The Green Room

Lisa-Dawn from Kitchener, ON writes:

I love Lindsay Coulter’s Recipes, and I was just wondering if she had any for moisturizers: hand lotion, body lotion, facial moisturizer, etc.

Lindsay responds:

You’ll find my suggestions for lotions and moisturizers in recipe list #4 . My personal favorites are Beauty Balm (for the face) and the cocoa butter lotion for the body.

Another tip is to make your own body scrub (with good oils) and make the body wash (with mild castile soap) - you’ll find then that you don’t need to moisturize at all!

Another thing that you’ll learn is that lotion is lotion is lotion. You don’t necessarily need hand, body and face lotion specifically, we’ve just been marketed to shop that way.

Leanne Mitchell from Regina, SK writes:

I’m confused. I recycle with a local recycling program and in it we can recycle plastics 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7. Your article on plastics in the Summer 2008 issue of Finding Solutions does not exactly match and says we should not reuse plastics 1, 3, 6 and 7. Am I confusing reusing with recycling or why is there this difference?

Lindsay’s response:

Our article "Plastics by the Number" explained what numbers 1 through 7 is called and in what products you’ll find them. You are correct in assuming that reusability and recyclability are two different things. All numbers are potentially recyclable, depending on your town or city’s recycling program. The safest plastics to reuse (e.g. for food and beverages) are 2, 4 and 5 (sing it… 2, 4, 5 keep yourself alive)! That means 1, 3, 6 and 7 are best purchased in moderation and recycled after ONE use.

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!

Eating low on the food chain is better for your health and the planet’s. We invited readers tell us about their favourite veggie restaurants and we post them on our website here:

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/NatureChallenge/What_is_it/Food/Veg_restaurants.asp

but we didn’t have room for more info - until now! Readers, write in with your veggie faves, whether they provide organic selections, support local growers, etc.

Here are a few from Louis Desgrosseilliers of Waterloo Ontario:

"The chain first started off as Juice for Life , but then expanded its menu to become what is now the Fresh restaurant chain in Toronto. Their locations are at Spadina, Bloor, and Crawford in the Toronto core. They welcome reusable bags and takeout containers. Their menu is mostly vegan.
Check out www.juiceforlife.com .

In Waterloo there is also Lotus Tea House (on Regina St N) and Chill and Grill (which serves really great veggie burgers and soy chicken burgers/wraps as alternatives to their regular menu items, in the University Plaza at University Ave W and Philip St).

Vegetarian Fast Food is also in the University Plaza (in fact next door to Chill and Grill) and have tons of vegan hot dishes and really great lunch specials. They are also friendly to those who bring in tupperware for takeout rather than resorting to the usual, wasteful styrofoam dishes."

Stacy L Hird of Ottawa, Ontario submitted these photos together:

Scroll down or look here for more gnome captions and puns:

http://naturechallenge.org/2008/07/vote-here-for-your-favourite-gnome-photo-caption/

Readers of David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge newsletters are gifted caption-writers and punsters! Here are three gnomic conversations for you to vote on:

From Janice Miller-Young of Calgary Alberta:

From Diane Stout of Victoria BC:

From Laurie M of Winnipeg, Manitoba:

Vote here or paste this link in your browser: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=m32auwwMY4rf21N8swPYMw_3d_3d%22%3EClick

Here are a selection of our favourite puns:

“Collecting gnome puns, eh? Wouldn’t that be gnomenclature?”

Suzanne Joyce, Regina Saskatchewan

“Gnome is where the heart is”. “

We are stardust, we are golden. And we’ve got to get our gnome back to the garden.”

Kathy Penner, Winnipeg Manitoba “

My garden and front flower bed has been gnome to be the prettiest in the neighbourhood!”

Mike Lahey, London Ontario

Punspired? Let’s hear ‘em!

Victoria Biggs of Langley, BC writes:

Is  there criteria for “green”? What does it mean? Does it mean that an item is “sustainable” or biodegradeable or chemical free or local or what? I have a furniture consignment store and our mission is to provide high end furniture and household décor for people in keeping with a reusing, reselling, recycling or redoing mandate. However, I would like to really go “green” in that we carry “green” products.

I am developing a criteria that would pertain to our store, but am unable to source out really any kind of existing criteria to build upon. My vision is to only carry products that are: recycled, resold, redone, or made from recycled material, sustainable material, biodegradeable, natural and local products.
Any suggestions or resources that you are aware of that might be of assistance to me?

Asking questions is one of the most important thing we as consumers can do - where did this come from? why all this packaging? what are your company’s environmental policies? - even if what we are doing is buying is stock for our businesses. We have the power to invoke tremendous change with the choices we make as individuals every day. 

We did a newsletter feature a few months back on how to spot the greenwashers: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/NatureChallenge/newsletters/Feb2008_business/page5.asp. Sharing information and experiences in forums such as this is a powerful tool.  Readers, what do you look for when making purchases? What counts as ‘green’ to you?

Here’s two ways to do it:

1. Jack Johnson has donated 10 tickets to his August 21 concert in Vancouver (at UBC Thunderbird Stadium) to FarmFolk/CityFolk to help spread the word about sustainable food choices. To win a pair of tickets:

• Follow this link to the Jack Johnson web site: http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/allatonce/explore
• Scroll down to the FarmFolk/CityFolk show (bee on flower photograph)
• View the entire three-minute video. (FarmFolk/CityFolk gets $1 for every complete viewing.)
• Answer this question: What are the three things that Wendell Berry says to do wherever possible to support sustainable food choices?
• Send your answer to FarmFolk/CityFolk using this email address: contest@ffcf.bc.ca

Five correct answers will win a pair of tickets. Winners will be notified one week before the concert.

