The Journey of a Friendly Giant

The shortage of landfill space across the globe has made waste an important issue that every nation has to deal with. In Canada, recycling is promoted as way to reduce waste and contribute to a greener planet. I’ve always been a fan of recycling; it even became second nature to me. When I have garbage, I’m used to sorting it and placing it in the recycling box. But to my surprise, my apartment here in Ecuador didn't have one. When I asked my roommate why he didn't recycle, his answer was “nobody recycles at home Cassie, that's something some people do at work .” I convinced myself that his opinion could be the exception, and decided to ask more people. By reading my blogs one may gather that I'm a very curious person. I like to know why , things are the way that they are, and am never scared to ask. That's one of the reasons I chose international development as a field of work, because I learned some reasons “ why ” the world was the way that it was, and I wanted...

Ecuador is not a perfect country, I’m not even such a thing exists. Each country has mastered a few things that have made them stand out from the rest. The more I learn about Ecuador, the luckier I feel being here. Though they have yet to develop and improve in many ways, Canada, and the rest of the world for that matter, can still learn a lot from Ecuador as far as the environment is concerned. Frankly, today’s environmental laws are failing. Though Canada's environmental laws were adopted in the 70s, the environment is in worse shape then ever before. The Canadian environmental law has gone through very little changes since its creation over 30 years ago. “Canadian Environmental law lacks in policy innovation and environmental performance.” – Dr David Suzuki, The Sacred Balance  However, since then, countries around the world have sought to replicate these same laws.  Yet, species worldwide are steadily declining, global warming is far more accelerated than predic...

While reading my friend Amber's blog post, I was nodding and smiling the entire time. Like her, I also love kids, and always have. My history consists of working at community centers, children aid camps, sport camps and summer adventure camps. Children inspire me with their shiny eyes full of imagination, dreams and creativity. There are so many things to frown about in this world, and the more we read the news and see how critical some situations are, the easier it is to see the world from a pessimistic viewpoint. A group of children will quickly remind you that there are many beautiful subtle details in this world that you should remember to appreciate. This past weekend I took a break from my weekend travelling trips and stayed in Guayaquil. I had a few meetings planned with a Canadian visitor, and was also asked if I could do a dynamic workshop with the Jardines Del Salado environmental kids club. The age group of the kids was from 7-12 years old. The goal of the activity wa...

My new girl status is finally beginning to wear off, and it seems like most of the employees are warming up to my presence at work. YESSSSSSSSSS ! My job here is strongly related to ecotourism development. Keeping that in mind, and also out of pure curiosity, I always ask if they have an opinion of a location in Ecuador that has mastered their tourism sector. My love for travel makes me happy that each employee that I speak with has their own opinion a location that I simply  must visit in Ecuador. This week Andrés, a tour guide, suggested I visit the city of Baños, (pronounced banios ). Baños is a small city with a population if 18000 people. Located about 7 hours away from Guayaquil, a pillow for the travelling bus is a good idea. Baños is very picturesque and located in the middle of  valley surrounded by the Sierra, and next to the Tungarahua volcano that is 5015 meters tall. The active Volcano allows Baños to have several hydrothermo hotsprings ,or naturall...