The Green Room

My son put my car out of its misery years ago and we decided not to replace it. We walk, cycle and bus as much as we can. Instead of spending the money we would have poured into that car on fuel, repairs and insurance, we have been investing the calculated equivalent each month. Boy, has it grown!

Tell us how your green actions are saving you money, improving your health (eg less car rides = more physical activity) and generally making your life better. We might use your story in the next issue of David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge newsletter.

/Gail

Mary Ellen from Kamloops, BC writes:

I have been enjoying Lindsay’s green recipes for cleaning. Last week I made some more laundry soap but used liquid castile soap instead of grating a soap bar. I used 1/2 cup of castile and it has "worked out." I’ve tried to find a recipe to make sure I am using enough soap, but have had no luck on the web. Can you recommend the appropriate amount of castile soap for your laundry soap recipe?

Lindsay responds:

The laundry soap rule that I’ve come across again and again is this ratio 50:25:25 for soap flakes: washing soda: Borax.

Of course this is something worth experimenting with, as it depends on your water hardness (soft water = less washing soda) and washing machine. Castile soap is amazing and can be used for many things, including the laundry soap recipe we provided. Instead though, I use soap flakes because they are significantly cheaper. Don’t be afraid to make your own signature recipe!

Heidi from Ottawa, ON writes:

I was reading your newsletter and am interested in the Boreal Forest Friendly Coffee, however the company featured in the newsletter is an American company. Is there a Canadian company to deal with? I think that for this type of initiative most Canadians would prefer to deal with a Canadian company. Here in Ottawa, we have a company called Bridgehead Coffee. How do they stack up in the eco-friendly coffee department?

Gail from the Green Room replies:

We provided a link to the Boreal Forest Friendly Coffee to support the Boreal Songbird Initiative. There are, as you say, Canadian coffee companies providing bird-friendly product. I looked up Bridgehead Coffee and, according to their website , their products are "Fairly-traded, organic and shade-grown" - so they score the triple crown! Good choice.

One of the David Suzuki Digs My Garden photo contest winners , Barbara Kimball from Oshawa, ON, writes:

You may be interested to know that I did a project with grade 8 students in 2007 on the flora and fauna of our Second Marsh. This was an ArtsSmarts, art-infused education project, which involved an educational tour and photography of the Marsh, and design of an environmental dinner service. The project traveled to the National Conference of ArtsSmarts in PEI. Last year’s "Clay Musical Instruments" can be seen on YouTube under Station Gallery Mud People. This year’s project will get started after Christmas and will involve planning a garden from seeds to cooking with herbs. We will do some photography and the students will create a fountain piece in clay depicting their ideal quiet place – all taking place in a very needy school.

Cheryl from Regina, SK writes:

My children deliver paper in our neighbourhood – or should I say they did deliver. They are quitting because of the incredible amount of waste produced by paper routes – especially flyers. Is there a way to make our voice heard on this issue? Who do we contact? We do not get the paper for this very reason and have posted a "no flyers" sign on our mailbox.

Lindsay responds:

Funny you should write in about paper consumption. We just released our monthly newsletter about how being a conscious paper consumer can help Boreal Birds! You can start by 1) sign up for David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge and 2) sign the Boreal songbird petition.

You’ve instilled an excellent lesson here by having your kids re-evaluate their well-intentioned job. Simple things anyone can do is sign up for the Red Dot Campaign . This will allow you to take your name off unaddressed mail lists, like flyers. Within the newsletter link above, click on "Some things you can do right now." It’s one of the first things I did when we bought our home – get yourself off all the wasteful junk mail lists!

You’ve highlighted your frustration with newsprint. However, newsprint often makes its way to the recycling depot; it’s from recycled sources and not bleached – but flyers? Not so much. You could write to the companies that send you colorful flyers and ask that they print on 100% post-consumer waste paper with vegetable dyed inks.

See our e-newsletter above to learn about types of paper. Better yet, your family can do a total overhaul of your home’s paper use (if you haven’t already) by taking a look at the toilet paper, paper towel, tissue, and packaging that you buy. Oh yes, and change to paperless, tree-free billing too!

Teya Tamsen from Vancouver writes:

I’m wondering what the public can do to reduce the now overwhelming crow population in Vancouver? All the tiny birds are swiftly disappearing; it’s very sad to witness.

Lindsay responds:

Crows are a very smart bunch. Naturalist author David Quammen has pointed out that they will be all we have left (along with other generalists like coyotes and pigeons) if we don’t change our consumption habits and destruction of ecosystems.

