I just finished a day at the Toronto CANECT tradeshow and conference. The show is designed to showcase environmental companies and offer training on new regulations and emerging issues.

Located alongside the much larger IAPA (Health & Safety) conference, CANECT seems like a sideshow; the booths are smaller, the lighting dimmer and it is tucked away in a corner. Compared to previous years, attendance seemed sparser, but I do not have any figures to back that up. The one or two training sessions I popped my head into had many empty seats and on the conference floor, corporate EHS managers seemed few and far between – lots of consultants though. Generally, conferences and tradeshows are great, but, like anything, they need to keep up with the times. The CANECT program looks unchanged from 1993, save the addition of a few greenhouse gas items.

AMERICANA, a conference and tradeshow focused solely on the Environment is simply better run. The program is slicker, the buzz bigger and the crowd generally more interesting. I recently overheard a wise old man say, “The young sometimes think all change is good, and the old sometimes forget that change is necessary for progress”. It is time for CANECT to update its program, look, and style – or else make way for something better.

On another note, today’s keynote speaker was Jill Bolte-Taylor, an amazing neurophyscicist. If you have 15 minutes, watch her TED talk below, it is well worth your time.

Last week, a landmark ruling by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) strengthened the hand of supporters of a climate change bill in the U.S. In it the EPA formally declared that carbon dioxide emissions present a danger to public health. This after the 2007 US Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA in which the court held that the EPA had the authority to regulated GHGs under the Clean Air Act. Now over the next 60 days, the EPA can use the Act to impose limits on heavy polluters of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride. This is important because if U.S. proposals for a cap-and-trade scheme fall through in Congress — possible considering the staunch political opposition to the initiative — it will still be possible to impose wide-ranging carbon regulations on on carbon-intensive industries.

Greenies often complain about the sheer amount of garbage society produces. They are right, we produce a lot. Yet, the challenge is not to simply reduce the quantity of garbage, but to re-define it. Plastic is extremely useful. It saves lives, makes items more affordable and accessible and is generally beneficial to society. That being said, we need to redefine what packaging is. There is no reason why all packaging cannot be biodegradable, packaging can become a nutrient as opposed to a contaminant.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located in the Northern Pacific Ocean, is made up of millions of tons of plastic garbage. Truly disgusting. This would not exist if our plastics were designed properly. To promote the existence of this garbage whirlpool, David de Rothschild is setting out on a boat made of garbage. See Gaurdian article for more information. Hopefully, an increased awareness of the hazards of tradition plastics and opportunity of new plastics will accelerate society’s transition.

Sun Chips, has just announced plans to make all the bags biodegradable. Imagine if all food companies did this. Heck, imagine if all packaging had to be biodegradable. They tried just that in Europe, but the idea was defeated by the powerful packaging industry, yet it is inevitable. Anyone in the industry admits that much; more and more companies are realizing this is the future. See the interesting ad below (found the clip via Walk Softly Blog)

The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) has published its latest report, “Achieving 2050: A Carbon Pricing Policy for Canada“. Its principal recommendation: a unified carbon pricing policy for Canada to achieve “the greatest amount of carbon emission reductions, at the least economic cost”, as opposed to “the current, fragmented patchwork of federal, provincial, territorial, and regional policies.”

Here are the four main components of the proposed carbon pricing policy:

Bill 167 may be the leading edge of a new wave of substance regulation in Canada.  Following the lead provided by REACH in the European Community, and Proposition 65 in California, Ontario is preparing to put forth a framework to gather information on substances whose effects on human health and the environment are little known.    But the operative word here is “framework”, as there is no foreseeable pressure mechanisms on importers or users of listed substances to reduce them – only to report on how they plan to do so.

If enacted and if regulations are promulgated (two big “ifs”), we will still be at least five years behind the EU, in taking stock and eliminating toxic substances.  The steps outlined in Bill 167 pale in comparison to what has been taking place in Europe since 2007, however, where the onus is on industry, not government, to provide the science behind substance use.  Moreover, in Europe, chemical users are facing the entire range of chemicals currently in uses in the marketplace, numbering well over 100,000. More important, the NGO community in Europe has created a shadow list of substances, the Substitute It Now (SIN) list, which is growing faster that than the REACH chemical lists, as it is driven by an NGO stakeholder group.  So business has as much to worry about what is coming from the court of public opinion, as from the regulator.

The implications for business of this new wave of concern over chemicals in the marketplace is discussed at length in a new book, “Good to Green“, on business and the environment.