Day 31: Mechanical vs. Traditional Pencils

One reader commented on my refillable pen post that his/her solution to the writing utensil conundrum is to use a pencil. However, that is not as simple as it may seem and not an option for us poor Engineering students who have to do a significant amount of work in ink to even have our work considered for grading!

 slate.com's "The Green Lantern" weighed in on the decision in this article, and here is a summary of his thoughts:

The mechanical pencil:  The low cost variety of mechanical pencils are generally made of plastic, or more specifically, polystyrene, (although papermate has come up with some that are biodegrable!) which takes petroleum to produce, and well, hangs around for a couple of centuries after its no longer wanted. The site estimates the average plastic in a mechanical pencil to be around 10g, and according to the Green Lantern's findings, needs about 22 g of petroleum to make it (divided between the actual plastic and the energy used to make it). He also mentions that the process of making the pencil has its own chemical waste. But, the mechanical pencil, provided it isn't lost, has a way longer lifespan than a traditional wooden pencil.

The traditional pencil: Well, this guy's big strong point is that it's made from wood.  So, unlike the mechanical pencil it won't hang around forever in the landfills like an unwanted houseguest.  Eventually it just turns into a pile of shavings. On the downside, trees need to be cut down to make the wooden pencil. Furthermore, a lot of this wood seems to be shipped to weird parts of the world for processing to be turned into pencils, and then shipped back in pencil form. It is not as efficient as a mechanical pencil, as you lose lead every time you sharpen it, and it then has a pretty short life span as a writing utensil, so you need more of them which results in more shipping, more wood etc.

The verdict: It seems that if you are responsible enough to not lose the mechanical pencil and keep it for a relatively long period of time, it is the greener choice. But otherwise, the traditional pencil is better choice.

A few other thoughts: A lot of these environmentally friendly products sometimes miss their mark. For instance, I have been trying for about a week now to find the re-fills for my pen that BIC markets as refillable. After visiting several big-name office supply type stores and no success in finding the refills, I had to special order them from a stationary shop - and I had to buy all four colours in one package (even though I only ran out of blue). Furthermore, the refills cost more than the pen did originally. This is not going to incite people to refill this pen, and I think BIC didn't think this one through all the way.

Moreover, a lot of these allegedly "eco-friendly" products come in ridiculous packaging - cardboard backing with un-recyclable plastic. We also need to keep in mind that it takes money, energy, chemicals and water to recycle things and turn them into new things -so this system isn't as awesome as we think it is. The trick is to buy (and throw out) less stuff in the first place. 

Once again I am not suggesting that you go out and buy new mechanical pencils. I'm sure you already have a few kicking around at home. Though, they are probably empty and, annoyingly, have no eraser left. So, give this poor old friend  a face-life. Fill it full of lead again (try to buy as much as you can per package to avoid excess packaging - I think it is silly that lead come in those little plastic vials) and pop an eraser top on top! Voila! It is ready to go and  be your companion through many hours of note-taking, essay writing, integrating or resolving vectors into components!

Day 30: You Are What You Eat -Part 2

So, I am going to run with what I started yesterday.

Fifty years ago, 11% of American corn crops were treated with pesticides. Today, more than 95% are treated. DDT, a pesticide and persistent organic pollutant used in the 1930's to 1970's, is present in nearly every single living organism on the planet today because it is extremely hyrophobic and well absorbed by soil.

Along with reducing your meat, eggs and dairy consumption, David Suzuki (among many other environmentalists) recommend buying organic or natural products from local sources whenever possible.

Here are some more fun facts from Dr. Suzuki's Green Guide, that will make you think twice about your food (that is, if you don't already!):

-The use of chemical pesticides increased by 600% in the US during the last 60 years

-Worldwide, the use of chemical fertilizers tripled between 1945 and 1960, and then, tripled again by 1970, and doubled by 1980!

-Agriculture is a factor in the decline of more than half the species listed as endangered or threatened under the US Endangered Species Act.

-The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that agriculture is responsible for 70% of the nation's water pollution.

So,  what I am getting at here is that changing your diet can have a bigger impact than say, trading in your normal car for a hyrbid.

Consuming organic produce, dairy, milk or meat (or, alternatively, buying from a farmer that isn't necessarily organic but uses more traditional methods and doesn't use hormones/pesticides) helps the planet in many ways.

Organic and/or traditional farming practices such as crop rotation, plant/ animal diversity, natural fertilizer/pest control methods helps to improve and protect soil quality, reduce green house gas emissions and the amount of synthetic fertilizers, hormones, pesticides and other toxins leaching into our soil, water and food.

Many studies have been done that show the benefits of eating organically grown food. A 2006 study done on a group of children in Seattle, Washington had the  children's diet switched from conventionally grown foods to organic foods. Pesticide residues in the urine quickly dropped to non-detectable levels (Suzuki  59)

While organic foods may seem more expensive up front, it is the conventional foods that seems so cheap that have many hidden environmental and health costs. In my way of reasoning, good food makes me healthy and is well worth the investment.

Day 29: You Are What You Eat - Part 1

The more I read, learn, watch documentaries, etc.. the more I realize that, while eating local is important, in the grand scheme it is what you are eating and, well, how it came to be on your plate that are more important.

A lot of the things we eat just aren't good for us or the planet. A prime example is meat. Most meats are not sustainable, especially in the way we North Americans consume them.

On Day 2 of this challenge, I suggested eating low on the food chain, here are some facts/ideas from Dr. David Suzuki's Green Guide (pg 46) about why this is so important:

-Raising livestock contributes more to climate change than the world-wide transportation sector.

- Producing meat uses vast volumes of water. Beef requires 13 000 liters per kg, and chicken requires 6 000 liters per kg (and of course, as I mentioned in a previous post, 1 kg of potatoes only takes 100 liters).

-Cattle, pigs and chickens produce approximately 5 tons of manure per North American per year.

