August 2009 - Posts
There was a time when being vegetarian or vegan was considered strange, dangerous to your health, or anti-Albertan (think K.D. Lang).
Today more people are embracing plant-based diets for their own health—and the health of the planet.
I first started dabbling in reducing meat and dairy in my diet about 15 years ago. I remember buying my first tetra-pack of soymilk—Vanilla Vitasoy to be exact—and being less than impressed by the flavor. The first time I tried rice milk? Fuhgeddaboudit!
After 15 years though, I happily eat a mostly plant-based diet, and I’ve tried most of the veggie-staples and curiosities: tempeh, Tofurkey, almond milk, hemp milk, soy yogurt, soy cheese and more.
Then one day I stumbled upon raw food and am now convinced that raw is the new vegan. Where once veganism belonged only to the fringe element, raw has now taken its place and veganism is practically common – puh!
The Library has lovely, glossy, colourful books on raw cooking… er… food preparation. I signed some out and got up to my elbows in dicing, grinding, blending, soaking, marinating and drying: the methods of raw food prep. According to Sarma Melngailis, author of Living Raw Food, the “basic premise behind a raw food diet is that cooking and processing foods generally decreases their digestibility and vitamin and mineral density, as well as their overall health-promoting qualities.”
After eating a raw meal I feel satisfied but light, alive and energetic. One summer I drank a shake for lunch every day that consisted of some combination of bananas, strawberries, mango, avocado and an entire head of romaine lettuce, or spinach, kale or other greens. Yes, my coworkers thought I was a bit loco, drinking bright green shakes every day, but I felt great, and my complexion glowed.
You can find raw food in Calgary at two restaurants: Gratitude Café in Kensington has raw food Friday nights, and the menu at the Coup usually has something raw to offer.
A few of my favourite raw books:
Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko
Ani's raw food kitchen : easy, delectable living foods recipes by Ani Phyo
Ani's raw food desserts : 85 easy, delectable sweets and treats by Ani Phyo
Rawvolution : gourmet living cuisine by Matt Amsden
For many people investing and environmentalism seem in conflict. Some environmentalists believe that a "profit over all else" capitalist mantra has been the primary cause of environmental destruction. Dr. Helen Caldicott has been reported to have said "Capitalism is destroying the earth". I have yet to find the primary source of this quote, but I have found numerous anti-environmentalist articles in which the Caldicott quote is cited as an example of "green propaganda". A posting on the American Policy Center website (http://www.americanpolicy.org/un/christianpulpits.htm ) is typical of such articles. It seems that in the minds of many environmentalism is just as opposed to capitalism as capitalism is opposed to environmentalism.
But could the real nature of the environment/enterprise relationship be more complex than these extreme and simplistic views? Can a healthy planet and free enterprise co-exist? More importantly, can I make money in the stock market without contributing to the demise of wildlife and the rise of global warming? I may be an optimist, but it seems that there is growing evidence that it is possible to strike a balance between profit and sustainability.
Recently my department of the library participated in a stock market game designed to increase our knowledge of the libraries investment resources. We were each given $50,000 in fake money in which we bought and sold stocks over a five month period. While the money wasn't real, the prices of the stocks reflected their real trading values, so the exercise was a good reflection of how we would have performed with real money. While most of us did very well, one staff member did unbelievably well, racking up a profit of 60% in only five months.
How did she do it?
"Even though it was a game, I still wanted to buy companies I liked - including companies that were doing things for the environment", she explained. "I heard that IKEA was going to start selling solar panels in their stores, so I found the company that was going to supply them. I found it was publicly traded, so I bought it."
In fact she bought two different solar panel manufacturers: one stock went up 47% the other went up 306%. Along with these "environmental investments" she also bought retail, technology, and bank stocks. In other words she tried to strike a balance - and she avoided certain sectors she felt were just too hard on the planet. This balanced approach, with ethical leanings, worked for her.
Of course buying stocks in the real world - with real money - involves risk. I am not making any specific investment recommendations. I strongly suggest that anyone thinking of investing should consult with a qualified investment advisor. However, it just seems to make sense to me that when my little nest egg of eco-savings grows large enough my investment decisions will be influenced by environmental factors.
Last spring my wife and I planted a vegetable garden. This was not our first attempt at growing our own food but it was our most ambitious. In previous years we had either planted a somewhat modest vegetable patch or not bothered with it at all. This year we doubled the size of our veggie garden, which required a few days of fairly heavy labour - which I had some doubts would pay off. Now we are enjoying the fruits (tomatoes are a fruit, aren't they?) of our labours.
