LiveSmart BC Community Hero
LiveSmart BC Community Hero: Alora Griffin
Green has always been Alora Griffin's colour. The Prince Rupert architect remembers having to write about a favourite thing when she was a child. She chose to talk about why she liked the colour green.
Today, Griffin tries her best to live as a 'green' citizen in her personal, professional and community life. Since her arrival in Prince Rupert almost three years ago, she has also been attempting to encourage others to do the same.
She is a member of the "Green Team", a nick-name members of the City's Green Advisory Task Force gave themselves.
Last week, the committee made a successful presentation to city council with recommendations for Prince Rupert.
The next step for the committee is to get the community on board with its proposed green plan.
One of the possibilities is to host a Green Trade Fair, something Terrace and Smithers have developed -- and maybe bring some green speakers in from out of town.
On a personal level Griffin said she tries to 'walk the talk'. She doesn't own a car so she walks everywhere unless she's heading out of town. Then, her preferred mode of transportation is the train.
Sometimes she'll catch a taxi if the rain is beating down sideways or she'll rent a car if she has to travel to Terrace and if the train or bus schedules are not convenient.
Walking, she says, keeps her healthy, benefits the environment and saves her money. "My philosophy is anything I do that benefits the environment helps me. They are linked."
In her home, she uses baking soda and vinegar as cleaners, she recycles everything and she composts.
"Since the industrial revolution, we've become so dependent on cars and technology we've harmed ourselves. There's an epidemic of health concerns and we've harmed the earth and ourselves."
She's also been trying to buy B.C. produce because she's found it's usually fresher and less likely to have pesticides.
"As consumers, we have quite a bit of power to choose what we're going to buy and we need to ask the grocery stores to bring in more B.C. products."
Griffin moved to Prince Rupert because she saw it as a place where she could walk everywhere and she bought a centrally-located house. She has a brother living in town and when she first arrived, she told him that she could see why he lived here.
"It's a compact urban city in a green setting. I thought this could be a modern urban green city."
As an architect, Griffin promotes the benefits of going green. She said there are shades of green and people can go as dark as they like with features like heat pumps, air source pumps or geothermal heating for new buildings.
The climate is temperate enough here for those types of systems, she said.
When she designed a floating ranger station for the Khutzymateen, she used linoleum flooring as opposed to vinyl flooring.
"It's made of linseed oil and sawdust and will last for a long time. It has an antibacterial quality. Vinyl eventually cracks, fades and goes to landfills where it doesn't decompose. Linoleum comes in gorgeous colours now too," she explained.
And while she acknowledged it can be expensive sometimes to chose the green option, it is necessary for society starts making changes in consciousness and lifestyle.
"We are responsible for the fact that other living creatures are dying because of us. We have a moral responsibility to either stop, halt or reverse the process."