-In the Amazon, millions of hectares of rainforest have been cut down for livestock grazing and feed crops since the 1970s.

-Globally, the volume of wild fish caught has increased almost 500% in the past 50 years, while populations of large fish -sharks, tuna, swordfish among others, have crashed by 90%.

-More than ninety nations, including the US and Canada, are guilty of overfishing (meaning that within their territorial waters they catch fish faster than the fish populations can reproduce).

Some great documentaries to watch, although I suspect Micheal-Moore-esque type biases, are Food Inc. and Food Matters. They investigate food as it travels from farm to table, and raise some really interesting points. (Food Matters can be seen on documentaryheaven.com and Food Inc is on the CBC website).

I'm already eating low on the food chain, and have been a vegetarian for about three years, which is a great start, but most of the food I eat is cooked. I make a lot of soups and casseroles etc. But, it is becoming increasingly apparent that for our own sake and that of the planet, we need to eat more raw food (Let me clarify, I don't mean beef....raw beef would be terrible - what I mean is fruits, veggies, nuts, sprouts, grains, beans etc)

In Food Matters, they suggest that at least 51% of your diet should consist of raw food. It is believed that heating food above 45 degrees Celsius diminishes the nutritional value of the food by destroying enzymes in the food that aid in digestion and absorption.  The raw food diet is also lower in trans and saturated fats, lower in sodium, higher in fiber and potassium, folate and magnesium than the traditional western diet. It also comes with less packaging and generally takes less energy to produce, and you don't have to fire up that stove!

So, I am no nutritional expert, but it does seem to make a lot of sense. I mean, don't we always hear that we should eat more fruits and vegetables? If we can eat more locally produced or organic raw food that's great.

But we do have to look at the other side of the coin. A lot of our fruits and veggies have to be imported from other countries, and, for instance, commercial banana production is an environmental disaster with high pesticide usage effecting plantation workers, rivers, and well... the whole planet! So, it's not so clear-cut what we should do and there aren't really any general rules other than to think critically about where your food comes from, what you are eating and how you are preparing it. 


As for me, I am going to try and increase the raw food portion of my diet to over 50% and continue to read labels, signs, do research and think critically about where my food comes from. 


What do you think?

(Also ... 1000 pages views! thanks everyone!)

Day 28: Grocery Shopping Adventures -Episode 1 "Bulk is Beautiful"

I feel like I will have a whole series on "Grocery Shopping Adventures" since it has become such an interesting experience for me. The more I learn about consuming sustainably the more questions I have and the more things I have to be aware of. I am constantly reading labels, thinking about packaging and shipping and what I can do to reduce my footprint.

One of the things that really sticks out is packaging: it's the first thing we see and (almost always) the first thing we throw out. Nearly everything in the store comes packaged, it's one of the things I am trying to reduce. But it's hard to do -what do I buy and how do I bring it home from the store?

So, what I did today, though I may have looked like a crazy person, was bring my own clear plastic bags from home(that I had previously bought home fruit in) to fill with bulk food from the bulk bins. This way, I am not consuming any extra plastic bags. When I get home, I put my newly purchase bulk foods into mason jars or other containers that I diverted from the land fill, and the bags are ready to be reused again!   

The bulk food isle is a fascinating place - it even has all sorts of things that I didn't expect, ranging from soup stocks, spices and seasonings, cookies, granola, pasta and much more!

By bringing your own container you are helping to reduce your waste, and it is often cheaper!~

What do you guys think?

Day 27: Cuddle to Keep Warm

So, I had pretty busy day today folks, so here is another common-sense tip that I will incorporate into my lifestyle:

I will turn down my room heat when I leave for the day or go to bed.

David Suzuki suggests in his Green Guide to turn down the thermostat by 1 or 2 degrees in general and perhaps more when you are away (pg. 27). So, instead of natural gas heating, I will opt for warm sweaters and socks, and of course, cuddling with Milo, my housemate's awesome cat!

My favorite thing is when I crawl into bed and discover his former "nest" (he likes to burrow under the covers to keep warm) which is left nice and toasty -preheated for me!

Day 26: For the Ladies...(or gentlemen who care about their lady friends)

Note: this post is not for the squeamish/ those who aren't comfortable with the cycles of the female body!

Women menstruate for about 40 years of their life. Roughly one week per month per year. That is about 2500 days or 6 and a half years depending on how long your cycle lasts. Every day of her cycle, a woman probably uses at least 3 tampons/pads. For an average woman's life  (not counting pregnancies, etc) that is 7500 tampons/pads.

First of all, that is really expensive! Second of all, all of those pads and plastic applicators don't just disappear when you throw them into the bin. And don't even get me started on bleached cotton tampons...

In the US, an estimated 12 billion sanitary napkins and 7 billion tampons are thrown away annually. Between 1998 and 1999, 170 000 plastic tampon applicators were collected along the US coast. Gross.

These things aren't just bad for the environment, they're bad for you! The materials used to make pads/and tampons have been chemically treated to give them that nice, shiny white appearance. Pads also contain polyethylene (remember the paper cup coating?)  which releases methane gas when it breaks down. Dioxin, a know carcinogen, is a by-product of bleaching tampons containing rayon.

There has to be a better way!

Fortunately, there is!

I have been using the Diva Cup for about two years now, and I'll never go back to disposable feminine hygiene products. It is a high-quality, 100% silicon menstrual cup that works kind of like a tampon. It costs about $30 and lasts for a few years (so in the end, it saves you money!) It takes a bit of getting used to, maybe two cycles or so, but once you have figured out how it works with your body, it is amazing! Check out their site for more details. (Other brands exist around the world, but currently the Diva cup is the only one approved for sale in Canada. For those you at Queen's University, check out the SHRC - they actually have a money back guarantee!) Furthermore, according to the DivaCup website (I should probably do more research on this...) since it is made from 100% silicon, which is really made from sand, it will degrade over time after it has been tossed.