I know that my roll as Eco-miser is to demonstrate that being environmentally friendly can be good for the budget, and certainly growing your own food is a great way to accomplish both these goals, however I find that the satisfaction I now enjoy is so much greater than simply knowing I am "doing the right thing" or saving some cash. My wife and I are, at least to a degree, feeding ourselves. I don't know why the significance of growing my own food rather than paying someone else to grow it for me has struck me in such a profound way this year, but the knowledge that I do still have some independence, some control, over such a basic issue as what I eat now seems vital to me.
It seems that many other people have had a similar experience this year. The popularity of community gardens has exploded as more people are discovering the importance of establishing this most personal connection to their food. I find myself having discussions with my co-workers about spinach and heirloom beans. Seriously. And why does everything taste so much better when it comes out of your own back yard? I find myself bragging about my beets like a proud parent.
One night last week my wife and I didn't bother stopping by the grocery to pick up meat for dinner - instead we just ate our garden vegetables. Having a meal where every single thing I ate came out of the ground behind my house, and most of it picked ten minutes before it was eaten, was satisfying in a way I can not explain. Yes we are saving money and being earth-friendly, but the satisfaction goes way beyond even that. Maybe it's this: Food is life. Take control of your food and you will take control of your life.
New Savings
THE VEGGIE GROW-OP: $0
I can only take a wild guess at how much money I have saved by getting in touch with my inner farmer. I'm pretty sure the cash I've saved on the massive spinach and beet harvests alone will cover all my start up costs - including a large amount of dirt we had to buy to double the size of our garden. However I'll be conservative and say I'm breaking even for now...but expect to see some impressive savings in the blogs to come!
Many of us in the Western World still hold strongly onto the belief that in order to be clean we need to bath or shower at least once a day. While I’ve met people who argue that such frequent bathing is necessary for reasons of hygiene, most would agree that the desire to bathe frequently is more aesthetic than health related. We like to look and smell clean, plain and simple.
But do we need to bathe every day to be clean? And how clean do we really need to be anyway? People in some lines of work (farming, construction) may well indeed need to bathe daily in order to remove sweat and dirt. Those who do some sort of rigorous exercise or activity (that leads to profuse sweating) often want to bathe daily. But it’s amazing how un-dirty and un-smelly most of us are even after a day or two or more and even after exercise. Do most of us bathe too often?
In North America, where we have access to good health care and seemingly limitless water, and where the standards for hygiene, generally speaking, are very high, the answer is arguably yes. This discussion is a sensitive one; cleanliness is a very personal issue. It’s really no one’s business how often we each bathe (assuming we bathe often enough that we don’t smell offensive to others), but I think it’s useful to examine our long held beliefs about bathing and hygiene. Bathing and showering use up large amounts of water and having regular (and long) hot baths or showers is even tougher on the environment.
I know many perfectly clean and odor-free people who bathe only once or twice a week. The climate in Calgary wreaks havoc on sensitive or dry skin; Advice to help those suffering with dry skin generally includes the following: take shorter showers or baths; don’t use hot water; and bathe less often. It just so happens that that advice is also good for the environment.
I could not quickly find any professional medical recommendation for how often we should bathe for health reasons. The closest advice I could find was this: if you can stand it socially, you’re probably fine hygienically. For environmental reasons, anything we can do to use less water and energy is a good thing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grantneufeld/3578575926/
I can hardly wait! Next Sunday, August 23rd, the streets of Calgary will be alive with the hum of bicycle wheels. Anyone who rides a bike, tricycle or unicyle is invited to take part in an on-street, closed-road ride through the inner city to raise awareness of the advantages of pedal powered transportation.
Organized by the newly-formed Calgary Tour de Nuit Society, the 14-kilometre ‘Ride the Road’ Tour will start and finish next to the Bow River in downtown Calgary and tour through the communities of Sunnyside, Bridgeland, Inglewood, Ramsay, Roxboro and Mission. The ride is designed to highlight the impact of single-occupant motor vehicle commuting on inner city suburbs and the need for improved infrastructure in Calgary dedicated to safe bike commuting. Yay!
As if that isn't enough wonderfulness, that same day the two south lanes of Memorial Drive between 10th Street and 3rd Street NW will be closed to cars and turned into a pedestrian promenade for the first Bow River Flow celebration. Throughout the day you can hang out with friends and enjoy Calgary Public Library storytellers, the Calgary Zoo mobile, chalk painting, kids' games, and face painting. For the adults there will be Yoga, Tai Chi, didgeridoo workshops, street hockey, and assistance with bike repairs and safe riding. There will also be buskers playing along the route. Described as an opportunity to take the last Sunday in August to slow down, leave behind the noise and hassle of traffic and simply relax and reflect on our good fortune to live in such a beautiful city. What better way to end a great summer?
