Neat stuff to do this week

Eating a healthy plant-based diet

With gardens bursting with fresh fruit and veggies, summer is an ideal time to think about eating a more plant-based diet. But can we still get all the nutrients we need to thrive?

Join Registered Dietitian and internationally known speaker Vesanto Melina this Tuesday evening for an informative online presentation. Vesanto will share her methods for following a plant-based diet that’s healthy, delicious and easy. 

Date: Tuesday, August 18
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Format: Online 

Learn more and register for the presentation Eating a Healthy Plant-Based Diet.
 

Community bike ride: The Pitt Pedal  

The Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows chapter of HUB Cycling is offering a new ride this summer. This COVID-compatible ride will highlight routes around Pitt Meadows, with city and country paths for a route that surrounds nearly all of the city.

The route is about 20 km with no hills and should take about 1.5 hours. 

Date: Sunday, August 23
Time: 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Location: Pitt Meadows Heritage Hall, 12460 Harris Rd, Pitt Meadows 

Learn more and register for The Pitt Pedal. 

Photo by Adyant Pankaj on Unsplash

New provincial rebates for e-bikes  

The Province is increasing e-bike rebates for individuals and businesses to help make electric-powered bikes more affordable and accessible, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“The popularity of e-bikes is on the rise and our government wants to encourage more people to purchase and ride these bikes,” said Claire Trevena, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, calling e-bikes a much cheaper alternative to cars and a safe way to travel. 

The rebate is delivered through the Scrap-It transportation options program. People who trade in a vehicle to scrap now have access to a rebate of $1,050 toward the purchase of any type of new e-bike — an increase of $200 from the previous year. $1,000 comes from the provincial government, with participating retailers providing the remaining $50.

The Province is also introducing a one-year pilot project that enables business owners to receive a rebate of up to $1,700 toward the purchase of a cargo e-bike. Businesses may purchase up to five cargo e-bikes through this program, which is administered by PlugIn BC.

Melted: Canadian ice field more massive than Manhattan 

In case our cool, damp spring and summer had you feeling optimistic, news from the North has corrected the false impression that the climate might be cooling, as the last fully intact ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic has collapsed.

The Milne Ice Shelf, located at the edge of Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, lost 40% of its area over a two-day span at the end of July, a phenomenon confirmed by NASA satellite images. 

The Arctic has been warming at twice the global rate for the last 30 years, and this year temperatures have been 5 degrees hotter than the 30-year average. And glaciers are not the only casualty. With the permafrost thawing, scientists are examining whether the Arctic might be changing from a carbon sink to a carbon emitter, with the potential to accelerate the speed of warming worldwide.

China's "most colossal fossil" going green   

Now for some good news. PetroChina, China’s “most colossal fossil” has sold off US $38 billion in pipelines and plans to commit a good chunk of the proceeds to transforming the company into a champion of low-carbon energy.

PetroChina is expected to focus the new effort on wind, solar, geothermal, and hydrogen. “The company expects the new lines of business to bring back returns on equity that are higher than the 7-9% its pipelines segment was bringing in,” says Bloomberg News, citing an analyst’s July 24 research note.