Eco Mama

Start using a web-based calendar (Change 136)

2012-02-01T19:22:00.000-05:00

In an effort to reduce my paper consumption, I've started to use a web-based calendar for our household scheduling. It's great for several reasons. 1) It reduces my paper consumption (no more paper calendars). 2) I can access it from anywhere, using either my smart phone, a computer or a tablet. 3) No more phone calls from DH wondering what's going on at night, and confirming what time he needs to be home. He can check for himself from work. 4) I can colour-code events, so I can quickly see who has what when.

I'm still using my paper calendar for 2012, but am gradually transitioning it out. I find that as I add things to the web calendar, I keep forgetting to add to the paper one. I'm no longer 100% certain the paper one is accurate, and am always cross-referencing with the web-based one. As I more forward into 2013 and beyond, and become more comfortable with using the web calendar, I think I'll be able to wave goodbye to paper scheduling.

Eco-Friendly Disney - Part 3

2012-01-28T20:42:00.000-05:00

I've talked a lot about the negative things, environmentally-speaking, about our trip to Disney. The lack of recycling. The lack of availability of recycled products for purchase. The need to purchase consumable items (napkins, condiments, cereal) that end up in the waste stream when half-used.

But there were a lot of things that were really great, environmentally, about our trip. You can read the details in Disney's 2010 Corporate Citizenship Report (http://corporate.disney.go.com/citizenship2010/environment/overview/ourapproach/). It provides a fascinating look at a large corporation and its efforts to reduce its negative impact on the environment and increase its positive impact on the community.

One of the things that struck me most was the use of real cutlery, glasses and plates in almost all of the eating areas we visited. I'm used to seeing my food served disposable plates and cutlery - I was pleasantly surprised to have my food served on plates with stainless steel forks and knives.

Another interesting point was the number of recycling and garbage bins. The park was spotless. Staff were constantly picking up garbage left behind, and placing it in the appropriate receptacle. Garbage cans and recycling bins were constantly emptied, so visitors to the park never had the excuse of "the bin was too full".

Greenhouses on Disney property are using innovate techniques to grow food - vertical agriculture, aquaponics, and xeriscaping are a few examples. Disney also grows a lot of the food served at resort hotels.

Public transportation is the only choice for getting around the resort. You can take the monorail, the steam train or the ferry, to and from various locations in the park. Of course, you can also walk.

But what impressed me the most is Disney's commitment to nature conservation and consumer education. I'll expand on this in another post.

Change lightbulbs to CFLs (Change 135)

2012-01-19T21:32:00.000-05:00

According to the ENERGY STAR (a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy) "If every American home replaced just one light bulb with a light bulb that's earned the ENERGY STAR, we would save enough energy to light 3 million homes for a year, save about $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, equivalent to those from about 800,000 cars." http://www.energystar.gov

I admit, that is a lot of energy to be saved. The savings comes from replacing one incandescent bulb with one CFL bulb (compact fluorescent light bulb). It works about to be about 75% less energy than a regular incandescent bulb.

I had questions, though, about the other environmental implications of CFLs. My main concern was the mercury content in the bulbs. As long as you don't break a light bulb, you should be OK. Break it though, and you'd better hope to have a window available to open ASAP. You do NOT want to breathe that stuff in! It also means that CFLs are considered hazardous waste, and cannot be disposed of in your regular garbage, but taken to a special waste depot for disposal. How many people actually clean up broken bulbs properly and dispose of used bulbs properly? The potential long-term health concerns worry me a little.

Great debate rages, and no one has a real answer. Your opinion on CFLs mainly depends on which side of the fence you sit on - more concern for the environment or more concern for the perceived impacts on your health and/or wallet. Natural Resources Canada has a great FAQ on CFLs, for those needing help deciding where to sit (http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/business/manufacturers/11423)

I've done my research, and I sit on the side of the environment. To me, the potential benefits far outweigh the small risk incurred. The Government of Canada feels the same (http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/regulations/17725). By 2014, most lights will use CFL bulbs.

We've decided to start earlier. Every time we need to replace a bulb, we will be replacing it with a CFL, rather than an incandescent one. This will be easier on our pocketbook, and won't result in the premature tossing of perfectly good light bulbs into the garbage.

It will also make our environment a little brighter, and the air a little easier to breathe.

I'm short-listed!

2012-01-15T22:22:00.002-05:00

Wow! Thanks to Eco-Yogini (who is also short listed!), who brought to my attention that I have been short-listed for the 2011 CWA's Best Weblog About Ecology & Social Justice. You can take a look at the link here:

http://www.ninjamatics.com/canadian-weblog-awards/month/january-2012

To whomever nominated me - thank you!

To my fellow nominees, I congratulate you all, and I am honoured to share this with you. Good luck to everyone!

Eco-Friendly Disney - Part 2

2012-01-12T20:54:00.003-05:00

Renting a home while we were in Orlando was the most logical thing to do, from a convenience, monetary and personal standpoint. To try and get hotel rooms for 9 people, plus meals, plus transportation (even if those were included in a package) was far more expensive than the house option. As well, with DD1's food allergy and my current food challenges, it also made eating more enjoyable for everyone.

The drawback of renting a house is that it doesn't come with a lot of the of built-in environmentally-friendly things we're used to at home in Canada. For instance - recycling. Yes, Orlando does recycle. You can find garbage/recycling bins at all major malls, fast food restaurants, etc.

However, we were renting in a gated community. The gated community does not provide recycling services to its residents. If we wanted to recycle, we had to package up our goods, and search the city for someone who already had their bins out for pick-up. We were on vacation, so traipsing around the city to look for someone's garbage day was not going to happen. We did not recycle for the ENTIRE week.

It was so weird. I felt horribly guilty about throwing out perfectly good and recyclable glass bottles, plastic bottles, paper, cardboard and cans. At the end of the week, we had two large garbage bins FULL to the brim with garbage, of which, at least half was recyclables.

Then there was the type of garbage we threw out. I'll detail that in my next post.

Eco-Friendly Disney Style - Part 1

2012-01-06T23:15:00.000-05:00

Well, the trip is long over, but the memories are still good ones. We spent a week at Disney World in Florida, with my parents, my brother and his fiancee. It was certainly a lesson in togetherness, understanding, and patience. It was also a lesson in how well-entrenched my family really is in the whole "eco-thing".

The realization starts almost as soon as we start planning our trip. There was paper. Lots and lots of paper. Brochures, calendars, emails, tickets. It is unbelievable in this age of technology, how much paper a trip actually uses in its planning stages.

Sure, we communicated back and forth by email. Yes, we had electronic tickets. But, DD1 and DD2 both needed their passports renewed before our trip. Check off TWO three page print outs that were mailed, plus photocopies of relevant documents (in case they got lost in the mail), and you have quite a bit of paper. Not to mention an envelope, courier bag and paper receipt.

Then there were the trip planners my mom created for the kids. Their very own calendars to write down what they wanted to do. Of course, they couldn't share the computer. So, I printed three copies of everything for them to look at.

Print off our ticket reservations, address of our rental house, and copies of a map to get to it, and you have more paper. Not very eco-friendly. Lots of dead trees, and not much to show for it. Even the kids were commenting on the amount of printer paper we were going through. Sure we had a Garmin and our Blackberry devices. But being uncertain about how all this technology would translate south of the border, I erred on the side of caution and obtain hard copies.

At least, I thought, I'll be able to recycle all of the paper in Florida. How wrong I was......

Check out my new entry - Change 134

2011-11-30T11:08:00.001-05:00

I guess since I started this before I left for Disney, Blogger assumes I want it published under the original writing date, instead of today's date. Ah, the joys of technology! ;)

Update

2011-11-20T19:58:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone! I promise I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth....just a very busy mom, wife, volunteer, daughter, social planner, chauffeur, administrator and vacation planner.

We just got back from a week at Disney - there is an eco-adventure in itself. No, I did not carbon offset our travel, although I did try to follow many of my eco-friendly habits while away.

After taking a month away from the blog (albeit unintentionally), I am refreshed and ready to tackle the next challenges. I am also planning to change the format of the blog a bit. There will be more posts with commentary or observations about environmental change (mine and others), as well as assorted tidbits of info. Don't worry - I'll also talk about all the changes we continue to make as a family.

Until next time.....

Turn off car in drive-thru (Change 134)

2011-11-08T12:40:00.001-05:00

As mentioned in previous posts, I don't use the drive-thru option very often. Usually, I have the kids in tow, making a quick zip through the bank or coffee shop much easier than lugging them in and out of the van. Like everyone else, I sit there, car running, inching forward little by little, until it's my turn at the window.

About a month ago, I drove to the car wash. It was beautiful out - I'd just cleaned and vacuumed the inside of the van. It was sparkling inside, and I wanted it sparkling outside. And, while the weather was nice, it was not warm enough that I wanted to wash it myself! So off to the car wash I went. There were three other vehicles in front of me waiting, all with engines running.

I had a light bulb go off in my head. I wouldn't run the van while running into the store for a minute. Why was I idling when I was in the car wash line?

Looking around, and feeling a little silly, I shut the van off. The guy in the car behind me shot me a look, like he thought I was weird. As the car in the wash left and the new one entered, I turned my van back on, inched forward and shut it off again. This processed continued until it was my turn in the car wash.

Looking back on it, I save myself about 20 minutes of idling. That's a lot of gas and carbon emissions. I wasn't cold sitting in the van, although I'm not sure I'd want to do this when it is -20C out.

I've even applied the "no idling" rule to the bank machine drive-thru and any place where I have to wait to pick someone up or drop someone off.

Another small change to help our environment.

No more make-up (Change 133)

2011-10-21T11:41:00.000-04:00

I had the best intentions of switching all of my cosmetic products to eco-friendly solutions. Really, I did. A few, I've managed to change. But the rest are sitting in my bathroom drawer, waiting for me to use them up, so I can make the switch.

It struck me this week, that even if I keep up this challenge for the next 5 years, I will never be able to completely make the switch. The reason? I don't wear makeup. As a stay-at-home mom, I can't be bothered putting on my "war paint" just to hang out around the house. I don't wear it when I go out to the grocery store or the drug store, either. Lately, I've been putting it on to go to work, but a couple of times I forgot, and the world didn't come to an end. I've also realized that I've gone out socially a few times, and haven't been wearing make-up then, either. No one has said anything.

That got me thinking about why women wear make-up. It is really to enhance their beauty, because they want to look beautiful, or is it because societal expectations are such that women are expected to wear make-up from the minute they wake up, until they go to bed at night? Deep questions to ponder, and a discussion that is really to big to take in single blog post. However, for those who are interested in persuing this discussion, I would be happy to take it off-line. I also recommend reading Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth. A real eye-opener into a billion dollar industry.

So back to me and my thoughts on make-up. 95% of the time I don't wear it, don't feel like I need to wear it, and everyone who is important to me comments that I don't need to wear it - my beauty is natural. I think I'll save it for really special occaisions - when I want to up and look extra pretty - family photo sessions, my brother's wedding, special outings with DH. The rest of the time, I'm going with the conscious decision to go au naturel.

Recycle those K-cups (Change 132)

2011-10-11T20:58:00.001-04:00

OK, I have a very un-eco friendly confession to make. I now own a Keurig coffee machine. For those who aren't familiar with it, it is similar to a Tassimo machine. Each cup of coffee is brewed individually. There are lots of choices of flavours and strengths.

The drawback is that this machine creates a lot of waste, and uses a lot of energy and resources to produce its little plastic coffee filters. Instead of one coffee filter (made of renewable bamboo, unbleached and fully compostable) and organic, shade-grown RFA certified coffee, I now am using a little plastic cup, lined with a filter of dubious origin, filled with enough coffee (also of dubious origin) to make a single cup of coffee.

The great thing about the Keurig is that I am no longer wasting coffee by either a) making too much and pouring it down the drain because I can't drink it all or b) not getting around to my second cup of coffee for hours so the original pot ends up being bitter, and therefore making a fresh pot that ends up down the drain because I can't drink it all.

My Keurig machine came with its own reusable filter, so I can use my own coffee brand from before (which I will once the prepackaged kind that came with the machine are gone). As well, some of the packages that came with the machine contain up to 30% RFA-certified coffee.

So until I start using my own coffee and the reusable filter, I've decided to recycle the K-Cups. The means tearing off the foil lid, emptying the coffee grounds into the composter, pulling out the filter and putting it in the composter, and then recycling the lid and empty plastic cup. Lots of extra effort, but worth it to me.

Join Paws for the Planet (Change 131)

2011-09-27T10:35:00.002-04:00

I've signed up to join Paws for the Planet (http://pawsfortheplanet.ca). This joint venture between Purina and Evergreen, plants one plant for every sign-up. Here is the text of the email I received. I hope you'll sign up too.

With your help, Purina will contribute up to $75,000 to protect green spaces.

Dear XXXXXX,

Would you and your pet like to make a commitment to help protect green spaces?

Purina® has re-united with Evergreen on the "Paws For The Planet" program in a continued effort to enhance and restore green spaces across Canada. With your help, Purina® will fund a $50,000 sponsorship to Evergeen to help protect green spaces.

To help make Canada greener and be a more eco-friendly pet owner, make a pledge to Paws For The Planet by clicking here. For every sign up, Purina® will make a donation to Evergreen to plant a Tree, Shrub or Wildflower across Canada. (Every sign-up counts and will help us donate an additional $25,000 to Evergreen.) Now that's green!

Visit PawsForThePlanet.ca for eco-friendly pet tips and more information about this program.

Recycle my running shoes (Change 130)

2011-09-18T11:36:00.000-04:00

Spring and Fall cleaning doesn't happen very often around my house. Truthfully, I have a hard enough time keeping up with the regular daily cleaning, let alone the thorough cleaning that should probably be done at least once a year.

However, every spring an fall, I faithfully pull out my kids clothes, have them try on those that I think will fit for the coming season, and give-away those that won't. I've always had a problem with shoes, though.

Shoes that are in decent shape, I've passed on. Those that are worse for wear, I throw out. But I've always felt guilty about it. Adding to the landfill, just because my kids have worn through a perfectly good pair of shoes just doesn't feel right. Now I can finally do something about it.

Enter Nike's Re-use A Shoe Program. (http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/get-involved). They take running shoes that are past their prime, grind them down and create athletic surfaces for organizations around the world. Check out this link here in Ottawa! http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2011/04/26/ottawa-university-football-field345.html

The only problem with this program is that there isn't a drop off location in Eastern Canada. I have to go to the US, or ship the shoes to Tennessee. Those of you living in Vancouver have a drop off location - lucky you!

My parents are making a trip to New England next month, so I'm going to ask them to take my bag of old shoes with them, and drop them off at a retail location.

