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.
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…)
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 Carla Ehrenreich.
When I lived in the city I always rode my bike or took transit but now that I live in a small town and have kids I find myself driving all the time. We often end up driving the 20 km to a slightly larger town to do our shopping or go to playschool or gymnastics… you get the idea. I was feeling so guilty about all the fuel I was consuming until I heard a report on how slowing down can conserve gas. So I’ve broken my bad habit of speeding by putting the car on cruise control at the speed limit as soon as I’m on the highway. Then I started feeling guilty about all the speeders trapped behind me, until I decided that it just meant that I was being even more environmentally conscious by causing them to conserve fuel too. Keeping your tires well inflated and aligned also helps to decrease fuel consumption as does regular engine maintenance. Now if only I could figure out how to compost my guilt.
Thanks to Carla 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.
Carla wins a gift basket of Bio-life green cleaning products, courtesy of Shoppers Drug Mart, including the following:
• bio-life 3X cold water laundry detergent
• bio-life liquid fabric softener and dryer sheets
• bio-life tub & tile soap scum remover and all-purpose spray
• bio-life glass cleaner and paper towels
• bio-life kitchen compost bags
• bio-life dish detergent in 2 wonderful fragrances
• dish rack, cleaning/drying cloths and scouring pads
• dust pan and brush
• luxurious bath towel and attractive laundry basket
Today’s code word: mileage
Read more:
• Cut your gas usage by up to 30 per cent
• Make your grocery shopping greener
• 5 ways to be eco-friendly at the office
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 Nena Erickson of Dalhousie, NB.
I work for a program in which I live in a house with 11 teenagers. These youth are so eco-conscious it’s amazing. When we go for groceries we take only cloth bags. At the grocery store we try to buy only local or Canadian made and items that don’t have a lot of packaging. If the choice is between frozen Canadian or fresh elsewhere we buy Canadian to reduce our carbon footprint. By buying local or as close to local as possible you are able to save the fuel and packaging and issues that deal with a long trip.
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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.
Congratulations to Leigh Smith of Halifax, the first of our 30 daily winners.
I used to live in a rural area of Nova Scotia. Along with the pretty scenery and laid-back living, I had to contend every day with the complete antithesis of the laid-back life – rush hour traffic, the bane of my existence. To encourage my longevity and provide a good example to my son, I decided to move into the city. We now live in a much smaller two-bedroom condo with fluorescent lights, programmable thermostats, cold-water washes in the washer – all the good things a little environmental Do Bee does and happily, I might add.
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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.
I love trees. I also love wooden furniture and flooring, so I can’t say I’m completely against cutting them down. But there’s something very sad about the idea of virgin forests being clearcut to make paper products – tissues, toilet paper and paper towels – that are used once and then thrown away.
And there’s really no excuse to buy them anymore. There’s a wide range of brands available that include up to 100% postconsumer recycled content, Cascades, Seventh Generation and President’s Choice among them. And even if you have to spend a little bit more money, you can feel good that you’re not contributing to the worldwide deforestation that’s contributing toward climate change.
Really love your favourite nonrecycled brand? At the very least, switch out once in a while, and write the company a letter telling them you want to see postconsumer recycled content in their products.
Today’s code word: recycled
Read more:
• Simple green cleaning products
• How to use less paper
• Make your bathroom eco-friendly
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.
Thanks to the wonder of technology, laundry isn’t the chore it once was – but the tradeoff for these wonderful appliances is the amount of energy – and therefore money – they consume. Here are a few tips to make your laundry greener (metaphorically, of course!) and save cash at the same time: (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.
Remember how the computer age was supposed to save us from drowning under piles of paperwork? Well, it’s true – it really can. There are two ways you can instantly cut back on paperwork:
1. Use online banking
Instead of paying bills by cheque or using the bank machine, use online banking for the greatest paper savings. (Phone banking works as well, but it’s not nearly as easy to use.) (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.
Have you ever considered the environmental impact of owning pets? They consume food, water and accessories (toys, leashes, etc.), and then there’s the cost of where they were born and raised before you got them.
This isn’t to say you shouldn’t have pets. But it’s another area of your lifestyle that can be examined for the potential to make greener choices. Here are a few suggestions. (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 post is by senior editor Laurie Mackenzie.
Fitting green choices into my everyday life has been more of a challenge this year because I’m planning a wedding. My groom-to-be and I really want our wedding day to represent our socially conscious values, from the post-consumer paper for our invitations to the eco caterer we’ve chosen for the reception. We didn’t know the flowers could be green, too. I had no idea fair-trade and organic options existed, but what I found out really opened my eyes.
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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.
Flashlights burn through batteries like nobody’s business – and if you’re like most of us, you don’t have rechargable size D batteries to fill them with.
Want a better option? Check out this solar-powered flashlight from SunNight Solar, one of grist.org’s top 10 green gadgets. For US$25, not only do you get a flashlight for yourself, but they’ll provide one to someone in the world who needs one (you can even select a recipient organization on your own).
Reduce waste and help someone in need – sounds like a winning combination to me.
Today’s code word: flashlight
Read more:
• Top 10 ways to save energy in your kitchen
• Ecotourism: How to make your vacations greener
• Why lights at night are harmful
