Editor:
In just six years our existence will radically change as we enter an era of total connectivity of people, places, and things promising. It is estimated that there will be 50 billion connections between humans and our machines, and there will be an increase of 1.4 billion more people rated as middle class.
The emerging ecosystem is deconstructing the Industrial Revolution legacy and replacing it with a globalized nexus wherein disruptive companies, technologies, and services will be de rigueur. We, on the Sunshine Coast, will be competing with people from every imaginable corner of the world for products, services, and standard of living. To succeed we will need to be leaders and innovators and we are already showing signs that we need to sustain and cultivate.
We have Gibsons Recycling Depot, which is known internationally for its innovation in driving toward true zero waste. While the incinerator being proposed for Port Mellon would be a step backwards, once people realize it is a pollution-creating Band-Aid solution to our garbage woes it will not be built.
The proposed George Hotel is integrating into its design, construction, and operations plans leading-edge approaches to minimize environmental impacts, achieve a zero-waste status, and conserve energy, water, and other resources.
The Town of Gibsons even has a CAO that has an exceptional grasp of sustainability and economics that complement the efforts of Gibsons Recycling and the George. Sechelt has its own innovations including its Salish Soils composting facilities, and the municipality’s exploration into an innovative sewage system.
Throughout the Coast innovators are working toward sustainably improving our quality of living, and are the kinds of businesses and government initiatives that we need to cultivate to excel in the exponentially emerging global nexus. We can be proud of our efforts.
Erich V. Schwartz, Gibsons
