Grooving on Lucid Food

 In my last post I wrote about my coming to terms with what an unfriendly eco-eater I was, and made a resolution to go veggie one day a week. Gentle reader this was a momentous decision for me, because I am one of those people who think that if it doesn't have meat, it isn't a meal. I could count on one hand the number of days I've gone without meat since graduating from veggie puree in baby bottles.

But so far not only have I stuck to my goal, I've found I've reduced the meat I eat on "non-veggie" days as well. It seems my body just doesn't crave it as much as I thought it would. It is too early start making firm cause and effect statements, but I find my general energy level is higher. But the most surprising thing I have discovered is that low and no meat cooking can be delicious. Seriously. I can point to two factors that have contributed to making this transition so easy for me: (1) My wife is an excellent cook who could probably make my shoes taste good, and (2) The discovery of "Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life" by Louisa Shafia. I love this book because it is a combination cookbook and guide to making eco-friendly food decisions. I suppose that much of the information here might be common knowledge to some, but to an eco-food newbie like myself this book is perfect. Sprinkled amongst the recipes are articles on such topics as urban foraging, drinking water and what seafood to buy to support sustainable fishing. If these are topics that interest intrest you might want to visit Louisa Shafia's website:  www.lucidfood.com or, better yet check out a copy of the book from the library. So far we have only tried a few of the recipes but they are really tasty!

Green Building and Renovation

If you’re building or remodeling your home, there is no shortage of information on how to make greener choices:

Building “green” homes generally has a higher cost than the average home. Russel Gehrke’s Renewable Energies for Your Home: Real-World Solutions for Green Conversions (644 GEH) takes a look at green home improvements that will help you be kind to the environment without emptying your wallet. The book covers:

• Energy savings and environmental benefits
• Biomass fuels, including biodiesel, ethanol, used fryer oil, and wood
• Producing your own biodiesel without titration
• Assembling a biolight grill and fire starter
• Making bioburn-a firewood substitute
• Wind turbines
• Solar lighting, heating, water heating, and electric generation
• Building a solar heat collector
• Creating a wind/solar hybrid electric system

In his book, Green home improvement: 65 projects that will cut utility bills, protect your health, help the environment: with projected savings & costs! (690. 837 CHI), Daniel Chiras covers smaller green home improvement ideas that will have long term financial benefits. Many of the ideas in this book are simple and inexpensive changes that will help make a home more energy-efficient. Green home improvement includes the following projects:

• Green flooring & paint options
• Environmentally friendly cabinetry & countertops
• Whole-house insulation & weather-stripping
• High-efficiency heating & cooling
• Water conservation
• Efficient lighting, appliances & plumbing fixtures including Energy Star and WaterSense models
• Solar electric and water heating systems
• Eco-friendly roofing & siding
• Energy-efficient windows, doors & skylights
• Green materials for patios, walkways & driveways
• Landscaping & irrigation for water conservation and energy

If you’re looking for more information on green building, check out the Canada Green Building Council website and the Canada Green Home Guide, which contain information on the LEED Canada for homes rating system.

Finally, don’t forget that there may be government grants or tax credits available to anyone building or renovating homes for better energy efficiency.

Cocktail Party Chatter

A former library colleague said that when he went to a cocktail party, he could talk to absolutely anyone about absolutely anything.  Working  on the Information Desk, helping people with their research on a broad range of topics eventually paid off, in that he knew a little bit about a lot of stuff. 

When the environment topic comes up, there are a couple of puzzling comments that people make.  One is the notion that we really don’t need to worry much about conserving water because the water cycle will take care of everything. People also comment that when we have a prolonged cold snap in Calgary, why should we worry about global warming?   

A nifty little book, Cocktail party guide to global warming : everything you need to know to converse intelligently about global warming in any social situation by Saliken, Annette, 1961-  is a concise guide for those who wish they could carry out an informed conversation about the distinction between climate change and global warming, with some suggestions for actions to reduce global warming. 

Sometimes, at the cocktail party, we need to shock people by throwing out some statistics like: over 1 billion people in the world need to walk over one kilometer to get their daily water and:  two and a half billion people are without a basic toilet.  Okay... so that is not good cocktail party banter.  How about broaching the topic of bottled versus tap? That’s always good for 10 minutes or so (watch for a future blog rant about bottled water….)

Regarding water, quality is directly related to quantity so pollution and receding glaciers mean that in fact there is less water than there used to be.

For more, check out another source of information about water quality (and quantity) on the World Water Day 2010 Site:

http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/faqs.html

Fun Green Reads

Environmentalists have a bad reputation as overly earnest, dour, end-of-world types. But that’s slowly shifting as environmentalism, or giving a darn about the earth, becomes more mainstream.

Sometimes green folks and green books can be positively … funny. Yes, I said funny.

The best books are those that are funny and get you thinking. Then you don’t feel like you’re being hit over the head with a baseball hat. Don’t get me wrong –sometimes we do need to be hit over the head with a baseball bat, but not all the time. Sometimes we need a break.

 If you need a break from heavy, serious eco-lit, let me give you two book suggestions.

