isay news

After waking from my slumber on what seemed to be the perfect Sunday (yesterday), I glanced out of my window to see the sun shining, the birds chirping, and the air smelling (??) of waste.

If you haven't heard, Toronto is in the middle of a garbage strike that has many citizens more than upset. We're down right sick to our stomachs.

As I trod down to the local fruit market to pick up my weekly essentials (consisting of mango, apples, bananas, strawberries, grapefruit, and kiwi), I noticed a trail of garbage bags over 30 feet long. Piled on top of each other, falling onto the road, and blocking the sidewalk, I retched back in disgust as the smell blocked my airwaves filling my nostrils with a pungent odor no person could avoid.

Upon further investigation, it seems the temporary sites for disposing of trash, or at least two of them, had been closed earlier that day, so people have been left to their own devices. IE: let's toss our trash on the street.

The city garbage bins had filled up weeks earlier.
In fact, I took a shot of one the day the strike started.



So late last night, I decided to take my trusty camera and snap some of the photos of other bins I found throughout the city.
I left out the 30 foot disaster of a scene in case you are reading this during your lunch break.




Most of us are sensitive to the needs of all city employees, and to take it a step further, a lot of us are in unions or in support of them.

But besides garbage collection, the strike has impacted:

• child-care centres
• libraries located inside community centres
• golf courses
• the island ferry
• recreation centres
• wedding services
• city-run sexual health and dental clinics
• restaurant inspections
• city-run events in public squares and public park

Now this hasn't become close to a famous strike, at least not for people living outside of Toronto, so I thought I'd enlighten those who want the list of most famous strikes in US history.


Smell ya later.

That's right.

It's time for all of us to go green. Whether it be from minimizing waste, driving less, recycling more, riding our bikes, or joining the fight against bigger, more global issues; we can all do our part.

I have been reading articles non stop on global initiatives that help combat major environmental issues, and even came across an amazing video to help stop soot.

This is also very funny! It shows how you have to make real changes, not just say you're going green.

Oh! And I found some interesting stats in an article on one of our sites, ipsos news center. This one describes just how much we want to go green - but on our own terms.

In Toronto, where I live, they have passed a bylaw that makes all plastic bags a minimum of 5 cents. This is turn, makes us all carry those reusable bags wherever we go, which I think is a major step in the right direction. Wouldn't it be a great idea to be a start up who designs custom reusable bags? Maybe not.

I guess I'll stick to writing blog posts.

Here are a couple other sites I found that support going green.

You may like them, you may not. But you'll have to click to find out!

The daily green

The green guide


See ya!

Dave

After posting some pretty good news articles for a couple of months now, I have finally started to make a little splash in the blog world. Yes, it's true I haven't changed the world, yet, or made headlines for that matter. But I have been chugging along, posting results, and trying to enlighten any and all interested with statistics and stories that actually mean something. And now I'm stepping it up. Or at least I hope to.

I was turned onto this link found somewhere on our site. We couldn't figure out how people were finding it, but the interest has been pretty high.
So, I'm posting it for you to check out.

To sum it up, it's a bunch of surveys for fun. The options are:

• Financial Services
• Pet Ownership
• Health and Wellness
• Small Office/Home Office
• Miscellaneous

Take your pick. Do one, do 'em all. Or do none, and secretly wish you hadn't read this post because it's a waste of your time. But hopefully you won't choose the latter. Now instead of just reading those articles and seeing statistics (see my post) that say only 1 in 4 Canadians even know about twitter, you can be a part of it.

Enjoy,

Dave

While 26% of Online Canadians are Aware of Twitter, Only 1.45% of Online Canadians Actually Use the Social Networking Tool

A new study from Ipsos Reid shows that only 26% of online Canadians are aware of Twitter. Of those, 6% reported using the social networking tool. This only equates to 1.45% of the Internet population, or about one percent of the population as a whole. These are some of the findings from “Social Networking: 2009”, a new study conducted and released by Ipsos Reid. Study author Mark Laver noted that while “Twitter gets a lot of press, and usage figures show impressive growth, when you look at its awareness and use among mainstream online Canadians, you get a completely different picture.”

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As a follow-up to its well-known and well-respected Mendelsohn Affluent Survey (currently being fielded for its 33rd consecutive year), Ipsos Mendelsohn recently conducted its quarterly online Barometer survey among affluent adults during April 2009. In it, some 1000 people in households with household incomes of $100,000 or more were asked to candidly assess and share their current concerns and opinions about the changing world around them.

Read the full article

More Americans would choose to share a vacation rental home with talk show host Kelly Ripa (26%) than would with the Obamas (19%), the Jolie-Pitt family (16%), Oprah Winfrey (16%), Jon Stewart (13%) or Stephen Colbert (10%), according to a new survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Home Away.

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Over Half Already Feel that Their Funding Is Insufficient, and Roughly a Quarter of Departments Say They Are Lacking Adequate Equipment and Training

New York, NY – Fire departments across the country face a variety of challenges – from budget cuts to staffing issues – and the current economic crisis in only exacerbating these problems, according to a new study conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. The study, “Supporting Safer Communities: A National Firefighter Survey,” found that a majority of departments (56%) fear that if the economic crisis continues into next year, that it will negatively impact their ability to serve their community. Fortunately, though, only 17% of departments feel that the quality of service that they provide has declined due to the economy.