The Green Room

Effie Carson from Toronto, ON writes:

I have started an initiative at the Toronto District School Board high school where I teach. We are saving up photocopying "errors" and over-runs to use as printing paper in our computer labs and the school administration has started to use the "second side" of paper for internal memos. We call the collection bins for the paper "Suzuki Paper."

Great idea Effie! I’m often dashing to the office printer to flip the page and print double-sided. I also like to reuse paper for rough notes instead of using a fresh page, and I encourage minimal use of the fax machine and printing emails. Thanks for sharing! Elizabeth

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" .

Zoë Lea from Mississauga, ON writes:

I am 12 years of age. Dr. Suzuki, you are my role model! I just moved to St. Timothy school, but at my old school, Father Daniel Zanon, I started my own environmental club! (I was 11 at the time.) I wrote an essay about a possible environmental club at my school and the librarian Mrs. Chu liked it so much she shared it with the principal!

On April 22, 2008 I officially started the club. Mrs. Downey, the principal, called me over the P.A. system, and because I volunteered in the library and the office I thought that she just wanted me to deliver something to a teacher. I ended up reading my essay over the P.A.!

Over 55 people signed up for the club, and with the help from my close friends, Anna, Kristian, Isabel, and Rachelle, my club became a success! I was devastated when I moved schools, but now I’m a member of the green team at St. Timothy and I volunteer in the library. I am also Mrs. Hyde’s grade 7 class representative in our student council! I just wanted to tell you that!

Great work Zoë! Your enthusiasm and leadership is just what this generation needs! Keep it up and please write again.

Right now, one of the most important things all Canadians can do for the sake of the planet is participate in the upcoming Federal Election.

“If we fail to put the focus on the environment, the message to the next government - regardless of which party prevails - will be a mandate for more inaction.

We cannot let that happen. We do not have the time or the luxury.” David Suzuki, September 2008

Election Day will be here before you know it.

• Arm yourself with information.

• Ask candidates the hard questions.

• Vote.

We’ll help. Join the conversation at www.voteenvironment2008.ca .

Lenore Dickson and Mike West, who live just outside Dundas, Ontario, have eco-minded kids - nine-year old Ruby and eleven-year-old Will - who chose to make David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge the theme of each of their summer birthday parties.

They made piñatas of things they really wanted to take a whack at – an incandescent light bulb and a Hummer – tie-dyed organic cotton T-shirts, and played cooperative games that had both a low environmental impact and repurposed stuff they had lying around the house - three-legged and sack races, bucket brigade, capture the flag, limbo, ball tosses and a dress-up relay - as well as a Nature Challenge Match Game and Treasure Hunt .

Here are some pictures from their parties:

All the kids at Ruby’s party had a hand in playing a Nature Challenge Match Game.

Ruby demonstrates one method of ridding the world of incandescent light bulbs. Celeste Alex (in purple) had such a good time, her mother Robin Lane reported, she came home “all excited about how we can participate as a family in David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge” . The other friend in the photo is Louise Monk.

For their party piñatas, Ruby and Will each picked something they wanted to give a good bash. Will chose a Hummer. Here they are putting on the final touches.

Will and his friends went on a Nature Challenge Scavenger Hunt. They pieced letters together to solve the puzzle ‘polar bears walk on thin ice’ and, by chance, came upon a white tail deer skull with antlers. Front row kneeling (L to R): Tate Angelkovski, Grant Forsythe, Brandon Viaes, William Rutherford. Standing: Cody Riccatone , JJ Shanlin, Emma Holland , Will Dickson, Noah Van Duzer, Noah Leggatt, Tim Bentley, Jess Sussman. Tucked in behind: Will Bermingham, Evan Souter.

Both Ruby and Will asked their friends to bring donations for The David Suzuki Foundation in lieu of gifts – thanks kids!

Got more great ideas for earth-friendly kid fun? Add you comments here!

The children of Paul and Lucy Morel of Deep River, Ontario, sent this loving tribute to their Dad:

Our father was always conscious of the world around him and its limited resources and he attempted to instill this in his four children. Here are the top ten things which seemed quite odd (and embarrassing, if truth be told) to us as children and teenagers in the 70s and 80s, but which we now realize were wise and conscious choices. Many of these carry memories which now bring us to tears of laughter.

1. We had a well-used wood stove in our basement to cut down on furnace use

2. The heat was turned down to about 55° Fahrenheit at night in the winter - we loaded on blankets and wore warm pajamas (we swear we could at times see our breath in the mornings)

3. Our laundry was dried on a clothes line and the dryer used only in limited circumstances (frozen stiff jeans were quite normal in our house)

4. We have always had a "compost heap" in our back yard which nourished our vegetable garden (our early chore as children was to carry the potato peelings and vegetable scraps to the compost each night)

5. Reduce/reuse/recycle was second nature to our dad - he recycled when recycling wasn’t cool (a milk jug would be refashioned into a scoop for the water barrel which in turn was fashioned out of an old garbage can)

6. We naturally had no air conditioning in the summer - windows were opened at night, and closed with drapes pulled in the mid-morning to capture and maintain the cool air of the nights
7. Our father never used Kleenex - he has always had handkerchiefs (and still does to this day!)

8. Our dad was the first person we knew who replaced all lightbulbs in his house with compact fluorescent

9. We actually always shared bath water to limit electricity and water use!

10. Our washing machine had a "suds saver" such that on laundry day multiple loads of laundry were washed in the same water

We will always recall as teenagers our Dad’s observation on the changing world when he would shake his head and say "We are becoming a throw-away society". But our Dad certainly did his part and now we find ourselves following his example as best we can: using our own clotheslines instead of our dryers, using our own water barrels to water our gardens, getting our own composters, installing programmable thermostats to ensure our air-conditioning and heating is used at its minimal – and of course reminding our own children to turn off the lights when they leave the room!. We are grateful to our wonderful father for his example.

In honour of his eightieth birthday, we have made a donation to the David Suzuki Foundation. Here is our Dad’s mantra from our childhood- words to live by:

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT.

Margot Morel (Guelph, Ontario)
Mark Morel (Ajax, Ontario)
Catherine Morel-Lopez (Toronto, Ontario)
Lisa Morel-Misener (Ottawa, Ontario)

Lots of green living ideas are recycled! Maybe that’s why what seems ‘new’ to a lot of people is second nature to others. Readers - what green wisdom was passed down to you from parents and grandparents?

“I am in the sixth grade at St. Augustine Elementary School. For Learning Fair… I chose you… as my hero… because I am amazed at what you accomplished such as how you wrote books about yourself and about nature. Also the fact that you have starred in some television shows. You have taught many people about we are doing to the environment through your books. Your effort in starting and leading the David Suzuki Foundation is impressive, especially the fact that you are an author, a television host, and a father. You have done so much work on the foundation that you have gotten many helpers and your own website. I hope that the work you have done makes a difference and we stop polluting the Earth.”

- James Soulsbury, Vancouver BC -