You know you're in BC when...

Many people are under the impression that all of North America is one big uniform culture, and all cities are carbon copies of the same consumerist, car-oriented prototype. But not so! There is lots of regional variation, and I love BC's local environmentally-friendly culture. Here are some of the things I saw in my short 4-day trip in May/June:

• A guy rode a unicycle and walked his dog at the same time! Awesome!
• There's tons of those old Volkswagon Scooby Doo vans from the 70s.
• My cabbie took less tip than I actually gave him. (I'm told this isn't a general thing, but it was really cool)
• People are so environmentally conscious that they try out diaper-free parenting. (I've had some interesting heated conversations with friends about this topic - they all seem to think it an impossible absurdity - but really, when you think about it, what did people do before the invention of diapers, even before cloth diapers? And what do poor people worldwide do with their babies?)
  
• At least in Victoria, people are just as likely to ride their bikes or take the bus somewhere as they are to drive.
• Cooperative food boxes for low-income people emphasize locally-grown, organic fruits and vegetables.
• Many stores and businesses put out dishes of water for dogs passing by.
• Everywhere is filled with beautiful flowers.
• The mountains and the beach. That's all.
• People randomly do cool stuff, like play haki sak.
  
• The escalators at Vancouver airport slow down when noone is using them, to conserve energy.

The West Coast is pretty cool. In another life I so would've lived there and been a part of All Saints of Alaska Orthodox Church. For now though, I'm happy to just visit whenever possible.