My awesome housemate, Serena, also sent me a link to the luna pads sites, which are reusable cotton panty liners and pads. I think that the pads would work as an excellent "backup" for the Diva cup and hope to try  them out soon!

So, I think this is a great way that women can reduce their waste and carbon footprint! What do you think?

Day 25: Use Both Sides of the Paper!

This is a simple one, but more importantly, it is easy to incorporate into my (and your!) lifestyle.

My printer only prints on one side of the page, but once I am done with that side of the paper I do assignments, calculations or take notes on the other side.

Recycling paper still takes energy and water, so it is important to use less paper and really get as much out of each sheet as you can! So print on both sides whenever possible, and use both sides of looseleaf!

Day 24: Be Thrifty! Buy Used Books(or go to the library!)

So, my boyfriend discovered this amazing bookstore in downtown Vancouver, MacLeod's Books, which was literally stacked floor to ceiling with literary treasures.

This got me thinking about how many books I have.

How many do you have? If you have a spare moment, maybe even count them. I don't know about you, buy I have a ton of books here in Vancouver, and at least another shelf full at my parent's place in Alberta. Now, remember that all those books were once trees.

The cost in money that we paid for the book didn't pay for the environmental impact of that missing tree, or really even the pollution caused by its production and shipping (according to the American Forest and Paper Association, paper manufacturing is the 3rd largest user of fossil fuels worldwide). It is near impossible to actually know these impacts.

Owning all these books seems almost like a sin, and this mass book ownership is a relatively new phenomena. For decades, even centuries before, books were valuable possessions  -they were treasured and symbol of wealth (attesting to the amount of energy and resources necessary to their production). Today,  most of us can now afford to buy new books, read them and then just stick them on the shelf for eternity. Maybe things shouldn't be like this anymore.

Of course, we do have to support authors, writing is definitely a craft that deserves to be supported! A reader, Paul_A, suggested in a previous post that we switch to using e-books and e-readers such as Kindle. However, this causes even more e-waste from everybody buying e-readers - and most people won't want to lug about a laptop for reading. So, until e-readers become completely sustainable, it is tricky decision with many factors to consider. What is your opinion?

If you have a stack of used books sitting at home,  ecofriendly planet has a number of suggestions for what to do with that heap of books or magazines that you are finished with or if you need to buy new books, what to look for:

 1) Buy books made of recycled materials. Paper made of 100% recycled materials reduces total energy used by 44%, greenhouse gas emissions by 38%, wastewater by 41% and of course, virgin wood  by 100%

2) Visit an awesome used bookstore like Macleods (it make a fun Sunday afternoon outing too!) and buy used books

3) Donate your books: don't throw them out! Donate them to hospitals, thrift stores, schools or other organizations.

4)Sell or trade your used books: a great way to save money!

As for me, I have decided to not buy anymore new books for the rest of the year. Used bookstores and libraries have more than enough books to quench my thirst ( I will add one small condition, though, that I won't buy new books unless I need to buy a textbook for university that I cannot get used or borrow from the library or a friend).

Here are some more photos from Macleods, since I found the store so fascinating and spent about 2 hours perusing the vast and eclectic selection.

Day 23: Turn Off That Tap

I thought I would continue with the theme that I seem to have developed this weekend: my challenge for today is to turn off the tap while brushing my teeth and washing my face.

The reason I let it run is that it takes forever to warm up in my apartment- who wants to wash their face in freezing cold water? What I realized, however, is that I generally have a cup of tea within 1/2 hour of going to bed, and in that time the bit of warm water left in the kettle is enough to wet my facecloth and scrub my face. So -no more letting the water run!

I hope you all had a pleasant weekend!

Day 22: More Clean, More Green! Handwashing vs. Dishwashing: the surprising winner

This post is going to address everyone's favorite past-time: dishwashing! (it also ties nicely into my topic from yesterday)

A recent study done at the University of Bonn in Germany suggests that dishwashers use half of the energy, one sixth of the water and of course, less soap, than washing the same amount of dishes by hand (my source doesn't state what kind of dishwasher was used). Apparently, the cleanliness and efficiency of the dishwasher cannot be matched by even the most efficient human dishwasher.

But, I don't have a dishwasher in my apartment, nor can I really afford one and don't have a place to install it. What can I do?

Here are a few tips that I found that I can incorporate into my dishwashing routine:

1) Use eco-friendly dishwashing soap/liquid (biodegradable is great!).
2) Use less water. You don't have to fill the sink to the brim with water, and don't leave the tap running for rinsing dishes.
3)The Dippy-Cup technique: fill one glass with soap and water. Dip your scrub brush or sponge into the cup. Scrub dish. Repeat.
4)Rinse the entire dish-rack at once, not one dish at a time.Give them a quick spray over with the spray nozzle once they are in the rack.
5) Combine all of the above methods!

Any other tips/suggestions?

Happy Saturday night!

Day 21: Take Shorter Showers

Three weeks down! 49 more to go!

Today's topic is a fairly complex one that I wanted to spend a bit more time researching.

It's hard to think of water as a finite resource, especially when you live in Vancouver and it continuously pours. But, water is really a precious resource and clean fresh water isn't as abundant as we may think.

We use a LOT of water everyday. We need it to survive, to clean ourselves and clothes, we use it to play, we use it in mass quantities for the production of goods that we use every day. In many places, it is used to power our homes (either directly or indirectly) from Hyrdo Power, Nuclear  Power, and even Oil and Gas Power Plants use water!

In England, the average person uses a whopping 150 liters of water a day! But thats less than half of what we north Americans use daily - we go through about 350 liters a day. Let's think about this in a global perspective, where according to the World Water Council, 1 out of every six people world-wide do not have access to safe drinking water, let alone an abundance of clean water to wash or use the toilet. Not that reducing your water consumption will help people in arid countries, but it really makes you think about how much we take clean, fresh water for granted.

