A Greener Life

While at the Green Living Show on Sunday (I got in free for participating in the Earth Run - finished in less than half an hour - and only bought organic shampoo and conditioner, which I was almost out of), I was approached by a young man of about nine. He wanted me to take the pledge, to take the pledge not to idle. I’ve already taken the pledge (not officially or anything), but I promised him I would pass it along. So I am.

He was from DADA - Dads Against Dirty Air - a grassroots group based in nearby Halton Region. The group hands out pledge cards asking people to pledge to stop idling and then pass the card on. By not idling you can help the earth and save money on fuel costs. At train crossings I turn off my engine and I never use drive-thrus (going in can be faster many times anyway!). For a lot of people driving is an inevitable fact of life, but doing it as efficiently as possible can lessen the guilt.

A few idling myths:

• Contrary to popular belief, idling is not an effective way to warm up a vehicle, even in cold weather. The best way to do this is to drive the vehicle. Driving a vehicle cuts warm-up times in half.
• Another common misconception is that it’s better to let an engine idle rather than to continually shut off and restart the vehicle. Component wear caused by restarting is estimated to add $10 per year to the cost of driving - this is money that can be recovered several times over in fuel savings from not idling.

Idling Facts

• Excessive idling wastes more than $100 a year per vehicle, and generates needless greenhouse gas emissions.
• Idling produces more emissions per minute than driving.

Idling Rule of Thumb

If you are going to be parked for more than 10 seconds, turn off the engine. Ten seconds of idling can use more fuel than turning off the engine and restarting it.

It’s that time of year again. When the City of Toronto collects your old cell phones, computers and leftover paint. In return they’ll give you free leaf compost, water efficiency tools and a warm fuzzy feeling that you’ve done a good thing for the environment. The Days run from April to September at wards around the city, click here for your local day and location. The event helps you get rid of all kinds of stuff you don’t need anymore:

• cell phones, computers, monitors, printers and fax machines are properly recycled.
• art supplies such as pencils, markers, crayons, yarn and fabric, as well as used buttons, costume jewelry and dress-up clothing, which will be donated to ArtsJunktion - a TDSB warehouse for teachers.
• household hazardous waste such as leftover cleaning supplies and solvents, motor oil, paint, old and unused medication, mercury thermometers/thermostats and pesticides are recycled or disposed of safely.
• used tires (off the rim, limit of five)

The Community Environment Days are a great way to get rid of the things you don’t know what to do with, but you have a strong feeling throwing them away with the trash is bad.

***Watch out for idling lineups to drop off your items though. I’ve heard - and experienced - a lineup of dozens of cars idling for 10 or 20 minutes to get to the site to drop off their items. It’s hardly enviro friendly to spew CO2 emissions into the atmosphere before properly disposing of your items - even if that’s the way the event was designed.***

It’s time for the third annual Green Living Show April 24-26. I love the Green Living Show. I really do.  I love it’s main stage with experts who can help educate people on living a more sustainable life. I love it’s food market that showcases organic and local food. I love the Planet in Focus film screenings, the cooking stage, and the aisles after aisles of green clothing, cleaning products and countless other items.

BUT, I have a pet peeve about the Green Living Show (and every other green consumer show). It kinda glosses over the greenest fact of all: not buying stuff!

Yes, it is better to buy environmentally friendly cleaners rather than ones with skulls on the bottle and harsh chemicals inside. Yes, it is better to buy bamboo or organic cotton clothing rather than traditional fabrics (bamboo is fast growing and isn’t treated with chemicals while traditional cotton is one of the most treated plants on the planet - bad for workers and the earth). Yes, it is better to buy free trade organic chocolate rather than a Hershey bar. BUT if you don’t need cleaners, clothing or chocolate (who am I kidding, everyone needs chocolate) than buying the enviro alternative is still bad because it still takes energy to produce, fossil fuel to transport and it still has an impact on our world.

So go to the show (preferably by public transit or bike) and absorb lots of new green facts, but think before you buy - it’s the greenest thing you can do.

Did you do something nice for the Earth yesterday in honour of Earth Day? No?!? Well, here’s your chance to redeem yourself. The 20-Minute Toronto Makeover is happening tomorrow - Friday, April 24. At 2 p.m. people are asked to take a break, go outside and spend 20 minutes cleaning up around their neighbourhood, school, workplace or local park. It’s amazing the difference a few hands can make in 20 minutes.

And if that wasn’t enough there are several community clean-ups taking place across the city this weekend, including at North Bendale Junior Public School and Dentonia Park on Saturday.

In honour of Earth Day (April 22!!!), here is a list of 10 things you can do to be greener. From Live Green Toronto with a few extra suggestions.

• Bike, walk, take transit
• Use energy efficient light bulbs
• Adjust your thermostat (up a few degrees in summer and down a few in the winter)
• Turn off lights, TVs and computers when not in use
• Use energy efficient appliances
• Reduce, reuse and recycle (in that order- reduce is best!)
• Conserve water – do you really need to run the tap while brushing your teeth???
• Plant a tree – a nice native species like maple maybe
• Eat locally grown food – there’s nothing closer than herbs or vegetables from your own garden.
• Consume wisely – think before you buy and if you really need something look for a greener version (organic cotton for clothing or rechargeable batteries).

I’ve added a new obsession interest to my roster: no longer content to just improve the environment, I’ve begun to improve myself. It’s a side effect of making friends with the only person I’ve ever met in real life who has run a marathon. After meeting someone who enjoyed running eight miles in Egypt under the glare of the hot desert sun and penetrating stares, the 1.5 miles I did on the treadmill just didn’t seem enough for me to make the claim that I was “active.” So I began to run. And run and run. And now I have a reason for all my running training: the Earth Run.

Coupled with the Green Living Show for the first time, the Toronto Earth Run is a 5k along the lake on April 29. So if you’re a active person who wants to show your support for the environment sign up today: you get free admission to the Green Living Show (which is sure to be lots of fun when you’re sweaty and sore).

The people who brought us Earth Hour are now holding a contest for children aged six to 14. Through its My Future, My Climate Postcard Contest, WWF-Canada invites young people to create a postcard that includes artwork showing their solution to climate change, a short message about their participation in Earth Hour, and a personal appeal for action. After the contest the postcards will be delivered to the House of Commons in Ottawa so our politicians will know our young people are serious about climate change.

The winner in each of the three age categories will win a bike - one of the most sustainable modes of transportation available. For full details about the contest, visit wwf.ca/mypostcard

received an interesting e-mail from Cathy’s Crawly Composters yesterday with an Earth Day trivia test (mark your calendars, Earth Day is April 22). Some of the questions even stumped me. Rather than try to stump my readers (hello out there…), I’ll share them as interesting facts.

• Recycling 77 per cent of its paper, the Netherlands is the top paper recycler in the world.
• A whopping 75,000 trees are used each week to print the Sunday edition of the New York Times (We recently adjusted our newspapers and will now save an equivalent of 5,886 trees in a year) .
• Every ton of recycled paper saves about 17 trees.
• Recycling paper uses 60 per cent less energy than manufacturing virgin timber paper. (So it doesn’t just save trees!)