Change the World Wednesday Challenge - How recycled is your stuff?

Hello to all.

It's wednesday again and time for another Small Footprints "Change the World Wednesday Challenge" for you :

For this week's challenge:

Each time you shop for a non-food item, look to see whether a recycled version is available. If feasible, buy the recycled version. If there isn't one, but it's a category such as paper where you know recycled versions exist, ask the store to start carrying a recycled version.

OR

If you already buy recycled items regularly (or cannot afford to do so at all) then write a blog post about products made from reclaimed materials.

Now I have to say we do the best we can. We already buy recycled paper towels, toilet paper and tissues (when we can cause not everywhere has them!) but besides that, I'm more about buying the recyclable things than the recycled thing.

So I'm up for the challenge!

Over the next week, I'll be making a list of al the stuff I buy that I find that is made from recycled materials and post them next tuedsday!

Hope you'll jump in... What is some of your favourite recycled stuff?

Blog Action Day 2009 - Understanding food miles and their impact on the environment

The main reason why my husband and I have been doing the 100-mile challenge was to not only have a better understanding of where our food comes from and to put a face on who feeds us, but it was also to diminish our impact on the environment by becoming more locally fed and reducing our carbon footprint on the world.


Food miles, by definition, are the distance our food travels from point of production to point of consumption. It is also important to not only understand the numbers behind the food we eat, but the environmental impact of it getting to our table.


In order to supply the increasing demands in exotic and off season foods, producers today have to import their foods from further and further away. Unfortunately, this increase in imported foods along with the centralization of distribution have made distances they travel a great concern due to their environmental impacts.


Although not all food miles are the same (taking under consideration the type of transportation used, the amount of food carried by one food carrier and the type of fossil fuel used in the transport), it is important to understand these impacts.

According to WWF Canada’s new Localicious event going on from October 2 to October 18, it is important to understand what local and sustainable foods are and what impact they have on lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.


“When food is transported over long distances - especially if by planes or trucks that burn fossil fuel energy - it contributes to global warming and pollution. Consider that the average food product travels 2,000 km before it reaches your home. Now multiply that by each food item you eat each day! That's a lot of fuel, which also means a lot of greenhouse gas emissions. Although local food isn't always available due to seasonality, it's all about doing your best. Every choice you make has an environmental impact and can help lower your carbon footprint.”

So what are we to do?

There are many ways to counteract the high levels of GHGs emitted through our food consumption without feeling like we have to give up everything we love.


Buy local sustainable food when possible. In the best of worlds, we would always have access to local, organic and sustainable foods. When these are not available, try and think of at least doing one of these criterias. When buying coffee, go for fair trade. Teas as well. When you have a choice between carrots from your local farmer’s market or pre-cut ones at the grocery store, opt for your local farmer. When buying flour, as they come from the Prairies, buy it organic. You’ll know you aren’t contributing to vast sprawls of pesticide sprayed fields. Every little bit counts.


Look for Eco-labels. Certifications and eco-labels give you good hints about how the food was produced and that way you know you have a lesser impact on the environment.


When buying staples like grains, flour, cereal, spices, sugar, try to buy in bulk. There are lots of places where you can buy ingredients in bulk. That way, you know that the same amount of GHGs was put into the atmosphere carrying the large drums than it would having the small prepackaged bag, but there are many people that will benefit from the drum so the food miles are split up between consumers.


Try to live with the seasons. Although fresh juicy tomatoes are very tempting in the middle of winter, try tasting seasonal veggies and fruits. In countries and regions where winter means no agriculture, try buying green house produce from closer destinations. Green house produce is usually pesticide free and grown year round.


Just remember: Every little bit counts. If all of us would try 20% of the time, the world would be a much cleaner and healthier place.

Visit Blog Action Day 2009 at www.blogactionday.org for other posts and topics!



Sources :

Foodshare Toronto
http://www.foodshare.net/resource/files/foodmilesreport.pdf

WWF - Localicious http://community.wwf.ca/localicious/LocalTruth.cfm

Franc Vert
http://www.francvert.org/pages/53dossierreductiondufoodmiles.asp

Change the world wednesdays - Go meatless for a day!

Hello all.

As previously started, I'm sharing my blog friend Small Footprints "Change the World Wednesday Challenge" with you :

• If you eat animal products, then for one full day eat only meatless meals ... go vegetarian. Dairy products & eggs are permissible ... but no other animal products.

• Or, if you are vegetarian full time ... then, for one full day, eat only vegan meals. No animal products whatsoever.

• And finally, if you are vegan, full time, write an article about why meatless meals are good for the planet and perhaps include your favorite recipe.

So everybody shime in : Share recipes, share meal plans... share your thoughts and ideas!

Being ovo-lacto vegetarian, I'll be choosing a day with my husband and we will be back to write about our lovely vegan day! Hope you will all join in!

Plastic bags : Facts and why we need to stop using them!

