Over The Edge Page 6 NEw ss March 23, 1999

How Green Is Prince George?

Reduce, reuse, recycle- we have all heard these environmental catch words
before, but how many Prince George citizens actually implement them in
their daily lives? As participants in an environmental studies class at UNBC,
Maya Caron, Joanne McElroy, and Kim Charles set out to pursue the public’s
response to being green.

Over the weekend of the 13th and 14th of March, we set up a display table in
Pine

Centre Mall overflowing with pamphlets that covered a wide range of topics
from composting to places to recycle to vegetarian cookbooks. We asked
people to fill out the following simple questionnaire to get a sense of the level
of environmental awareness in the community.

1) Do you recycle? YES/NO

2) Do you compost regularly? YES/NO

3) Do you use alternate sources of transportation other than your auto-
mobile to travel to work or school? YES/NO

If yes, check those that apply: walk bike public transit other

4) Do you conserve energy at home and at work? YES/NO

5) Do you conserve water at home and at work? YES/NO

6) Do you avoid buying products with excess packaging? YES/NO

7) Do you regularly use environmentally friendly household and person-
al care products? YES/NO

8) Do you eat at least one vegetarian meal a week? YES/NO

9) Do you regularly purchase organically grown food? YES/NO

Our results show that overall the citizens of PG. are aware of environmental
issues, although there is room for improvement. Over 80% of the survey

respondents recycle due primarily to the many bins, which are easily acces-
sible around the city. Only 27% of people composted, but for those interest-
ed, R.E.A.P.S. has a compost workshop in May that might help people com-

post more frequently. Transportation to work or school was cut roughly at the
middle with 44% of people driving automobiles and 56% using alternate
sources. By taking the bus, walking, biking, or carpooling once a week, we
could all help to reduce the burden of air pollution in the city. Conserving
energy and water at home and at work was completed by over 80% of sur-
veyed residents. Buy buying products in bulk or those with packaging that is
easily recycled or reused, 60% of people avoided excess waste material.
Roughly half of us use environmentally friendly products for household and
personal care and 73% eat at least one vegetarian meal a week. Regular
purchase of organic food was not widely done as 73% of respondents
checked NO due to higher prices and unavailability. However, often organi-
cally grown produce is comparably priced with seasonal food and can be
bought at Mother and Ave Maria’s, and Overwaitea.

This project was made successful by the help of many members of the com-
munity. Beaver Lumber kindly donated a composter for the display that was
raffled off to anyone who took a minute to fill out our survey. The excited
winner of this composter was Murray Reid. We would like to thank ail those
people who took a minute to complete our survey. The assistance of Jenny
from R.E.A.P.S. and Jim from Fraser Fort George Regional District was
invaluable and helpful in providing pamphlets, magnets, and advice for our
display. Additionally, Dave from Mother Maria’s Market gave us coupons for
organically grown produce, took us on an enlightening tour of his store, and
provided information on green consumerism and organic food.

We were sceptical initiating this project, as we were unsure of the general
public’s response to environmental concerns. However, it has been pleasant-
ly surprising to see how much environmental awareness is present in P.G.

Of course there is room for improvement, but overall the citizens of this
Northern capital seem to have a good sense of what it takes to tread more
lightly on the earth.

2°30 Am, CanroR THeaTRe.