2. Go to http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/allatonce/explore and watch the entire FarmFolk/CityFolk video (scroll down to the picture of the bee on the flower) even if you won’t be anywhere near Vancouver this summer - FFCF gets $1 for every complete viewing. Tell your friends!

Natasha Waxman of Waterloo, Ontario plants some fun and goodwill in her neighbourhood:

The first intimation I had that I was onto something was when I started digging up my small, struggling front lawn, and my neighbour Marie wandered over from across the street with a shovel. It looked like fun, she said. Others joined in throughout the day, and by afternoon we had scraped it bald. I dumped a few meters of good composted earth onto the patch; my neighbour Carolyn jostled her one year-old twins in her arms while she advised me on where to put the tomato stakes and the basil and the chard to make the most of the small space. I got quite a few puzzled looks as people walked by, especially at the big twisty tomato stakes.

Within eight weeks, it was as though somebody had pointed a wand at that sad little patch–and said, GROW! People would wander by and and marvel at the changes from week to week, at the sheer crazy bounty of it. The tomato plants grew as tall as me. Kids would hop from stone to stone on the little paths I’d made through the plants. People would often ask shyly if was I worried that people would steal the tomatoes and I’d say "No! That’s what they’re there for!" and I’d huck them until they started picking. It’s funny how enjoyable picking is– elderly ladies seem to like it as much as the toddlers. Sometimes people would eat them warm and sweet from the vine, which was incredibly gratifying, and sometimes I had to break up cherry tomato throwing matches. The squirrels ate ALL the pumpkins in one day, "like they were filet mingon," as my neighbour Mary said. People stopped by with advice, or to tell me about the gardens or farms they’d grown up with. I continually tried to get people to take home some chard (does anyone really love chard?). Nine-year-old Linnea would bring her friends by to delicately pick the tiny wild strawberries (which incidentally are becoming something of an invasive menace, but I digress), like little girls in a story.

We’ve just finished eating the tomato sauce I canned last year, and there’s still some pesto. This year’s tomatoes have been in for several weeks now, stretching their roots. I’ve struck out into eggplants, broccoli and spinach, and nixed the chard (though it was so prolific!…). People have been coming by as I work to ask how things are going, reminisce about last year’s garden, and wonder if this year can possibly be as good.

My feeling? It already is.

Thanks, Natasha. It sounds wonderful. And I love chard! /Gail

Cheryl Swan of Calgary, Alberta writes:

I stopped buying into this cosmetic industry’s claims in 2002 and it changed my life (I have a lot more money left at the end of each month, for one thing). I only wish I could get my friends and co-workers on board with the idea of giving up their expensive cosmetics and other beauty products, but they all think I am just "preaching".

I once read that the cosmetic industry is a $30 billion business in North America, and it was pointed out in the article, that every night the users are washing these products off and sending them down the drain and into the sewer systems. If preservatives (and other toxins) are being added to beauty products to prevent the natural decay of plant and fruit extracts within those products, what exactly happens when these products are put into our sewer system? Have there been any studies done on the effects these products are having on the environment (our river beds, city water supplies, etc.). Do they break down? Do they end up in our tap water and ultimately ingested by us?

Lindsay Coulter responds:

Sounds like you stopped exposing yourself to the chemical soup a while back! I’m sure you’re aware of these facts but perhaps you want to pass them on to your friends:

• The average adult uses nine products/day containing about 126 chemical ingredients; some women use 15!
• About 10,500 chemical ingredients make up our personal care products.
• Only 11 per cent have been tested for safety.
• Tests aren’t done by agencies like Health Canada, but by the companies themselves!
If you want to get away from preaching, suggest friends or family members check their personal care products on the Skin Deep website at www.safecosmetics.org.

In Canada, the industry runs at about $5.3 billion annually, and you’re correct in making the wildlife and aquatic life link. You can learn a lot more about their impact in various websites and books, like Ecoholic. Author Adria Vasil includes many facts about chemicals we use on our bodies and their impacts on the environment. Definitely worth the read is her chapter on pharmaceuticals and things like the results of birth-control-pill-laden pee going into our sewage system.
There have been a lot of studies and I’ll highlight only a few facts below since unfortunately, there are too many to mention:
• Swedish Society for Nature Conservation did a study with dandruff shampoo and fish in a 1,000 L aquarium. The active ingredient of interest was zinc pyrithione and half the fish died within four days. Although the ingredients are said to breakdown in water, 80 days later they could still detect it.
• Triclosan is the chemical you’ll find in antibacterial soaps. It is accumulating in our rivers and sewage sludge where it can turn into carcinogenic dioxins when exposed to sunlight in water. If your county or municipality spreads sludge on food crop fields as fertilizer then, yes, you could say it may end up in the food chain.
To help convince your friends, why not host a fun spa day? I also make up batches of safe cosmetics and cleaning supplies and give them as gifts.
On the upside, some nail salons use polish without toluene and formaldehyde, which is great not just for clients but also because they’re finding estheticians and hair dressers (exposed to hair dye) will high levels of illness.
Here’s a book that may interest you, it’s called ‘Not Just a Pretty Face”: http://www.notjustaprettyface.org/?cat=3