Another interesting fact from their page, and related to my "Eating low on the food chain post": 1 kg of potatoes takes 100 liters of water to produce, whereas 1 kg of beef requires 13 000 liters of water. That really makes you think.


But, back to my topic for the day. Showering and taking baths (the latter of which is the least energy efficient of the two -of course depending on shower times) also takes an a large amount of energy to heat all that water, and, hundreds of liters of water go down the drain. A standard shower head uses 15-18 liters per minute  (you can purchase a low-flow on that is easy to install and is more water-efficient).This water, then has to go to a waste water treatment plant if you live in a urban area. How long do you shower for? How much water goes down the drain when you shower?

If you have a well you need to think even more in advance. You need to consider water shed process and what is "upstream" and "downstream".

So, my challenge to you and myself is to shorten shower times. You can do this by stopping the water while you are soaping up, and just rinsing off in the end. Another thing is, you don't have to (and shouldn't) wash your hair everyday - every few days is fine, and it's better for your hair (google it!) I am going to try and keep my showers to 5 minutes or less, and shower only when I need it!

As I mentioned earlier, this issue is very complex and this post is by no means all-encompassing. There are a lot of resources where you can go to learn more about water consumption and conservation.
Here are a couple that I looked at for today's post:
http://www.ec.gc.ca/eau-water/default.asp?lang=En&n=CD467AE6-1
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/beinggreen/117266.aspx
http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/index.php?id=25

The World Water Council says that water (and it's conservation) is everyone's business. So, let's make it ours!

Day 20: Frozen Foods: friend or foe?

We all seem to live pretty busy lives these days, and frozen dinners/foods just seem so easy and convenient! While I've never been a huge consumer of pre-made TV-dinners, I do occasionally buy premade frozen foods for those super busy days.

However, these meals require a great deal of energy to keep frozen in transport and storage -not to mention the waste produced from their packaging that is left after you have enjoyed your meal! Furthermore,these meals are often cooked twice -once when they are produced and again when you are ready to eat them. And, they are generally loaded with all sorts of additives and preservatives that I could probably do without.

So, this post is related to my "back to basics eating" post and I will do away with frozen pre-prepared foods.

This is also a money saver, because buying basic ingredients and assembling them myself saves me money and is fun to do (a great stress reliever during a study break!).

What is your opinion of frozen foods? do you think you have time to make meals from scratch?

Day 19: The Re-Usable Mug Conundrum

I was thinking about my reusable coffee mug today, and remembered a conversation I had with my friend Yolanda about the topic.

I decided to look into it, and, in the end, it seems that if you are consistently using your reusable mug you will not only work towards reducing your carbon footprint and waste, but also save a little money along the way!

Generally speaking, it takes a lot more energy and has a bigger negative environmental impact to manufacture a reusable mug and it will sit for longer in the landfill if it is not recyclable (and many of them are not because of the different insulating layers).

But, on the other hand single use cups are typically not made from recycled materials (due to certain sanitation laws that make it difficult to use recycled fibers for this purpose as well as recycled fibers being less sturdy), they are laminated with a plastic resin called polyethylene (which keep the cups from absorbing liquid or leaking and once the cup begins to decompose in the landfill, the polyethylene releases methane gas into the atmosphere) and the manufacturing and shipping process is energy intensive. In 2010, Americans consumed over 23 billion paper cups.

In the end, each reusable cup has a "breaking point", the point where using the reusable mug becomes more environmentally friendly than the disposable cups. A study conducted by a Sustainability Engineer named Pablo Paester indicates that reusable stainless steel mugs break even at 24 uses. Since these mugs are designed to be used thousands of times, the positive environmental impact of using a reusable mug can really outweigh its carbon cost. ( But once again, don't go out and buy a new reusable mug -you probably have some kicking around the house!)

As an added bonus,a lot of companies (Starbucks, Timmies, etc) offer discounts for those who bring their own mugs -awesome!

So, the verdict is that in the -long term, the positive environmental impacts of using reusable mugs far outweighs the negative. They reduce the amount of waste we are sending to landfills and the associated methane gas release and save the happy coffee/tea drinker money!

So, my challenge to me and to you is to bring your reusable mug with you and use it!

Here is a link to one of the articles I read about the topic: http://www.sustainabilityissexy.com/facts.html

What do you guys think? Do you bring your reusable mug?

Day 18: Go Outside and Play

Today was a rare sunny afternoon in Vancouver, a perfect day to go outside for a walk!

So, instead of coming home and chilling in front of my laptop to unwind before hitting the books, I went outside for a walk around Granville Island to enjoy the beautiful day!

Try to keep your activities close to home, or if you have to travel, take public transit or carpool.
Some things that I like to do (but this is an unlimited list) are:

-go for a walk with friends
-roam around the public market
-go for a bike ride
-go for a run
-poke around in some thrift shops

What's great about this idea is that it's good for you and the planet!

Now, I know if a lot of parts of this great country of ours, it is awfully cold right now, but take advantage of the nice days! Even my mother likes to get out on her cross country skis and go for a ski when it's only minus 20! You warm up pretty quickly when you're bundled up and active!

What do you like to do outdoors? What can we do to make our activities more environmentally friendly?

Cheers!

Day 17: Everybody Poops

So, because the title is true, everyone needs toilet paper. 

I went to go buy some today at my local drug store and was faced with a plethora of different brands. I spent a few minutes contemplating what to do.

The "store brand" featured a package of  of 24 roles, and there was also a package of 12 roles of chlorine-free, recycled bathroom tissue with less packing and - both for about $6. From a financial standpoint you'd think that the store brand would be a better call, but after a little investigating, I found out that the recycled brand was actually the better call. 

Not only was the recycled TP made from 100% recycled fiber diverted from landfills, but each roll had 354 sheets on it - compared with the store brand that only had 150. So when you calculate it all out, the store brand 24-pack was 3600 -ish sheets of TP on  24 cardboard rolls with nearly twice as much plastic wrapping, compared to the recycled brand that had 4248 sheets on only 12 cardboard roles (and half the plastic wrapping!). If you think about it even more, since the whole package of the recycled brand was nearly half that of the store-brand, it took less room in the transport truck. 

