A Tale of Dundas: A Tale of Transition

by Michelle Chin, presented at the 5x7 Forum held at the Carnegie Gallery on June 9^th, 2010

  Once upon a time, in a land near near by, the town of Dundas was born.  Like many other towns of that day, it depended on natural water power, and personal transport was by foot or atop a noble and trusty horse.  Simpler times.

 One day the Internal Combustion Engine came to town.  Now the good townspeople used cars & trains, trucks & planes to travel where ever they liked, and had their choice of food, clothing – anything they ever wanted from anywhere in the world delivered right to their doorstep.  Their lifestyle now absolutely depended upon copious quantities of OIL & GAS.

 One day, a geoscientist from a distant land warned the Dundasians that the world’s  oil supply which had been so cheap and abundant for so long, had peaked.  Not only that, there were consequences to having it all and relying on the automobile to get it.  Their unwitting disregard for the environment could be the undoing of them, their children, and their children's children.  Seemed like a bad joke.  No one listened…

 Many decades passed.  Health problems were on the rise because of bad air, water, highly processed food and lack of exercise.  The Climate of their world was Changing - and extreme weather – droughts & floods, tornadoes & hurricanes - seemed to be on the rise.   How on Earth could this have happened?  Had people ignored Inconvenient Truths so that they could enjoy a guilt free lifestyle; or blamed government or big business citing “I’m only one person”?  Was it just that Dundas had never had to face any great crisis or emergency that forced any significant change?

 What to do?  There was no magic bullet or superhero that could save them ... It would take every "Dun" in Dundas from the youngest Dun-Child to the wisest Dun-Elder to find the solution together - using the Power of their Community.

 And so they searched, High & Low, they Wiki'd, Googled & You-Tubed.  They watched documentaries and raised their awareness.  A woman by the name of Faith Morgan suggested, "Hey, uh, you might want to check out my FILM? On the Cuban oil crisis...?”

 You see, when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's supply of thirteen (13) million tons of oil per year suddenly dropped down to ... one (1).  The biggest and most immediate problem became food. There was no energy to make fertilizers or pesticides, no fuel to run farm equipment or deliver food, no electricity to refrigerate food.  Pretty rough…

 With hunger spreading throughout the land, the Cuban people were left with no other choice but to grow food anywhere they could.  Famine was prevented by converting local urban spaces into organic vegetable gardens. They also rode bicycles and took mass transit instead of driving personal cars. They focused inward to their own community not only for their basic necessities but also for socializing and recreation.  Life became simple, so that they could simply live. And you might just guess what happened after that.  Instead of suffering from a life without abundant oil - they actually thrived … and got a whole lot healthier! They learned that they did not need so much stuff to have a very satisfying quality of life… 

 The Dundasians considered this story and thought, "Why wait for a crisis to happen?  Life with much less oil is inevitable; better to be prepared for it than to be surprised … And so, they adopted the Four (4)Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Rethink and Reskill.

 ·        Ms. Ada Acquisitioner learned about the high cost of low price and spent her hard-earned money wisely on high quality, long lasting items made in Canada.

 ·        Bob Bountiful discovered the joys of growing and harvesting fresh vegetables at home; he also discovered his good neighbours in the process! 

 ·        Cherie Choosy bought local organic food, harvested hours before she bought it.  It turned out to be pretty darn tasty.

 ·        Derek Dundasian stopped hopping into his Hummer and took the GO train to work.  He ran most of his errands by foot or by bike and soon found that his six pack no longer came JUST in bottles ...

 ·        Earnest everready renovated his home to make it Energy and Water Efficient; he even installed Solar Panels on his roof, selling energy back to the grid at 80cents per kilowatt.hour!

 ·        Mr. Peter Urban Planner designed more Condo-over-Commercial Mixed-Use Spaces in town, and shopped at stores within walking and biking distance.

 ·        Jeffrey Goodes organized local and quite entertaining 5x7 Forums that brought the townsfolk together to share ideas, and they had a great time doing it … (psssst ... The wine really helped).

 And so, the good Dundasians, their children, and their children's children - lived ever after, transitioning from an oil dependent world, becoming locally resilient and sustainable much like their founding fathers, and making Mother Nature, and themselves, much happier and healthier in the process. 

The End.