too many geese, ducks, deer, rabbits, wild horses, etc, always gets support for a cull. Why not eat geese, ducks, rabbits ,etc when there are too many instead of killing them needlessly?
http://ohthestupidity.com/blog/2008/12/want-to-save-the-environment-then-stop-reproducing/
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Tom Walkerl commented
What is the alternative to the vicious cycle of borrowing, spending, buying, wasting and. wanting? Peter Victor counsels, “When managing without growth we would take most if not all of the gains in productivity as increased leisure to reduce the rate of unemployment and the burden on the environment.” It should be no surprise when Juliet Schor reminds us that, "Longer hours raise the ecological footprint, both because of more production, and because time-stressed households have higher-impact lifestyles. Getting to sustainability will require slowing down the pace of life, which means working less.”
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Drive More commented
Well, most people require more than one job to survive in Vancouver. Being green is expensive. If you get subsidized or even free housing and welfare then all is great, no need to work at all.