The Green Room

Erin Watson from Montreal, QC writes:

I live in an apartment and have a huge Rubbermaid container filled with vermicomposting worms and the most beautiful, rich looking compost you can imagine. My worms can transform 6 pounds of organic waste into compost in just one week. I then use this compost to feed my house plants. I often get little volunteer tomato or pepper plants, which I then transplant into their own pots and grow on my balcony in the summer! Eating those tomatoes is such a great reward!

City dwellers Ray and Vanessa from Burnaby, BC share thoughts on waste management:

My girlfriend and I live in a high-rise condo and have been diligently watching and separating all of our garbage materials that go down the garbage chute.

We send our organic waste to a friend’s house near-by for composting. We use the recycling bins for everything else. What’s left? The bulk of our waste is packaging. If we really look at what is going into our landfill, it is shocking how much non-biodegradable Styrofoam and hard plastic packaging is going into the earth.

We recently went to WalMart to pick up a bottle of air mattress repair. We purchased the bottle, went out to our truck and opened the package, took out the 1 1/4" high by 3/4" wide glass bottle, repaired the mattress, then proceeded to throw the 12" x 6" clear, hard plastic package into the WalMart garbage can.

A glance into the garbage can - and our consciences - told us that what we just chucked in there would end up in the landfill. Are consumers solely responsible for this situation? We feel we partially are, despite all the effort we make at home.

So, solutions we came up with:

1. Add organic waste bins to all apartment/condo recycling programs.

2. Make it the law that retailers and producers of harmful packaging be responsible for the waste created after the consumer takes the product home.

Hi everyone, it’s exciting to be in the Green Room! I’m Elizabeth, a volunteer with the David Suzuki Foundation helping sift through the amazing amounts of email we’re receiving every day. I’ll be sharing hosting duties and look forward to reading what you have to say.

I aim to live as green as possible in Toronto, which looks pretty green this summer thanks to all the Vancouver-like weather we’ve had — although, I’d still like to see less traffic and cigarette butts on our streets, among other things! I’m in the heart of downtown and walk, bike, cab it or take public transit nearly everywhere. When I’m not producing television or writing for magazines, I’m shopping local at the St. Lawrence farmer’s market and the Healthy Butcher, checking out music festivals, and enjoying the outdoors like busing to Muskoka with a big group of friends for a canoe-camping trip on Moon River.

I grew up just outside of the city with a big backyard and vegetable garden where subdivisions today used to be huge pepper fields and horseback riding trails. Almost every summer weekend was spent camping in Haliburton, Ontario. After an exciting and memorable time at Carleton University in Ottawa, I completed my journalism degree at Ryerson in Toronto and have since worked in television for several years.

One of the turning points for wholeheartedly taking on eco-living unfolded for me two summers ago while I co-produced a half-hour documentary special on climate change. After listening to great thinkers and writers on the subject, including Tim Flannery, Al Gore, and our very own David Suzuki, I became determined to help make a difference for our precious planet Earth. It’s often challenging (especially living in a condo without green composting), but my husband and I do our best and participate in groups and the community to build positive and long-lasting change. The Green Room is a great opportunity to connect across the country, and I look forward to sharing and learning from you!