Dear Santa: Save some of those cookies for me!

Have you started thinking about Christmas yet? It seems as soon as Halloween is over, the upcoming festive season is on everyone's mind. I have no doubt pretty little lights will soon be hanging from neighbourhood trees and shortly after, Christmas trees will be popping up in people's front windows (not that I look in other people's windows, I swear!).

No matter how early the rest of the world jumps on the holiday bandwagon, I can never seem to get organized early enough. Sure, I make plans in my head, but I usually don't put them into action until December 23. However, one thing I do get excited about is planning how to greenify my Christmas.

This year I'm going to buy a small coniferous tree, plant it in a pot and keep it inside for a couple of weeks over the holidays. When Christmas is over, I'll move it back outside and care for it. I'm hoping this way I'll be able to use it as a Christmas tree for a few years to come.

If you're more into buying a fresh Christmas tree every year, try to find a locally grown one and, before purchase, inquire if it's been grown in a sustainable manner.

Have a greener Christmas!

If you're stumped for ways to go green this holiday season, you should check out A Greener Christmas. It's a great book that will give you ideas on how you can make your Christmas more eco-friendly: From recycled decorations to making your own cards and hand-crafted gift ideas. Now for the good news? I have on copy of A Greener Christmas to give away to one luck reader. Just subscribe to my blog and leave a reply here sharing your tips and tricks for a greener holiday season! I'll announce the winner on Monday, November 23.

Congrats to Irene! You've been randomly selected to win a copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Organic Living, written by Eliza Sarasohn and Sonia Weiss.

I loved reading about everyone's favourite fall dish ... it made me hungry (and gave me plenty of cooking ideas).

Irene said: "My favourite fall and winter dish is any meat stew with hearty vegetables like carrots and potatoes served with hearty home made bread. The smell of stew "stewing" on the stove in the kitchen brings back warm childhood memories of my grandmother's cooking. Now, with our busy lives, I make my stews in the crockpot in the morning, and I still get that warm feeling when I come in through the door and know that a delicious meal is waiting for me as if my grandmother was still here."

Don't forget to enter my Raincoast giveaway. It's a good one!

Have a great weekend.

Raincoast Trading canned fish: Sustainable fish is good for you and the environment!

I recently heard about Raincoast Trading, a company that has been selling premium wild seafood products since 1978. The company supports sustainable fishing practices to ensure healthy fish stocks for future generations, and they harvest only wild caught seafood. Plus, their canned fish is single-cooked to preserve its natural oils, nutrition and rich flavour and they don’t add water or oil to the fish during the canning process. Raincoast is also endorsed by Ocean Wise,  a program created by the Vancouver Acquarium that works closely with restaurants, markets and seafood products to help ensure the seafood they use is harvested in a sustainable manner, keeping ocean life rich and healthy.

Raincoast Trading products (canned and frozen fish) are sold a Loblaws, Whole Food, IGA and or organic grocers, and prices range for $2.99 - $11.50.

Read more about making sustainable seafood choices here!

Want even better news? I'm giving away three Raincoast Trading gift packs, which all contain three cans of premium, sustainable fish: Albacore Tuna, Pink Salmon and Sockeye Salmon.

All you have to do is SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG and leave a reply here, telling me what your favourite seafood dish is and you could be a winner! I'll announce three randomly selected winners here on Thursday, November 20.

And, don't forget to enter my book giveaway, I'm announcing the winner tomorrow!

Are you almost green?

James Glave, author of Almost Green, would build a green writing shed. In fact, he did build one in the front yard of his home in B.C. In his book, Glave writes about the trials and tribulations (and constant scorn from his father-in-law) he faces while on his mission. Along the way, Glave makes many other environmental changes.

If you could green one part of your home, what would it be and why?

Just subscribe to my blog and post a reply here for your chance to win one of four copies of Almost Green. I'll randomly select a winner on Monday, October 19.

Good luck!

Sure, sometimes we all find bees to be pesky little insects that buzz around our sweet peach pie, but truth be told, we'd be nowhere with the curious, little bee. Apparently Albert Einstein said that if bees disappeared, "man would only have four years of life left". After all, these little pollinators are pretty much the reason our food grows.

In recent years, I've been watching the media closely, following stories about Colony Collapse Disorder and learning all I can about bees. I must say, I'm surprised and enthralled by these tiny workhorses.

Did you know that the lifespan of a bee is barely five weeks?

When I came across Candace Savage's book: Bees: Nature's Little Wonders, I was pleasantly surprised. Her book offers wonderful insight into the world of these industrious creatures. The book itself is beautiful, with pretty images and odds and ends of poetry and myths.

For a chance to win one of two copies of Bees, leave a comment here telling me how you feel about bees. Do you love them? Hate them? Has all the press on Colony Collapse Disorder made you think twice about them?

I'll pick a winner randomly on Friday, September 25. Don't forget, you must be a subscriber to win.

