Archive for the ‘vacation/holiday’ Category
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
Tangled on how to tie the knot and mind the planet? Traditions and expectations for the perfect wedding day can push consumerism over the top. But with some creative alternatives they don’t have to outshine a low carbon wedding.
From the dress and tux to rings and the gift registry, green weddings is a big topic in the latest David Suzuki Nature Challenge newsletter . Innovators like Vancouver-based photographer Brendon Purdy leaves no trace (except for the couple’s memorable pics) when he photographs weddings. Packing his gear onto his bicycle, Purdy’s travels to photograph the special event are completely carbon neutral.
Are loved ones doing the traveling instead to join the celebration? Queen of Green Lindsay Coulter offers up smart and sustainable low-emission wedding ideas in a recent article . Get inspired, get active and share your green wedding tips!
Tags: carbon neutral, green house gas emissions, green wedding, low carbon emission
Posted in Consumer Issues, David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, Green Living, Lindsay, climate change, energy, garbage, off the grid, transportation, vacation/holiday | No Comments »
Monday, May 25th, 2009
Because I love the purity of the snow
and how the white contrasts with the sky. |
Because the sun feels sooooo good
when it comes out! Soul-ar powered! |
I love winter for the wonderful
peace angels we can become! |
Who needs to mine for diamonds when mother nature
provides us with diamonds all winter long! |
We asked our Nature Challenge community to tell us how they celebrate winter. Here’s a portion of the note Dominique Larocque sent us along with her pictures:
My Nature Challenge In 1994, I made a conscious decision to embrace a new form of challenge! Getting people to fall in love with playing outside. As a two time National team athlete focused on winning medals, I had ‘profoundly lost’ the real meaning of what it was to simply play outside for the pure sake of what I call today my three environmental R’s: RECONNECT-REWILD-
REWIRE.
Tags: Canada, climate change, outdoors, snow, sports, winter
Posted in David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, Green Living, Human Health, Newsletter response, climate change, recycling, vacation/holiday | No Comments »
Friday, February 20th, 2009
Ian from Veg Van updates us on his journey:
Wanted to let you know that my local CTV station did a story on me and the veg van – and it ended up airing nationally! It even reached my Mom in Mexico on a friend’s satellite there. I’m now waiting for a kit I purchased to add a "Hydrogen On Demand" system to the van. I guess it’s now going to be a "Hybrid."
Stay tuned….
Tags: hybrid, hydrogen, Ian, travel, veg van
Posted in David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, Green Living, transportation, vacation/holiday | No Comments »
Monday, January 5th, 2009
Happy New Year! Hope your holidays were filled with joy! Thanks to the Green Room community for making this space an informative and interactive go-to about green living and achieving sustainability within a generation!
Following the holidays, I still have a bowl of delightful clementines to enjoy. But for how much longer will these foreign fruits brighten winter days and palettes? When I was a kid, and their sweet aroma arrived in November, it was a sure sign of Christmas coming (it still is). Usually grown in Morocco, Spain, and California, clementines have been available from mid-November through January for many years. Receiving one in a Christmas stocking has been a treat for generations – an orange in winter? How exotic!
For years, these juicy imports have come in by the thousands of cartons and as the denouement of the holidays approached, so would the last of the tastiest clementines. What would the holidays be without special treats? Then again, how would the holiday spread be if it was strictly native and local foods?
Traditions for treats aside (and detoxing from the holidays’ decadence in mind), the crisp start to January has inspired me to eat local during winter months, just like so many of us so easily do in summer. Apples, cabbage and potatoes don’t have to become dull. The green leaves of kale and Savoy cabbage brighten winter’s dreariness. And if we were busy at harvest, the art of canning and preserving can tastily take us through this hibernation. Thanks to some greenhouses, locally-grown salad fixings aren’t hard to come by.
Were your holiday meals local? Share your methods for buying and eating local during the stark winter months.
The new year presents opportunity to turn a new leaf. But first, let’s catch up on some notes from our readers that came in before the holidays. Perhaps they’ll trigger reflection on how you and yours celebrated them, and how we’ll keep a green conscience and the spirit of giving with us year-round! ~ Elizabeth
Tags: buying local, eating local, food traditions, summer, treats, winter
Posted in Consumer Issues, Food, Green Living, vacation/holiday | No Comments »
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
Lynn Keating from Calgary, AB writes:
For several years now, we have filled up our hybrid vehicles with fuel that contains ethanol, thinking this was the environmentally correct action. However, lately I have been reading articles indicating this may not be so. What is your position on this controversial topic?
Ryan Kadowaki, Climate Change Administrator for the David Suzuki Foundation responds:
While our organization has not been directly involved with the biofuels issue, I would say that we foresee a niche market for these fuels. The large-scale use of biofuels, though, is problematic.
Biofuels are not capable of replacing oil entirely, and there is the very real concern about using farmland to supply fuel for vehicles rather than growing food for human consumption. For biodiesel, we absolutely support its production when the fuel source is recycled cooking fat (i.e. deep fryer grease), as this constitutes reusing a "waste" product (though of course there would be other potential uses for it).
