The Green Party of Canada, unfortunately too young and misunderstood to have had a serious impact on the 2006 elections, offers an alternative to the destructive politics of our main parties. In the hopes of making sense of it all, we should look at what a Toronto painted (or ‘planted’) Green might look like.

Sarcastic propagandists would have us believe that, in a Green world, fast-food restaurants would be converted into vegan outlets selling tofu burgers, organic salads, and hummus.

Pet cows would become all the rage-they’d fertilize our lawns and provide fresh milk each morning. Police and taxi drivers would have the option of driving smart cars or riding horses, and everyone would take either Go Transit, the TTC, their bike, or simply walk to their destinations. Tree huggers would abound and, accordingly, legislation would extend the legal definition of marriage to include human-tree marriages.

People everywhere would trade in their partner’s morning breath for the fresh scent of lilac!

More realistically, under a Green government, air conditioners might become extinct, replaced by green roofing and vine-sided housing, which keep buildings cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Senior-citizen housing would have mandatory flat rooftops for gardens, giving them the opportunity to work in and enjoy a garden at home.

Where other parties separate environmental policies from those of economic, health, or education, the Green Party takes an integrated ecological approach. Healthy industries would thrive and unhealthy industries held accountable for the ills they put on us. Sustainable use of natural resources would ensure that they regenerate before depletion. Companies would be taxed by how much they pollute, not how much they produce. Water-free or efficient toilets would help conserve our most precious resource.

Currently, 40 per cent of residential water is flushed down the toilet, pushing our waste kilometres upon kilometres to the lake-our source of drinking water. Instead of being dumped back into the lake, our waste could be collected, treated, and sent to the local farm for fertilizer to enrich local produce.

Green energy means decentralized, community-based efficient systems. Instead of heating up nuclear reactors to thousands and thousands of degrees in order to gain the needed energy to heat our homes to only 20 degrees, each community might have a windmill as in many parts of Europe.

It is not a stretch to imagine communal solar ovens placed in parks (or ‘piazzas’ if on College St. West!) providing a space for people to once again bake and break bread together. This will increase the strength and depth of the community, and provide a great place to discuss community issues.

There is a lot of misinformation surrounding the Green Party and what their policies might mean for our city. The success of the Green political movement in Europe and Australia are difficult to ignore, and the benefits of Green are too numerous to list-good ideas are simply good ideas.