Change just is. There is no choice any of us have in the matter. Things are constantly in a state of change. This applies to everything. Everything. Embracing change can feel wonderful when it is a change like getting a puppy or starting your dream job. But embracing change is not always that easy. I have noticed that I often tend to want to have a lot of control over the direction things take as they are changing. One of the things I am learning right now is that some of the best changes seem to happen when they are allowed to happen the way the seem to want to. When it comes to how this site might change, this is where the people in this online community come in - I hope that members here feel free to write about changes that they want to see within this site.

I think I know the spot Duncan is talking about.  It was an eye sore for a long time and it's now a totally productive garden. 

China Creek Co-op did something very similar.  A slope right at the base of Vancouver Community College was once a live stream (which is still running underground) but became a landfill.  I think about 10 years ago the China Creek Housing Co-op turned the landfill into a garden.  Those who turnover their soil today still find reminants of it but it's an absolutely incredible garden area now.

Below is my response to the thread here.

You're right: banks don't have a stake in social networking. But Vancity isn't a bank; it's a community-based financial institution that is as interested in making our community work as it is in making money. And these days, community is more and more about what happens online, which is why we thought we could play a role in helping use the Net as a tool to support community development in the Lower Mainland and Victoria.

In my quest to get to my neighbourhood, I have begun to meet and greet my neighbours more often.  In my first day, I began to walk around my townhouse building and start conversations with a lady watering her garden.  I introduced myself to her and she was quite surprised at first.  I informed her of my townhouse unit and began to tell her that I would like to know more about my neighbourhood. 

i publically proclaimed my vision of a carbon-neutral east vancouver tonight at the "biggest show on earth" event. at this point, i haven't much more than a handful of ideas about how we might do it. if you'd like to join my quest, i'd love to hear from you.

Hey everyone,

I am creating a business that will collect food waste from businesses that want to be more sustainable and stop dumping food waste into landfills.

I am looking for businesses (and people) interested on changing this so if anyone wants more information on how this would work contact BlackGold Food Waste & Compost Services at elmufino@yahoo.ca -

Treating food as garbage is one of the reasons we have to import food and create space to dump more garbage. Landfill usage promotes anaerobic decomposition of the material we put there. In the case of organic material, even food waste that is easily compostable takes years if not decades to decompose using valuable land space that could be used for truly unusable materials.