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 Susan Spidle of Lunenberg, NS.

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My family does its best to keep our garbage to a minimum. Our pick-up is once every two weeks and we usually have only a blue bag and one regular garbage bag that is half full.

We have our own compost in the backyard and use most of our paper in our fireplace, which we use most of the time instead of the furnace to keep the house warm. We have our own woodlot and my husband keeps busy cutting trees and replanting when he clears out a few trees. We put brush around the house in the winter to help keep the heat in the basement.

When I go grocery shopping, (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 Angela Smith of London, Ont.

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Living in another country helped me appreciate what Canadians do for the environment. But, it also helped me realize what more I could do.

Last year, we returned to Canada after living in England for three years. Our first year there, we lived without a car. Walking everywhere got us in better shape. I bought a pull trolley to carry groceries home when I walked the 2.5 kilometres to the store. With no curbside recycling, that trolley also carried plastics and papers to a recycling centre on the other side of town.

Now back in Ontario, we live in London, but my husband works in Toronto – a two-hour commute. Unfortunately, his job and the distance from our family required us to get a car. We couldn’t stay as green as we would have liked. But, my husband still mostly uses the train on the days he travels to Toronto.

I wasn’t finding it as easy to get all my errands done here as it had been in England. Southwestern Ontario isn’t as pedestrian friendly. Not wanting to make things worse by becoming a two-car family again, we found an environmentally friendly solution: an electric bike for me! Charging the battery costs about 6 cents and I get between 20 and 30 kilometres per charge. I get to most places in the city while getting fresh air and exercise (okay, I admit, the motor does help on hills).

I also use a pretty, tapestry-covered shopping trolley to pull groceries home from our nearest supermarkets. I’ve gotten over the hang-up of it being an “old lady” thing!

I am glad to be back in Canada where recycling is so established. But keen to be greener, I decided to try my hand at composting too. Feeds my garden…and a few mice, I’m sure!

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Thanks to Angela 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.

Angela wins a copy of the book Stuffed and Starved by Raj Patel, courtesy of HarperCollins, and a Clear2O Home Water Filtration System.

Today’s code word: trolley

Read more:
• Cut your gas usage by up to 30 per cent
• Tips on reducing your car use
• Why hybrids are the way to drive

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 Irene Leung of Port Dover, Ont.

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I have been aware of the excess packaging I and others waste on a daily basis every time we eat lunches, whether it be takeout or brown-bagging it. So, I have come up with ideas on how I can reduce the waste of materials and packaging.

I try to avoid take-out food as the restaurants use some sort of container or paper and instead, I make my lunches. Making lunches has enabled me to be creative and thoughtful. I have swayed away from using plastic baggies and throwaway bottles, plastics and tetra-paks. The main key is to use an array of reusable containers which you do not throw away but reuse. Then pack them all in a cooler bag or cooler box packed with reusable ice packs. Here are some of my tips: (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 Dot Mann.

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My six-year-old son, Jakob, didn’t like the loud noise of the lawn mower so he really wanted a push mower. We bought a push mower without even thinking about the environment. Now I use it all the time and rarely have to use the gas mower all summer long. It’s environmentally friendly and is very good exercise. Composting is also a great way to reduce the garbage taken to the landfill sites. It is great for gardens. Also use a rain barrel for watering your garden. This summer I would like to invest in some solar lights for the deck and garden.

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Thanks to Dot 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.

Dot wins a woven rattan purse courtesy of Ten Thousand Villages.

Today’s code word: mower

Read more:
• How to plant a tree
• How saving water will save you money
• Guide to green gardening

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 Linda Morehouse of Keswick Ridge, NB.

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I must admit that going green is often not as challenging as I once thought, except when it comes to paper towels. Yes, I am a paper towel addict. First of all, we have enough paper towels in our home to eventually black-market them once the last tree is gone. Paper towels are so easy to use and then toss that I can go through a roll a week. I grab some when I want to wipe up a spill, wash windows, use as a napkin or placemat, and/or polish “something.” So I decided this week to challenge my paper towel addiction. (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 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…)

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…)

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