Posts Tagged ‘Green Living’

I just read about Wild Dill on the blog Green Your Decor and thought I'd share the information with you. Wild Dill is an online store specializing in fair trade, sweatshop-free, natural and/or recycled product for your tots. They have really cute products - ranging from clothing to bedding to organic art kits.

My favourite item is the Roebuck Studio Chick Chair. It is made from local Baltic birch plywood, is painted with water based non-toxic paint and is complete with rounded edges for your child's safety.

I wish it came in a bigger size!

Read more:
• Raise your baby the eco-friendly way
• How to have a green baby
• Guide to organic and eco-friendly bedding

Today's Toronto Star ran an article (Green's carbon footprint) about the conundrums surrounding organic waste. Here in Toronto, we have a green bin program. Our green bins are meant for organic waste and are picked up from the curb once a week. It's a great program that has grown at a rapid pace (yearly, we toss 115,000 tonnes of organic waste into the green bin).

But because of this positive response from Toronto citizens, the program has begun to see some difficulties. Here are some of the problems: We use plastic bags to store the waste, so the green bin program contributes an obscenely large amount of bags to landfills. Also, because the program has grown so much and so quickly, our small organics processing facility cannot hold all the organic waste we produce. As a result, we've been transporting the spillover in diesel-burning trucks all the way to Quebec.

The City of Toronto website highlights how successful the project has been and how they're trying to implement organic waste options in multi-unit dwelling. There are currently 30 pilot projects under way. However, once buildings are able to separate organic waste from regular waste, our processing facility will be even more burdened than it already is.

It's no wonder this project is so overwhelmed - just look how much and how fast it's grown since its inception in 2002. I'm confident that Toronto will continue to work on ironing out all its kinks. Perhaps soon it will be mandatory to use biodegradable or paper bags on our green bins, just like they do in Durham and maybe the city will build more processing plants so we don't have to cart our waste to Quebec.

I can't wait to see what other incentives will be developed to help make our community greener

Read more:
• Canada's greenest communities
• How to start your own compost pile
• Guide to living greener

Something quite interesting came to my attention the other day. The InterContinental Toronto Yorkville (a downtown hotel) is featuring an EcoCab. They will be offering the service to their guests for trips in and around the downtown core. You can certainly be pedaled around Toronto in style in one of these babies.

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I was recently introduced to a great line of products. Origins Organics, a line of skin, body and hair care products, are all-natural products containing organic ingredients. They make a great massage oil called Body Pampering Massage Oil. Being a fairly active person, I require the odd massage (the at-home kind), and I was pleasantly surprised that this kind isn't super oily and it doesn't leave a sticky film on your skin like so many other massage oils and creams. It also has a really nice light and (more...)

I just wanted to post a little follow up to last week's tapwater post. In yesterday's Globe and Mail, I read that certain cities in Canada are contemplating banning the sale of bottled water from some public venues after London, Ontario has voted to eliminate the sale of bottled water at city-run facilities (arenas, community centres, city hall, etc.).

London is one of the first cities in Canada to implement such a forward-thinking restriction. Now, cities like Vancouver, Ottawa and Kitchener are contemplating following London's lead. And, school boards in Toronto, Waterloo and Ottawa have (more...)

Has any Toronto resident or visitor noticed these somewhat new City of Toronto ad campaigns? These posters are seen all over the city. I've noticed them on bus shelters, while riding the subway and in many printed publications. Looks like the city is trying to get us to think about how we consume water.

The ad on the left is of a family in their kitchen. They are all dressed in lab coasts and are drinking tap water. The caption reads: "It's what a scientist would drink. Toronto tapwater. It travels trough five layers of filtering and treatment before it arrives in you glass. And is continuously tested for quality. Trust science; not fashion. Choose tapwater. Filtered fresh."

The one on the right is of a woman who appears to be (more...)

We all know by now the importance of buying local food. It doesn't travel as far, which means less emissions than foods shipped from far-off lands. It also means supporting local farmers and helping them protect vanishing green space. And, of course, we get fresher produce.

You know what else will thank you for supporting local farmers? Your taste buds. For me, there is nothing like biting into sweet, Ontario corn on the cob or a local, juicy peach. I forget what these (more...)

When working in an office environment, it's hard not to notice the amount of paper that floats around. I often walk by the printer and see a small stack of paper on the tray, and I wonder if anyone will ever claim their printed goods. If not, I'm sure the perfectly usable pieces of paper end up in the recycling bin. Here are some things I do to use less paper in the office and at home. (more...)

There was a great little piece in today's Toronto Star about a woman who (somewhat reluctantly) gave up her car. She didn't give it up because of its impact on the environment, but later learned the effect this gesture had on the planet. The author emphasizes all sorts of other benefits to giving up driving (a big one being a more active lifestyle). (more...)

I often wonder why cigarette butts seem to be exempt from the litter category. Some of my smoking friends seem to be stewards of the environment in many ways, but when they finish their cigarettes they thoughtlessly flick the butt onto the street. This always baffles me. When we were growing up we learned that littering was bad - in fact, it was drilled into our heads. I am shocked to see some of the people I grew up with litter.

How can someone who shudders at the thought of (more...)