Powell River Sustainability Stakeholders
Feeding our businesses and ourselves
By Corey Matsumoto
We all have a stake in the sustainability of our community. A strong, forward-thinking community provides safe, sturdy ground to grow a family, and it is able to adapt to the changing world around it. An ideal community works together to nourish and support itself, weaving a tightly integrated network of small businesses and active community members who openly communicate and share ideas and knowledge for the benefit of all.
Although we are still dependent on BC Ferries for the majority of our food supply, we have one of the longest growing seasons in Canada. With a little focus we can manage to produce significantly more of our own food feed in the not-to-distant future. We have a quaint local business culture that has lots of room for expansion and, if nourished, has the potential to transform our city into an economically diverse community and a lively tourist destination.
Powell River is an amazing community that is already on a steady path towards self-sustainability.
One recent example of this was the establishment of the Powell River Sustainability Stakeholders (PRSS) rewards program. The PRSS program, which was created by Immanence Magazine, rewards members of the Powell River community for supporting the following three basic ideals for local sustainability:
1 Support local businesses (whenever possible) and foster forward-thinking sustainable economic development.
2 Support and practice of local organic agriculture for a clean, safe local food supply.
3 Open discussion and sharing of ideas and knowledge for developing new solutions to out-dated systems.
Annual membership in the PRSS rewards program affords discounts and free perks at over four dozen (and counting) local businesses. PRSS membership cards cost only $20 per year and will save members many more times the initial cost of the card over the course of a year (cards are valid until September 30 of each year). On Earth Day (April 22--the approximate half-way point of the PRSS season), membership fees drop to only $15. Business memberships are only $50 per year. All businesses signed up before the end of September 2010 will get a free renewal for the 2010/2011 membership year.
For more information about the PRSS program, drop by the Immanence Magazine office (located at CMG Printing, 4691 Marine Avenue) or visit www.immanence.ca/prss. Registration forms for the PRSS program are available at CMG Printing and Lisa's Bookkeeping, program administrator.