It's inconvenient at best, but I like this idea better than sending my shoes to the landfill. If enough of us Canucks write to Nike/Converse, maybe they will think about putting a location in the Eastern Canada area. For now, I'm packing shoes and keeping my fingers crossed that my parents will help out.

Use eco-friendly and body-friendly hair conditioner (Change 129)

2011-09-12T09:45:00.002-04:00

To go along with the eco-friendly shampoo, I'm now using eco-friendly conditioner. I found that the eco-friendly shampoo I am using is drying my hair out. (I guess all the yucky chemical additives of my other shampoo was what made my hair nice, soft and shiny. The commercials really are true!)

I'm using the conditioner every other wash, and it seems to be alleviating the dryness. I never used to have to use it, so I don't like purchasing another bottle, creating more waste, and using more precious resources so my hair looks nice. On the other hand, I am a bit vain, and don't enjoy looking like I could double for a scarecrow on a bad hair day! :)

When my current bottle of shampoo is finished, I'm going to try another brand to see if I still have the dryness problems. Any favourites among my readers that you could recommend?

Thank you!

2011-09-04T14:18:00.001-04:00

A big thank you to all my readers, both silent and active. I couldn't have continued this without your support! I will still continue to blog about my family's eco-changes. Stayed tuned for another year of green challenges! :)

On that note, I have a favour to ask my readers. I am looking for suggestions of eco-friendly things to try, that are a) something you have tried yourself, but haven't seen me blog about yet and b) are not on Vanessa's list. Thank you in advance for all of your ideas - I can't wait to try them out!

A very successful year!

2011-08-31T08:37:00.001-04:00

It's hard to believe that over a year has passed since I started this challenge. I've learned so much from you, my readers - thank you so much for your support, encouragement and comments! Although I didn't manage to make 366 changes in one year (my original goal), I am very proud that I added an additional 128 changes to my family's repertoire. Some of them didn't work out, but most of them have been lasting changes.

Because of the number of changes to date, I'm only going to highlight the ones that didn't stick. Everything else has been added, relatively smoothly, and has now become habit about 90% of the time.

Here's what I couldn't keep doing:

2. Environmentally-friendly ant killer
8. Buy environmentally and body friendly face moisturizer
13. No more disposable coffee cups
15. Eliminate baths for kids; have showers instead
17. Use GoodSearch for Internet
21. No more plastic takeout containers
25. Only buy ethically farmed/fished seafood
27. Carbon off-set all vacation travel
30. Make my own hand soap
35. Use vinegar/water to clean eyeglasses
53. Ban Styrofoam
62. Only use dishwasher at night
63. Turn off "heat dry" feature on dishwasher
67. Get rid of mould in shower with hydrogen peroxide
81. Place compost bags in all rooms
120. Return plastic pots to nursery
123. Bring my own containers to bulk store

Not bad, eh? (Eco Mama pats herself on the back). I'll keep striving to implement changes that work for my family, and continue to improve current habits to try to get 100% compliancy.

Eliminate plastic wrap (Change 128)

2011-08-23T08:58:00.001-04:00

This is a change that shouldn't be too hard to make. Like Ziploc bags, I hardly ever use plastic wrap in the kitchen. Occasionally, I use it to wrap the end of a block of cheese, or cover a bowl to put in the fridge. Any paint brushes are wrapped in plastic wrap if we are in the middle of a painting job.

I am almost at the end of the current roll sitting in my kitchen drawer. I've decided that once it is finished, I will not be replacing it. I will get into the habit of placing everything int he fridge in a resealable container. I will cover dishes with re-usable covers or aluminum foil (yes, I know, not very eco-friendly, but it can be recycled if necessary).

The biggest challenge will be finding something to cover my little fruit fly trap - a bowl of apple cider vinegar covered with plastic wrap, with holes punched in the top. Any ideas for a replacement cover?

Use a microfibre mop (Change 127)

2011-08-15T22:21:00.001-04:00

I picked up a book from the library this week about eco-changes around the home. It was an interesting read - put out by the makers of Method brand cleaning products. It had some neat tips, but most of the tips were either not do-able (i.e. get rid of wall-to-wall carpet) or things I was already doing (i.e. get rid of poisonous cleaning chemicals).

One of the tips caught my eye. The writers suggested using a microfibre cloth mop, instead of the traditional dunk mop. Their reasoning is that the microfibre traps dirt, and therefore prevents it from spreading around like the regular rag-style mops.

It just so happens that I have a microfibre mop sitting in my cleaning closet that I never use. I won it at the cleaning party I had last summer. I've hardly ever used it. i dont' know why - I guess I'm in the habit of using the dunk mop. I've decided to switch to the microfibre mop. Combine this with the vinegar and water I use to clean with, and I'm anxious to see if my floors are any cleaner than before.

How is this more eco-friendly? Truthfully, I'm not sure, but hey, the makers of Method can't be wrong, can they?

Cutting down on canned bevereges (Change 126)

2011-08-11T09:49:00.000-04:00

This is an easy change for me - I rarely drink canned bevvies, so giving them up should be a snap for me. It's DH and the kids that I'm a little worried about.

The kids don't drink soda pop as a rule, but I do keep ginger ale and Coke on hand for upset tummies or special treats. I also have club soda which I mix with juice to make our own "pop". DH likes his G&Ts, so I don't think I will get him to give up tonic water.

Due to DD1's ongoing medical issues, we are eliminating artificial colours, etc. from our diets. So I have decided that once this current pack of soda is gone, I won't be buying any more. I will relegate club soda "pop" to a treat served at my parents' house.

I found an interesting fact on aluminum recycling (http://www.quinterecycling.org/recyclingfacts.htm). Although we recycle our pop cans, the initial environmental cost of producing the cans is quite high. Not purchasing them in the first place is a good idea.

Another good idea to reduce our carbon footprint.

Buy more recycled school supplies (Change 125)

2011-07-26T12:26:00.000-04:00

Last year, around this time, I moaned about the fact that to purchase recycled/recyclable school supplies would cost a fortune. I opted for only recycled paper that year.

This year, I am vowing to do better. In addition to recycled paper, I plan on purchasing recycled duo-tangs, pencils and binder dividers. I will be re-using lots of supplies from last year - calculator, ruler, pencil case, scissors, pencil sharpener, backpacks.

I am going to ease the strain of purchasing these more expensive products by starting my shopping earlier, and watching for sales. I figure, since I have to buy three sets of things now, I need to really start checking the impact my purchases make.

I will have to buy new lunch bags for the kids, but I'm hoping to find recycled or environmentally-friendly options. Any suggestions for sources for these?

Eliminate cards for big people (Change 124)

2011-07-12T12:20:00.000-04:00

It's hard to imagine how much mail one can accumulate until one goes away on holidays. After a week at a cottage, we came back to a good sized stack of mail. Contained inside was a thank you note for DD2, a wedding invitation, and two anniversary cards for DH and I. Each card had its own envelope, with a stamp and return label.

With the exception of the wedding invitation, everything ended up in the recycle bin shortly after it was read.

Earlier this week, I mailed a birthday card to a nephew and sister-in-law. Again, each card had its own envelope, stamp and return label. Later this month, I had planned to send two anniversary cards, two more kid birthday cards, and three adult birthday cards.

Guess where everything will end up, shortly after it is read? Yup, in the recycle bin.

That is a lot of paper waste for a few brief moments of "Thinking of You" goodness.

The Gift, Novelty and Souvenir Industry was worth $1.8 billion in 2009. (http://www.ic.gc.ca/cis-sic/cis-sic.nsf/IDE/cis-sic45322rdpe.html) That is a lot of greeting cards, tourist gifts and novelty items. Many of these items end up in the garbage/recycle bin in my house. What about yours?

Many of the people I send cards to are adults that I see often in our lives. I am in regular communication with them by telephone or email, and many have expressed an interest in my blog, and my environmental process. So, grown-ups in my life, you will no longer be receiving paper birthday or anniversary cards from me.

I will still send thank you notes to those people that I can't thank in person. I will still send birthday cards to the children in my life. Kids love getting mail, and it certainly makes my children's day when I tell them something came in the mail for them.

But everyone else, you won't be hearing from me anytime soon.

Start shopping at bulk store / bring my own containers (Changes 122 & 123)

2011-06-27T21:24:00.003-04:00

I recently discovered Bulk Barn.

I've used it sparingly in the past, for incidentals such as foil-wrapped cake plates, or for renting special cake pans. But I've never used it for anything else. Until DS's birthday party.

He chose a Lego themed party, complete with cake and goody bags. Someone told me I could get little candies shaped like Lego blocks, so off to Bulk Barn I went. I couldn't believe the number of things available for bulk purchase. The number of items I could use was amazing, all in bulk, all at discount prices, and all without the excess packaging. Flour, candy, pasta, baking supplies, honey, nut butters, tea, the list goes on.

I found the block candies, but didn't think to bring a small reusable produce bag or small glass/plastic container to put them in, so ended up using the plastic bags available there. I bought several other items as well, all dutifully put in plastic bags. I couldn't believe the waste, using these little bags.

I'm going to add BB to my list of stores to shop at. I just need to remember to bring my own containers.

What I won't be doing.....

2011-06-18T08:50:00.001-04:00

I'll be glad when the madness of end of year activities is over and the lazy days of summer begin. The end of June is a whirlwind of year end school parties, birthday parties, sports tournaments, dentist/doctor appointments and other assorted things that life throws one's way.

Barely having time to breathe, I haven't really thought about my next eco-change. But I have given a lot of thought about what I won't be changing.

I reviewed Vanessa's list this week, and realized that several of her items just aren't going to happen in my suburban family of 5. So to give my readers a chance to realize what I'm not capable of, I hope I'll be forgiven for the lack of major change in some areas.

1. Cancelling my cable - I rely on my electronic babysitter too much to give it up. "Please kids, mommy needs just 5 minutes to {insert item here}. Why don't you turn on the TV for a few minutes while I finish up here?"

2. Not driving my car on weekends - living in the suburbs, we don't have access to ready transit. Most things in our small community require some form of driving. Many of the kids' activities happen on the weekend, as well as DH needing to go to the hardware store or Canadian Tire for his latest household project. I just can't see how we can avoid driving on at least one day of the weekend.

3. Turning off my freezer - feeding a family of 5 healthy food while being cost-effective requires a lot of storage. This includes a freezer for bulk meat, bread, jam, and veggies. Turning it off? Not going to happen!

4. Turning my oven off for good - I use my oven for everything from dinner to baking to preserving foods. I don't think I'd be able to survive with out it.

5. Not using the air conditioning in my car - during the humid, sultry days of summer, I need to be cool. If I'm hot, I'm grumpy. And you know the old saying "When mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy".

6. Only using spices/herbs I grow at home - we cook a variety of cuisine at our house. If I only use herbs I grew at home, we'd eat a pretty bland diet. In order to try to encourage my kids to expand their culinary horizons, I can't, in good conscience, restrict my spice use just yet.

7. Unplugging my fridge - see my comments about the freezer

8. Selling the car - NOT!

9. Only staying at eco-friendly hotels - if they are inexpensive yes, but would they really cater to three kids and a dog?

10. Eat food straight from pot/pan - given that I'm trying to teach the little monkeys some manners, I don't think making this change would be useful.

11. Using hand-held fans instead of electric ones - only if the fan comes with some nubile young Greek god.....

12. Not wearing a gown at doctor's office - it would not be fair to subject my doctor to visions that might given him nightmares for weeks....

13. Reusing a fake Christmas tree from last year, not buying ornaments - we use a real tree, and part of our family tradition is buying a new ornament every year. Maybe I could switch to enviro-friendly ornaments.

14. Packing carry-on rather than check-in luggage - again, when travelling with 3 kids, not going to happen. Travelling by myself? That's not going to happen either!

15. Sleeping more - I wish....

16. Sleeping naked - not until the little ones are grown and out of the house. I can just picture the school yard or play date conversations... "Guess what mommy? So-and-so's mommy doesn't sleep with any clothes on." How do you explain that to 4 and 6 year olds in a way that doesn't make you sound like a creep?

So, readers, forgive me my sins. I'll try my best to make up for them in other ways.

Start to be more politically involved (Change 121)

2011-06-09T22:09:00.000-04:00

This change really takes me out of my comfort zone. I am the type of person that prefers to keep her politics private. I don't really like trying to change people's minds - I prefer to let them come to their own conclusions without my thrusting my opinions on them. If they ask for my advice, of course, I'll respond, but I would never venture to tell someone outright that I disagree with them.

But to really ensure environmental change, government has to become involved. Canada's current environmental platform leaves something to be desired. I am going to do something about it.

Among other organizations, the David Suzuki Foundation occasionally sends out form letters that you can email to prominent government officials (the Prime Minister, the Environment Minister and the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, for example). These letters always encourage the powers that be to take the environment into consideration when forming national policy.

I received one such letter this week, encouraging us to write to Environment Minister Peter Kent to ask for clean air and healthy oceans (http://action.davidsuzuki.org/oceans). When I originally received this notice, the goal was for 2500 letters to be sent. If you look at the link now, the new goal is 8000!

I usually delete these emails when I receive them - I am not comfortable sending these kind of letters to government. But this week, I filled the letter out and emailed it. What changed my mind? The knowledge that although my 366 changes are great, they are still on an individual level. We need national and global level action to help correct the environmental damage being done to our planet. I realize that I still have a long way to go - there are many "big" issues that I have not yet tackled on an individual level (such as owning two cars, buying green energy, eliminating plastic completely from our house). But I think that there are changes that need to be made that I can't do on my own.

It felt weird sending the letter, but in a good way. I am finally trying to influence government politics, instead of just complaining about how those in government can't get it right.

Return plastic pots to nursery (Change 120)

2011-06-01T22:02:00.000-04:00

Ahhh.....Spring.  A time whenever everything turns green after a long cold, winter. A time when flowers start to poke their little heads above the ground. A time when the local nurseries go crazy.

The May long weekend signals planting time in Ottawa. Our official last frost date is around May 19, so the long weekend traditionally sees hordes of people descend on garden centres and nurseries to purchase plants, veggies, trees and shrubs.

Our family was no exception. Although we didn't actually go out on the long weekend, DH and the kids did make a short shopping trip while I was in Halifax. They purchased tomatoes, shallots, beans, peppers, onion sets, potatoes and a few herbs. I haven't had a chance to plant them yet, with the 30+ weather we've been having this week, but I hope to get them in the ground by the weekend.

Which brings me to my next environmental no-no: the plastic pot. Most of my new plants come in one of those little black or rust plastic pots.  Like most plastic things, they end up in the landfill when their one-time use is over.

Many nurseries in the Ottawa area take them back, but in past years, I've been lazy. It's just been too much effort to make a second trip out to return the pots for the few that I've had, so into the garbage they've gone.

This year, I plan to stop being lazy and return the pots, so they can be used at least one more time before their final destination.   The garden centres I frequent the most happen to be at two retail stores where I shop all the time, so I really don't have an excuse for not returning them.

