After reading this post, don’t forget to enter our contest – you could win a new dishwasher. Plus, do you have your own story to tell? Send it to greenchallenge@canadianliving.com (no more than 300 words, please), and you could win one of 30 daily prizes.

Today’s winner is Grace Kempenaar of Waterloo, Ont.

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We recently renovated our bathroom, and as we needed to dispose of the sink and the toilet, I checked the green pages of the telephone book for assistance. I was amazed at the number of items that were listed that could actually be recycled. (more…)

The foodie conoscienti spent Friday night sampling Anita Stewart’s foodie finds from across Canada interpreted by Canoe’s executive chef Anthony Walsh. Her book launch took place at Canoe on the top of the Toronto Dominion Building overlooking the urban landscape. Surrounded by jars of home preserves and woodsy mushroom arrangements; the venue, decor and food of the evening reflected the complexity of the Canadian culinary tradition as does Stewart’s book. (more…)

After reading this post, don’t forget to enter our contest – you could win a new dishwasher. Plus, do you have your own story to tell? Send it to greenchallenge@canadianliving.com (no more than 300 words, please), and you could win one of 30 daily prizes.

Today’s winner is Stacey Airhart of Kingston, Ont.

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Going green is not difficult when you realize that even small changes can contribute to improving our environment. Currently I’m attending graduate school which proves that even those on a budget can go green. Obviously, recycling is an easy essential element to going green. I am also fortunate enough to have a composter in my backyard therefore eliminating even more household waste. Another measure I have taken is (more…)

Here is a picture of the Canadian Living’s beautiful kitchen stage designed by our decor editor Karen Kirk. I just wanted to say a thank you to everyone who came to the Canadian Living stage at the Good Food Festival to see my how to ice a Chocolate Layer Cake and Kids Oatmeal Cookie demonstrations on the weekend – it was fun to meet viewers face to face and get feed back about the things that you all find interesting. I especially liked seeing how engaged the kids in the audience were and the great questions they had for me afterward. There were a number of exhibitors that were focused on healthy eating for children – I thought the Gimme 5 stage was excellent and really engaged their young audience. The kids went away with remembering the 5 colours of the healthy fruits and vegetables as well as a healthy lasagna they made with their own hands.

Keep posting those comments – I still have more aprons to give away!

(more…)

After reading this post, don’t forget to enter our contest – you could win a new dishwasher. Plus, do you have your own story to tell? Send it to greenchallenge@canadianliving.com (no more than 300 words, please), and you could win one of 30 daily prizes.

Today’s winner is Jackie Brown of Harcourt, NB.

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No, the subject line is not a typo! Our story began six years ago when we purchased our current home. It was a humble hunting/fishing camp situated on a lovely river and consisted of six acres of wooded land. It was also without electricity, water, sewer… all the “creature comforts” we had come to expect living in the city! The first two years were spent searching for “whats.” We decided to go with solar electricity when the cost of running grid power was to exceed our budget by thousands of dollars. So we set off to purchase components for our system… (more…)

After reading this post, don’t forget to enter our contest – you could win a new dishwasher. Plus, do you have your own story to tell? Send it to greenchallenge@canadianliving.com (no more than 300 words, please), and you could win one of 30 daily prizes.

Today’s winner is Jackie Mandzak of Surrey, BC.

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I have a dirty little secret – literally. I have my own green living blog telling all about how I am living greener this year – and I – are you ready for this? I have a diaper genie. There. I said it. it’s out. Wow.I’ve been working hard to turn off lights, buy organic, buy fair trade, use water wisely, use my own take-out mug, use natural cleaners, use it up, make do (I’m not so good at the do without yet) and tell all my friends and family to do it, too.But there it is – the ultimate in being un-green. Not only does it tell the world I use disposables (a necessary evil for this working mom) but that I wrap each offensive item in even more offensive plastic.

