Photo by Council of Canadians activist Rick Sawa.
The Council of Canadians Prince Albert chapter has helped to launch a seed lending library in their community.
The Prince Albert Daily Herald reports, “Parkland Permaculture Guild and the Prince Albert Council of Canadians partnered to co-host with the John M. Cuelenaere Public Library a day packed with Earth Day activities. …Among the highlights of the day was the launching of the seed library. While a regular library is known to be the place where people can check out books, a seed lending library allows people to check out vegetable and flower seeds to plant and save some of the seeds of the plant to return to the library. Then the seeds will be stored to lend out again for the following growing season.”
The chapter posted on its Facebook page, “How can you celebrate Earth Day? As well as the opportunities listed below, there will also be an opportunity to donate to Earth Day Canada’s #Rooting4Trees ‘Pledge and Plant’ campaign. Help grow a forest of 25,000 trees for Earth Day Canada’s 25th anniversary. Why trees? Earth Day Canada writes, ‘… restoring our forests remains the most affordable, health-promoting and regenerative solution to climate change.'”
The schedule for the day included:
9:30 – Film: Crisis of Civilization (82 minutes)
10:30 – Presentation by Cindy Nikoliason, CEO Back to Your Roots Soil Solutions, Inc.: High brix gardening
12:00 – Film: Plant this Movie (83 minutes)-sponsored by Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds
1:30 – Presentation and discussion on Prince Albert Seed Library by Parkland Permaculture Guild
2:15 – Music by The Sleeping Patricks
2:30 – Children’s drop-in story time and craft – Story Corner
3:00 – Music by BLAST
As noted on the film’s website, “The Crisis of Civilization is a documentary film directed by Dean Puckett and written by Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed. …Throughout the course of The Crisis of Civilization, the filmmakers examine the five biggest dangers facing the human race. …[With respect to food], countries such as the United States waste a significant amount of food, while other nations can’t generate enough to adequately feed their citizens. As global warming causes additional droughts and a steady increase in the sea level, the challenge of feeding the world’s population is going to become even more difficult.”
Additionally, “Plant This Movie explores the zeitgeist of urban farming around the world, from the incredible story of Havana, Cuba to communities of urban farmers in cities as diverse as Shanghai, Calcutta, Addis Ababa, London, and Lima. In the US, the story focuses on New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon. The film is narrated by Daryl Hannah. …After the World Premiere at the Portland Film Festival, the film has screened in Barcelona, Los Angeles, Phoenix, UC Berkeley, Vancouver, Canada, and Milan, Italy, among other places.”
As highlighted in this blog, Council of Canadians chapters in Quinte and London have also been involved in Seedy Saturday activities.