In the end, I went for the 100% recycled, chlorine-free brand. So, I suppose my point for today is to do a little research on your products. My challenge is to spend a little bit more time contemplating the products that you buy and reading the labels and doing the math. Even when it comes to toilet paper.

Reading labels is also important for things that call themselves "green" - what does that really mean anyways? Be skeptical of things with labels like "natural", "green" and "safe" -they can mean just about anything and are often misused to mislead consumers.
David Suzuki's green guide gives these suggestions for finding more environmentally friendly products in the mess of trendy "greenwash"

"First, check for certification by a respected organization. Second, be skeptical about vague claims. [...] Third, look for specific details. The three green arrows symbol  and the word 'recycle' or 'recyclable' mean that a product is recyclable but not that it is made of recycled content. If the label says 'recycled', look for how much of the content is recycled. There's a big difference between 5% and 100%. Fourth, context is important. A 'recyclable' product won't be recycled unless it's included in your community program. A 'biodegradable' product will not biodegrade if you put it in the garbage, since even food and paper may not break down in landfills. You can get full details on all the various claims made on product labels from Consumer Reports at www.greenerchoices.org" (99)

 Have you made or had trouble making any similar decisions?

Happy Monday!

Day 16: 5 Reasons to Hang-Dry Your Laundry

This is the continuation of my laundry day post, and here is a picture of what my bedroom looks like after I wash a load:

As you can see, you don't have to invest in anything huge to hang-dry your clothes. A piece of rope or twine tied across your living room will do in a pinch as well!

And here are 5 reasons to line-dry your clothes!

1. Save money!
2. The reason why I am including this- energy conservation! This is a small thing that can have big results over the course of the year and your lifetime!
3. Gentler on clothing ( no tossing and twisting and heating up super hot in the dryer)

4. Reduce the fire risk in your home ( Dyers account for about 15 600 structure fires, 15 deaths and 400 injuries annually!)

5.Physical Activity: Burn some calories!

Any other suggestions?

Day 15: For Tea Lovers...

Phew... two weeks down, 50 more to go!

Today's post  is for the tea (or in general, hot beverage) lovers, like me, who love several cups of tea day.

Try to use a kettle- it is more efficient than a pot on the stove. Furthermore, according to Change The World for Ten Bucks: 50 Ways to Make a Difference, don't fill up the kettle and only boil as much as you need. The authors say that if every Canadian did this, we would save enough electricity to power every street light across the country! 


After a quick discussion with my boyfriend about the topic, he suggested that if one (like me) is prone to drinking several cups in a short period of time, make a pot of tea and cover it with tea-cosy!

So, I think I will have to get on making tea-cosy!

What do you guys think?

Happy Saturday!

Day 14: Turn off the light!

So I just heading out the door, but here's my challenge for the day: turn off the light when you leave the room, even if it is only for a short period.

Lighting accounts for 30 to 50% of a building's energy use, or about 17% of total annual U.S. electricity consumption. Simply turning off unneeded lights can reduce the amount of energy used for lighting up to 45%. At the same time, using less energy reduces air pollution, global warming and other environmental impacts associated with electricity generation.


Happy weekend!

Day 13: Laundry Day

So, it's that time when I start running out of socks... which is a clear indicator that I must do laundry!

After a bit of research, I found a few tips on things that I can do to make my clothes clean without dirtying the environment too much.

-wash cold. Most of th energy consumed from doing laundry is from using hot water, so use cold water (or warm if absolutely necessary).
-wash full loads to make best use of the energy required to run the machine. If you have to do a smaller load, adjust the water level accordingly
-if possible, use a front-loading washer
-sort items by colour, weight and how dirty they are so you can adjust the cycles accordingly
-if you are a real grown-up (unlike me, the perpetual student) and you need to buy your own washer, go for a front loading Energy-star rated model. They not only use less energy, but also less water ( as little as 5 gallons compared to 18 to 25 for a top-loader). Some of my sources say that they will even extract more water from your clothes to make for faster drying times.

As for detergents, you can make your laundry routine more environmentally friendly by using detergents, softeners and stain removers that as phosphate-, petroleum-, and chlorine free (and only use as much you need!)

I haven't missed the importance of drying your clothes, but I will talk about it tomorrow (I still need 352 ideas this year!).

Does anyone else have any other suggestions that I can incorporate to make my laundry routine more environmentally friendly?

Happy Thursday - hang in there, it's almost the weekend!

Day 12: BYOB

Bring your own bag! This is super easy!


According to bringyourownbag.com , the average north american family of four uses 1000 plastic bags each year, 80% of which come from the grocery store. (I assume these statistics are from a few years ago -say 2000 -ish)


here are some facts about plastic bags:


-100 million plastic bags a week go to landfill.
-Plastic bags can take between 15 and 1000 years to break down in the environment.
-Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That translates to over one million per minute.
-North America goes through 110 billion plastic shopping bags annually.
-Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways polluting our soil, rivers, lakes and oceans.
-Production of plastic bags requires vast amounts of oil.
-Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food(apparently they look a lot like jellyfish...)

Now, try to avoid going and buying a re-usable bag (but if you have to, try to get one with more natural, bio-degradable fibers that is sustainably made). There are a lot of options, such as:

-bringing plastic bags that you already have

-lots of stores give out reusable bags these days(I'm sure you have some at home)

-carry a back-pack (it's an easy way to carry home groceries if you live alone or have a small family!)

-have a fun, creative project and make some out of re-claimed materials (old jeans will probably work well!)

I already carry a backpack and decline plastic shopping bags almost all the time, but still I am going to try and reduce this even more. I am also going to try and cut down on the clear-little baggies that you put your produce in.


Any other tips or suggestions? How do you carrying your groceries home? What about when you go shopping, do you bring a bag along?

