A must see: CBC  Television premieres the documentary Tipping Point: The Age of the Oil Sands  on The Nature of Things, this Thursday, January 27. "....two-hour visual tour de force, taking viewers inside the David and Goliath struggle playing out within one of the most compelling environmental issues of our time".

Facts about the Oil Sands (from cbc.ca)

• The Alberta oil sands are the world's second biggest oil deposit and the biggest construction project on the planet.
• The oil sands lie under a wilderness area larger than Greece.
• The project effect on Canada's GDP is a staggering 1.7 trillion dollars.
• If the oil sands were a country, their carbon emissions would equal Switzerland's.
• Canada'a oil sands are now the #1 source of U.S. imported oil providing the Americans with 1.4 billions barrels of oil a day.
• Production in the oil sands is on course to triple by 2020.
• Every year demand for oil grows by 2%, while global reserves shrink."

As part of BurlingtonGreen's 2010 Eco-film festival we screened the award winning documentary "H2Oil" and followed the film by sharing ideas on how we can each reduce our oil use. Here they are courtesy of Greenpeace:

1. Carpool, cycle or use public transport to go to work.

2. Choose when possible products packaged without plastic and recycle or re-use containers.

3. Buy organic fruits and vegetables (fertilizers and pesticides are based on oil more often than not).

4. Buy beauty products (shampoo, soap, make-up) based on natural ingredients, not oil.

5. Choose when possible locally produced products (less transport involved).

6. Buy clothes made out of organic cotton or hemp - not from oil derivatives.

7. Use non-disposable items in picnics and summer  festivals.

8. Quit bottled water.

9. Fly less.

10. Demand that your government encourage renewable energy instead of oil.

 Also, check out what a BG member just sent in regarding a Japanese invention converting plastics to oil: http://www.flixxy.com/convert-plastic-to-oil.htm