22 — Friday. Nov. eo ‘Time capsule records ‘turnaround decade’ LAST FRIDAY, an = en- vironmental time capsule was buried in Park and Tiiford Garden in North Vancouver. The event was organized by Whitecap Books and Park and Tilford gardener Todd Major to mark the publication of my book, in Our Backyard: A Vancouver Environmental Guide, but the reason behind the capsule is much less important than the capsule itself. The time capsule contains sym- bols of the environmental issues we ate currently wrestling with. Some symbols represent success stories and some are solutions- in-progress. Some indicate areas that need a lot of work. Among the capsule’s contents are a water sample from Ambleside Beach, a newspaper ar- ticle entitled ‘Commuter Hell,” a bus transfer, a mini blue box, disposable packaging, a reusable lunch bag, and an air quality reading for a day in October. This time capsule is somewhat different from others that have been buried, not just in its en- vironmental theme, but in its scheduled ‘‘dig-up’’ time, 25 years from now, This isn’t a capsule that is being bequeathed ta our grandchildren, or even children. Just about all of | us who attended the ceremonial burial, including municipal repre- sentatives, GVRD and B.C. Hydro employees and members of local environmental groups, will be alive end well on Oct. 30, When we resurrect the time capsule, we will see how well we have dealt with our environmental problems. These aren’t issues that can be foisted off on future gen- erations; they have to be dealt with now. .. The United Nations Environ- ment Programs (UNEP) has called the 1990s the “turnaround de- cade,” in which we must make major changes to put the reins on environmental degradation: As UNEP North American director Noel Brown put it a few years ago, “We have less than 10,000 days to do what we have never done before.”’ But while the challenges are staggering, there is much cause for optimism. Because widespread concern for the environment is relatively recent, we have yet to see what great results can be achieved when massive quantities NANCY O’TO AN EXHIBITION AND SALE OF RECENT PAINTINGS NOVEMBER 7TH - 18TH, 1992 OPENING RECEPTION SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7TH 10:30 A.M. TO 5:00 PM. ARTISTS IN ATTENDANCE OPENING DAY HUMBERSTON EDWARDS ene art OLE Peggy Trendell-Whittaker ECOINFO of human intellect and innovation are brought to bear on planetary polluticn problems. We've had a sneak preview of what can happen, however, with the amazing story of the firefighting efforts in Kuwait. Last week I watched the new IMAX film at Canada Place, call- ed Fires of Kuwait. It gives a brief background to the Gulf War, and documents the efforts of multi- national oil well firefighting crews in October 1991. Left unattended, the 607 oil wells set afire by retreating Iraqi troops would kave burned for generations. Instead, in the largest non-military mobilization ever, 10,000 people from 40 nations joined forces to quell the flames. Projections were that the firefighting teams would need be- tween five and 10 years to com- ple. their work. Thanks to creativity, however, all the blazing fires were extinguished in nine months, The Texan team specialized in putting the oil well fire out with a carefully placed drum of ex- plosives that, when detonated, would rob the flames of oxygen just long enough to kill it. A Canadian team conceived of and built the ‘‘Foamy One’’ in just two weeks; it’s a giant steel contraption that lumbers along the ground and extinguishes the ground fires feeding on the oil- saturated soil. Hungarians invented the ‘‘Big Wind” — Russian tanks fitted with jet engines from Mig21 fighter planes. Water is injected into the jet stream, creating a powerful water blast effective against all but the biggest oil-well fires. The story was not without its tragedies. A Romanian crew was Jost when it was engulfed in flames that sprang up in the wake of the successful quelling of one fire. While putting the fire out is difficult, the greatest danger comes directly after the flames die and the well is still spewing flam- mable oil over the surrounding vicinity. At that point, one spark ccd mean a disaster, as it did for the unfortunate men just mentioned. Both the fire crews and the iMAX camera crew worked under inhuman conditions, being constantly bombarded by water, intense heat, soot, oil, toxic smoke and steam. The greatest light was provided by the 100-foot towers of flame, as the sun was rarely seen through the blackened sky. Until this effort, no one wouid have believed that fires of such magnitude could have been fought so effectively. What more ‘‘near-impossible’’ problems can we humans sclve if we put our minds to it, our hearts behind it, and our strength toward it? Fires of Kuwait is being shown at the CN-IMAX Theatre at noon, I, 2, and 3 p.m. daily, with additional 4 and 5 p.m. shows on Saturday and Sunday. Every evening, double-bills at 7 and 8:45 p.m. team Fires of Kuwait with Momentum, a panorama of Canada that is the first movie shot using IMAX high-definition technology (48 frames a second!) and was one of the star attractions at the World’s Fair in Seville. Tickets can be purchased at the box office, or charge by phone by Check out our great selection of Christmas Cards and Gift Ideas Everything is recycled AND reasonably priced 9 Lonsdale (close to Quay) 988-9932 " MICHAEL O’TOOLE 1360 Marine Drive, West Vancouver, B.C., Tel: (604) 922-7934 HOURS: TUESDAY-SATURDAY 10:30 TO 5:00 PM, SUNDAY 12 TO 4 PM He vasa: a MEWS photo Cindy Goodman NVC COUN. Stella Jo Dean prepares to bury an environmental time capsuie in Pazk and Tilford Gardens with News coiumnist Peggy Trendeil-Whittaker. The items will be dug up in the year 2017. E ach Sunday, from November 22 to December 27 we are publishing “Christmas Windows”. We'd like your heip to make these special features more community invoived. Please, if you've got some tried and true Christmas recipes, we’d love you to share them with us. You could win a Christmas turkey! Send your recipes along with your name address and phone number before November 15 to: Christmas Recipe, 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver B.C. V7M 2H4 TEE VONCE OF NORTH AND WEST WAWCOUVER: ‘north shore. SUNDAY - WEDNESDAY + FRIDAY