Get involved with change!
Election in our city must no longer be a race for political office. All that the past races have collectively given us, is our continuing lack of job growth in real terms and significant environmental deficit.
If we are to see change in our lifetime in Hamilton, we need to do things differently in this election.
Everyone is familiar with the notion of campaign contributions — first, you pay to help a candidate win an election with a hope that s/he is going to look after your needs once they are in office — then, you continue to pay more and more, for many broken promises, until the next election!
My mayoral aspiration is a commitment — that walks the talk of sustainability.
There will be no waste generated from political slogans and promises printed on signs and banners. There will be no junk mail, no pictures of me: holding a cute baby, or cozying up to industrial workers, seniors and even decorated veterans. For sure, there will be no picture-perfect family portrait in front of a fireplace or horses in the background. There will also be no shock and awe advertisements demeaning opponents.
Are you ready for this kind of change? For, I am asking you not to directly contribute a single cent to my mayoral commitment.
Instead, if you do believe that I am your choice for the mayor's office — then all I ask of you is to take time out from your busy schedule and inform five others in our city about your choice — and your reasons for making it. And then convince them to ask five others they know in our communities, to do the same.
That will be your contribution to my commitment.
If you are compelled to bring out more voters to this election to ensure that change does happen this year in Hamilton — then actively share this web site with everyone you know in our city; and inform those who may not have a computer, about your choice.
And if you insist on doing something with the money that you may have sent to my mayoral campaign — then go out and buy a piece of art from a local artist for the same amount; or contribute it to a social cause in our community that you deeply believe in; or even start a new cause — such as a community drive to install energy efficient ceiling fans in your child's classroom at school.
By doing so, you will have already jump started the process of exponential change in our community. The kind of real change we need — to grow into an innovative and sustainable city.
Mahesh P. Butani
Green Map Impacts Book
View more documents from Green Map System.
- Start a Hamilton Green Map at the link above!
- Start a Hamilton City Soundscape Map here - "The sounds of cities give clues to the emotional and responsive way we interact with our cities. Cities all have specific identities, and found sound can give us clues to the people that inhabit these spaces, as well as provoking us and stimulating our senses in a musical way."
- Start your own Native Plant Garden
Prosperity without Growth? The Transition to a Sustainable Economy
"We need visions of where the world can be, not just 'the way the world is'. If we stuck with the 'its human nature' ethic, we'd still have slavery, brutal empires and subjugation of women. People grow in their awareness and society does change - this report is part of that vision building."
"This is one of the most important publications of the last four decades. It firmly buries the myth that endless economic growth is viable in a world of finite and rapidly declining resources. De-growth will come, whether in an chaotic and unpleasant way as a consequence of collapsing supply chains and terminally damaged ecosystems, or (possibly) in a managed and beneficial way through intelligent planning. The choice is ours."
[ Prosperity Without Growth ]
"This is one of the most important publications of the last four decades. It firmly buries the myth that endless economic growth is viable in a world of finite and rapidly declining resources. De-growth will come, whether in an chaotic and unpleasant way as a consequence of collapsing supply chains and terminally damaged ecosystems, or (possibly) in a managed and beneficial way through intelligent planning. The choice is ours."
[ Prosperity Without Growth ]
Smart Green Infrastructure: How To Grow Sustainable Cities
Andy Lipkis, Founder and President of TreePeople, describes how this organization has pioneered an integrated approach to managing urban ecosystems as watersheds in the Los Angeles region.
This involves strategic tree planting, tree-mimicking technologies, and community engagement to generate multiple solutions to the environmental threats facing our cities, including ensuring a sustainable water supply, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, preventing water and air pollution, fostering stronger neighborhoods, and creating jobs. TreePeople's six demonstration projects are now collecting 1.25 million gallons of water every time it rains one inch in Los Angeles.
This involves strategic tree planting, tree-mimicking technologies, and community engagement to generate multiple solutions to the environmental threats facing our cities, including ensuring a sustainable water supply, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, preventing water and air pollution, fostering stronger neighborhoods, and creating jobs. TreePeople's six demonstration projects are now collecting 1.25 million gallons of water every time it rains one inch in Los Angeles.
Building: A new Green Economy
The Princes Foundation — March 15, 2010 — From The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment's 7th Annual Conference, "Building: A new Green Economy". This conference focused on methods to deliver more sustainable growth in our towns and cities.
Tim Jackson is Professor of Sustainable Development in the Centre for Environmental Strategy at the University of Surrey and author of the groundbreaking book Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet.
Tim Jackson is Professor of Sustainable Development in the Centre for Environmental Strategy at the University of Surrey and author of the groundbreaking book Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet.
Young Greens talk Economics
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." - [ Prof. Albert Bartlett ]