Next time I go to the grocery store, I'll pack my cloth bags and my little plastic pots.

Take stairs whenever possible (Change 119)

2011-05-29T21:25:00.002-04:00

Have you ever noticed how many movement-saving devices there are in our modern world? Motorized transportation, escalators, elevators, moving sidewalks.   We've become so used to having something else move our body, that we are forgetting what it is like to move ourselves.

This point was brought home to me this past weekend. I flew to Halifax to watch my mom become President of her charity organization. We had a great trip, and I was proud to be part of it. I've always thought I was fairly movement savvy, but I noticed several interesting things about myself while I was there.

My hotel room was on the third floor, yet for most of the weekend, I took the elevator to my room. The airport had escalators and elevators to take me between floors for arrival, departure and baggage claim. We took cabs to travel a few blocks around the city.   And I asked myself, why am I using these labour-saving devices? Do I really need them or is it just habit?

I decided to try moving myself instead, and see how hard it was. You know what? It was pretty easy. My room was a short flight of stairs down, across the landing and another short flight to the lobby. I used the stairs to go up and down a level when I was at the airport. I walked all over the city on Saturday, and enjoyed every minute of it.

If we all started taking the stairs, or walking a few blocks, the health benefits and environmental benefits would be enormous. Less obesity, less pollution. I'm going to try to translate this change in attitude to other aspects of my life.  Could I walk the kids to school? Can I walk to get the mail? How about the store or a friend's house?

In the mean time, I'm going to take the stairs whenever I can.

Water my plants with grey water (Change 118)

2011-05-18T22:58:00.000-04:00

Life has been busy. Apologies for not posting sooner, but I haven't seemed to have a spare moment to myself lately. As such, the eco-changes around my house have come to a bit of a stand still. I haven't regressed (much) but definitely haven't moved forward.

But with the end of the crazy schedules in sight, it's time to continue down the path of "greenness". I will make a partial habit a full habit with the next eco-change.

Watching DH get our rain barrels ready for installation was exciting. The thought of not having to use city water to nourish my gardens is wonderful. Then I started thinking about my indoor plants. I don't have many, but those I do have are watered using tap water. Why couldn't I find some way to water the plants without turning on the tap?

My children's lunch bags are a great source of recycled water. I send them thermoses every day, filled with water. Sometimes they come home empty, sometimes they are full. Whenever I think of it, I dump their thermoses on the plants. But truthfully, I'm just as likely to grab a glass or jug and fill it from the tap, as I am to use the thermos.

I'm going to take a page out of the rain barrel book, and ALWAYS use recycled or grey water to water the plants. There is the bath water from my kids, their thermoses, water from the dishes, the dog's bowl. The sources are endless. I just have to remember to use them.

Buy environmentally and body friendly shampoo (Change 117)

2011-05-08T21:26:00.000-04:00

The toiletries and cosmetics in our house are slowing turning green. This week I purchased a shampoo that should be safer on the environment and better for my body. Unfortunately, the brand I purchased does not appear in the Skin Deep database (http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/). But, I'm getting pretty savvy at reading labels, and can say that there aren't any parabens, pthalates, fragrances or SLS or other really bad ingredients in this shampoo.

It smells like apple cider (yummy), and leaves my hair feeling clean and soft. DH has even commented on how nice my hair smells. The shampoo was a reasonable price for the "green" component of it, so I am happy to stick with this new brand.

Participate in The Milk Bag project (Change 116)

2011-04-25T20:34:00.000-04:00

Our elementary school has decided to participate in The Milk Bag Project. This project entails local charity partners crocheting the outer 4L milk bags into sleeping mats, which are then sent to Haiti to help earthquake victims.

For those of you who don't know about this project, I've attached two links to explain what it is and how it works. (http://www.nbbc.ca/docs/MilkBagInfo.pdf and http://recyclemilkbags.pbworks.com/w/page/26969816/HomePage).

I've been collecting clean bags from our house, and sending them to our school. To date, the school has collected over 1000 bags, enough to make 2 mats.

DS's class has offered to co-ordinate the collection and distribution of the milk bags. Every Wednesday morning, I volunteer in his classroom, and part of my work is preparing the milk bags for assembly. The children and I sort the bags by type, roll them in bundles of ten, and package the bundles for delivery. They have great fun sorting the bags, and I am deriving great satisfaction knowing that we are keeping plastic bags out of the landfill, while helping a very worthy cause.

I urge everyone to locate a partner in their area, so you can benefit from this worthwhile cause.

Use eco- and body-friendly blush (Change 115)

2011-04-15T08:23:00.001-04:00

I went out and bought a new cosmetics product this week. I was getting ready for a meeting, putting on make-up for the first time in about two weeks, and dropped my package of blusher on the bathroom floor. Ugh. That was a bit of a mess. Cracked the cosmetic into about 4 large pieces and several smaller ones, and lots of dust all over the floor. It also cracked the lid in half and broke off the hinge part that keeps the lid on. Into the garbage it went.

I purchased a replacement product - made from organic ingredients, free of "harsh chemicals, parabens, and synthetic preservatives". The container is actually pressed paper (instead of plastic), which is recyclable. It also passes the Skin Deep test, scoring a 3 on the scale.

I guess beauty doesn't have to come at a horrible environmental price.

Purchase as many "dye-free" food items as possible (Change 114)

2011-04-11T16:01:00.000-04:00

In conjunction with my change to make more things from scratch, I am also resolving to purchase foods that do not contain artificial colours.

We've noticed over the last year that our kids seem to really react to highly processed foods, especially those containing high concentrations of sugar, dye/colour, flavour and chocolate. This was really brought home last week when my doctor suggested that we start eliminating artificial colour from our diet, due to recent studies that investigate whether or not food dye causes or accelerates hyperactivity in children.

Some of you may have followed the debate in news about the FDA investigating the evidence. (http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/30/fda.food.dye.health/index.html; http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/fda-panel-digests-data-linking-food-coloring-hyperactivity/story?id=13264626). Unfortunately, the FDA found that there was not enough research to warrant labels on products, but stated that further study was needed.

However, we are going ahead with an elimination diet. It will be a slow process, as we remove coloured cereal, crackers, breads, baking supplies and processed fruits from our diet. I hope it means that my children will be healthier and happier, and that DH and I are less stressed about our active children.

Purchase "less cruel" eggs (Change 113)

2011-04-05T08:25:00.000-04:00

For those who know me, you are probably doing a double-take at the title of this blog entry. For those of you who don't know me, DD1 is allergic to eggs, so I never have them in the house.

Well, almost never. See, DH and I have a little secret. We eat eggs when DD1 is away.

DH loves when the kids have a sleepover at the grandparents', because this means he can have eggs for breakfast every morning. I got thinking about our ethical choices last weekend, when the kids went to my parents for a one night visit.

Part of our date night ritual is to stop at the grocery store and buy fixings for breakfast. Eggs, bacon or sausages, special treats (danishes, etc.) and lovely fruit. This time, I decided to try buy a more environmentally-, or at least animal-friendly, choice. And discovered, to my dismay, that there aren't many options at the local big chain store.

The links below take you to websites that explain the difference between caged chickens and more cruelty-free choices.

http://www.humanefood.ca/pdf%20links/cage-free-eggs-new-logo-v4.pdf

http://www.choosecagefree.ca/index.html

Although I watched "Food, Inc." and I've read several of Michael Pollan's books, the impact of factory farming shocks me every time I research ways to not support the system.

We ended up purchasing "free range, nest laid eggs", but after reading the definitions from the above websites, I'm still not convinced we made the best choice.

Our next date night will involve a trip to the local health food store, to see if we can get Canada Organic, BC SPCA certified or Certified Local Sustainable eggs.

Remove plastic liner from window envelopes (Change 112)

2011-03-29T21:58:00.000-04:00

OK - I admit it. I'm grasping for straws on this one.

It seems rather small and petty - remove the plastic liner from the inside of window envelopes, before putting the envelopes in the recycle bin. This change, however, prevents A LOT of paper from going into the landfill. (Yes, I know, I am still getting paper mail.....)

Like many people, I'm sure, I assumed that all paper put in the recycle bin was, well, recycled. Apparently, that is not true. I spoke with someone at our local garbage collection place, and ANY paper with plastic on it is relegated to the garbage and NOT recycled. Huh. So much for being "environmentally-friendly".

It's weird, because I always remove the plastic windows from pasta boxes, etc., but it never occurred to me to do the same with window envelopes. It even states on the city website that NO plastic is allowed in the paper recycling. I guess I just assumed that whatever process was used to break down the paper automatically got rid of the plastic.

I'll take a few minutes to open my envelopes, remove the liner and recycle. Another small change that will help counter the growing landfill outside my door.

Designate a "No Buy Day" every week (Change 111)

2011-03-23T16:32:00.000-04:00

I admire the concept of the "Buy Nothing Day". This is one day each year set aside to not purchase anything. Every year in Canada it is held on the last Friday in November. Below is a link to the UK version - it explains things much better than I ever could about the reasoning and philosophy behind the concept. http://www.buynothingday.co.uk/index.html

However, boycotting shopping for one day a year isn't that hard for me. I have at least one day a month where I don't buy anything. Therefore, I've decided to up my challenge - and try for a "Buy Nothing Day" every week.

It's going to be difficult at first - I tend to run errands when I'm already out; usually at least three times a week when all the kids are at school. This means I need to either run more errands in my allotted childless time (not sure this will be possible), or spend more time lugging at least one child around to different shops (which isn't as fun as it sounds).

I fully support the idea of less commercialism in our lives. The amount of "stuff" we accumulate is astonishing, really. I joked with a friend of mine last week that I need to plan a move overseas, in order to really decide what I want to keep and what I want to get rid of.

"Buy Nothing Day" every week will hopefully allow me to let go of the idea of "stuff" and focus more on making do with what we have.

The real challenge will be to see if DH is willing to go along with the idea.

No more plastic cups (Change 110)

2011-03-17T20:21:00.000-04:00

In an effort to rid ourselves of the excess "junk" in our lives, I have relegated our spare plastic glasses to the "find a new home" bin. I had tonnes of them when I ran a home daycare - I always had four or five kids at mealtimes, plus whatever portion of the neighbourhood that happened to come over to play.

I no longer run the daycare, and many of the extra items I had, I have found another home for. I didn't realize how much I used those extra glasses, though, until I realized that I had 5 small glass drinking glasses. 5 small glasses are not enough for my family. Although I use the one glass a day rule, I find it very difficult to keep track of my kids' drinking glasses, especially now that they are all clear glass. I tend to fill a glass for them at each meal.

I invested in some small glass drinking glasses from IKEA. They are ideal for my children - small and cheap. If one breaks, no big deal. I realize that I have replaced the plastic glasses with glass glasses, so I am no further ahead with respect to the amount of "stuff" in our lives. However, the dubious nature of the cheap plastic glasses is enough for me to want to switch over.

Invest in stainless steel frying pans (Change 109)

2011-03-14T16:58:00.001-04:00

I love to cook, as well as bake. Most of the meals we eat are home made, made with love, sweat and tears. Most are a success - they pass the "three picky eaters" test. Integral to passing this test is my frying pan.

I use it to saute and steam veggies, fry meat, cook sauces; I don't think I could live without it. In fact, I use my frying pan so often, that I buy a new one every couple of years, because the non-stick coating wears off from so much use.

This time I vowed to choose a better option for my family. I've been reading a lot about non-stick coatings and how harmful they are to our bodies, if ingested. I know that we've probably ingested some in our lifetimes, simply from over use.

This year, I spent a little bit of extra money and purchased two stainless steel frying pans. I was a little leery of using them - I wasn't sure about the quality of cooking with them, how much food would stick to the surfaces, how easy they would be to clean.

But they've been another worthy investment - I love them. They clean up easily, food burns less quickly and cooks more evenly. They are recycled and recyclable. And best of all, I shouldn't have to buy new frying pans for years. I'm not filling up the landfill, and any potential harmful effects from non-stick coatings evaporate.

Another eco-change that I wish I'd made sooner.

Install dual flush toilet handle (Change 108)

2011-03-04T08:21:00.001-05:00

My friend K is a great inspiration to me. Like me, she has three kids, a dog, a husband, and a very busy life. Yet she always seems to find time for the fun things - camping, hiking, outdoor adventures, Scouting and meeting up with friends. She also has a very "green" family - she has been a source of inspiration for many of the changes I've made to date.

For example, I visited her house this past summer and commented on her dual flush toilet handle. This allows one to press a button for a 1/2 flush or a button for "full flush". The system is set-up similar to putting a brick or pop bottle in your tank - the flush systems does not allow your tank to completely drain, thereby saving water. It effectively reduces a 6L flush toilet to a 3L flush toilet. We discussed the merits of this device and how much water she's saved. I thought it was a neat idea, and put it on my list of things to change.

Well, K has done it again, and brought the change to me. She and her family visited last month. The Saturday was busy with family obligations (hers and ours), but we agreed to meet for supper. Back at the house, she presented me with a gift bag.

"What's this?" I asked.

"A hostess gift," she replied.

We are not in the habit of exchanging gifts, so I eyed the bag with suspicion. I opened it and burst out laughing. Inside was a dual flush toilet handle. 20 minutes later the device was installed (which I did by myself with her help, thank you very much). I put it in our powder room, which gets the most use as it's on the main floor. I'm hopeful that I'll see some significant water savings in the next few months.

Thanks, K, for helping me making my world a little "greener".

Major Update Two

2011-03-01T21:20:00.000-05:00

Here is the second half of my major update.

56. Only purchase Rainforest Alliance-certified flowers - it doesn't happen very often, but when they do come in the house, they are RFA certified.

57. Only purchase Rainforest Alliance-certified black tea - all new orange pekoe coming into the house is at least partially RFA certified.

58. No more DVD purchases - this has been so easy. The kids get 99% of their movies from the library now, and I didn't miss the extra gifts at Christmas.

59. Purchase an environmentally-friendly yoga mat - I love it. Now I just need to find time to attend classes.....

60. Carpool whenever possible - we've made some great strides in this. DH carpools at least three times a week with a co-worker. We often give rides to outings for Brownies/Beavers. Several times I've been to meetings and carpooled with neighbours. It's amazing how when you take a look at your transportation, how you can easily make a change without it being a burden or a problem.

61. Make one lunch/dinner per day vegetarian - this has been relatively easy also; about 90% of our days follow this pattern.

62. Only use dishwasher at night - I'm slipping a bit with this one. Sometimes I can't wait until night to run the dishwasher. I'd say we're only at about 50% compliance right now (which is 40% more than when I started the blog). I'd like to see the compliance rate go up to about 80-90% by the time the challenge is over.

