The Green Room

Marta from Toronto writes:

I am the creator of a newly launched and one-of-a-kind Canadian bartering community for individuals and groups. Our community encourages a greener lifestyle as well as curbing consumerism through bartering.

SwapSity users can swap a combination of items and skills with the option to balance uneven swap transactions with cash. For example, you can offer books that you have read and in exchange receive help with computer repair. Any uneven swaps can be equalized with cash. SwapSity is also a useful parent resource for exchanging kids’ outgrown gear, toys, games and clothes with other parents and de-cluttering your living space.

Like-minded individuals can also create customized swap groups. One of our most recent groups is a residential recycling project within a downtown apartment complex in Toronto. The group was created to encourage reusing discarded items as well as skill-swapping between neighbours living in the building. The goal of the group is to reduce the impact on the environment as well as build a sense of community among the residents.

SwapSity is free and it offers a full spectrum of user tools to help our swappers communicate with other members and negotiate mutually agreeable swaps. Once you agree to an exchange, you can just meet in person or ship locally. There is a lot of room for creative and green swaps. I invite you all to check it out!

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.

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

This year’s First Annual Reyouzd Festival in Bruce County, Ontario called together eco-retailers from across the province to raise awareness on the art of reusing. They also raised money for students entering post secondary studies in Environmental, Landscape, or Farm Science Programs in Ontario. And the David Suzuki Foundation was represented through distribution of printed materials and screening The Sacred Balance .

For the occasion, the vacant Teeswater Town Hall was bedecked with handmade flags from reclaimed materials and extreme birdhouses created by John Looser of Brussels, Ontario . Reused fridge magnets with a picture of the world in a pair of hands saying "You Can Make a World of Difference — Buy Used" were handed out as a keepsake, and the message was clear: buying used is the easiest and most cost-effective thing you can do to help sustain our environment.

Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell opened the festival, which played host to WWF-Canada and more than 40 other exhibitors. Highlights included the trio Dropping Science rapping a message about the environment and farming practices, as well as the interesting garden planter made from a repurposed dog bone container by Gloria Lloyd of the Kincardine area. Artists who paint on anything (barn board, used sheets, etc.) and use anything (reclaimed house paint, art paints, etc.) to produce their works that even incorporated egg shells in one piece, also participated and inspired.

"I think people are doing wonderful things in this part of the country," says the festival’s Lynne Taylor, who’s planning next year’s second installment. "Come see us sometime. We don’t say ‘Bruce County: Ontario’s Natural Retreat’ for nothing!"

Karen Pugh from Brantford, Ontario writes:

Every time I pack yet another school lunch bag (ugh!), I debate the merits of the "litterless lunch" vs. filling up my dishwasher with yet another pile of plastic re-usable containers. While I understand the need to reduce garbage, I can’t imagine that using more energy to heat the dishwasher water and using all that soap is any better for our environment. I know I could handwash those dishes, but in reality, "it ain’t gonna happen." Any thoughts?

Green Room host Gail writes:

Actually, there is some evidence that a dishwasher is more energy efficient than hand washing, especially if you have a dishwasher that’s energy-efficient.

The three R’s of eco-friendliness fall into a kind of hierarchy. It’s best to Reduce as much as possible first. So, you are correct in choosing a "litterless lunch" because it will keep stuff out of the landfills. And Reusing is more important than Recycling, because recycling uses energy and it’s always better to do the best you can to reuse things (such as your food containers) rather than purchasing new things, even when they can be recycled.

Whatever you practice in preparing school lunches, the kids that are eating them are becoming encultured to it - they’ll do what you did when they make there own lunches or (in future) make lunches for others. Thanks for helping to protect nature!

Some municipalities (including Metro Vancouver) are trying to convince people that burning is the best solution for so-called ‘residual waste’ (the stuff that can’t be composted or recycled). Lowering consumption, reusing and cradle-to-cradle regulations for manufacturers are less-toxic alternatives. Go to http://blog.zerowastevancouver.org/ and http://americanhealthstudies.org/index.html for more info.

Marg Riddell of Elora, Ontario sends this great garden recycling idea:

I’ve found a great way to reuse, or to get four-season use of your kids’ winter sledding “Crazy Carpets”. Cut handles with utility scissors to match the handles in the front end and lay it out on the ground as a “catch-all” for weeds and garden trimmings. When you’ve finished your gardening, gather up both ends of the “sling/Crazy Carpet,” and carry to your refuse pile or compost. This stores easily requiring minimal space and is light and user -friendly. Beats using a wagon or wheelbarrow.

Here’s an early bird notice for a gardening contest in Teeswater, Ontario: the Contain Yourself! Competition, part of the first Annual Reyouzd Festival (go to http://www.reyouzd.com ) September 20 and 21. It’s a container contest where all garden pots entered must be made of reclaimed materials! Entries will be auctioned, 75% of the money raised will support a bursary program for students seeking post-secondary studies in environmental, landscape and farm science programs (the remaining 25% will go back to the contest winners).

Lynne Taylor, Kincardine Ontario