For ethanol, we do favour lignocellulosic ethanol (made from straw, corn husks, forest residue, etc.) because it does not require arable land to produce and it also has a much higher net energy (although this may have negative consequences for soil nutrient levels). In terms of the net-carbon benefits of using corn-based ethanol, there is still considerable debate on this issue, but as of yet, the modest to non-existent greenhouse gas benefits do not appear to outweigh the issue of arable land use.
Additional insight on this issue can be found in a Science Matters article by Dr. Suzuki on September 14, 2007, "Biofuels not necessarily all that green" .
Tags: biodiesel, biofuel, corn, environment, ethanol, farmland, greenhouse gas, human consumption, hybrid vehicles, straw, waste
Posted in David Suzuki, Food, Green Living, Sustainable economy, agriculture, transit, transportation, vacation/holiday | 1 Comment »
Monday, October 6th, 2008
This year’s First Annual Reyouzd Festival in Bruce County, Ontario called together eco-retailers from across the province to raise awareness on the art of reusing. They also raised money for students entering post secondary studies in Environmental, Landscape, or Farm Science Programs in Ontario. And the David Suzuki Foundation was represented through distribution of printed materials and screening The Sacred Balance .
For the occasion, the vacant Teeswater Town Hall was bedecked with handmade flags from reclaimed materials and extreme birdhouses created by John Looser of Brussels, Ontario . Reused fridge magnets with a picture of the world in a pair of hands saying "You Can Make a World of Difference — Buy Used" were handed out as a keepsake, and the message was clear: buying used is the easiest and most cost-effective thing you can do to help sustain our environment.
Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell opened the festival, which played host to WWF-Canada and more than 40 other exhibitors. Highlights included the trio Dropping Science rapping a message about the environment and farming practices, as well as the interesting garden planter made from a repurposed dog bone container by Gloria Lloyd of the Kincardine area. Artists who paint on anything (barn board, used sheets, etc.) and use anything (reclaimed house paint, art paints, etc.) to produce their works that even incorporated egg shells in one piece, also participated and inspired.
"I think people are doing wonderful things in this part of the country," says the festival’s Lynne Taylor, who’s planning next year’s second installment. "Come see us sometime. We don’t say ‘Bruce County: Ontario’s Natural Retreat’ for nothing!"
Tags: artists, bird houses, cost-effective, environment, festival, garden, repurposed, reuse, Reyouzd, sustainable
Posted in Consumer Issues, gardening, recycling, sustainability, vacation/holiday | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
Ian Graham fed his van 100% vegetable oil this summer when he embarked on the more than 2,000 km road trip from Kitchener, Ontario to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He blogged his adventures, for which he only used solar power to charge his camping gear, iPod and to re-power the battery that runs the pump he uses to collect and filter the waste vegetable oil, at vegvan.ca .
His latest thrills have been looking into supplementing the vegetable oil with a small hydrogen cell for the van, and bringing with him a solar oven. Thanks for the inspiration Ian!
Tags: fuel, hydrogen cell, road trip, solar oven, solar power, vegetable oil
Posted in Consumer Issues, climate change, transportation, vacation/holiday | 3 Comments »
Sunday, September 7th, 2008
Madeline Hayles from Koorda, Western Australia writes:
Thank you for the fantastic updates in your newsletters. My husband and I live 230km north-east of the city of Perth in Western Australia and try to live with nature and without all the nasties. We have a permaculture garden and orchard out in the middle of nowhere. Your newsletters are a welcome diversion to our daily routine.
I recently went hiking (in winter) in South Western Australia’s forest, through all the giant Tinglewood trees, which is a perfect environment for mosquitoes. The local person that was our guide advised us to take multi-vitamin B tablets two days prior to going on our bush walk and to continue taking them during the walk. As mosquitoes love me, I certainly took the advice and was fortunate to be left alone by the little blood suckers. According to our guide, people with high levels of vitamin B in their system naturally repel the mosquitoes.
I did not get bitten in the week that I was in the forest and those who did not take vitamin B [said] they did get bitten. Thought this may be useful to others that have the attraction for these biting insects!
Tags: forest, hiking, mosquitoes, newsletter, Vitamin B
Posted in David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, forests and wild Lands, vacation/holiday | No Comments »
Monday, August 25th, 2008
Anna Maike from Ladysmith, Vancouver Island shares her strategy for a "green" getaway:
This summer I took myself, my three kids, and a babysitter to the Island’s Folk Festival and camped in a Toyota Yaris. We strapped foamies and a tent on the roof, and everything else fit in the car. We sat on our pillows with the kids’ backpacks at their feet. We didn’t pack food since we were fed as performers. Comfortably compact, I was so proud when I left my co-workers to climb into their giant trucks with the 3-bedroom "camping" rancher towing. I only spent about four bucks on gas and had plenty to spend on vendor food.
Tags: camping, festival, fuel, vacation
Posted in vacation/holiday | No Comments »
Monday, August 25th, 2008
Even as August draws to a close, mosquitoes still abound at dusk, especially in the woods, near dense bushes and when it’s humid. Following a recent article in David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge Newsletter about DEET and keeping "skeeters" away, a reader sent us a no-fuss, natural repellant that works for her family.
Gently prick the skin with a fork and then rub lemon all over your body. Mosquitoes hate the citrus taste and smell.
Tags: DEET, lemon, mosquitoes, Nature Challenge, newsletter, summer
Posted in vacation/holiday | No Comments »