63. Turn off "heat dry" feature on dishwasher - if I turn it off, the dishes don't dry. They are sopping wet, especially any plastic containers on the top rack. If I turn it on, I use more energy. I can't decide which I hate more - drying dishes or using an extra kW or two.

64. Have someone else pick up our puppy - 'nough said.

65. Re-use our dog items - I've been re-using other people's doggie stuff, too.

66. Clean shower regularly with vinegar - I'm actually not using vinegar right now, as I'm still trying to get rid of the embedded mould. See below.

67. Get rid of mould in shower with hydrogen peroxide - working on it......

68. Purchase biodegradable kitchen garbage bags - I'm almost finished them. Once they're done, I'll buy recycled plastic ones instead, as a reader rightly pointed out that biodegradable bags can't biodegrade if they never see the light of day in the land fill. It's a case of one evil (landfill) vs. another (recycled plastic).

69. Send electronic invitations - it works beautifully, and no one has complained yet.

70. Purchase only recycled plastic black garbage bags - if only they sold them at Costco, I'd be a happy woman. I can't get recycled plastic bags big enough for our outdoor garbage bin, so have been using them to collect dog poop and other assorted smaller garbage messes.

71. Plant more native species in garden - is Spring here yet???????

72. Hang linens to dry - this has been hit or miss. I find I'm tumble drying my linens at lot, as I'm usually doing 3 or 4 loads at a time (because someone has peed or thrown up in bed). However, when I'm only doing a single load of sheets or blankets, I do hang them to dry on my railing.

73. Purchase bamboo socks - bamboo vs. organic cotton. The debate is still on; I haven't decided which is more environmentally friendly.

74. Install timers for bathroom fans - love them!!!!!

75. Join Project Feederwatch - I've joined, but no one is coming to my feeders on the days I need to count. :(

76. Cancel newspaper subscription - I really thought I'd miss the paper version. But using the electronic one has been really great. I'm a convert.

77. Borrow Hallowe'en costumes instead of buying them - this worked out really well. I'm going to try again next year.

78. Turn tap off when hand washing - once I got in the habit, it's been very easy to maintain.

79. Purchase environmentally-friendly kids shampoo - I had the best of intentions with this one. However, one too many times of the ENTIRE bottle of shampoo being used to make bubble bath, I've decided to wait until the kids are a little older before spending $10 a bottle on shampoo.

80. Hold a "greener" birthday party - it was awesome. I'm going to attempt the same for DS and DD2 when the time comes.

81. Place compost bags in all rooms - as mentioned, I've removed these from the rooms (no one was using them), and am now making sure to sort the compostables before they are dumped in the garbage.
82. Use a variation of the "if it's yellow...." rule - working great, although I've had DD2 come into my bathroom and scold me, "Mummy you forgot to flush!"

83. Eat kids' leftovers for lunch instead of throwing out food - I'm hardly throwing anything out now.

84. Put certain lights on timers - love it! Now to install one in DD1's closet.....

85. Turn computer off when not using it (during day) - this one has been hard. I work on an on-call basis, so need to be checking email several times a day. It's been a pain to power up and power down the computer 10 times a day, so I've made a compromise with myself. I shut the computer off when I'm going out, or if I'm going to be involved in a project at home that I know will take several hours to complete. It's not what I'd originally hope this challenge would be, but sometimes we need to adjust our goals to our lifestyle.

86. Install wall plate insulators - I don't know if it's truth or wishful thinking, but the house has seemed warmer lately, even though the temperature hasn't been raised.

87. Re-purpose our baby bathtub - nothing more to add until Spring.

88. Purchase environmentally-friendly dog shampoo - I'm running into a similar problem with the dog shampoo as with the kids' shampoo. In this instance however, the quantity being used is to actually bathe her. Her fur is long, thick and wavy, and need almost 1/2 a bottle to wash at one time. Sad to say, we may have to think about clipping her when the warmer weather gets here.

89. Purchase re-usable produce bags - love them!

90. Turn furnace fan to "auto" - saving energy and still keeping the house warm.

91. Make my own drain de-clogger - this has been sooooo easy. Sometimes I need to repeat once or twice, but it works every time.

92. Use eco- and body-friendly hand cream - lovely stuff.

93. Be powerWISE - slowly working my way through our high energy usage stuff....

94. Start looking for local sources of animal protein - this is going to take some time. We've tried one farm, but the product was not quite what we were looking for, and not enough quantity for a family of 5. We have a couple of other places to check out, so hopefully, I'll find a farm that suits our needs.

95. Buy a recycled steel garbage can - this was a one time purchase.

96. Enroll children in Scouting and Guiding movements - one of the best activities my kids have participated in.

97. Not using SOS pads for kitchen cleaning - I love my scrubbie.

98. Use an all natural facial scrub - I've been thrilled with the product we're using. I may try to make my own later, just for the fun of it, but right now, I'm happy to use this one.

99. Buy and use a Diva Cup - I can't believe I didn't find out about this sooner. When I think of all the waste I could have saved......

100. Make more food from scratch - this has been a lot of fun. Interestingly, or not, depending on your point of view, it's been more difficult that I thought convincing the kids that home made is better.

101. Use eco-friendly lip balm - it's been great. I just wish I could get an EF one with sunscreen in it.

102. Use extendable cooling rack - my new favourite kitchen toy.

103. Turn off air conditioning breaker - I just need to remember to turn it on.

104. Buy and use an all-natural eyeshadow - I've been happy with the product. It goes on well, and doesn't bother my eyes. I just need to find it in a darker colour.

105. Purchase rain barrels - is it Spring yet??????

106. Bring home our compostables - so easy, if you don't mind a few strange looks (and not all of them from strangers....)

107. Invest in nightlights - this has been really great for my family.

Invest in nightlights (Change 107)

2011-02-27T22:58:00.000-05:00

My kids have terrific imaginations. They are bright, creative, intelligent - able to see the most amazing things in the most ordinary places. It also means there are lots of bogeymen in the dark.

For about a year now, we've been letting them fall asleep with their lights on. It seems to calm the fear of the dark and allows us to avoid repeated trips upstairs to check for monsters under the bed. However, we don't always turn the light off once they fall asleep. Sometimes we're watching TV or on the computer, and lose track of time. The overhead light burns merrily away, the hydro meter whirling in happy abandon.

I've also wondered about how leaving the lights on is affecting their sleeping habits. Recent articles in the paper have suggested that any light during sleep is detrimental to melatonin levels. I can't imagine that leaving overhead lights on are helping them achieve a restful REM sleep.

I recently invested in nightlights for the kids. They are battery operated with rechargeable batteries. This means they don't sit plugged in, drawing power, when not in use. Because they are battery operated, I don't have to plug them in to operate them - just to recharge. I've also noticed since I've started using these nightlights, that the kids are waking up less grumpy in the morning. They seem to sleep better, with fewer trips downstairs or to our room in the middle of the night.

I'm using less power, and my kids are getting a better night's sleep. What more could a mom ask for?

Major Update One

2011-02-23T22:35:00.000-05:00

I've had several friends ask how the changes are going, am I able to sustain what I started. Although I've given my readers a brief update on our progress (or lack thereof!), I thought I would give a major update on ALL changes since Day 1. Since this will be a LONG entry, I've divided it into two posts. Here's the first update:

1. Switch to paperless billing - this has been so easy, I have to wonder why I didn't make this switch earlier. It's been extremely simple to keep track of bills and payments. As long as I pay this bill right away when received, I don't have to worry about forgetting.

2. Environmentally-friendly ant killer - as mentioned last fall, this didn't work so well long-term. I had to resort to ant poison to get them out of the house.

3. Eliminate bottle water - another really easy change. I've only had bottled water twice since I made this change. Both times the water was purchased by someone else, and only because there was no other alternative in sight.

4. Place jug of water in fridge - again, very easy. DH hasn't run the tap for drinking water since.

5. Buy recycled lined paper - another easy habit to fall into.

6. Eliminate junk mail using "Red Dot" campaign - it's amazing how just saying "NO" to junk mail has reduced the paper waste in our house. I had no idea until it all went away.....

7. Unplug electronics when not in use - we're about 95% there in remembering this. There are still a few occasions when I forget or DH does, but those times are now the exception, not the norm.

8. Buy environmentally and body friendly face moisturizer - this one is a bust. I just can't find an eco-friendly moisturizer that I like. I've settled for a lesser damaging one - it has a lower score on the Skin Deep database, and doesn't make my face feel too greasy.

9. No more hot showers - they aren't steamy any more, but I still run a hot shower in the winter. Since I am using the army shower method, I don't feel guilty about it.

10. Turn off light while showering - again, now that winter is here, it's low light vs. no light, but once spring arrives, I plan to switch off the light completely

11. Take navy showers - 99% compliance rate. I've actually learned to like them....

12. Eliminate hair dryer - the frizz says it all.

13. No more disposable coffee cups - again running about a 95% compliance rate with this one. I've gotten into the habit of taking my coffee mug with me whenever I know I'm going to be out. It's the spur of the moment times, when I'm not in my van with the extra mug, that I've resorted to the disposable ones.

14. Preserve foods, preferably local and organic - I did quite a bit - peaches, corn, jams, beets, rhubarb and salsa. I hope to up the produce intake next year.

15. Eliminate baths for kids; have showers instead - let's just say I tried it, and it didn't work so well. I sometimes manage to bath two kids at once, so I'm saving a bit of water there....

16. Use only one glass per day for juice/coffee/wine - I've been getting lazy and forgetting to set aside my glass/mug. Must get back into this habit.

17. Use GoodSearch for Internet - I've almost given up on this search engine. It just doesn't get the results.

18. Eliminate the use of CFCs - done.

19. Buy environmentally and body friendly deodorant - I haven't found one that I'm completely satisfied yet, but I'm not giving up hope. There are still a couple of other brands to try, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that I find one I can live with.

20. No more book purchases - use library instead - this has been surprisingly easy. I have only purchased one book that was non gift related, and ONLY because the library didn't carry it.

21. No more plastic takeout containers - this has been hit and miss. When I do get a plastic container, I recycle it to my daughter's nursery school for use in their arts/crafts area.

22. Add a green tip to email signature - I try and change the tip every week, so people don't get bored with the same old thing.

23. Spend time everyday researching green issues - I haven't been doing it every day, lately, but at least twice a week I am researching new ways to be "green".

24. Environmentally friendly groundhog removal - now that we have a dog, I'm hoping that this won't even be factor this summer. :)

25. Only buy ethically farmed/fished seafood - this has not been happening. The kids won't eat seafood, except shrimp, and truthfully, I'm not going to travel all the way across town to buy an ethically farmed shrimp ring. For the few times we eat it, I'm just going to accept that I'm a bad person.
26. Get rid of plastic everyday cutlery - this happened until DD2 discovered a small cache of "zoo" cutlery in my party box. She's insisted on it being out and used. It's only a dozen or so items, so as they crack and break, they will not be replaced.
27. Carbon off-set all vacation travel - I'm saving the world, one tree at a time.

28. Use recycled furniture (from someone else) - this was a one time event, but everyone compliments me on my couches.....

29. Return neighbour's beer and wine bottles to store - I don't know if my neighbour read my blog and feels guilty, so returns his bottles now, or if my other neighbour beats me to the punch, but there haven't been any bottles to return lately. Maybe once the summer arrives and we start drinking out on the front porch again.....

30. Make my own hand soap - tried it, didn't like it, and decided to use triclosan-free cream soap from the store.
31. Install a front door screen - love it, love it, love it.

32. Use no VOC primer when painting - we plan to paint another couple of rooms this spring, so hope to to use low VOC primer and paint.

33. Consume and purchase only fair trade chocolate - I'm about 80% compliant on this one. I try and make sure any that I bring into the house follows the rule. But I just can't resist chocolate, so I will eat it if offered to me, regardless of its moral qualities. It's only being polite.

34. Use handkerchiefs at home - this has been a fairly easy habit to adopt.

35. Use vinegar/water to clean eyeglasses - DH is back to using the spray bottle stuff. I might see if I can find him a soft cloth to use.

36. Get rid of all Swiffer products - done.

37. Drink Canadian origin juice as much as possible - this has been pretty easy - we only drink apple and orange as a rule, so I just make sure the apple is Canadian-origin

38. Recycle laptop - Scott, did you keep up your part of the bargain?

39. Use Freecycle at least twice per month - I haven't been using Freecycle much lately, but plan to get rid of a tonne of stuff this spring

40. Purchase reusable sandwich wrappers - this was a great idea in concept, but reality has proven that my kids don't liked squished sandwiches, and will not eat them if the sandwiches have been sent to school in these wrappers. I use them for myself now, or when I'm short on containers to send non-squishable stuff in their lunches.
41. Stop using Ziploc bags - I actually don't know what I was using them for. I haven't missed them at all. I keep one box of XL bags for when we are camping and I need to store liquids or something else, but so far, one box has lasted until now.

42. Compost wine corks - every time.

43. Bring own flip flops to spa - it felt weird but yes I did.

44. Re-gift baby items - and I have lots more in my basement looking for a good home.....

45. Use environmentally-friendly nail polish - I haven't tried this yet. When I went to the spa last time I didn't bother getting polish (did THAT ever feel weird), but plan to take the polish with me on my next visit.

46. Not use plastic plates - we don't use them every day. However, when we have company and lots of kids, they come out.

47. Use recycled dinnerware - no need to say anything more.

48. Environmentally friendly insect control - it's amazing how a little cider vinegar can go such a long way.

49. Environmentally friendly scouring powder - love it.

50. Cancel unread/unwanted magazines - and I don't miss them at all.

51. Partake in "Clean the Capital" initiative - enough said.

52. Calculate my carbon footprint - *shudder* Not as good as it could be.....

53. Ban Styrofoam - those darn meat packages trip me up. The rest of the house is styro-free, but I can't seem to get away from the meat ones.

54. Drive using cruise control whenever possible - a very easy habit to get into. I'm amazed at the fuel economy I've had since starting this change.

55. Drive the speed limit - much to the chagrin of drivers around me, I've been driving on or around the speed limit. I've had great fuel economy, and get to my destination only a few minutes later than if I'd been driving 10 or 20 kms over the limit.

Bring home the compostables (Change 106)

2011-02-14T22:12:00.019-05:00

Whenever I eat out at a fast food restaurant or take my lunch/dinner to work, I throw out garbage. It's a strange habit, because at home, I'm so careful to make sure everything is as reusable, recyclable and compostable as possible. A lot of the garbage I throw out, when I eat out, is made up of items that are perfectly acceptable to the residential green bin program here, but have no opportunity to be taken out of the waste stream at a commercial level.
I've always made sure that portable lunches were as garbage-less as possible for DH, the kids and myself. I rarely buy one time use snacks, like yogurt or applesauce, and I always make sure that beverages go in a thermos or reusable bottle. But for a reason that escapes me, we rarely bring our apple cores, banana peels, or sandwich crusts home.

