A new blogger action initiative just launched this week. Brighter Planet, “a Vermont start-up committed to fighting climate change and building a clean-energy future,” will offset 350 pounds of carbon for every blogger who puts the badge on their blog (let them know you’ve done it, via the form on the campaign website in order to make it count). Their goal is to get 350 bloggers on board, to offset 122,500 pounds of carbon! “That’s like flicking off 100 lightbulbs for a day. Or going two full weeks without your car!”
I encourage you to sign up to put the nifty, fun badge on your blog, too.
On Saturday, I went to the EPIC expo at Canada Place. The main attraction for me was a talk by Adria Vasil, author of a best-selling book I adore called Ecoholic. In her inspiring presentation, she gave us a history behind the book’s development and noted how the green movement was virtually non-existent when she started her column in 2004. Organizers of EPIC apparently wanted to put on this event back then but there was deemed to be a lack of interest in green issues.
Adria offered some great advice and encouragement for greening one’s lifestyle: choose three things every month and do them. No matter how good you are already, you can do even better. My three things? I decided to no longer buy greenhouse-grown produce, I switched to compostable plastic bags for my garbage and replaced some of my soap with a locally-made, more natural product (and it smells divine, too!) Adria emphasized the importance of individual actions and how even little things add up. Case in point: the government’s new green product claims regulation is consumer complaint-driven, meaning it’s up to us to call in and report on products that (we think) are making false claims. So things are looking up, anyway. Adria is very lovely and was happy to sign my Ecojot notebook (I had not brought my copy of Ecoholic).
Continue reading EPIC – Sustainable living expo »
Thanks to Darren Barefoot for the photo and for telling me about the following tip.
The Clean Air Foundation‘s Mow Down Pollution program is once again taking a good jab at ol’ Mr. Smoggy, the Lawn Mower Hog himself, by educating the public about the significant amount of greenhouse gases and air pollution we can prevent by retiring the ol’ stinker and replacing it with a more earth-friendly alternative. Ever since I saw one of those push mowers, I had been suggesting my dad look into it, to replace the gas one. Some credit can be given for its long lifespan, but it’s noisy, it stinks and heck, it’s so hard to push that he got stuck with the job every time. Besides, the push mower is good for the grass! We’re eco-friendly folk, so knowing just how much a gas-powered lawn mower actually emits over time is pretty enlightening. And a $100 instant rebate? Talk about motivation! Here are the deets:
Continue reading Cut your lawn and CO2 at the same time »
CBC reported today that the “board of Metro Vancouver has voted for a plan to send the region’s garbage to Washington state, if the provincial government authorizes the shipments.”
The long-time dump in Cache Creek is expected to reach capacity by 2010, so they’ve been looking at other locations and settled on WA.
“Sending the garbage to Washington is a short-term solution, said [Metro Vancouver waste committee vice-chairman Peter] Ladner. Eventually, the city hopes to burn the garbage to generate power.”
The article doesn’t offer the most sensible, sustainable solution (of many), which is to reduce waste.
Continue reading Waste issues swept under the 49th Parallel rug »
The North Shore/Stanley Park skyline
Someone asked me recently about my interest in environmental conservation. I replied that I’ve always been interested in it. In recent years, however, this interest has come to fruition in ways I couldn’t have predicted.
Growing up, my parents taught me to turn lights off when I’m no longer using a room, to keep dimmer lights on lower, to compost and to recycle. It was part of our everyday lives. School programs from BC Hydro drilled energy savvy and safety into our little brains through fun performances. TV shows like Captain Planet and the Planeteers made earth-saving fun. I couldn’t understand people who brought themselves to litter (and still don’t), and used to make faces at semi-truck drivers for their polluting vehicles. In the summertime, the evidence of pollution in the Lower Mainland manifested itself as “hospital gown green” haze in the corner where Mt Baker sat behind the Valley. Mom took her library books home in a cloth bag and brought her plastic Safeway bags back to the store for recycling. She encouraged me to wash clothes on reduced energy settings and in the summer we let the sun take over for the dryer. (Eventually all my clothes needed to be washed in cold water and hung to dry.) From a young age I was aware of clear-cutting, Amazonian deforestation, and acid rain.
All this culminated in an unquestionable responsibility toward the environment: keep it clean, reduce/reuse/recycle, plant trees, and conserve energy.
Continue reading How I became an eco-crusader »
Who knew saving the planet could be so self-serving.
I’ve been thinking lately about how good I feel when I’m using or eating something that’s healthy for me and/or the planet. Now, “good” is a very broad term, but in this context it encompasses feelings of excitement, reward, self-satisfaction, accomplishment and wellness. (In other words, opposite of the dental pain and regret I’m feeling after having eaten a naughty piece of Toblerone. Glad it was the last one.)
I think it’s important to emphasize the personal benefits of doing good for the earth, and oneself. There are, in fact, many opportunities and I’m always looking for more.
I feel good when…
Continue reading Green at heart: feeling good starts with doing good »