Be green AND clean!

I recently blogged about Attitude's cleaning products. I currently use their dish soap and love it!

I have great news for my subscribers: I have one Attitude prize pack to give away. In it is:

A large Attitude reusable shopping bag
Natural air purifier
All purpose disinfectant
Laundry detergent
Bathroom mold and mildew cleaner
Fabric softener
Dish soap
All purpose cleaner

All you have to do to win is be a subscriber to my blog, and leave an answer here to the following question: With back-to-school fliers and ads abound, I'm sure we're all dreading the end of summer. What are you going to do over the next few weeks to make this summer last as long as possible?

I will announce the winner here on Monday, August 31.

Don't forget to subscribe!

The sun has been shining steadily for a few days now, and the forcast calls for sunhine for at least the next week. I think it's safe to say that the warm weather is here to stay.  All this sun has got me thinking about certain things that I really get to enjoy in the warm weather - activities that are undeniably synonymous with summer. One of my favourites is star gazing ... nothing serious, just literally gazing up at the stars. I love when night falls when I'm out of the city. I always make sure to take some time to myself, find a spot and lie down on my back, where I'll have nothing else to look at except a sky full of stars. I could stay there for hours!

I also love swimming. I'm not talking about doing the breast stroke in a pool full of chlorine and floating Band-Aids. I'm talking about floating slowly through rivers, lakes and streams - or oceans, whenever I'm lucky enough to get the chance.

You know what the ultimate summer activity is for me? Swimming under a sky full of stars. What better way is there to enjoy two of our world's best things? I hope we can undo some of the harm we've caused Mother Nature, so that we can enjoy these fabulous things indefinitely.

What's your favourite summer activity? Leave a message here telling us about it and you could win a copy of The Sea: A Literary Companion and Night: A Literary Companion.

Two great summer reads for two lucky winners!

Two lucky winners will win a copy of each book to put on your summer reading list.

In The Sea, twenty-five writers share a love, a fear and a deep respect for the powers of the oceans. Each of these passages takes the reader on an unforgettable voyage, fraught with peril and charged with the awesome power of the sea. Stories by Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, Ann Saunders and Yann Martel are included in this collection.

Night: A Literary Companion explores the many faces of the night: its myths, its flora and fauna — and its human side, too.  It's the perfect late-night read!

Remember, you have to be a subscriber to win.

I'll annouce a winner here on Thursday, May 28.

With Earth Day approaching quickly I have lots going on here at the Green Living Blog. For starters, I want to announce the winners of the Origins Organics prize pack and the Mom, Will This Chicken Give Me Man Boobs? books. Congratulations to (more...)

I thought it was spring! I was a bit shocked to wake up this morning to snow. My dog and I had a nice, early-morning walk in the park and we were both slipping and sliding around, totally unprepared for the weather. I guess Mother Nature is giving us one more taste of winter so we appreciate the spring that much more. I promise I will!

I have two great books to giveaway to a lucky Green Living blog subscriber. One of you will receive True Green @ Work: 100 ways you can make the environment your business AND Sara Snow's Fresh Living: The Essential Room-by-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home.

All you have to do is subscribe to me blog and you'll be eligible to win. I'll pick a subscriber at random on Tuesday April 14, so look out for your name!

Cherish winter sports!

Here we are wishing winter away, and there's breaking news reports that we here Canada will have less and less time to enjoy our winter and all those wonderful things that come with it - like skiing, skating, hiking, snowshoeing and other winter sports.

I woke up to the CBC yesterday explaining that the impact global warming will have on Canadian winters could be detrimental. Someone from the David Suzuki Foundation was quoted in the Globe and Mail saying that our ski season could be cut in half towards the end of the century. It certainly is a scary thought that my (imaginary) baby's baby's baby's won't enjoy the snowshoeing or downhill skiing that I have.

On a more positive note, Earth Hour proved to be a huge success this year. About 80 countries, and close to 4,000 cities, participated in this awareness-raising cause. It would be great if this event could take place more than once a year so it could make more of a difference. I know people are catching on, and I can only imagine how much better next year's response will be.

A Good Catch, by Jill Lambert

I have two books to giveaway. If you're a subscriber (or become a subscriber) to my Green Living blog you are automatically eligible to win a copy of Jill Lambert's A Good Catch. This book is a guide on how to choose properly when shopping for seafood. With concern over the amount of seafood our ocean’s can produce, endangered species, and fish that are inhumanely caught, it’s important that eating sustainable seafood becomes a priority. This book helps to explain why, what the most responsible choices are, what sort of questions to ask at your local fish market and how to cook all sorts of seafood. Lambert’s book includes 70 recipes from celebrity chefs across Canada – including a couple recipes from Canadian Living’s very own test kitchen.

Just subscribe to my blog and you could win. I'll randomly select two subscribers and announce the winners here on Monday, April 6.