When I visited PEI two years ago, I was astonished that compost bins could be found everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. One the street, in the restaurants, in the malls - no location was without. It made me wish that my province, heck even my city, had the political will to enforce such a policy. My wish has finally come true for the residential sector of the city of Ottawa, but corporate participation is still unavailable.

So I've decided to start bringing the compostables home with me. It's easy enough to slip an apple core or banana peel into a reusable container already in the lunch box. I'll ask DH and the kids to bring their food waste home from school and work. And when I'm at McDonald's or Subway, I'll pack a "take-out" bag of compostable sandwich wraps, drink cartons and food leftovers. I may look a little strange, I suppose, but at least I won't feel guilty about contributing to the growing landfill problem.

Purchase rain barrels (Change 105)

2011-02-09T21:27:00.001-05:00

I think this is going to be one of my favourite changes. I've been wanting to install rain barrels at our house since we moved here 8 years ago. At almost $100 each, though, I had other priorities to spend my money on. Enter the Master Gardeners of Ottawa Carleton and Rainbarrel.ca (http://rainbarrel.ca/ottawacarleton/). They have teamed up to offer citizens of the city rain barrels at a discounted price. For $55 each, I get a 220L recycled rain barrel (all barrels previously contained fruit, vegetables and other food grade items) and the spigot and parts to go with it. This fundraiser benefits the Master Gardeners, while helping the average person be more environmentally-friendly. I can't wait to see how much money I save in water costs, once my barrels are operational.

Check the Rainbarrel.ca website for distribution locations in your area - you might get lucky like I did.

Buy all natural eyeshadow (Change 104)

2011-02-07T21:43:00.000-05:00

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I don't wear a lot of cosmetics on a day-to-day basis. I'm usually "au naturel" when at home with the kids, or out and about running errands. However, I do succumb to vanity when I go to work, or have an appointment (doctor, dentist, etc), and put on some eyeliner, blush and a little bit of lip colour.

I've been using the same products for years, but resolved to improve my eco-friendliness in cosmetics after starting this blog last July. Unfortunately, because I don't use a lot of cosmetics, the ones I have last a long time. For the price I paid for them, I'm not about to throw them out and go buy new ones. I decided to replace my cosmetics as I use them up.

The opportunity for eyeliner came a couple of weeks ago. I use a dark eyeshadow with a lid liner brush as my eyeliner. I contracted pink-eye from somewhere, and unknowingly had used my brush and eyeshadow while I had it. When I re-infected myself, I realized what I had done and threw out the eyeshadow. (I washed and disinfected the brush).

I used this opportunity to buy myself an all-natural eyeshadow. It is made with pure botanicals and passes the Skin Deep test. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but after reading online reviews about the product, I think I will be satisfied with its application. I'll let you know if my opinion changes after I use it.

Turn off air conditioning breaker (Change 103)

2011-01-30T21:53:00.000-05:00

We actually made this change back in the late fall, but I forgot all about it until yesterday. (I was down in the basement putting stuff away in my chest freezer, noticed the breaker was off, and said "Aha! I forgot to blog about this one!)

You may not be aware, but when your air conditioner is "off", it actually draws energy from the power grid, like any other item plugged into your home's electrical system. According to a friend of mine, who is a heating/air conditioning technician, the phantom power is used to cycle a small heater in the air conditioner unit, which prevents the refrigerant from solidifying, so you can use your air conditioner as soon as you turn it on. Since we don't use the air conditioner in the winter, I don't need to worry about the refrigerant not being ready to work right away. He said that I could safely turn off the breaker to the unit, without harming it, and reducing any phantom power draw it might have. I just need to remember to turn the breaker back on in the spring.

Use extra long cooling racks (Change 102)

2011-01-24T10:18:00.000-05:00

Another eco-friendly Christmas present, this time from DH. I bake a LOT, because I like to, and because life is easier to deal with DD1's food allergy when I make my own cookies, muffins, etc. I've always cooled my muffins in the muffin tins and breads on a tiny round cooling rack. But cookies have ALWAYS been cooled on paper towels - to absorb any butter goodness, and because there was more room on the counter. I justified using this method since starting my green challenge, because the paper towels were made with unbleached, recycled paper, and I always composted them when I was finished with them. There is still an environmental cost associated with them, in the form of the manufacturing process itself, but I assured myself that I was at least using the most eco-friendly product possible.

No need to justify any longer. DH bought me an extendable cooling rack for Christmas. Made up of three layers that stack neatly when not needed, the cooling rack allows me to cool up to 3 dozen cookies at a time. Usually by the time I'm ready to cool the 4th dozen, I can store the cooled cookies in a container, and start over again with the next 3 dozen.

No more paper towels, and no more need to compost them. Since this process was my main consumption of paper towels, it will be interesting to see how many paper towels I use in the future.

Use eco- and body- friendly lip balm (Change 101)

2011-01-17T22:04:00.000-05:00

Another eco-gift from Santa came in the form of lip balm. This is one of the few cosmetic products I use on a daily basis. The city we live in is very dry, especially in winter, where temperatures can dip as low at -25C in winter. Moisturizing is a must.

Santa made sure that my new lip balm complies with the Skin Deep Database - it scores a 2 on the list. Santa even brought some for the children and DH. The new lip balm is made from beeswax, coconut oil, and a couple of other natural ingredients. I really like it - it goes on well, and has staying power.

As one of my readers commented in an earlier post: "Gotta love when Santa gets it right".

Make more food from scratch (Change 100)

2011-01-14T12:37:00.000-05:00

DH and I had a bit of a health scare last month. Driving him to the hospital when he had chest pains was not my idea of a fun time. He has had high normal blood pressure for years, but neither of us really thought anything of it. This time we took notice, and resolved to improve our eating and exercising habits.

One of the things we are trying to do is lower our salt and fat intake. We don't eat a lot of prepared foods, but our cupboards and refrigerator are still crammed with crackers, canned beans, ketchup, hummus and various other items that are made by someone else, stuffed with added salt and fat that we don't need.

I've never really given any true thought to the environmental impact of purchasing these products, but when you take the time to look at how your purchases contribute to the landfill, it can be an eye-opening experience. It also is not good for our health - some of these products can contain up to 40% of our daily salt intake in one serving. And who ever has just one serving?

For the new year, I am resolving to make more food from scratch. Make my own hummus, salad dressings and salsa to start. Then as I get more comfortable with the process, I am going to try my own ketchup, crackers and seasoning mixes.

There is less packaging, because I will be buying items in bulk and not throwing out one-time use containers. Our diets will be healthier because I will be able to control the amount of salt and fat we intake. This sounds like a resolution I can stick with.

Start using a Diva Cup (Change 99)

2011-01-06T22:26:00.000-05:00

Gentlemen......this post may not be for you. It deals with female bodily functions, and therefore, may make some uncomfortable. If it makes you squeamish, I suggest you ask your female significant other, sister, aunt, mother, cousins, etc., to read it, as they may find it valuable.

I went out in the fall and bought a Diva cup. For those of you who don't know the product, it is a re-usable menstrual cup. More information about it can be found at http://www.divacup.com/ Why I haven't posted about it before now, has more to do with Mother Nature than myself. As I am a woman of a certain age, menopause is right around the corner. Thus, my bodily functions are not a reliable as they once were. I wanted to experience using the DC a few times before I posted about it.

Well, I am still waiting for a few times, but thought I might as well let my readers know that I have tackled once of the biggest waste challenges that a woman can have. The amount of garbage that the average woman uses for that week a month is unbelievable - estimates I've found on the Internet range from 300 lbs over a lifetime to 12,000 individual products. Whatever the correct amount, it is a lot of waste.

The Diva Cup, and its sister products Moon Cup and The Keeper, have an average lifetime of 10 years. So yes, I may throw it out eventually - but it's one item, as opposed to several thousand. Not to mention all of the cotton, oil, water and energy I have saved by not buying factory products items over and over.

I had a conversation with a friend of mine when I bought it. She has used one for several years, and is how I found out about the product. I wondered why we hadn't been told about this kind of thing when health class had come around in high school. She noted that although our grandmothers used re-usable rags, our mothers had the wonderful option of not having to deal with all of that mess - using disposable pads was an amazing invention. Why would they teach their daughters about the old ways, when amazing new technology was available?

I can understand her point, but I'm going to let my daughters know they have a choice. They can be environmentally-friendly, and deal with Mother Nature in a fairly mess-free way. I wish that I had found out about this product years ago.

All natural facial scrub (Change 98)

2011-01-04T10:50:00.001-05:00

Santa was very good to us this year, as he always is. This year boasted the addition of some extra eco-friendly products (hmmmm.....is Santa reading my blog?) One of the new items was an all-natural facial scrub.

I usually clean with soap and water, but about once a week, I like to exfoliate my skin. The scrub I've been using scores a 7 in the Skin Deep database (!). As a result, I've been wanting to make my own, but just haven't gotten around to it. Now I won't have to for a while. I checked that it passes the Skin Deep test (it does, scoring a 4), so I won't feel guilty about using it.

Thanks, Santa, for helping me reach my eco-goals.

No more SOS pads (Change 97)

2010-12-29T11:17:00.000-05:00

This past summer, I was invited to a Norwex party. For those of you who do not know the company, it provides environmentally-friendly products for cleaning, body care, and home care. (www.norwex.com) I tried a few things with mixed results. One item I purchased though, I love.

It is my stainless steel pot scrubber. It works like an SOS pad, except without the built-in detergent. I just use a little bit of dish soap (if necessary), and voila! Clean pots and pans without a lot of effort.

Last week, I was cleaning out my crock pot. DH had made a casserole in it, and there were bits of burnt yuck everywhere. I couldn't get it clean. I tried soap, water, a dish brush, and finally resorted to my last SOS pad, which had been sitting underneath my kitchen sink for months. I scrubbed with it, to no avail. Finally, I tried my little Norwex pot scrubber. Although it didn't get everything clean the first time round, it made far more progress cleaning the pot than anything else.

I'm not going to buy SOS pads anymore. They don't seem to help with the really tough jobs, and all of my little jobs are easily handled by my scrubber. The scrubber seems to work well on the bigger jobs, too, although I may have to try scrubbing two or three times.

Join the Guiding and Scouting Movement (Change 96)

2010-12-20T14:25:00.000-05:00

I was a Girl Guide when I was a little girl. DH was a Cub Scout. It seemed only natural that we should enroll DD1 and DS in these activities when the time came.

What I hadn't realized was how these activities involved environmental change. Both programs have adapted from the ones we remember when we were little in the 1970s and 1980s. Yes, hiking, camping and other associated activities were part of the regular program, but I don't remember so many specific environmental actions taking place.

Move to the 21st century. There are now specific environmental badges the children can earn, from recycling, water use, and specific camping badges, to changes to the Mission Statements and other official policies of the two movements.

For example, the Guiding Movement sent delegates to the 16th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that took place in Cancun, Mexico, from November 29 to December 10. The Scouts have a Position Statement on the Environment, "Scouts Canada believes that environmental stewardship is critical for future generations. Scouts Canada’s programs develop youth as environmental stewards. Through progressive experiential opportunities youth develop and practice sound environmental ethics. Active participation in our programs enables members to minimize their impact on the environment." (http://www.scouts.ca/ and http://www.girlguides.ca/)

I'm thrilled that these activities that my children participate in will help reflect and reinforce our home values. If we start teaching our children at a young age about how valuable and unique our planet and environment are, I can't help but think we are enabling our world to become a better place.

Buy a recycled steel garbage can (Change 95)

2010-12-14T22:47:00.000-05:00

Three basic tenets are drilled into every child's head these days - Reduce, Re-use and Recycle. Most people are good at the recycle part, and we as a society are starting to show a wealth of recycled and recyclable products. In order to keep the recycling process going, we must start to purchase products made from recycled materials.

I decided to purchase a recycled steel garbage can. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I love birds and have several feeders that I keep filled throughout the year. I've been storing my sunflower seeds in a plastic garbage can until quite recently, when the mice discovered it.

We've had issues with mice in our house since we moved in. We set traps and kill an astonishing number of critters in the course of the winter. I've occasionally found a dead mouse in the empty bird seed pail, but fortunately, never in a full one.

Over the last month, though, there have been signs the mice have discovered my stash of seed, and are helping themselves to the buffet. Empty shells are littering the shed floor, and are found in the strangest places. I wasn't able to figure out how they are getting into the pail. There were no obvious signs of chewing, the lid was on securely, and I wasn't leaving seed lying around. Then I moved the pail to a new location. Seed streamed out of the bottom of the pail, where some clever little mouse had decided to chew through the bottom of the pail to get at the seed.

Hence, the steel garbage can. See this interesting fact sheet from the Steel Framing Alliance for more information on how steel is a "green" material. (http://www.steel.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Gulf_Coast_Steel_Initiative1&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=13078) and from the Geological Association of Canada http://www.gac.ca/PopularGeoscience/factsheets/Metals_e.pdf. The GAC fact sheet states that "Every tonne of steel recycled saves 1100 kg of iron ore, 650 kg of coal, and 55 kg of limestone".
I opted for recycled steel, as it was only a few dollars more, and it helps reinforce the recycling life cycle. The mice will no longer be getting a free meal and I've voted with my pocketbook to keep municipal, provincial and federal recycling programs going.

Start looking for local sources of animal protein (Change 94)

2010-12-12T21:50:00.000-05:00

I watched a very interesting, and very disturbing, movie the other day. For those of you who have seen Food, Inc. you'll understand why I'm now trying to find local sources of pork and poultry. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, you should. You will never look at food the same way again.

This quote from the movie's website (http://www.foodincmovie.com/) says it all - "In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment......Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here."

This movie (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary), watched in companionship with reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, both by Michael Pollan, has really prompted me to think about where the food I buy really comes from. DH and I enjoy growing our own vegetables - we've had fairly successful crops of lettuce, spinach, potatoes, and tomatoes before. But winter means buying fruits and veggies at the store. And of course, having a house in the suburbs does not allow us to grow our own meat. And althought the film details American farming, I can't help but have a sneaking suspicion that the reality of Canadian farming isn't that far off.
I've been surfing the Internet in the last few days, trying to find local sources of grass-fed, preferable organic, animals, as well as starting to look at potential Community Support Agriculture shares. I've narrowed the list down to a few possibilities. In the New Year, after all the holiday craziness has died down, DH and I are going to take the kids on a road trip to check the farms out. I hope this leads to another eco-change or two in January - buying food directly from a local farmer.

Month 3 & 4 update

2010-12-10T16:59:00.000-05:00

Time flies when you're busy. I can't believe that Christmas is just around the corner. We've been making slow but steady progress to further "greening" our lives. We've also had a few set-backs, to be expected when you are trying to encourage activities or habits that require effort! :)

Showering in the dark is becoming more showing in dim light. I'm getting up before dawn most days, and I need to be able to see something so I don't continue to whack my shin on open drawers or shower doors. I will often put my closet or hall light on - this lights the bathroom enough to see, without using the landing strip lights that are above our sinks.

