City Must Make Plans to Deal With Global Warming

From the News section of the Wednesday, January 23, 2008, Toronto Star, page A3, an article about the planning Toronto must do to deal with future global warming:

GTA TO FACE GRIM FUTURE DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING

City must improve its planning, look at toll roads, experts say

Jim Byers
City Hall Bureau

Higher death rates from heat waves. More cases of Lyme disease and West Nile virus. And more polluted skies.

Speaking at a Toronto City Council committee session, climate change experts and politicians yesterday painted a grim picture of a GTA future - although some stressed that change is possible.

"I just want to say, 'Oh, my God,' and 'Let's get to work,'" environmentalist councillor Gord Perks said after hearing from a half-dozen experts.

The parks and environment committee meeting was called to discuss how the city can adapt to climate change in coming decades. Speakers didn't weigh in on moves the city already is considering, such as a potential ban on two-stroke engines popular in lawnmowers and snow blowers. But they did talk about how the city must improve its planning, including potential road tolls for GTA highways.

"We shouldn't build on vulnerable pieces of land," said Mark Yakabuski, president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada. "Building codes should have to take global warming into account."

Yakabuski said insurance claims related to geological and weather events are 20 times higher today than in the 1970, if inflation is taken into account. Climate change, he said, "is a threat that is real beyond anything we've faced before."

Perks cautioned that the insurance industry is a big part of Toronto's financial success and suggested federal politicians might pay more attention to climate change if they considered the impact it could have on the private sector.

Councillor Ron Moeser said the city will have to be creative to respond to the challenges ahead.

"Toll roads are a last resort, but they may be one of the realities we have to look at," he said.

Committee chair Paula Fletcher agreed, saying Mayor David Miller has talked about tolls, but only if they're spread out on all GTA area highways.

A study commissioned by the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario, released Monday, said extra charges on some Ontario highways, would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ease traffic jams.

Dr. Monica Campbell of the city's health department said climate change is affecting the city through more summer heat waves, worse air pollution and mild winters that help build mosquito populations.

Some European and U.S. cities have suffered through devastating heat waves, Campbell said, "but Toronto has yet to be really tested."

A study done for the city in 2005 predicted that heat-related morality will double by 2050 and triple by 2080, she said.

Environmentally-Friendly Shoes

From the Living section of the Friday, January 25, 2008, Toronto Star, page L3, an article about shoes soles which have been made from recycled material:

SHOES WITH SOUL

Three R's give Italian-based shoemaker U Roads a life with focus that's environmentally friendly

Erin Kobayashi
Special to the Star

A swoosh on your sneaker was once the ultimate status symbol, although it has come to symbolize made in China.

Italian-based shoe company U Roads is using another familiar logo on its sneakers, one that symbolizes a more ethical message: Reduce, reuse, recycle.

"All of the soles on the shoes are made with recycled tire,"says U Roads brand manager, Sarrah Sheiner. "The recycled tire is also used for esthetic detailing on the actual shoes. That is why most of the shoes have the embossed or engraved reduce, reuse, recycle logo."

Unlike other shoe companies that use sweatshop labour in Third World countries U Roads shoes are handcrafted in Italy as well as Spain with Italian leather.

While other brands that use recycled materials sacrifice style for the environment and produce chunky, clunky lace-ups and sandals, U Roads offers modern and sleek runners, flats, heels and dress shoes for men and women that range in price from $160 to $240.

"U Roads really wants to redefine men's modern elegance,"says Sheiner."Some shoe brands that use organic materials, recycled fabrics or give back to the environment tend to look granola. U Roads is are really edgy, fashion forward brand. Often, people buy the shoes without even knowing what the brand is about."

U Roads is the only shoe company recognized by the United Nations Environment Programme because the produce is made with post-consumer recycled materials. Packaging is made from recycled paper.

For those who do not wear leather, U Road offers styles for vegans. "We have a selection of fabric-based shoes, particularly canvas ones as a leather option,"Sheiner says.