Zero Emissions Transit
I am a born and raised resident of Thunder Bay, Ontario. A few years ago I had moved out west to Whistler, BC to work for an Eco-Adventure company for a year after graduating from the Eco-Tourism program at Confederation College. It was then that I realized how much more advanced they are there in terms of eco-friendly efforts & natural sustainability initiatives. From things like "No Car Idling" signs, a completely smoke-free village, waste bins every 15 steps or so, bonus cash incentives given to employees who pick up garbage on their shifts, and solar/water powered buildings everywhere. But the thing that stood out the most to me in terms of being an impressive advanced eco-sustainability effort in this beautiful town (even despite all of the potentially harmful tourism that exists in the area) was the hydrogen fueled transit buses. Instead of using the typical petroleum gasoline, which is both harmful to the soil, which then leaks into our precious water sources, harmful to the environment, as it releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and also harmful to our planet and human race as a whole, as we are already so desperately scrounging for sources of oil to the point of war breakouts. The buses in Whistler were designed with a process in which the city buses are fueled with pure hydrogen, which when filtered through the bus later drips out as H20, so pure and harmless it is clean enough to drink! Considering how many buses run through this city daily, and the amount of gas it takes to fuel those big transit city buses, I strongly believe that this effort would be an enormous step toward building a smarter, greener city. When I first read about this amazing hydrogen fuelling system on the back of the buses out west, it only inspired me more to want to help keep the city in its beautiful natural state, as it is proven that positive changes promote and enable other positive actions within a community. I have seen it first-hand, and I know that with the proper funding, the beautiful home-town that I am happy to call home once again, could be well on its way to a practical, sustainable and eco-friendly future - where we as locals can take pride of the natural beauty that surrounds us, while feeling good about making positive change & ultimately improving our quality of life.