It's really been easy to adjust to the navy showers, less than boiling hot water for showers, no hair dryer, natural deodorant and other assorted small changes. It's the big ones that keep stumping me. Like hanging my linens to dry. Remembering to take my re-usable produce bags to the store. Not eating chocolate unless it's fair-trade and/or organic.

I can't seem to remember to bring my own containers to restaurants, so am often requesting aluminum foil doggy bags - very messy at times. I've had to bite the bullet and bring home plastic/Styrofoam containers. My only consolation there is that I re-use the plastic containers for craft projects with the kids and at DD2's nursery school, so they aren't going directly into the landfill when they get home.

Small compost bags for Kleenex, etc., in every room has been an interesting experiment, but I am going to abandon it shortly. It is hard to remember to "sort" the garbage in this manner. I've tried putting the bags beside the pails, but everyone (including me some days) uses the pails instead of the bag. Sigh. Guess I'll invest in some latex gloves to sort stuff.

The other thing I'm finding hard to do is make a change every day. I had such enthusiasm back in the summer when life was all about taking time off from our regular routine. But now that school and activities are in full swing, I can barely manage to make sure my kids are dressed, fed and sent to school with the appropriate lunch/homework/shoes/whatever, not to mention the myriad other things that come with life. So I am going to relax my standards a bit, and still make my 366 changes, but not try to do them every day. I'm not able to post everyday (as you've probably noticed), so I am going to stop stressing about trying to make changes every day. I will get as many done in a week as I can, and work my way down the list.

This project will take a little longer now, but it's one less stress for me this way, and that means fewer meds, less caffeine and more sleep. Sounds like a good eco-change to me!

Be powerWISE (Day 93)

2010-12-05T17:33:00.000-05:00

As part of the theme of saving energy, I decided to calculate exactly how much energy my house was using. I know I have my hydro bills to tell me, but I don't get the individual breakdown of each appliance. I visited the powerWISE website (http://powerwise.ca/resources/powerwise-calculator/) to find out.

That was an eye opener. Did you know that the average toaster uses 1150 watts of hydro per hour? Or that an electric kettle uses 1500 watts? The average water heater is 3800 watts.

This tool allows me to figure out which appliances are costing me the most money and energy usage, so I can manage my electricity consumption better. I've targeted a few areas for improvement, and I am anxious to see if my lower consumption goals are reasonable.

Eco-friendly hand moisturizer (Day 92)

2010-11-30T22:10:00.000-05:00

I purchased some new hand cream last week. My old brand was on the naughty list, according to the Skin Deep Database. So, trusting my friends at EWG, I bought a better brand. This one scores either a 4 or 5 (I'm not exactly sure which version of my brand that I bought), which is much better than the 8 I used to use! I like the new product - it's not greasy, absorbs rather quickly, and doesn't irritate the cuts on my skin. I'm not completely satisfied, as this company has some issues with the old formulation of this particular product. I can't be guaranteed that I'm not using the old version, so after this container is finished, I'm going to try to finder a better-scoring brand.

Make my own drain de-clogger (Day 91)

2010-11-26T20:47:00.002-05:00

I've had this recipe from Lindsey Coulter for quite a while. Lindsey is the Queen of Green from the David Suzuki Foundation website (http://www.davidsuzuki.org/). She has provided me with several really great recipes to make my own household cleaners. As part of the download file, a drain de-clog recipe was also provided. I tried it out today and it really works!

Pour a generous amount of baking soda down your drain. Add white vinegar (watch it fizz!). Let is sit for a while, then pour hot or boiling water down the drain. Depending on what is clogging your pipes, you may need to repeat a couple of times. It works like a charm.

Turn furnace fan to "auto" (Day 90)

2010-11-23T21:25:00.000-05:00

More electricity saving measures. I'm got a bee in my bonnet over electricity these days. I just paid my hydro bill - not pretty. I don't understand how we're using all of these kW hrs. Yes, I am home during the day, so certain things are going to be used more often, generating electricity use. But this last bill was ridiculous. I'm going to be a "hydro-nazi" until we get our power usage under control.

One of the areas I'm targeting this week is the furnace fan. We've generally left it running all the time, as we have found the furnace actually comes on less when the air is circulated constantly through the house. I can't help but think that a fan running all the time is eating up our hydro. As part of the eco-challenge, DH and I have turned the furnace fan to "auto" - it will only come on when the furnace actually turns on to heat/cool the house. Since we keep our house fairly cool in the winter, I don't foresee the furnace coming on with greater frequency even though the air is not circulating as much.

I hope this change is reflected in my next hydro bill.

Re-usable produce bags (Day 89)

2010-11-21T13:43:00.001-05:00

I've been using cloth grocery bags for years. I received a pile of them when I worked for the company that markets the EcoLogo, back in the late 1990s. The looks I used to get from the cashiers.....

I've always tried not use plastic produce bags. I only use them if I am buying multiples of something (such as limes or lemons). A single item (like a broccoli or celery head) just gets put into my shopping cart as is. As part of my eco-challenge, I've been meaning to purchase some reusable produce bags, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

You can imagine my surprise when I opened a package sent to me in the mail this past week. My sister-in-law sent me an early birthday present - 4 reusable mesh produce bags. Made by credobags(http://www.credobags.com/) , mine are 100% organic cotton. They have washed up beautifully. I used them a couple of days ago for my groceries - and I love them! I don't know why I haven't bought them before this.

Next on my list - reusable bulk bags.

Environmentally-friendly dog shampoo (Day 88)

2010-11-17T13:42:00.000-05:00

Sometimes a quick wash in the baby bathtub is not going to be enough for Molly. In fact, even though we've only had her 6 weeks, she's already had two showers in our walk-in. Regular human shampoo is not good for a dog's coat, and I'm certainly not going to share my tiny bottle of Green Beaver shampoo with her. So I went looking for an environmentally-acceptable pet shampoo.

I was pleasantly surprised to find one in our local pet store. Priced well, only a few dollars more for the same size bottle as the regular shampoo, the shampoo contains natural ingredients, with no harmful chemicals or detergents. The packaging is made from recycled materials and the sleeve labels are made from corn (which means they could be biodegraded).

Molly gets to be clean and green - best dog in the house.

Re-purpose our baby bathtub (Day 87)

2010-11-15T12:21:00.001-05:00

One of the great joys of having a dog is taking her out for walks. We've recently been visiting an unofficial off-leash park in our area. It is a hydro corridor that has walking paths through fields and the wood. Our dog gets a good run and some socialization, while I get to enjoy the fresh air.

One of the disadvantages of having a semi-long haired dog is the mud that ends up covering her by the time the walk is finished. Whether the path is thawing or she is picking up dew in the grass, she gets wet and dirty very quickly. Being apricot in colour, it is also very noticeable!

I've tried washing her paws off in the tub, with the hose and with a bowl, but it's a pain and doesn't allow me to manoeuvre very easily. I'm stuck either washing her with really cold water, or filling and re-filling the bowl several times.

I mentioned to DH that I needed a better solution to bathe the dog after her walks. "Why not use the baby bathtub?" he wondered. We still had it downstairs in our basement. When I had offered our baby stuff to my friend, she hadn't needed one, so I had put it back in storage until I could figure out what to do with it.

It works great. I get to fill up a large tub with warm water, I'm able to carry the tub to the garage so I'm not messing up my laundry room, I'm saving water, and I'm re-using something that would other wise collect dust or be thrown away.

Install wallplate insulators (Day 86)

2010-11-11T16:23:00.000-05:00

Poor DH. His "Honey-Do" just keeps getting longer. I added a new one to his list last week, after talking to some friends about my blog. We were discussing ways to save energy, when MF (male friend) said that we should check our wall plugs for drafts. Apparently in his house (which was built by the same builder as ours), the wall plugs on his outside facing walls have a lot of cold air coming through them. He noticed this when he took the switch plates off to paint his hallway. He purchased foam inserts to block the draft, and says his house has been a lot warmer since.

I mentioned this in passing to DH, who rolled his eyes and commented that he didn't need another thing to do right now. I agreed and dropped the subject, figuring I'd bug him to do this eco-change later on.

Sweetie that he is, he came home with the inserts a few days ago, after checking at three different stores for them. "I didn't ask you to do that, " I said. "I know," he replied with a shrug, "but what's another item on my list?"

Turn off computer during the day (Day 85)

2010-11-09T21:34:00.000-05:00

I've gotten into the habit of turning off the computer at night, using the power bar to shut if off completely. I'm pretty proud of myself, as this was a hard change for me. DH still hasn't quite got it down yet, but he's working on it. The next challenge will be to turn of the computer during the day when I'm not using it.

Most days, I turn it on first thing in the morning, check my email and then leave it on for a couple of hours while I get the kids ready for school. I check both home and business email periodically throughout the day. The computer is shut down for the night, usually between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m.

This is a lot of wasted energy though. The computer sits idle gobbling away on electricity, while I'm off doing other things. I'm going to try to make a concerted effort to turn the computer off when I'm finished using it during the day. It will be an interesting experiment to see how often I'm actually on the computer because I need to be, not because I'm wasting time! :)

So friends, if I don't respond to you right away, my apologies. I'm off saving the planet, one email at a time.

Install timers on lights (Day 84)

2010-11-08T13:12:00.000-05:00

In keeping with the saving energy theme, DH is planning to install timers on a couple of our lights in the basement. Similar to our bathroom fans, I often don't realize the basement bathroom light has been left on by our children until several hours after they've left. I try to remember to check the basement before we all leave for school, etc., but sometimes in the morning rush, I forget. Or, I don't run all the way downstairs, just poke my head in the stairwell to see if the lights are on. (I can't see the bathroom from the stairs, so don't notice if the light is on if I don't go all the way down.) Sometimes I don't notice that the light is on until mid-afternoon, when I go downstairs to get something from the freezer for dinner.

We're working on training the kids to turn off lights when they leave a room. For the most part they are successful - I see the light on and remind them to turn it off. But the basement is out of sight, out of mind. For some reason, the kids remember to turn the basement lights off, but not the bathroom one. So DH is putting a timer on it, so if they forget to turn it off, at least it won't be on for more than 1/2 hr. There are a couple of non-essential lights that will also get timers, so again, they aren't left on for hours if I don't notice.

Eat the kids' leftovers at lunch (Day 83)

2010-11-07T10:05:00.000-05:00

I love food. I enjoy cooking and baking, and preparing meals that are, for the most part, health and nutritious. DH appreciates my efforts. My kids, not so much. DD2 tends to eat anything. DS is the meat eater of the family - I can get him to eat fruits and vegetables, but he'd prefer meat. DD1 is very finicky. I'm never sure from one day to the next whether or not she'll like what I've prepared.

This leads to a lot of half-eaten or un-eaten meals. In the past, I've tossed their leftover meals in the compost bin. But DH and I have decided this is a waste of food. So we are going to eat their unfinished meals for our lunch. I figure I already have their germs, so I'm not really being unsanitary. And most of the food is perfectly fine. I'll toss the mangled, mashed or obviously chewed bits in the compost. But the remaining untouched or lightly touched meat, veggies or bread will go in a container for the next day.

At least I know that my meals will be eaten and appreciated by someone.

"If it's yellow, let it mellow"....sort of (Day 82)

2010-11-04T11:35:00.001-04:00

In the interests of water conservation I am not flushing the toilet as much. We already have low flow toilets (6L), so we already use less water than most people when going to the bathroom.

I've read with interest on other blogs about people following the "if it's yellow, let it mellow" rule. But really, I live in a house with 5 people, one of whom we are toilet training and the other two in whom we are trying to instill basic hygiene rules. I'm not about to throw all of that hard work out the window, er.. down the toilet.

I can't justify following the rule all the time - not if I want my kids to have good hygiene. It's easy to explain to the 8 year old that she can flush the toilet at other people's houses, but not at home. I'm not so sure the 5 year old would grasp that. Other people want their toilet flushed, and I can't blame them. I definitely am not going to try it in public either. I think that's gross!

As well, I watch other people's children on occasion, and I really don't want to have a disgusting mess waiting for the parents or kids when they come over.

My variation on the rule is this - no flushing in the middle of the night, no flushing until after DH and I are ready for the day (showered, etc), and no flushing in my personal upstairs ensuite unless necessary. The kids are great with the no flushing in the middle of the night rule. DH and I are working out the early AM issues, and since I am by myself during the day, I run upstairs to my bathroom to use the facilities.

So here's to less water down the toilet, and maybe a little more water in our lakes and rivers.

Set-up compost bags in all rooms (Day 81)

2010-11-03T13:01:00.000-04:00

We have been home composters since long before composting was trendy. In fact, it's been almost 13 years since we set up our first black bin in the backyard. We put everything possible in it - food peelings, coffee grinds, tea bags, paper towels, yard waste. However, this disadvantage of home composting is that you can't add anything with meat or oils in it (like cheese, dairy or salad dressing). It doesn't compost very well, and attracts critters. In fact, we've nicknamed our resident raccoon Fat Albert, but that's another story.

You can imagine my delight when the city of Ottawa FINALLY got its act together and implemented its green bin (organics) program last year. I am now able to compost meat, dairy, oils, coffee cups, waxed paper, and lots of other stuff that was going into my garbage. I've reduced our garbage output even more, with this great addition. We still home compost our yard and garden waste, and still put regular organics in it as well, but it feels wonderful to be able to safely compost the rest as well.

I've been patting myself on the back for all of my good work, until last garbage day. DH and I usually collect the garbage from the various bathrooms and bedrooms and dump it into the black bag to go to the road. I noticed when I was collecting it, there was a lot of face tissues in the kids' rooms. DH and I have always just dumped the garbage in the bin, but I thought that in the interest of "greening" our lifestyle I should sort the face tissues and put them in the green bin. Then I thought about it - face tissues equals cold germs and who knows what other disgusting things my kids may have been doing with them. There was NO WAY I was going to handle them again.

I went out and bought the small kitchen compost bags to set-up in each room of the house, beside the garbage. The idea will be to get DH and the kids to put perfectly good items in the compost instead of the garbage. Once they get into the habit of separating these things out, I'll put a more permanent style of bin in place.

Greener birthday party (Day 80)

2010-10-30T11:02:00.000-04:00

DD2 is having her "friends" birthday party today. In an effort to "green" the process, I have implemented the following: no paper plates, cups or napkins; no plastic cutlery; no disposable party decorations. Her party is starting to sound kind of boring! :)

However, I have also added: a party at my house, including a camping theme (tent, sleeping bags and sleep over!); a craft using a lot of natural materials (build your own campfire - using twigs, stones, sand, recycled CDs, glue and tissue paper); no plastic loot bags - instead they are getting bandannas with flashlights, glow sticks, granola bars and a craft kit. The craft kit, flashlights and granola bars have plastic or plastic packaging, but it's hard to get away from it.

