The Green Room

Ryan Lee, a Grade 5 student at Olympic Heights Elementary school in Calgary, AB shares his inspiring essay on the state of the environment:

The Problems of Our Environment

One of the social issues concerning today’s youth is environmental problems, such as using too many unrecyclable objects, pollution, global warming, and destruction of natural habitats. Please read and react to help our environment.

To begin with, pollution is almost the root of global warming. Although global warming is normal, pollution actually speeds it up. Global warming is a process in which the Earth is heated up by the sun’s rays that are trapped inside the Earth’s atmosphere by greenhouse gasses such as, Co2 (Carbon Dioxide).

Another problem within our environment is the continuous use of unrecyclable objects. We should always recycle.  Recycling is a way of reusing products. Some of the many reusable products are paper, glass, some metals and plastics. We should use these products more often than products we cannot reuse. Another reason why this is a problem is because we can’t recycle. Sometimes we use products we can only use once too much.

Also the destruction of natural habits on the Earth is a big problem. This is because of our greed and carelessness. The beautiful features of our Earth will disappear if this does not stop. Some water on Earth is already so polluted that it looks really disgusting. These habitats belong to precious animals which are dying because their loss of home and territory.

If we do not stop polluting our Earth and save our planet, our only home will be spoiled. In this essay I have explained the use of unrecyclable products, the horrid effect of pollution, the meaning of evil global warming, and the destruction of our precious animal homes. I hope you have felt the need to save our Earth, our home because it is the only one we have.

Penelope Adams writes:

I am trying very hard to feed birds in my back yard. A good friend who lives outside Nanaimo found a Northern Pygmy Owl on his patio after the poor thing smashed into his patio window. He lived thanks to my friend who scooped him up and sat with him until he felt better. How rare is this bird in the area?

Lindsay replies:

According to the BC Conservation Data Centre , the bird is an island subspecies of Northern Pygmy Owl which is endemic (native) to Vancouver Island.

All but the northern pygmy-owl, are yellow-listed in BC, according to the Conservation Data Centre (2003), and the populations are therefore considered to be secure and not at risk of extinction. The swarthi subspecies of the northern pygmy-owl occurs only on Vancouver Island (Fraser et al., 1999) and is blue-listed in BC as vulnerable, or particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events (Fraser et al., 1999).

You can post your sighting here and you can learn more about species at risk in your area of Nanaimo here .

And if you’re a bird watcher, do sign up for David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge. We just produced an edition about saving boreal birds. You can sign a petition as well as sign your name to a BC specific campaign to get a law for endangered species.

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.

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.

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.

This summer, Lindsay saw crows taking turns ‘bathing’ in chimney smoke - getting ride of parasites perhaps? Tell us your bird stories, sightings, and feeding tips.

Canada’s Boreal forest - a green halo that touches nearly every province and territory - is home to millions of birds. Yet most of it is unprotected. Sign the Boreal Songbird Initiative’s petition to save the forest and the many creatures that call it home.