Have you ever experienced the phenomenon of declaring what you want without knowing how your dream will be fulfilled and then, all of sudden, the possibilities start to appear?   That has been happening to me these last couple weeks.

So what is my wish? A sustainability plan for King which truly drives and influences King’s evolution over the next 20 years.

And what are the possibilities I am now seeing?

On the Arts Society King “Locavore 20 km” bus tour on Saturday I saw some significant innovation; we need innovation, such as this,  if we are to become sustainable.  E.g.  At VanHart Greenhouses we were shown experiments in process to grow tomatoes in greenhouses without the usual support systems of fans powered by electricity.  E.g. At Silani Sweet Cheese we learned about the unique challenges of having a factory in a rural environment with no municipal water systems; they built and operate their own waste water facility.

People are showing that they want King to be sustainable.  At a recent public meeting in Nobleton plans were shown for a new shopping plaza.   Much of the feedback given could be summarized simply as “the proposal does not fit into a sustainable King.”  E.g. Design features promote the local community going to the grocery store in a car as opposed to walking with a bundle buggy.  E.g. No consideration for solar panels on all that new flat roof space.

Businesses are promoting recycle and re-use.  Black Forest Garden Centre had a big banner up asking people to bring in their garden pots.  Round The Bend takes back your garden pots and fruit & vegetable pint boxes etc.

The possibilities I have written about show me what it will take to be sustainable and/or what it will mean.

We have much to do to get our plan.  The task force (of which I am a member) and the working groups for each of the 4 pillars (economic, finance, socio-cultural and environment) are going through the critical preparatory work such as determining our current state, identifying and assessing possible action steps etc.

Very importantly we want to get your input.  If you have not been approached yet by a working group member to fill out our short survey please fill it out online.

And if you haven’t checked out the Sustainable King website yet please do so.  It’s an easy way to find out more about what sustainability means.