Archive for March, 2009

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.

I want to thank you all for giving me such sound advice about starting my little garden. You all obviously know a great deal about gardening - far more than I do. What I would give to walk around your vegetable patch, selecting things for a fresh summer salad! Without further ado, the winner of Marjorie Hariss' Ecological Gardening is (more...)

Celebrate Earth Hour by turning off your lights!

I hope you all plan on taking part in Earth Hour this Saturday, March 28 at 8:30 p.m. At this time, millions of people around the world will shut off their lights to help raise awareness about climate change. Last year we switched off the lights and unplugged everything and went for a walk. It was so great to stroll around and see the neighbourhood in complete darkness. I remember being so surprised at how many peoples' lights were off. We ended our walk through High Park where we saw a bunch of people walking around carrying lanterns. I later learned that families met in the park, hand made their lanterns with materials they brought with them and then embarked on a nature walk.

This weekend, there are walks being put on in three different communities close to my house during Earth Hour. It's a great way to get people out of the house and celebrating the Earth. I can't wait to walk around the area again this year, and witness everyone enjoying Earth Hour.

Will you be partaking in Earth Hour? How will you be celebrating?

Yay. Spring is here!

Happy spring to you all! I couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief this morning when I remembered that today is the first day of spring. That thought alone got me out of bed and out the door in an unusually chipper manner. I hope the change of season has freshened your outlook too.

Now, the moment I know you all have been waiting for. The winner of the FilterForGood Prize Pack is (more...)

Celebrate the day with a toast to the homeland!

I am feeling green today, but that's because the Irish half of me is getting restless. It must know it's St. Patrick's Day. I can hardly wait until tonight when a bunch of us gather at my dad's for a for our yearly feed of stick-to-your-ribs Irish stew and a couple of pints. Though I almost always drink local beer (I feel it's very important to support local microbreweries), tonight I'll indulge in some Guinness to make my grandpa proud. Hopefully tonight I'll make it out the door before my dad starts singing along to The Chieftains or The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Another St. Patrick's Day tradition we have is to enjoy some of grandma's delicious potato bread (Christine Picheca blogged about it yesterday in her Foodie Files. You must try it!).

In order to make your St. Patrick's Day celebration as green as possible, opt out of buying all those plastic party favours (hats, plastic beaded necklaces, green Hawaiian lays) that you wear once and then throw out. None of these things can be tossed in the recycling bin. Plus, they're all made worlds away and are shipped thousands of miles to get to us.

How will you be celebrating St. Patrick's Day?

Need some ideas to celebrate? Check out

A great Irish feast
St. Patrick's Day cocktail recipes

Also, don't forget to enter to win a Filter For Good prize pack!

You all know from my past posts how I feel about plastic. And for those of you who don't, just check out my Say no to packaging!, The bottled water debate and How to get you thinking about water posts. It's clear that I simply can't stand unnecessary packaging. My biggest packaging pet peeve has to be plastic water bottles. Most of us here in Canada are super lucky to have access to potable tap water. And because of our access to tasty H2O, we should be taking water from the tap on the go in reusable bottles, instead of heading to the store to by a bottle every time we need to quench our thirst.

What's your biggest packaging pet peeve? Subscribe to this blog and leave a reply to this question here and YOU COULD WIN a FilterForGood Prize Pack including:

Say yes to tap water!

• Brita Pitcher Water Filtration System (Grand model – 10 glass capacity)
• 3-pack of Brita Pitcher Replacement Filters
• FilterForGood reusable, BPA-free water bottle

To help Canadians kick their bottled water habit, Brita is encouraging Canadians to visit www.filterforgood.ca, and take the online pledge to reduce their bottled water waste. Since FilterForGood first launched last April, thousands of Canadians have already pledged to reduce their bottled water consumption.

Submit your response by Thursday March 19 and I'll announce the winner here on Friday March 20! Good luck!

You must be a subscriber to the Green Living blog if you want a chance at winning. So subscribe today!

For more tips on saving water, check out: Water-saving ideas for every household

Canadian Living makes going green easy!

