Climate Change Mortgage for Canadians

We are finally nearing the end of the renovation period of improving our apartment for sale...

Which means that the time for purchasing a new home is also approaching...

Imagine my excitement to see that Vancity (no suprise here - I've been talking about making the change and banking with them due to their comminment to the environment and community) is offering what they are calling a "Climate Change Mortgage".

What that means is that they will take the money that would usually be spend acquiring a mortgage and invest it into a fund to fight climate change.

What does that mean exactly? Directly from their FAQ's, see below.

• How will this fund help find solutions to climate change?
  
  We're working on it. Right now we have our Vancity and Citizens Bank of Canada climate change experts exploring the best way to invest the funds. It also depends how big the fund gets, but at this point we expect our focus will be on ways to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
  
  We will keep you posted as we continue to work with the brightest minds in the climate change field to determine how the fund can be used to have the highest impact.

http://climatechangemortgage.com/

new links - CLICK THEM!

I had a friend send me some very cool enviro-links.

I really like this website, lots of pictures, little information blurbs and overall a very user friendly site.  I particularly liked the green gift giving guide for the holiday season.
http://www.inhabitat.com/ 
 

This site has a lot more reading and lot less pictures, but since I don't mind reading so much I don't mind this site so much. :)
  http://www.lazyenvironmentalist.com/ 

 

This site "Connecting Environmental Professionals" is for a local group (there are also groups in Toronto, Calgary & Edmonton) that has monthly meetings/gatherings for networking purposes and also has an excellent job posting listserv.

http://www.yepcanada.ca/vancouver.htm

That's all for now.  I've been sick and haven't had much time to think let alone write and blog...but C'est La Vie!

 

Did you click them?  What did you think? I dream that one day people will leave me a comment...

changeeverything.ca

I heard about the http://www.changeeverything.ca website for the first time on the radio. I didn't really know what it was, but I was intrigued.

Then I heard about the changeeverything.ca website at work. I heard it was a vancity initiative that had their look and feel, but wasn't about banking. I was told it was a website designed to help real people make changes in their lives and connect with other people with same values, moral and/or goals.

Cool. I've been meaning to check it out for ages and I finally did.

It was easy to register, it's easy to post things you want to change in your life, your community or your world and it's easy to discuss a plethora of topics of interest to you. Of course for me, the environment is my primary interest for discussion, but that's certainly not the only topic people are discussing. I've already posted two changes I strive to make in my life and just finished commenting on a different discussion thread.

I think it's a great initiative, it feels proactive and I'm happy I've jumped on board.