The girls will be able to party with games, puzzles and our karaoke machine; we'll also be playing some outdoor games (weather permitting), including flashlight tag and name that star.

Breakfast will be homemade pancakes and bacon.

Not a perfectly green party, but I don't think it's too bad.

Buy environmentally friendly kid shampoo (Day 79)

2010-10-27T14:29:00.000-04:00

Another change in our use of cosmetics/hygiene products. I've purchased an eco-friendly, body-friendly shampoo for my children. The particular brand I purchased (Green Beaver) is not listed in EWG's cosmetics database (www.cosmeticsdatabase.com). Interestingly, the other brands I had in mind ALL scored 4 or more on the nasty scale in the database. A couple of them scored 7 or 8!

I've reviewed the ingredients list on my purchase to the best of my ability - no parabens, phthalates, SLS, fragrance, nor is it tested on animals. It's not easy on the pocketbook, though. This shampoo was the same price for a small 250 g bottle as a 2L bottlle of my regular 'scores "5" on the scale' shampoo from Costco.

A quick look at the Green Beaver company website (www.greenbeaver.com) and a quick perusal of other "green" blogs, indicates that I've made a good choice with this shampoo. I will admit though, if I can find a "2" or "3" scale shampoo that is more cost effective, I am going to make the switch.

Turn off tap while hand washing (Day 78)

2010-10-26T10:19:00.001-04:00

I feel a little silly posting about this subject today. After all, the reduction I have made in water usage is minor. I've stopped running water while washing my hands. My family is in the habit of turning off the tap while brushing our teeth, but for some reason, we let the water run while soaping up and rubbing our hands. So I'm turning on the water a bit, wet my hands, turn the water off, soap up, wash, and then turn the tap back on to rinse.

I'm not sure how much this reduces my impact, but according to BC Hydro (http://www.bchydro.com/guides_tips/green-your-home/water_guide/Save_water_in_the_bathroom.html), I can save up to $55 a year by shutting off the water while teeth brushing, shaving and washing hands. Many of the other sites I've researched (Environment Canada, a British water consumption site, the EPA, etc.) suggest between 4-6 L of water per day is saved by turning off the tap while you brush your teeth. I have to assume the same holds true for turning off the tap while hand washing. Not much for just me, but every little bit counts.

The real water savings will come if I can get the kids to embrace this habit, as well.

Borrow Hallowe'en costumes (Day 77)

2010-10-24T15:47:00.000-04:00

Well, the big day arrives in one week, and a slow panic is starting to set in about costumes. All of the kids know what they want to be, but it's up to me to provide them with the costumes. I tried suggesting costumes we already had in our dress-up bin; of course, no one wanted them.

I told the kids that I wouldn't buy them costumes this year, they had to wear ones we already had, or we had to see if we could borrow them from friends. Fortunately for us, a good friend down the street has kids that love to dress-up and have all of the articles we need for two of our three costumes. DD1 is going as a pirate a la Jack Sparrow, and DS is Indiana Jones, courtesy of our neighbours. DD2 wants to be a ghost - a little more problematic as she is only three, and I don't want to cover her with a sheet. (Actually, I'm not even sure she'd wear one). I decided that white pants and a white shirt will suffice, and I'll paint her face white, too. I have the shirt and the face paint, I just need to find a pair of pants. I've put the word out to several friends, and I hope that pants will materialize before the weekend.

The face paint is not eco-friendly - it's stage make-up, so I shudder to think what might be in it. However, I won't be using too much, it won't be on that long, and I am not going out to buy new make-up for one night.

Any suggestions for inexpensive environmentally-friendly Hallowe'en goodies?

Not renew newspaper subscription (Day 76)

2010-10-22T10:34:00.000-04:00

This eco-change makes me a little sad. I like my morning paper. It's the one time in the day that I get to sit, drink my coffee, and see what is going on in the world, in-between getting breakfast for the kids, feeding the dog, nagging the kids, emptying the dishwasher, cleaning up breakfast......

Who am I kidding? I don't really have time to read the paper. I more or less skim the headlines in the front section, and save the rest of the paper for later in the day, if I have a quiet moment (which sometimes does happen). But I like the idea the paper. As mentioned in previous posts, I am a tactile person. I like holding onto something when I read it. I like having in-depth analysis of the latest news, not to mention the specialty sections of food, lifestyles and comics!

On the weekends, DH and I spend at least an hour reading the paper in the morning. This leads to bumped heads, yelling and various other forms of communication with our offspring, because we are engrossed in the paper, and not paying attention to them.

So, in an effort to green my lifestyle, save money and improve my relationship with my children, I am not renewing our subscription. I have access to a full online version through our library, so I can sit at the computer during quiet moments and read about the previous day's events.

I'm sad that I'm putting our carrier a little more out of work (we are one of a handful of people on the street who get the paper), but I'm hoping that the trees, energy and fossil fuels I am saving will offset my conscience.

Join Project Feederwatch (Day 75)

2010-10-19T20:53:00.000-04:00

One of the other things I enjoy is birdwatching. I love watching the birds flit amongst the trees, and help themselves to the seed heads in the garden. It's amusing to watch them fight among themselves to see who gets first access to freshly-filled bird feeders. I like keeping track of the types of birds I have seen in my backyard, and use an online tool to keep track. Observing backyard birds runs in the family - my grandmother used to keep binoculars and her bird book by her back door, in the event that she needed to quickly verify an observation.

I recently ran across a reference to a feeder watching project, designed to help scientists track and monitor winter bird populations. Called "Project Feederwatch", the Canadian version is a project of Bird Studies Canada, in association with Cornell University (http://www.bsc-eoc.org/volunteer/pfw/index.jsp?targetpg=pfwmore&lang=EN). Bird populations are a great indicator of environmental health, and winter bird studies allow scientists to monitor introduced species (such as the European Starling) and their effects on native bird populations, as well as get some indication of migratory patterns of birds that summer in the far North, out of reach of many scientific observations. These studies are then used to help governments and industry shape conservation policies.

It's amazing what a pair of binoculars can do.

Install timers for fans (Day 74)

2010-10-18T21:48:00.000-04:00

"What's in the bag, Daddy?" asked DD1. "A blog entry for Mummy," he replied.

Sure enough, DH had gone out and bought me something I'd been wanting for a while - timers for our bathroom fans. I know, it sounds kind of hokey. But truthfully, I'm getting tired of running around shutting off bathroom fans after everyone, sometimes hours after they have been turned on. The electricity we've been wasting makes me cringe.

My brother-in-law installed one in his main bathroom, and I love it. I like being able to choose how long the fan needs to run and having it shut off without me having to remember to do it. His house is a bungalow, so it's not to hard to hear the fans running. But our house is two stories, plus a basement, and has bathroom fans on all three floors. I often don't realize that the kids have turned on a fan until long after it's happened.

I'd been hinting for a while that I wanted some for our house, and DH finally caved in to the pressure. He installed them this weekend. I love that I can turn on a fan for a short or long period of time, and don't have to remember to turn it off. I love that the kids can do the same.

Now, if I could just teach them to turn off the lights.....

Start "greening" my wardrobe (Day 73)

2010-10-18T15:33:00.000-04:00

Another area of my life that needs a major overhaul is my choice of clothing. I'm very eco-friendly, in that I haven't really bought any new clothes in the past years. However, the few items I have purchased were all purchased new, out of petroleum or fertilizer intensive materials.

I've decided to start with baby steps, as in all things, and work my way up to all "green" clothing choices. I started this weekend by buying socks. Now buying new socks isn't eco-friendly, but quite honestly, I shudder to think of buying someone else's used personal articles of clothing. My new socks are not made of cotton. They are made of rayon, derived 75% from bamboo. I thought this was a terrific, eco-friendly choice, until I did a little research at home.

Bamboo should be a better source of fabric than regular cotton. According to Treehugger, "Bamboo's eco-friendly positioning in the market has been centered on its properties as 1) a natural (that is, non synthetic) fiber, 2) a quick-growth plant (it's in the grass family) that sequesters greenhouse gases, and 3) a renewable plant that can grow back after its three to five year harvesting period. It largely doesn't need chemicals, pesticides, or fertilizers, but studies show that clearing land to grow it in monocultures can adversely affect the soil and habitat of an area."

Therein lies the problem with bamboo. It all depends on who is cultivating it, and ultimately, manufacturing it into clothing. I think the company that made my socks are probably on the "not sustainable list" - there is no mention on their website of where or how they source their bamboo for their socks.

However, I have to believe that my purchase must be slightly better for the environment than regular, pesticide and fertilizer intensive cotton.

Hang linens to dry (Day 72)

2010-10-14T12:11:00.000-04:00

We live in a two story house, with an open stairwell from the second to the first floor. I often hang quilts, blankets and mattress covers from the railing to finish drying, if they are still damp when I take them out of the dryer. But it never occurred to me to just hang stuff to dry off of the railing until I was talking to my neighbour a few weeks ago.

She hangs all of her linens to dry off the railing. Like me, she has a front load washer, which takes most of the moisture out of the items during the spin cycle. Since she doesn't have to worry about water dripping all over the floor, she hangs her blankets, sheets, etc. on the railing and lets them air dry - she doesn't bother with the dryer in the first place.

She saves energy from the dryer and her things still dry within a day or two. It sounds great to me - I am going to emulate this. All sheets and blankets will hang from the railing from now on.

Plant more native species (Day 71)

2010-10-13T09:45:00.000-04:00

Fall clean-up time is here for my garden. Time to cut back perennials, compost all the dead branches or stems, and clean up the vegetable garden. It's also a great time of year to plant perennials. By planting in the fall, transplants can have a head start on establishing their roots systems before winter, and then use the warm weather of spring to grow.

We've had a couple of frosts here in Ottawa, so I am getting toward the end of the acceptable transplanting season. However, I plan to move a few things around in one of my beds to accommodate more native species. I have a butterfly garden in my back yard which has become desperately overgrown. I would like to change this bed to a true pollinator garden (attracting bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, flies). Our native pollinators, especially bees, are in decline. By planting native species, I can help attract native pollinators to our area, and hopefully, establish good habitat for them. Check out the Canadian Pollination Initiative (http://www.uoguelph.ca/canpolin/index.html) for scientific work being done on this issue.

Buy only recycled plastic black bags (Day 70)

2010-10-12T21:35:00.000-04:00

Apparently biodegradable bags have caused my readers some anxiety. I've had several people comment (both publicly and privately) about the cons of using these "so-called friendly products" (to quote one observer).

I'm due to purchase regular black garbage bags, so am going to follow one reader's suggestion of purchasing ones that contain the most recycled plastic I can find. I've been reading David Suzuki's book "Going Green", and in it he states that we need to follow through on purchasing recycled products, to encourage the whole recycling process. It's not going to breakdown in the landfill, but by making this purchase, I am encouraging companies and cities to invest in plastics recycling programs.

Send out only electronic invitations (Day 69)

2010-10-12T21:26:00.000-04:00

DD1 had a birthday a couple of weeks ago. Family came over and we had a great time. Now it's time for the "friends" birthday. Traditionally, I would hand write the invitation and then have DD1 deliver them at school, or I would pop them in mail.

This year, in light of us trying to green our lifestyle, I am going to send out electronic invitations for her birthday party. I don't find them as socially acceptable for this kind of thing, but I am hoping that the invitees will understand the reasons behind it.

Buy biodegradable kitchen bags (Day 68)

2010-10-08T11:13:00.001-04:00

We don't use plastic garbage bags as a general rule. We use a big black one for the outdoor garbage bin, and a smaller white one to collect kitchen garbage.

I was in Shopper's Drug Mart the other day, looking for kitchen garbage bags, and noticed that they sell biodegradable plastic bags. The size isn't quite the right one (the compostable ones are a bit smaller than I need) but I bought some to try out. They are also very expensive for the amount you get.

Today I was in Dollarama looking for something, and noticed they carry biodegradable bags, too - the same amount for $1.50. Much more reasonable.

If the Shopper's ones work out, I'm going to try the Dollarama ones next. Readers - do you have any experience with the biodegradable plastic bags?

Spray shower with hydrogen peroxide (Day 67)

2010-10-07T10:21:00.001-04:00

The same article from Canadian Living suggests spraying hydrogen peroxide on the ceiling of the shower to prevent mould and mildew build-up. We have a terrible problem with mould - it has set into the grout and is really hard to get clean. I like the idea of preventing mould to begin with. Our solutions in the past have been leaving the fan running, and keeping the shower door open to let the moisture evaporate out, but it doesn't seem to prevent the mould from growing.

I like the peroxide idea, and am going to spray the shower with it after I clean it.

Clean my shower with vinegar (Day 66)

2010-10-07T10:18:00.000-04:00

I just realized that I still have toxic cleaning chemicals in my house. I was gathering my cleaning supplies together to do the bathrooms, and noticed that I still have Tilex in my supply caddy. Tilex is filled with all kinds of nasties. The fumes are so bad I can't use it - I have DH spray down the tile shower and rinse it clean. I can't be in the bathroom at all for HOURS after he sprays the shower.

I was reading an older issue (April 2010) of Canadian Living on the train this weekend. There was an article in it on spring cleaning using non-toxic alternatives. In it was the suggestion to use plain white vinegar, warmed in the microwave, to clean soap scum and dirt. According to the article, I should spray it on, leave for 5 minutes and then rinse.

I guess this means that cleaning the shower is my chore from now on.

Re-use dog items (Day 65)

2010-10-04T15:56:00.000-04:00

With Molly's arrival, we've dusted off our old doggie items for her use. We borrowed a puppy crate from said friends in Burlington for Molly's trip home. DH cleaned our large dog crate this weekend for her to use in the house. Leashes, collars, bowls, eating stand, scoop bags, scooper, and dog food storage container all came out of the basement, were cleaned and are now being used.

The only new things we've bought for her have been chew toys.

Have someone else pick up our puppy (Day 64)

2010-10-04T15:45:00.000-04:00

Yes - we did it. We bought a puppy.

Our lives have been dog-less for a little over a year now. When Tanner passed away, we weren't ready for another pet commitment. But as the year has passed, we began missing having canine companionship. After much deliberation, we decided to once again venture into dog ownership. We are now the proud owners of Molly, an apricot-coloured Goldendoodle.

The problem with Molly was that she lived in Hamilton. We live in Ottawa. We would have to travel to pick her up. We made plans with the breeder to come down a certain weekend, and then made arrangements with a friend that lives in Burlington (about 15 mins away) to stay with them for the weekend, combining dog purchasing with a visit with friends.