Day 11: Use a Re-Fillable Pen!

Apparently, according to Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin's True Green @ Work: 100 Ways You Can Make the Environment Your Business, Americans buy and toss (or lose if they are anything like me) 5.1 billion pens a year. Wowza -that's 770 tons of plastic waste every year. Imagine the energy and resources that go into making all that plastic. Imagine how long it will be sitting in the landfill for...

Now, those of you who have ever sat next to me in a lecture know that I take a LOT of notes! So, I am definitely running through dozens of pens annually.

The other day I went to the campus bookstore and bought this nifty pen:

It has four colours, perfect for taking aesthetically pleasing notes, and is refillable! So, when it runs dry, instead of tossing the whole contraption, I just pull out the empty ink cartridge (is that what they are called?) and replace it with a new one. It's not exactly the best solution, as I still have to toss the empty plastic cartridge and roller-tip, but it is better than throwing out the whole pen!


Do you have any other suggestions for how I can reduce my pen-waste?

Day 10: Pack an Eco-Friendly Lunch!

This one is a money saver, and studies show that it might be the way to go health-wise as well (for many reasons, including knowing how your food was prepared, what's in it, how long since it was made, and how long it has been in it's container(which may leach toxins into food over time!))

Unless you can get a reasonably price, and relatively eco-friendly meal at work or school that is not served in single-use containers, this is really the way to go!

So, when you are packing your lunch, pay attention to how you pack everything. Plastic sandwich baggies? Saran-wrap? Brown paper bag? Conveniently pre-packaged items? All of these items will most likely be thrown away by the end of the day -imagine that for every working day of the year? -that's probably about 250 days worth of junk! Just take a moment to picture what that would look like piled-up on your living room floor. Just because it is out of sight in some landfill somewhere, doesn't mean it should be out of mind!

This year I have made the switch to packing my own lunch in re-usable containers. While this originally stemmed from dietary issues, there are tons of great reasons to pack your own lunch and use eco-friendly containers.

First step is to find a re-usable lunch bag: note that I said, FIND not buy! I'm sure you have something kicking around that could be re-purposed! Mine is the little cloth bag that came with my cellphone when I bought it.

After this, for your sandwich you can use tupperware, a sheet of paper towel which doubles as a serviette, or if you are feeling particularly industrious, a re-usable cloth that doubles as a serviette (just toss it into your wash along with your re-usable towel every so often) and is bio-degradable once it's long life as a Sandwich-Holster is over!

Cloth pouches, small ceramic containers or other re-usable containers are great for carrying things like nuts or granola.

For your drink, dig around and surely you have a metal water bottle floating around the house somewhere - or bring a cup to school/work and help yourself to the abundance of tap water!

So my challenge to myself and to you is to pack an eco-friendly lunch, taking into consideration not only the food that you are consuming, but how you are carrying it as well!

On a quick note, I was surprised that I didn't get more feedback on the "Eat Local/Seasonal" post yesterday. I realize that for many this is a fairly heated topic, with arguments going both ways. My friend Gen messaged me with a link to this article which raises some interesting issues about the 100-Mile diet.  There are so many factors that need to be considered when calculating the carbon-footprint of our meal - where is it from? what is it exactly? how was it grown? is it sustainable?

So, really, I think the bottom line is to try and make knowledgeable, informed decisions about where we get our food and other products as well as where they end up, and really consider other aspects outside of our personal finances and cravings. I came across this quote in my engineering (yes!) textbook the other day, drawn from Aboriginal traditions and cultures, which I think sums up what I am trying to say here nicely :

"We cannot simply think of our survival; each new generation is responsible to ensure the survival of the seventh generation. The prophecy given to us, tells us that what we do today will affect the seventh generation and because of this we must bear in mind our responsibility to them today and always."


So, with Yolanda's excellent suggestion that I should pose questions to stimulate discussion in mind:
do you pack a lunch from home? why or why not? if not, do you think you will in the future?

And of course, do you have any tips for me and others?

Happy Monday!

Day 9: Back to Basics - Eat Seasonal and Eat Locally!

Another food post - my favourites!

Here in Canada it is easy to eat food that is bad for us and the environment. We eat junk food imported from all corners of the world and drink rivers of pop that are feeding the obesity epidemic. Something has got to give, and I hope that it is not our planet!

Think about what people would have eaten in your area 100 years ago, and when you go shopping try to hit up a local farmer's market or buy local produce at the supermarket. Try to buy basic ingredients and make your food from scratch -then you'll know exactly what's in it.

David Suzuki calls eating local "an act of rebellion against a food system that's detached from any notion of ecological reality." Local foods travel on average 101 km (which seems like a lot) but in comparison, supermarket food travel 5, 364 km!  This means that imported supermarket foods caused up to one thousand times more greenhouse gas emssions than local foods!

So, lets try to eat local and eat seasonal!

One of my favorite winter-time recipes (and bonus - it's vegan!) is carrot soup! It is super tasty and super easy to make!

What you need:
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 tbs minced fresh ginger
- 6-7 large carrots
- 5 cups vegetable stock (I just use 5 cups of water and add 5 teaspoons of stock powder)
- 1 cup orange juice (ok... not super local, but pretty tasty -apple juice works too and you can probably find it local!)
- salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

Chop up the carrots and throw it all into a big pot.
Let it boil until everything is soft.
Once everything is soft, toss the whole kitten-kaboodle into a blender and blend until smooth.
Eat and enjoy!

Day 8: The Debate of the Century: Paper Towel Vs. Hand-Dryer

Whew, one week down, 51 more to go!

I have wondered for a while whether hand-dryers or paper towels were the greener way to go, so I did a little reading. This article had a pretty objective study, and is worth a read if you are interested! (In the end, after much deliberation and consideration of things like resource depletion, smog and human toxicity the author opts for hand-dryers.)