I have to ask – does this cancel out all of the other things I’m doing? If I buy energy smart and do my best not to throw away things and I recycle all I can, does this cancel it out? (more…)

After reading this post, don’t forget to enter our contest – you could win a new dishwasher. Plus, do you have your own story to tell? Send it to greenchallenge@canadianliving.com (no more than 300 words, please), and you could win one of 30 daily prizes.

Today’s winner is Devon Flynn of South Hazelton, BC.

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The latest chapters of my life have been influenced by living green. I learned so much in the Katimavik volunteer program, having been a part of the environment committee. Upon my return after the nine-month program, I enjoyed a job working as a community kitchen chef and clearing trails for a running path, cooking with fresh vegetables and promoting healthy living. I gained a similar job the next summer, cooking, but using home-grown vegetables and fruits from a community garden that my friends and I planted. I would bike to this garden most days, enjoying the exercise and fresh air. It’s part of a larger project that will promote buying local foods. I continued my healthy lifestyle in the Canada World Youth volunteer program. I lived in Kelowna, BC, and Beijing, China, where I began to REALLY appreciate environmentally friendly living. We learned a lot about the issues there and how they are affected socially and politically. I hope to continue doing so and learning more when I bike across Canada, and maybe join the Otesha project in the future, a biking organization that promotes environmental issue awareness.

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Thanks to Devon for sending in her story – and don’t forget, if you still haven’t entered, there’s still time to send your own story to greenchallenge@canadianliving.com.

Devon wins a gift basket of yummy organic and fair-trade goodies from Cocoa Camino, including the following:
• 1 Bittersweet 71% bar (100g)
• 1 Milk bar (100g)
• 1 Dark with Almonds bar (100g)
• 1 Cranberries and Almonds bar (40g)
• 1 Matcha Green Tea bar (40g)
• 1 Panama Extra Dark 85% bar (40g)
• 1 Chili and Spice bar (40g)
• 1 bag of sugar cane (1lb)
• 1 tin of Chili and Spice hot chocolate - dairy free (275g)

Today’s code word: chocolate

Read more:
• What you can do about rising food prices
• New book about eating locally in Canada
• 14 delicious rhubarb recipes

Mad linkage from yesterday’s vaccination posting
I said I would have links and here you are:
• National Immunization Awareness Week (it goes until the April 26, so you still have a day or more of festivities
• immunization schedules for infants and children (and adults and travellers too)
• frequently asked questions from the Public Health Agency of Canada
• the Mother of All Immunization Trackers Web Site, where you can plug in your kiddies’ shots info and stop cursing yourself for “putting that yellow folder in a safe place.”
• and thank you, Dave, for an excellent roundup.

Who wrote this?
Spring has sprung
The grass has riz
I wonder where the boidies is

The boids is on the wing!
Don’t be absoid!
Da wings is on the boid! (more…)

I am starting a new monthly feature here at the Foodie-file called “Foodie Finds Friday”. The regional and local way of eating has really taken off and people across our giant nation know their own best food finds but if you are outside the geographical area you are out of the loop. I want to celebrate food from coast to coast so from now on Fridays will be the day to showcase a region, city, or foodie-event. Hopefully I will get a lot of participation and we can all learn about the best dishes, fruits, drinks or specialties from downtown Vancouver, BC to Elora, Ontario.

To launch the first friday: A GIVE AWAY! (more…)

After reading this post, don’t forget to enter our contest – you could win a new dishwasher. Plus, do you have your own story to tell? Send it to greenchallenge@canadianliving.com (no more than 300 words, please), and you could win one of 30 daily prizes.

Today’s winner is Kerry Kaufman of Calgary.

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While driving through the Banff Park gates about a decade ago, I was handed a brochure that said something along the lines of, “When your grandchildren ask you what you did to save the earth…what will you tell them?”. Now in 2008, with a husband, two children and a dog (non pure bred☺), that caption resonates with me on a constant basis.

What does my family’s “footprint” on the environment look like? Is it a sleek stiletto (tiny heel, small ball of foot) or is it like a winter moon boot (large, blobbish and bulky) in shape? I hope to be aiming for more of the former than latter. (more…)