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By Tanya Colledge

ating. It can be an expensive
pp activity for

students wishing to avoid the
empty wallet syndrome. But whether

or just looking for something unique and
exciting to do, there are plenty of ways to
get out and enjoy guilt-free fun without
worrying about spending all of next
year’s tuition.

¢ Date night at Milestones: ~
Milestones restaurant
introduced the perfect way to
impress your date with “Date
Night Wednesdays.” With
locations all across the Lower
Mainland, you and your date
(or group of friends) can enjoy
a shareable appetizer, succulent
entrée and a desert for $50.
What a deal!

¢ Student nights: in the mood to
dance? Who says you can’t go

in the Greater Vancouver area
offer special student nights on
Thursday evenings where you
and your date (and friends) can
enjoy free cover and often get
a complimentary drink ticket
upon showing the bouncer your
student ID. Check out your
local club listings to see which
venues will get you in for free!
¢ South Granville art galleries:
looking for a more “mellow”
night out? Check out the
various art galleries down on
South Granville. Cozied up

 

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Dating on a budget

you’re trying to impress someone special,

clubbing on a date? Many clubs

Aton

 

 

between 16" Avenue and the
Granville Street Bridge are
numerous artists’ galleries
that always welcome visitors
and are free to browse inside.
Check them out ona Friday
or Saturday evening and they
might even have snacks!

* Hollywood Theatre: The
Hollywood Theatre located at
3123 West Broadway shows
double features for only $7 in
an old theatre-inspired setting.
The movies have only just been
released from regular theaters,
so you’re guaranteed to find a
film that you want to see.

* MacMillan Observatory:
Ever wanted to spend the :
night gazing at a beautiful sky
full of stars? The MacMillan
Observatory in Vanier Park
opens its doors on Friday and
Saturday evenings (provided
it’s a clear night). Admissions
are by donation and volunteer
staff even stick around to
answer all your celestial
questions.

e It may be a little chilly out,
but who doesn’t love to watch
a beautiful sunset? The
lookout point about halfway
to the parking lot at Cypress
Mountain provides not only
a beautiful view of the city
below, but once the sun sets, is
a picturesque setting to watch
the sun set. Remember, the sun
sets early in the winter, so make
sure to get there early!

* Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak:

 

for those of you who enjoy
getting some exercise and
fresh air, Deep Cove Canoe
and Kayak located in North
Vancouver offers their version
of a cheap date night where you
can rent a double kayak for two
hours of non-guided paddling in
the waters of the Cove. Priced
at only $30, this is a perfect
way to take advantage of our
Cities’ natural beauty.

¢ Live music: Enjoy going to
concerts? Instead of digging
deep into your pockets to dish
out for overpriced concert
tickets, why not check out some
free live music at a local pub

or restaurant? There are plenty
of venues and genres of music
to choose from—check out the
restaurants in your area to find
out when they have live band
performances.

Dating isn’t meant to be stressful, and
surely shouldn’t have you forking out
all of your savings. Remember that in
the end, it’s about spending time with
someone that you care about, not about
going to extravagant lengths to impress
each other. Show that you’ve put some
thought into whatever activity you have
planned, and your date will be swooning
all over you!

 

se

 

The hypocrisy of the green revolution

By Lynda Schroeders, Intercamp
(Grant MacEwan College)

EDMONTON (CUP)—Green is the

name of the suddenly hip and sickeningly
bourgeois environmental consciousness that
has recently erupted. Green is also the color
of money.

Green is the color of puke.

And puke I shall if I see one more
book attempting to teach me how to become
a green citizen.

The idea of selling a commodity
addressing the issue of over-consumption
has always smacked of irony in my opinion,
but this irony was elevated to the level of
farce when I encountered an entire display
table of these titles at my favourite store
to not buy books in (that’s right, I’m one
of those cheap schmucks who reads entire
volumes at Chapters).

Each of these books is salted with
some sound advice on natural cleaning
products (baking soda, salt, vinegar, and
lemon juice—everything a baby can
swallow but doesn’t want to), the three Rs
and the importance of supporting the local
economy. All things your grandparents

could have told you if you’d ever bothered
to ask about their lives before the nursing
home.

Unfortunately, the majority of
these books sidestep the issue of
rampant overconsumption in favour of
recommending new products. In Green For
Life, Gillian Deacon will educate you about
carcinogens in your makeup and chlorine
in diapers and baby wipes. But instead of
coming to a full stop with this sobering
information, she goes on to endorse the
superiority of Burt’s Bees and Seventh

Did I mention that green is the color of
money?

Nobody wants to hear that they should
use their sheets until they’re tissue paper
thin, that they should patch these gauzy
sheets when they get a hole, or that they
should cut them into rags for housecleaning
once they are past the point of mending.

It’s way more fun to go out and buy
unbleached, organic bamboo bed linens.

Speaking of fun, wouldn’t it be great if
every store on the planet decided to promote
itself with a reusable shopping bag? If

“It’s not that you buy too much, apparently. You just bought the
wrong stuff. The bad stuff. And if you have a shred of decency you'll
go out and buy the right stuff at one of the stores conveniently listed

in Appendix A at the back of this book.”

Generation products.

It’s not that you buy too much,
apparently. You just bought the wrong stuff.
The bad stuff. And if you have a shred of
decency you'll go out and buy the right stuff
at one of the stores conveniently listed in
Appendix A at the back of this book.

grocery chains were actually concerned
about the environment and not just out

to make a buck, they’d quit selling their
reusable bags. Instead they would give
these bags away for a limited period of
time— 10 days, two weeks, whatever they
consider fair warning —and then they’d

quit supplying the plastic ones. They would
piss off a lot of people, they would lose

a little profit and they would do nature a
tremendous service.

The crisis facing the natural world can
be reduced to one word: waste. Writing and
reading books about itis as futile as reading
a book on weight loss instead of going for
arun.

The rules are simple. Don’t buy shit
you don’t need. Use the things you have
until they disintegrate, and if you must part
with something before it’s worn out, find a
home for it—away from the landfill. Small
appliances don’t rot.

There. I just saved you 30 bucks.

Remember, green is the color of
money. And green-chic is just another
opportunity for class distinction:

“T’m better than you because I buy this.”

Green living means buying a lot less,
starting with bullshit.

 

 

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