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In 2007, the media got on board. Environmental stories made front- page news allyearlong. Books about the environment became best-sell- ers. Magazines from home design It was like society woke up from a collective environmental slumber, looked around with bleary eyes, blinked and asked, “What's going on?" And Deonle started to look for on?" And people started to 106k f0} answers. Yes, 2006 had An Inconvenient Truth, but 2007 saw the environ- ment become a true media darling. As great as this has been, we mustn’t forget news is a fickle beast and, by definition, “new” doesn’t last very long. That means we need to keep the interest moving forward or we could lose the momentum we’ve built. We’ve come a pretty long way in two years. In 2006, people started paying attention to the environ- ment again. If you had told me at the begin- ning of last year that 2007 would be the breakout year for the envi- ronment, I probably wouldn't have believed you. [EITERS POLICY points out, forbidding the use of outdoor domeslinesasanaltemafivetoindoorelec- nicdryexsfliesmthefaoeofgoodsenseata mneofoonoemabmteneryoonservafion andtheenvimnment. ClotheSdryasaanuntforanesdmated 6 per oent'of energy consumption in an avengehomawhidlmakesnosensewhen Asm'vereported.abatdebmkeoutlast summerintheregionaver‘agmwingtenâ€" dagamongbuikiersofmwbdivisions squarelyonmesideofflleomdoorlaundry 'hangersinouroormnunity. For onethingtherearealreadyfarmo uranymulmivelawsrulesarrdreglflafiom mmnsocietyteflingpeoplehowtolivetheir fimewnwhenflreyaren'tdomganybody anyhannTbflmgpeopledratflreycan‘tfes- toonflleirownbackyardwifludieirownbed sheets,towelsandurx1iesisonebfidge.or mflrersuingtoofal: As Aurora Mayor Phyllis Morris, who meddfiwt‘muymmpaimfighfly than 400 words and must include a dayfime te no number. name and a ress. The Sun-Tribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and spnce. Lona: to the Editor. The Sun-Mum 6290 Main St. W,0N I.“ l67 The Sun<THhune welcomes your letters. All submissions must be less th that is emcdywhathappened this weekwhen the pmvinoe announced that oomesummennoonecanstopyoufi'om stringingupanoutdoordodleslineinyour hangusiouttodryâ€"andmlikeit. jmuon.yrmg.com Environment is trendy, so let’s keep it that way a n I r o n I A l For once, govemment’s not all wet INTERACTIVE MEDIA Marketing 8: Advertising dandrrunfiymmmm Dawna Andmws EDITORIAL Editor Iim Mason jmasonOyr-rngmm And the people cheered. Prob- lem solved. Now they could go back to worrying about more managable individual priorities such as paying bills, going to work and providing for their familiea - Ofcourse, we all know now the problem wasn’t solved by a long shot. But we lost a decade of poten- tial progress because people slipped into complacency. Inthe late ’803 and early '90s, the environment was also a top pub- lic ooncem. Governments poured money into environment minis- tries Corporations developed envi- ronmental stewardship platforms. Municipalities rolled out blue box recychng programs. But for those of us old enough to remember back a couple decades, this seem like déja vu. to celebrity gossip suddenly had environment pages or “green” tips. Eco-this and Enviro-that became commonplace. My local newspaper, the Van- couver Sun, invited me to be guest editor and has seen a newfound interest in environmental stories. Mlmidpalitieslmeamletoplaytoq by making sure restrictions on outdoor clothes- linesaxenotmdudedinmesiteplanappmv- alprooess vibrancy but an opponunity for people to diatwimdleirmighbom'sabomflieirhlm- deling achievements and fiustratiom and to brighten their own convetsations with oormnentaryonthequalityandstyleofdie non-doorneighboui’sunmenn'onabiea lfyouaskusfllosemetalumbiefla-type dxyhigstandsjustamnifiiesameandfi'ank- lydiey’iealotuglierwhendleystaMempty likesomeyelybadandstefileattempt at