Everyone knows that plastic is bad for the environment. We don’t need to spell it out again, but some facts are important to know and since people respond to numbers, here are a few facts on plastic bags I found on LivingGreen that may help solidify your resolve :

• Less than 1% is recycled. It actually cost more to recycle a plastic bag than to produce one-there is no monetary incentive to recycle plastic bags.
• Many of our garbage bags are dumped illegally in our oceans. A study in 1975 showed that ocean going vessels dumped 8 million pounds of plastic bags annually.
• Billions of plastic bags also find their way into oceans via rivers, drains and sewage pipes where the effects on aquatic animals such as turtles, sea birds, whales, dolphins and seals are catastrophic. These animals ingest plastic or become entangled resulting in agonizing deaths. The unsuspecting creatures often mistake the floating plastic for food! Plastic bags are found in most oceans of the world. (World Wildlife Report, 2005)
• A study of albatross chicks on Midway Island, near Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, found that nine out of 10 birds had plastic garbage in their gullets.
• Plastic bags do not decompose! They break into smaller, more toxic petro-polymers which eventually contaminate our soil, our waterways. In time the toxic microscopic particles enter our food chain. (CNN.com/technology/Nov.6 2007)
• Plastic cannot be burned or buried safely. When it is burned it produces fluorocarbons which are carcinogens.
• When we bury plastic bags they block the natural supply of air and water to the soil. This affects plant life directly and the chain of life indirectly.
• Plastic bags can even cause landslides when plant life in mountains is reduced. Plastic bags clog the sewage pipes and often cause water to be stagnant. It reduces the water retaining capacity of the soil and this in turn affects the water table.

We all (I hope) try our best at reducing the amount of plastic that is used and thrown away. This is not only for our environment and wildlife, but for our health as well. Recently, new technologies in plastic bag production have led us to believe that maybe some weren’t as bad, but are they?

Traditional bags are made from petroleum products which can release toxic compounds into the air that are known to cause major health issues.

Now, more and more bags are made from polymers called polyethylene that are, for most part, recyclable. Great right? Not exactly. The problem seems to be that bags can be made of different types of resin that although look very similar, when broken down, can’t exactly be easily recycled. So if you ARE going to put plastic bags in the recycling, make sure that they have the recycling symbol with the numbers 1, 4 or 5, as other numbers may not be recyclable in your area.

What about the new trends of biodegradable bags? This seemed to be the greatest idea since the corn and potato starches are made to biodegrade or photo degrade when in contact with air or light in less than 18 months! WONDERFUL! Not… this will only work if you bag is on top of a free standing hill of trash and according to an amazing article on HealthGoods.com, 95% of all trash is land filled. “In landfills, garbage is buried beneath layers of soil that make it difficult for air or sunlight to reach discarded items. The fact is that most plastic bags just don't degrade, even in a compost pile. There are some new starch-based plastics that may be more degradable. But few grocery bags are made from that type of product.”

So, short of it is there really is no easy answer to plastic bags besides stopping using them. Carry around reusable bags in your car, buy little foldable bags to put in your purse or pockets, carry out small items when you know you don’t need to carry it very far and if you MUST, ask for paper bags when leaving the store! Those are easily recycled, are often made of recycled paper and can easily be transformed.

As a final note, here is the link to Thomas’s post, on Renewables at Home, that responded to my challenge and wrote an excellent article you all should read! Thank you for jumping in Thomas!

EDITED :

Here is another one of my readers (Harri Pao) that took the challenge and wrote about how they eliminate plastic bags in their daily lives.

Attitude Eco-Friendly Fabric Softener – Product Review

Hello.

So, following my post on the hidden dangers of dryer sheets from a few weeks ago, we went looking for an eco-friendly alternative in a fabric softener. I was a bit overwhelmed by the number of options that were presented to me, until suddenly I caught a little glimpse of a print on one of the bottles :

“Driven by an ideal : To live and consume responsibly. Our future depends on the choices we make today”

Bio Spectra is a Montreal company that believes in fighting global warming, responsible consumption and good quality, eco-friendly products. Their ATTITUDE line of cleaning products is based on their “CO2neutral” approach which is quite interesting :

“What is ATTITUDE® doing?

ATTITUDE® not only offers quality products that are third-party certified eco-friendly, but also contributes actively in the fight against global warming by offering Carbone Neutral products: products that have GHG emissions equal to ZERO. Thus, by using ATTITUDE® products, you are reducing your personal environmental footprints.

The carbon neutral approach can be translated into three big steps:

• Calculating GHG emissions based on the life-cycle analysis;
• Reducing general emissions;
• Compensating for emissions that cannot be avoided.

The carbon neutral approach quantifies the whole company’s emissions and not only the emissions associated with the production of ATTITUDE® products. The report is a great tool to identify weak areas where emissions are at their highest. Thereafter, these areas are analyzed to determine the most effective ways to reduce the emission rates. We believe that it is possible to reduce our carbon footprint, all the while reducing operational costs, and believe that all self-respecting businesses should adhere to a similar model.”

The product I will be reviewing today is their Ylang-Ylang & Tangerine Fabric Softener. (It also comes in Lavender & Grapefruit). First a few facts : This product is certified EcoLogoM (an Environment Canada program), CO2 Neutral, natural, eco-friendly and biodegradable. It comes in HE formula (of course) so it is specifically designed for high-efficiency machines.

The ingredients are water, essential oils and soy based surfactants. That’s IT! The product is vegan (free of animal tallow derivatives), non-carcinogenic, hypoallergenic, non-tested on animals and free of artificial dyes and fragrances.

We’ve been using it for a week now and it has proven itself wonderful on both clothes that went in the dryer and clothes that were hung to dry. The fragrance is barely noticeable once the clothes have dried. All that is left is a very mild and pleasant smell. I found that 1/3 of a cap is more than enough more a normal sized load which leads me to believe that the bottle will last me way beyond the 52 loads it advertises. And at 7$ a bottle, it is a steal and can make your laundry cycle completely safe for you and your family.

They sell everywhere in North America, many countries in Europe and over in Japan so I really hope all of you will get your hands on these products because they are well worth a try! I’m looking forward to trying their entire line!

What are some of your favorite eco-friendly brands?