UBC doesn't seem to have any air-hand dryers, and all the bathrooms have these giant garbage cans overflowing with paper towels that were used for 10 seconds to dry someone's hands and then tossed. These paper towels not only had to be made (either from recycled or raw materials) but also had to be transported to UBC, and then at the end of the day probably hundreds of garbage bags full leave for the dump!

When I was on exchange in Germany, my friend Yuka from Japan, who was really into sustainability, gave me this pretty little re-usable towel that you can just tuck into your bag and use to dry your hands. A small camping towel, face cloth or small kitchen towel would do too. It dries quickly and is easily tucked away! And, after it's life of many years comes to an end, it will easily decompose unlike the plastic/metal hand dryers or paper towel dispensers.

So, my challenge to myself and to you is to cut down on paper towel use by carrying a re-usable towel ( or a use a hand dryer or better yet drip-dry if you forget your towel!).

Day 7: Do Paperless Banking!

So, this one is kind of a no-brainer that I should have done long ago, especially considering how it easy it actually turned out to be: change my bank account statements to paperless.

I moved out of my parent's place back in August 2005, but have been receiving monthly bank statements and credit card bills there every month - I never even open them when I come home to visit since I check all my banking online. That was about 52 unnecessary statements -I'm sure that makes a pretty big heap!

So, I realize that I use a lot more than 52 statements worth (about 100-150 sheets of paper plus 104 envelopes) during my studies, but every little bit counts. And now I don't have a stack of useless statements making me feel guilty sitting at home waiting for me at every visit!

So many of you are probably already on the ball with this one, and have switched to paperless banking long ago, but if you haven't -do it!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Day 6: Bye Bye Bottles! Cut down on bottled beverages! (not just bottled water!)

Okay, so everyone knows they shouldn't drink bottled water. But when you walk into your local grocery store, you can't help but to see bottles of water imported from the Alps and all over the world. Americans drink about 110 liters of bottled water every year and even more bottles of soda pop! Italians drink about 200 liters of bottled water a year!

I don't buy bottles of just normal or imported water, but some of you may be familiar with my "Ribena and Soda Water" obsession. I have also been known to indulge in the occasional bottle of mineral water or Minute Maid juice.

The bottled-water issue really got me thinking that drinking soda water or any other bottled liquid beverage is just as bad as drinking normal old bottle water. Carrying the heavy bottles home from the supermarket made me realize that these heavy bottles  had to be trucked from some factory far away to my local Safeway! The luxury of having bubbly water for my Ribena just doesn't justify the carbon cost!

Not only do I have to consider the fossil fuels used in the transportation of the water, but also the production and recycling of the plastic bottles. According to David Suzuki's Green Guide, most plastic beverage bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate, a petroleum-based plastic that is requires a lot of water and energy to make, and also releases harmful by-products in the manufacturing process.

Apparently, according to the Pacific Institute, making plastic bottles uses 17 million barrels of oil and produces 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually in the US alone. While plastic bottles are recyclable, many of them end up in landfills, and, recycling actually isn't nearly as sustainable as we think it is (I'll go into this is a future post).

Furthermore, soda water and most pops/sodas contains potassium citrate, a food additive used to regulate acidity. It has a caustic effect on the stomach lining and has a potential for other health hazards (although mild). But really, do I want to be ingesting this?

UBC seems to be thinking one step ahead, and have free water fountains where students can fill-up their reusable bottles. I think I may have to investigate these fountains to see if it is just filtered local water (a great, sustainable choice) or a (not-so-good) big bottle of transported water.

So, my challenge to myself and to you is to not only eliminate your bottled water consumption, but also significantly reduced the amount of other bottled beverages that you consume!


*Note* Bottled water does have it's place in emergencies and humanitarian crises, but here in Canada water from the tap is well monitored and just as safe as bottled water!

Day 5: Tackle Phantom Power!

According to David Suzuki's Green Guide, "up to 75% of the electricity used by home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off" (30). This includes things like cell phone chargers that aren't even doing anything!

The energy that appliances, electronics, chargers etc consume when they are not in use is called "Phantom Power" or "Phantom Consumption" and is simply just wasted energy! On a positive note, it is really easy to reduce your contribution to Phantom Consumption!

I first encountered the idea of Phantom Energy consumption during Don training at Queen's University in 2008. Some representatives for the Residence Energy Challenge (REC) addressed it, among several other ideas, as a way for students to reduce their energy consumption.

So, simply unplug your electronics when they are not in use!


However, I have heard it can be hassle to constantly unplug and plug-in your appliances! Well, you're in luck because an easy solution exists! 

Plug all of your electronics into a power bar, and turn it off when those electronics are not in use. The hardest thing is remembering to actually turn the power bar off! I have a note tacked near my bed and  bed room door to remind myself to switch them off when I leave my room/apartment and when I go to bed. Yes, it's just that easy - so go and do it now!

Here are pictures of my "home upgrades!"

Day 4: Precycle (Think before you buy!)

According to wikipedia, " recycling is  is processing used materials (waste) into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling) by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse gas emissions as compared to virgin production. Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction and is the third component of the "Reduce,Reuse, Recycle" waste hierarchy. "


But what if we had less stuff to recycle in the first place? This is the concept of Precycling!

Precycling is the practice of reducing waste by simply just not buying it! Or, in other words "attempting to avoid bringing into the home or business items which will generate waste." (thanks again wikipedia!)


I think a large part of this is considering packaging. Products often come in excessive packaging that is not recyclable. One of my favorite types of tea, Tetley Clarity, is an example. Twenty tea bags come in a little cardboard-and-foil container with a plastic lid, much like Pringles containers. While this package may keep the tea-bags fresh and Tetley even has a section on their website for repurposing the container (making them into pen/pencil holders), there comes a time when a person has enough pen/pencil holders. This container, due to it's mixed fiber nature is not recyclable. Also, only 20 tea-bags? Hardly even a week's supply!

So, until Tetley can come up with better packaging - no more clarity for me!