outdoorsailptum Developers should stop induding this tesuicu'on in their pumhase agreements. If dieydontbuyexsshouldrefiisetosignunfil diatprov'nionisscmtdledout. dwamandwimiwifldodxejobbrfiee Outdoordxyingabomakesiturmeoessaly tomethosesmellyfabficsofienersheets MMbeoomegarbagaanditdoesn’t genaateallflxatlinnwhihabobeomnes wasteandeidr'sevflenoeofyourckflm andlinensgladmllybeingtomtoshmdsby Wakmmughthestmetsofmostfium- Classified Manager 'l‘eamledcr Ann Campbell ammphrllOyrmg. mm Anvmmsmc Retail Man-get SuMfi-Tribune PUBLISHER Ian Proudfoot 6290MUSL StouIlee,0N.L4A 167 WWW“ The good news is it is not too late to change the route we are on. There are alternative ways to live that are in balance with Earth’s life support systems. But getting on a new path requires real change. The thing is, we don’t have a choice anymore. leading scientists have been telling us for decades we are on a dangerous path. And who can blame them? No one wants to deal with something as big and complicated as our glob- a] environment. Assistant Classified So what does “real change" Hunger Bonnie Rondeau bmndeauOyrmg.mm Pnonucnon With Fdisaleééla A i“ [w it"; Buauuiss MANAGE] Robert Lazurlco Burma n: Cum m. Duncan. Anvnnumc You Ramon Panama chom Kelly M Mmu Dunnunou 0mm MANAGER a 'l’ncuuowcv Barry Black Bob Dean Mamas MANAGBI lohn Futhey We've only got one Earth, so we can’t just wait and see what hapâ€" pens if we continue with business as usual. That path may look easy now, but in the near future it will make things very, very hard. So what does this all mean? It means it’s time to dig deeper. Real solutions are never easy and there will be lots of arguments. We will also make mistakes. But the only real failure will be ifwe don’t try at all. For individuals, using Ive-usable bags instead of plastic or carrying a re-usable coffee cup will do little if you still drive to work every day. If it sounds like a challerige, that’s because it is. For corporations, token efforts such as a “green” building design or energy-eflicient lighting won't cut it if your bottom line is still profits at the expense of the environment. mean? For governments, giving money to the Environment Min- istry only to have its mandate trounced by the ministries of Natu- ra] Resources, Energy or Finance won't cut it. Iaxsifiod: I -800 Fax DISTRIBUTION 905-64026] 2 ADVERTISING 905-640-2612 905-640-2612 x; 905-640-8778 EDITORIAL I: l-800â€"743-33S3 905-640-8778 A York Region Media Group community newspaper The Sunâ€"Tribune, pubiished awry Thursday and Saturday. is a division of the Metroiand Media Group Ltd, a whoiiyowned subsidiary ofTorstar Corporation. Metroiand is comprised of 100 community publications across Ontario. The Yofli Region Newspaper Group inciudesThe Uberai. serving Richmond Hill and Thomhiii, Vaughan Ciiilen, The Era-Banner (Newmarket/Aurora). Markham Economist Sun. Georgina Advocate. York Region Business Times. North oi the City. yorkregion.com and York Region Printing. Duncan. Cucuunou Svms Lynn Pashko Kim-Tribune Take David SUZUka Nature Challenge and learn more at ww.dadezuk/’.org. Real change is happening. Let our leaders know there’s nothing that can stop it. Politicians and business lead- ers know the public is concerned, but they are slow to respond unless really pushed. If you really want to make a big difference in 2008, push them. Push them hard. Large-scale changes also require corporate and government leader- ship. But here, too, individual action can have great power. Many of our daily decisions are not good for the environment because they are easier and cheap- er to make. Still, challenge your- self, your neighbours, your friends and coâ€"workers to make Canada a global warming problem solver, not a problem maker. We already have the public’s attention, but now we need to get serious about solutions. We know how hard it is to be environmen~ tally responsible.