Of late, the weather has been warmer, the days are getting longer, the sun has been shining and I'm starting to look out for signs of budding crocuses and tulips – spring must be just around the corner. Spring is always such a refreshing time for me – a time when I come out of hibernation and make some small changes to my life. I eat healthier, get more exercise, clean out my house and explore the outdoors. For all those who tend to do the same, now's the perfect time to find motivation to go green. I guarantee you'll get a fresher and lighter start to this exciting season.

Canadian Living's April 2009 issue hit newsstands just this past Monday, and for those of you who avidly read CL know that April is our annual green issue. Though I love all the issues, I obviously really love the green issue. The April issue is the perfect companion for you new, greener lifestyle. Among many great pieces, there's great advice on green decor and outdoor design, green beauty companies the style editors love, easy tips on how to green your home, a how-to on navigating the liquor store when you're in search of organic wine and a humorous account of a family who tries to give up shopping for 30 days.

On another note, I have a little secret for my regular readers. In honour of spring, and of course Earth Day (which is April 22), I'll be encouraging you to go green even more. Over the next five weeks (up until Earth Day) I'll be having lots of exciting green-themed giveaways and contests, so be on the lookout. You'll have to be a subscriber to the blog to participate, so get a head start and sign up to receive my blog to your e-mail inbox. I'll announce the first giveaway on Friday!

An article in Saturday's Globe and Mail confirms that even our recycled goods are feeing the effects of the recession.

According to the article Singin' the blue-box blues, Toronto's recycled goods were worth $191 a tonne just this past August, and are now worth less than $50. Recycled goods such as newspaper, cardboard, cans and plastics used to fetch a pretty penny and are now rapidly declining in worth. For instance, the value of waste cardboard (which is turned into boxes that package electronics, for instance) has dropped 70 per cent since last fall.

So, instead of being reincarnated to something useful, are all these now undesirable recyclable materials heading to landfills?

Here in Ontario it's illegal to send recyclable materials to landfills, so thankfully the recycling programs will persevere during these tough times and just have to accept the lower prices they'll receive for recycled goods. We're lucky, as I've heard that some small cities in the USA have had to cancel their recycling programs.

Just something to think about ...

I'll take one please!

For those of you that have read some of my previous posts, you know I just LOVE my chocolate. Actually, it's a bit of an obsessive relationship. I always think about it and I try so hard to refrain from giving in, but at the end of the day the temptation just overwhelms me and I have to have a piece. To all those who empathize with my delicious obsession you'll be happy to hear that today, Cadbury announced that its oh-so-yummy Dairy Milk chocolate will receive Fair Trade Certification. Cadbury's British and Irish markets will be the first to receive certification by Summer 2009, and hopefully soon after, so will Canada.

I've always been a big fan of Cadbury's Dairy Milk, and I especially love the bars I buy at Heathrow airport. For some reason, the bars across the pond so rich and delicious! Now I can buy them with a good conscious that the cocoa farmers in Ghana are being treated fairly. I can't wait until Canadian Cadbury bars will also be Fair Trade Certified.

What's you're favourite chocolate? Do you try to buy Fair Trade chocolate?

Be careful, it's slippery!

In these cold, icy times, it's so easy to slip and fall - or so easy to face a lawsuit, depending on which side of the sidewalk you're on. In order to remain safe, it's second nature to reach for the bag of salt and sprinkle it over your walk to ensure you, your kids and your mail carrier don't break a leg. But, in our ever-growing eco-conscience, we all know that salting ice - though effective - ain't too good for the environment.

The salt we use to melt ice finds its way into soil, streams, rivers, plants and vegetation and wildlife (and our doggies' paws) . It also damages our roads and sidewalks, as it is corrosive.

Seeing as de-icing is a fact of life in these parts, it may be worth trying some of the eco-friendly de-icers on the shelves. These are said to be made without corrosives and the chlorine component that harms both the environment and our roads.

How do you de-ice your walkway and sidewalk? Have you tried an eco-friendly alternative? Does it work?