When my brother and his partner decided to leave their busy, city work lives behind, and move to the country their commitment to the land included building a sustainable home. While there are many environmentally friendly structural choices, they chose to build a straw bale house. This sturdy structure can be traced back to the early pioneers of the American West. It is a style that fits well with the typology of the prairie landscape, and straw is both a renewable resource and an intuitively easy material for construction.
Aside from aesthetics, one of the main benefits of this type of structure is the amazing insulation that the straw bales provide. According to Strawbale.com, the energy savings of a straw bale house is about 75% over a traditional stick frame home.
Straw bale houses are becoming more common in Alberta, and Calgary Public Library has a multitude of books on the subject. 
With its growing popularity, finding knowledgeable straw bale builders and dealing with permits and insurance are less of an issue.
When my brother was young he spent many hot summer days baling and toting straw that would keep animals cozy through the winter. And now with the passage of time and a resurgence in sustainable, organic building practices, it is straw bales that keep family and friends warm and contented when they gather at my brother and his partner's house.
I have no doubt that for many generations to come, families will live happily within the thick walls of this beautiful home, protected from summer sun, winter winds, and yes, hungry wolves.
When you work in the library it’s easy to spot trends. New books arrive every day and I’m a sucker for their (temporarily) clean, shiny covers and untouched pages. By regularly examining our new book shelf I can deduce what’s new and hot. One trend I’m seeing in books now is what I would call “alternative gardening.” (Okay, I stole that from a book cover, but I would have thought of it anyway.)
All you eager beaver gardeners and book lovers, get ready to place your holds. The books are: Microgreens: A Guide to Growing Nutrient-Packed Greens, Fresh Food From Small Spaces: The Square Inch Gardener’s Guide to Year-Round Growing, Fermenting and Sprouting, and Growing Stuff: An Alternative Guide to Gardening.
These books appeal to me because they are filled with ways to grow food in small spaces: window ledges; balconies; a sunny spot by the stereo. I like the idea of harvesting sprouts and lettuce with scissors in the living room.
Growing Stuff also has a chapter called “Curiosities and Other Things” with pictures of flowers growing in a teacup or a miniature garden growing in an old suitcase. These pictures reminded me of something I saw on a new Calgary blog. David Wilson, founder of Calgary Cowbell, posted a picture of a garden planted in the trunk of a car. Why not funk up your yard, street or house with an alternative garden?
To reduce your impact on the planet there is one very simple thing you can do. It’s not only free–it will save you hundreds of thousands of dollars. It will also help prevent stress and allow you to live a simpler life. You won’t find this on any top 10 green-your-life list. What is it? Don’t have kids.
Unless you are planning to invoke some horrendous environmental catastrophe or live a shamelessly ostentatious lifestyle (or maybe even if you do), choosing not to have children is a single action that would lead to huge environmental gain–especially if you live in a Western nation.
I applaud people who know themselves well enough to decide they won’t have children, regardless of the reason. As a recent Maclean’s article says, we live in a pro-natalist society and it’s difficult to go against the grain. People who decide to forgo childbearing often face accusations (usually behind their backs) that they are self-centred and immature. Telling people you’ve chosen not to have kids for environmental reasons will likely elicit even greater snorts of derision.
Anytime you start to discuss curbing the human population for the sake of the environment, you’re hitting on a touchy subject. Leah McLaren waded into these waters in an April 21, 2007 Globe and Mail column:
In a society that holds up childbirth and parenting as the moral gold standard, the idea that procreation might be an irresponsible environmental choice is not a popular one–even among environmentalists.1
Indeed it’s one subject that can arouse heated debates among otherwise likeminded environmentalists. But there’s one fact you can’t deny: we can install compact fluorescents, compost, recycle, ride transit and eat locally till the cows come home (or get milked in a factory farm), but it won’t amount to a hill of soybeans if the global population continues to rise. At the current rate by 2030 we’ll need two earths to continue our resource-depleting, polluting ways.
The population of the Western world began its decline once women had access to safe and affordable birth control. How do we help create that equity around the world? It’s more challenging than replacing a light bulb, and infinitely more important.
1 Don’t Have Children: Save the World, Globe and Mail, April 21st 2007 by Leah McLaren. Document available with your library card through the E-Library in our website. Click on E-Library, then Newspapers and Magazines then Canadian Newsstand. Enter the article title and choose “Document Title” from drop down arrow.