So, on a side note, I have started drinking more looseleaf bulk tea which I store in these containers. Though I haven't read anything about it, I assume that this may be a more-environmentally friendly way to enjoy a cup of tea  due to minimized packaging and processing. Any opinions?

Of course the idea of pre-cycling can be extended further than just packaging. I think it should also be interpreted as really considering what you are buying (do I really need this?) and buying things of quality that are locally made in a sustainable way. 

There are a lot of perks to consuming with this idea in mind:


 First of all, for us Canadians, it is more likely that the product is ethically sourced if it was produced locally (but it doesn't hurt to look into it!). Canada has tougher legislation on labor laws and environmental protection than many developing nations.


Secondly, by buying local products you eliminate/reduce the emissions from transport.


Thirdly, if you purchase a quality item, rather than just some plastic-piece-of-junk item, you are diverting potential waste created from the inferior-quality product.

And, among many other benefits, your product has resale value since it is a quality item! (who knows, maybe you have a future family heirloom on your hands that even your grandchildren will use!)


So, my challenge to myself and to you: think before you buy! Do I really need this? How is the product packaged? What other more sustainable options are available?

Day 3: Re-use, Reclaim, Re-purpose...and Thereby Reduce Your Waste!

So everyone knows that recycling is a good way to reduce your waste.

But what about things like old sweaters and ripped jeans? They don't really go into either the green bin, blue or grey box.

I'm a pack rat, any of you who have ever been to my house know that I just save everything! When I went home to visit my parents over the holidays, I found 5 wool-type sweaters that I wore to death in high school and no less than 4 pairs of jeans that had seen better days. While I could have easily cut them up into rags or tossed them, my mom and I brained-stormed and came up with some fun projects! (if you really can't think of anything, donate appropriate items to Value Village or The Salvation Army - one man's trash is another's treasure!).

Using one pair of jeans and some random scraps left from various sewing projects over the years, I made these functional oven mitts for my house-mate  - it only took a few hours and I was able to produce something that remotely resembled oven-mitts and would fulfill their purpose of taking hot things out of the oven!

I added fun little patches to the mitts to distract the eye from my terrible sewing skills!

The rest of the jeans will become a patchwork quilt.

With the 5 wool-type sweaters, my mom and I mix and matched parts of them to make 3 functional, funky sweaters that fit me and look good!

So the photo quality is not so great, but enough to give you the idea! We took two sweaters, a blue and a red one, both of which were too small. The blue one was also pretty worn out. So with a bit of cutting and zig-zagging we made a few nice new sweaters - the one above is my favorite! (note the fun elbow patches!)

I feel like these projects exemplify several good ideas that I can incorporate into my lifestyle (which I will probably elaborate on in future posts since I have 362 days left to go!). Reusing and re-purposing goods to divert them from landfills, making gifts instead of buying them and seriously contemplating what I actually need, not just what I want!

I'm sure there are many similar great project ideas using re-purposed materials, so my challenge to you and myself is: before you chuck something away, try and imagine a new and useful future for it! You'll be amazed at the ideas you might come up with!

Day 2: Eat Lower on the Food Chain

This is an important one!

Now, there are many reasons why this is a good idea. Eating low on the food chain significantly lowers the carbon cost of your meal, because, as we all remember from grade 10 science class, energy is lost in each conversion. Let take beef for instance, the average cow needs to eat about 2% of it's body weight daily in forage (grass, hay etc.), which according to North Dakota State University   adds up to be between 84 and 104 tons of dry feed every year - that's 200 000 pounds of feed for a 1300 pound cow! According to the Worldwatch Institue, 15 to 20% of the global methane gas production comes from livestock!

Now, don't get me wrong - I don't expect you all to turn veggie or vegan overnight. But try to be concious about what you are eating and perhaps challenge yourself to have one day a week where you don't consume any animal products (cheese has a the same high carbon cost as meat :( ) or perhaps limit yourself to certain number of portions a week based on your current consumption.

This website, eco salon, has more reasons for eating lower on the food chain - including reducing your  exposure to antibiotics and steroids in meat, and also gives a neat "5-Day Eat Low on the Foodchain Meal Challenge" to give you some idea of meal options.

For me personally, many of you already know that I'm a vegetarian. However, in order to supplement protein in my diet, I eat a lot of dairy products (mmmm cheese!) But, since dairy products come from these high-up-on the food chain consumers, they actually have the same carbon cost as meat. So, I am going to try and reduce the amount of dairy that I eat and focus on more basic foods while trying to maintain a healthy diet.

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Day 1: Yesterday's Post! Calculate Your Footprint and Pledge to Reduce It!

So I actually intended on posting this yesterday, but got caught up with coming back to Vancouver and catching up with friends and trying to clean up my disastrous room!

Anyways!

The objective of this blog, and my New Year's resolution of sorts, is to try and incorporate a new environmentally friendly habit into my daily routine everyday for the next year. If you disagree with something that I post and see it as not environmentally friendly, or see the complexity of the issue - please feel free to tell me! If there is one thing I have learned, is that this is a very complex topic and at times it is difficult to decide what actually is useful for reducing ones carbon foot print.

Now, Kermit the frog always lamented that "it's not easy being green" - well, I hope to prove otherwise with a daily simple tip that you can incorporate into your life as well to be a little nicer to the only planet that we have.

My first task, and my challenge to you, is to calculate your carbon footprint (be honest here) and pledge to reduce it by, let's say at least a hectare by next year.

There is this really nifty site, http://myfootprint.org/ , that makes it really easy to calculate your carbon footprint - it even tells you have many Earth's we would need if everybody lived your lifestyle.

Now, as you may know I already do some things to try and reduce my footprint, so I thought I would be living a fairly environmentally-friendly lifestyle- wrong!

It would actually take 2.23 Earths to support life if everyone live my lifestyle, and my total carbon footprint is a whopping 35.05 hectares! Let's see if I can change that in 2011!

Happy New Year Everyone!