Think of it this way, crows can tolerate living with us (in our concrete jungle, eating our garbage, etc.) and not many species can. I suspect if there has been a noticeable increase in numbers it’s due to last year’s garbage strike. Like the rats, crows would have benefited from a surplus of food items as people’s trashcans were overflowing!

This brings me to the low number of songbirds living in our urban green spaces and backyards. The rat population explosion (maybe you’ve had more rat sightings or seen their droppings at your bird feeder) likely resulted in more predation attempts on bird eggs and nests. The other major culprit in Vancouver and other cities more often than not is domestic cats and not crows.

I’d suggest you contact the local naturalist club as they spend a lot of time bird watching and could offer more advice.

Another suggestion would be to contact your local wild bird store because they’re experts on this sort of topic as well.

Finally, since you are aware of birds, do sign up for David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge where we give you tips to live with as small a footprint as possible.

You can of course reduce the amount of garbage you put out and ensure that your garbage bin is sealed. This will deter not just crows but coyotes, skunks and raccoons. All of this urban wildlife does provide us with a host of services – it’s just sometimes behind the scenes. We’d really miss them if they were gone, that’s for sure.

If I haven’t armed you with enough reading already, a recent report shows that many common bird species are at risk of going extinct, including crows.

Diana Cassa from Beeton, ON writes:

I’m trying to find information on reusing plastics numbered 2, 4 and 5 and hope you can help direct me. I freeze foods in them like homemade spaghetti sauce in yogurt containers.

Is it OK to freeze these plastics or should this be avoided? Is it OK to place them in the dishwasher? I’ve seen reports that say you should not freeze water bottles, although there are just as many that say this isn’t true. I don’t freeze water bottles — in fact, I don’t buy them at all — but I am wondering if the plastics I do freeze pose problems.

Lindsay writes:

You are not the first to ask about which plastics to use, reuse and recycle. We have tackled such an issue in our summer "Finding Solutions " edition of David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge newsletter . The nuts and bolts of it can be described as "2, 4, 5 keep yourself alive"! Those numbers are the safest to reuse, so check your containers.

From what I’ve researched, freezing is generally okay (I’d still stick with 2, 4, and 5 plastic types) but do not microwave plastics and do not put them in the dishwasher. For some plastic types, like #1, more chemicals are released when they are washed and reused. The good thing is that #1 is highly recyclable.

H.C. from South Surrey/White Rock writes:

I want a couch that is made with wool/latex stuffing and environmentally-friendly fabric but can’t seem to find anyone other than Upholstery Arts in Vancouver that makes anything like that. Can you direct me to any other furniture makers, particularly in the lower mainland? I’m not interested in IKEA sofas. What questions should I be asking furniture stores to ensure I am getting a more environmentally-friendly product?

Lindsay responds:

So you’re looking for furniture without VOC’s (volatile organic compounds), sustainably harvested wood, flame retardants and toxic resins? I too have been in local furniture stores asking this very question, and this indeed is a challenge no matter where you live in Canada.

You are correct about Upholstery Arts. They have sustainable products with organic cotton fabric and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) wood. I’m not familiar with other companies and here at the Foundation we can’t recommend brand or companies, so we haven’t done the research to make a list.

I think you’ll have to do some "Google" searching and see what you can find. I know from my own research that IKEA banned flame retardants in their products back in 2002, plus they tend to use lumber from tree farms and not ancient, old growth forests. BC Wood Products is another source of cool designs on Granville Island.

If you head into any bookstore, you’ll find a large selection of "green" books. The problem is trying to find one with Canadian-based information and resources. Adria Vasil, author of Ecoholic (an excellent resource for just this type of information) suggests that there are many on-line sources, although they will cost you. I highly recommend her book (see page 165)!

Basic tips include:

- avoid polyurethane foam fill, especially if it’s treated with flame retardants (PBDE’s)

- solid wood is best, avoid particle board and the like because of the resins, glues, waxes and paints

- when buying wood, look for the FSC symbol (Forest Stewardship Council)

Best of luck with your search! If we all keep demanding better products, the stores should figure it out sooner than later!

Thousands of chirpers and honkers are flocking through our green spaces these days. It’s a great time to read up on them. Share your book recommendations here.

Children who connect with nature grow into adults who care about protecting it.

Sylvie de Sousa and Katharine Byers are two Vancouver Moms who’ve put together a bag of tricks sure to nurture eco-consciousness in any kid (and, hopefully, prevent the onset of what Richard Louv calls “nature deficit disorder”). They helped us put together activities to turn kids into bird watchers and protectors for our November newsletter.

Share your wisdom about getting kids into nature here.