Then my parents mentioned that they were travelling to Toronto that week, and would we like them to pick up Molly? She was an hour away from where they were staying, so it wasn't too far out of their way to get her. It saved us from having to make the trip, especially since they were already going to be in the area. We accepted their offer of transportation.

We didn't get a chance to visit with our friends, but we still brought Molly into our lives. It's been two weeks since her arrival, and it is like she's been with us always.

Turn off heat dry on dishwasher (Day 63)

2010-09-30T10:11:00.001-04:00

In addition to running my dishwasher at night, I am also going to turn off the heat dry function. It's unfortunate that I am doing this, because I have a crappy dishwasher and it doesn't dry dishes completely even with the heat dry on. So now I will have very wet dishes to air or hand dry when I unload the dishes. I guess this is the price I have to pay for going "green" with my dishwasher.

Run my dishwasher at night (Day 62)

2010-09-30T10:09:00.001-04:00

A family of five goes through a lot of dishes. I run the dishwasher at least once a day, sometimes more, especially if I'm on a cooking or baking rampage. With the cost of hydro and water continuously going up, it's getting more expensive to run our dishwasher during the day.

Although we don't have the Peak Saver program yet in Ottawa, it is expected to roll out this coming year (by the end of 2011). This means that I need to start getting into the habit of doing things that require a lot of electricity and/or hot water at night and on weekends, when the costs for both of these is at its lowest.

To start, I am going to start running the dishwasher at night. My dishwasher has a delay function, so I can set it for 2, 4, or 8 hours. This means I can fill up the dishwasher with the supper dishes, and put it on for after 9 p.m. (when Peak Saver rates apply). Hopefully, by the time Hydro Ottawa gets around to charging for peak/off-peak rates, I'll be in the habit of dish washing at night.

Make lunch or dinner vegetarian (Day 61)

2010-09-28T11:04:00.000-04:00

We eat a lot of meat. Most of our lunches and dinners consist of some form of meat (usually chicken or pork), a starch (potatoes or rice) and at least one vegetable. However, the livestock production industry has a serious effect on the environment. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, livestock production is the biggest producer of greenhouse gases and the biggest cause of biodiversity loss, globally (ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a0701e/a0701e07.pdf).

I`m going to help lessen our environmental impact by making sure that either lunch or dinner is vegetarian each day. That means if we have meat at lunch, we have a vegetarian meal for dinner.

It will take my family some time to get used to this - Ì`ll need to dust off my recipe books and start experimenting with different protein sources such as tofu, tempeh, lentils and beans. Hopefully, I can find meals we will all enjoy.

Month Two Update

2010-09-26T21:37:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that 60 days have passed since I started this challenge. So many changes, some big, some small. Most have made it to the 60 day mark. A few I had to give up soon after starting.

The biggest challenge I've had is trying to make changes that will fit with our lifestyle. We live in the suburbs, in a very "car-oriented" community. Nothing is really walking distance from our house, although there is supposed to be a grocery store, bank, coffee shop, beer store and a couple of restaurants going into an area in the our corner of the subdivision. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to start walking to pick up milk or a bottle of wine soon.

Here are the changes I've had to either a) give-up completely or b) re-work into something a little more sustainable for my family:

- environmentally friendly ant removal. This just didn't work for us, and we finally resorted to ant poison to get rid of the infestation

- organic face moisturizer. I couldn't stand using this particular product after about two weeks. I've been trying several other types, but can't find one I really like. I've switched back to my "old" one - it only registered a 4 on the Skin Deep Database, so it really wasn't that bad. This way, I don't have a tonne of pimples or clogged pores anymore

- baths for kids. This is a hit or miss proposition - it depends on what time it is, who is in charge of bath time, and how dirty the kids are. We're hitting about 50% showers and 50% baths, so this is a definite improvement on water and electricity consumption.

- not using Google. I've been pretty good about using GoodSearch for most of my Internet searching, but have used Google a few times when the GS results don't seem to be quite right.

-making my own liquid hand soap. This was a bust. I guess I'm just too used to the cream soap, and couldn't find a consistency when making my own that didn't send water flying everywhere, or cause us to waste half the soap when we pressed the dispenser. I bought some triclosan-free cream soap (again an improvement), but then decided just to use the dish soap I really like as hand soap. I'll use up the cream variety and then will switch over to the dish soap.

-buy only Canadian juice. This has not been going well, because I really don't like apple juice. The kids love it, so I buy it for them. For DH and I, though, I've been buying orange juice. The label states "100% Florida orange juice" and "Made in the USA", so I am hopeful that I am at least buying a juice that is grown and produced in North America.

Carpool whenever possible (Day 60)

2010-09-20T13:54:00.000-04:00

My children lead very busy and happy lives. DD1 is involved in martial arts and Brownies. DS attends Beavers. DD2 is starting nursery school. These activities, combined with regular school programming, results in very busy lives after hours. I attend several planning meetings a month, plus the regular weekly meetings for the Scouting/Guiding program. The martial arts program runs three times per week. DD1 has also decided she would like to start track and field, which is a before-school program.

I have come to the conclusion that I am going to be spending an awful lot of time on the road. So I am going to seek out like-minded parents in my neighbourhood to see if they would like to share the driving commitments. Two girls in our subdivision attend DD1s Brownie troop, so I am going to ask the mums if they would like to share the driving. One of Brownies has a little brother that will be in the same Beaver unit as DS. So I will ask that mum to share driving to that activity. I haven't found anyone yet attending the martial arts program, but I am going to keep looking. As for the nursery school meetings, I am hopeful that I can share a ride with one of the staff who lives in the subdivision across the street from ours. DH is going to drop DD1 at the school for track and field, on his way to work.

I am hopeful that this new plan will free up more of my time and let me put my feet up once in a while.

Buy an eco-friendly yoga mat (Day 59)

2010-09-20T13:41:00.000-04:00

I've decided that I need to improve my fitness. I've done yoga in the past and have loved it. But with three kids busy with activities and school, and DH taking guitar lessons, my evenings and weekends are busy. I have been unsuccessful finding yoga during the day with the city, so have finally resorted to paying for a session at a local studio.

I was all set to attend my first class this week. But I couldn't find my mat. After about 15 mins of searching, it dawned on me. The mat was my mother's, and I had borrowed it from her. I must have returned it to her at some point over the summer. Since she is attending the class with me, I was going to have to get my own mat.

Yoga mats are not something I'm comfortable obtaining second hand, so I opted to buy an environmentally friendly one. It's made from Polymer Environmental Resin (PER), a material that is biodegradable and non-toxic. It doesn't contain any latex, heavy metals, phthalates, or phenols, and doesn't have that "yoga mat" smell from the off-gassing of chemicals.

Now I'm ready to attend this week's class, and hopefully bring a peaceful state to my mind.

Yikes!

2010-09-20T13:33:00.000-04:00

Wow! You can tell that school is back and all of our activities have ramped up full force. Combine this two birthday parties for my girls within a week of each other, obtaining a couple of shifts at the library, out of town guests and a baby shower, and all of a sudden my week disappeared!

My apologies for not posting anything for the last 5 days. I'll try and get caught up.....

Not buying any more DVDs (Day 58)

2010-09-15T21:49:00.000-04:00

Our kids have lots of stuff. Books, toys, clothes, games and movies. The movies are especially plentiful, because we travel a lot to my in-laws (over 8 hours away) and movies help pass the time. In fact, I think I'd cry if our portable DVD player ever broke.

But the kids don't really watch all the movies they have. There are favourites that get played over and over again. In fact, I think I could recite all three High School Musical movies from memory if I put my mind to it. The rest are just collecting dust in our cupboard.

So in any effort to lessen our environmental impact, I'm not going to buy them movies any more. I'll borrow movies from the library, or rent them from the local movie store. The same for grown-up movies. All can be had from either the library or the local movie store, so I am not going to buy any for us either.

Buy only RFA-certified black tea (Day 57)

2010-09-15T21:25:00.000-04:00

I seem to be on a RFA-certified kick these days. I can't help but think about all the environmental damage my vices are doing to the environment. I've decided that if I must indulge, at least I'll try having a clear conscience.

This brings me to tea. I'm a bit of a tea granny. I need coffee in the morning to wake up, but the rest of the day I usually drink tea. Herbal, green and black, my choice depends on the time of day and what I"m using it for.

I needed to replenish my orange pekoe supply, so I picked some up at the grocery store. And there it was - RFA-certified black tea. I didn't even know that this existed. Not only did it exist, but it was my favourite brand as well. And it didn't seem to cost any more than the brand had before.

For those interested, here is the link to the Rainforest Alliance's tea certification program (http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/agriculture.cfm?id=tea). I'm excited that I can drink my tea and help the environment.

I'm going to see if I can find RFA certified green tea on my next visit.

Buy only RFA certified flowers (Day 56)

2010-09-14T09:41:00.000-04:00

DH is a sweetie. He gave me roses yesterday.

Surfing Vanessa's blog last night, I noticed an entry on her list that mentioned buying only flowers that were organic and sustainably grown. I had noticed the Rainforest Alliance Certified symbol on the flowers that DH had brought home (whew!), but hadn't really paid much attention to it, other than to think it was neat.

It turns out that farming cut flowers is a hugely intensive agricultural process using many pesticides and often exploiting the workers who grow and pick them. Check out this article on GreenPlanet that briefly explains how horrible this industry really is. (http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/flowers-valentine-flamingos-exploit.html)

I then checked the Rainforest Alliance site to see what they had to say about cut flowers (http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/agriculture.cfm?id=ferns_flowers).

After reading these two articles, I'm more convinced than ever to green my footprint. Any cut flowers bring into the house will have to be RFA certified. I won't have it any other way.

Re: Calculate my carbon footprint

2010-09-12T23:15:00.000-04:00

I made a mistake when I published my carbon footprint information. The 12.7 our family scored did NOT include DH's daily drive to work. Add his commute to our calculations, and our numbers jumped to 21.5.

We really need to find DH a job closer to home or on a decent bus route.

Drive the speed limit (Day 55)

2010-09-12T23:12:00.000-04:00

Keeping with the theme of "greening" my driving, I am also going to start keeping the speed limit. I'm not a speed demon, but I do tend to drive about 10 km/h over the limit.

According to the Eco Driver, "For every 10 km/h you go over 100, fuel efficiency drops by 10%. Driving 120 on the highway instead of 100 is like paying 20% extra for gas." (www.ecodriver.org) Yikes! With the cost of gas over $1/L, I don't need to pay an extra $0.20 or more per litre for a tank of gas.

Now to convince DH to do the same thing....

Use cruise control whenever possible (Day 54)

2010-09-12T23:06:00.001-04:00

Our Honda Civic is a great little car. Fuel efficient, handles well, and has lots of trunk space.

Our minivan, however, is not exactly fuel-efficient. It has a V6 engine, and seats 7 comfortably. It handles like a tank. It is also the vehicle I drive the most, since DH has to commute to work by car.

According to the Eco Driver website (http://www.ecodriver.org/), "about 13% of Canada's carbon dioxide emissions are due to cars and light trucks on our roads. The average car emits one tonne of carbon dioxide every 5,000 kilometres and for those of us who drive, about half our personal greenhouse gas emissions come from driving......Reducing fuel consumption by just ten tanks a year can save you hundreds of dollars, and reduce your personal CO2 emissions by almost a tonne."

By maintaining a steady speed using cruise control, I can be 10-15% more fuel efficient. So I plan to use the cruise feature on the van whenever possible.

Note to my readers: NEVER use cruise control when driving in the rain or on wet roads. The vehicle can hydroplane, potentially causing a serious accident.

Banning all Styrofoam (Day 53)

2010-09-10T22:27:00.001-04:00

I'm not sure if this change will be sustainable.

As a general rule, we don't use Styrofoam products in our house (e.g. bowls, cups). Our biggest consumption of Styrofoam is in packaging for kids' toys and in the meat products we consume. I don't really have a lot of control over how much Styrofoam is in the packaging, but I will endeavour to buy things that don't contain it.

The biggest issue for us will be meat packages. I buy almost all of our meat at the grocery story or Costco. Both places sell pre-packaged meat, in Styrofoam containers. Banning Styrofoam in the house means one of two things: 1) either reducing the amount of meat we consume or 2) changing the way I purchase meat.

Instead of buying meat in pre-packaged containers, I will now have to go to the butcher counter and have my meat wrapped in butcher paper, or actually frequent a specialty shop. The problem with the later is that there isn't a good butcher near where I live. So I would have to drive about 15 minutes away (burning fossil fuels) and make an extra trip, in order to avoid the Styrofoam issue.

I can try the butcher counter at the grocery store, but based on my past experiences, they don't offer the greatest selection of product. I will, in the coming months, attempt to reduce our meat consumption altogether, but for now I still have to tackle this problem.

So which is worse - Styrofoam or fossil fuels? There is no easy answer to this one, but for now I'll say Styrofoam, and go check out the butcher shop.

Calculate my carbon footprint (Day 52)

2010-09-09T21:37:00.001-04:00

I found the neatest website yesterday, while checking out the "Cleaning the Capital" section of our city's website. It turns out that the City of Ottawa is even more proactive that I give it credit for. It has teamed up with a company call Zerofootprint Inc., to create a personal carbon footprint calculator. This calculator allows the individual or household to "accurately calculate your carbon footprint and will provide you with tips on how to reduce it. It will connect you to communities of like-minded people in your workplace, your neighbourhood, or around the world." (http://www.ottawa.zerofootprint.net/calculators/ottawa)

Of course, I had to try it out. You can compare your carbon footprint to the average person in your city (i.e Ottawa) or in Canada. My footprint is 12.7 tonnes of CO2 produced per year. I thought that was pretty good, considering that there are 5 people in my house, and DH had a 45 minute commute (by car) each way to work. (The calculator takes your household consumption and divides by the number of persons in the house.) [Note to my readers: DH does not have ready access to public transportation near his workplace.]

However, when I compare myself to the average Canadian citizen, the results aren't so great. The average Canadian citizen uses 9.8 tonnes, while the average person in Ottawa uses 9.9 tonnes.

Clearly, I still have a ways to go to lessen my environmental impact.

Help Clean the Capital (Day 51)

2010-09-08T21:41:00.000-04:00

For the next month, the City of Ottawa is sponsoring "Fall Cleaning in the Capital". (http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/environment/community/capitalcleaning/index_en.html ) This event runs from September 15 to October 15. The idea is to have teams of volunteers pick a public space and clean it up - throw out the garbage, recycle or compost as appropriate. 87, 409 people participated in the program in 2009 (both spring and fall campaigns), and the city is aiming to surpass last year's record.

I've decided to do my own little part, by picking up litter whenever or wherever I see it. I won't be joining a team and doing a one-time cleaning blitz of one area. I plan to make this a year-long endeavour, in any location I happen to be. It's a small simple step, leading to a cleaner living space for everyone.