The first: Bothered by My Green Conscience by Franke James is not only fun and thought-provoking, but illustrated with funky pictures by the author, a Toronto artist. James decided to sell her SUV and rip up her driveway to plant a garden, and endures the reactions from family and friends, and even Toronto City Hall to her wild, green scheme. Along the way she discusses how social change happens: awareness versus action, empathy versus self-interest, and fines vs. social disapproval. The result is a whimsical look at one person’s efforts to do the hardest thing first to counter climate change in her personal life.

The second: Greasy Rider: Two Dudes, One Fry-Oil-Powered Car, and Cross-Country Search for a Greener Future by Greg Melville is an eco-road story. Melville and his old college chum, Iggy, depart on a cross country tour visiting green hot-spots like Google’s headquarters, Al Gore’s mansion, Fort Knox, a wind farm, a renewable energy lab, and a green home, driving an old Mercedes converted to run on vegetable oil. While I wouldn’t say this book was hilarious, like some reviewers did, it was entertaining and very readable. And not to worry; it doesn’t skirt ethanol’s thorny issues.

Coming Clean

In past posts, I bragged that I no longer washed my hair with shampoo, but instead used baking soda. I twigged on to this because I’d read about a few people who were trying to reduce their plastic waste to next to nothing. I also didn’t like the idea of putting questionable chemicals on my scalp and in our water supply.

Now I have to come clean with you – my baking soda experiment failed. My hair became so dry that my hairdresser had to cut off an extra two inches of damaged ends. “What have you been using on your hair?!” she asked, nose wrinkled.

I don’t know where these “no-poo” people live, or what kind of hair they have, but for me, living in Calgary, baking soda shampoo was a horrible idea. (That said, I still use it about once a week, just not every day).

I write all this sheepishly, not only because I’m responsible for the damaged locks of a few of my friends and colleagues, but also because I’m taking up valuable space and time talking about washing your hair with baking soda. It’s not exactly an act that’s going to save our little green-and-blue marble now is it?

If you really want to take action why not sign up for Green Calgary’s EcoLeaders 2010 course? It’s a course for people who are working to reduce their eco-footprint, but are interested in learning more and doing more. The deadline to apply is March 4^th and more info is available here.

I’m pretty sure they won’t be telling you to wash your hair with baking soda.

What We Measure, We Improve.

I love taking those silly little quizzes you find on the internet: while most of them are mindless fun, every now and then I come across one that teaches me something about myself and my world. One such quiz is called How Big is Your Ecological Footprint? which is presented by Redefining Progress, an American think tank seeking to impact public policy. The quiz takes about five minutes to complete and will show you how your lifestyle impacts the environment in four different areas: Carbon footprint, Food footprint, Housing footprint and Goods and Services footprint. Results are compared to the national average, so my competitive nature was gratified to see that in three categories I scored significantly better than my fellow Canadians. However when it comes to my "Food Footprint", well let's just say I'm more of a Sasquatch than a geisha. I was surprised to learn that about 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions are associated with meat consumption. It was also a bit of a shock to find out that if everyone on the planet lived my lifestyle, we would need 3.88 Earths to support us. Ouch. Gee, sorry everyone! I'm not sure I've ever had my over-consumption put in such stark terms, or had it so plainly evident as to which area I need to improve in.

Estimated October to End of 2009 Eco-Savings $80.50 Okay, everybody slips up from time to time and an EcoMiser is no different. I'm not proud that I only managed slightly more in savings for October and November than I did for September alone. With 2010 here, I have started to think of what resolutions for the New Year I can come with that will save me some cash while slimming down my "3.88 Earths" lifestyle, and "going veggie" once a week seems like a good place to start.

Image courtesy Tyla Arabas 

Green Resolutions for 2010

Have you made any New Year’s Resolutions for 2010? Most of us don’t keep our resolutions for more than a few months, so the best ones are small, easy changes. Here are a few suggestions of resolutions that will do you good and be good for the planet at the same time:

Saving the World …One Poem at a Time

2009 was a rough year for old Mother Earth. From toxic baby bottles to disappearing honeybees to a failed Climate Change Conference, there wasn’t a lot of positive news.

As we leave behind the noughty decade and enter a new year/decade, I will be making some resolutions around healthier environmental choices. I will also be reading poetry.

Can poetry heal a damaged world? I’m not certain, although I do believe poetry possesses a feral soul and is attentive to this planet in a way that no other writing is. It possesses a unique capacity to restore our attention to the imperiled state of this earth, and in turn to make us better, more conscientious stewards.

Renowned author and speaker, David Whyte, reflecting on the state of the economy and the environment has said of poetry: “A good poem looks life straight in the face, unflinching, sincere, equal to revelation through loss or gain. At the center of our lives, in the midst of the busyness and the forgetting, is a story that makes sense when everything extraneous has been taken away. This is poetry's province; a form of deep memory; a place from which to witness the intangible, unspeakable thresholds of incarnation.”

As we approach the next decade I want to thank our blog readers and supporters, and wish you a life filled with poetry and a happy, healthy sustainable New Year!

Regreen : new Canadian ecological poetry by Anand, Madhur, 1971-

Can poetry save the earth? : a field guide to nature poems by Felstiner, John.

The Age of Eco Angst

Ok, Christmas is behind us and now we’re flocking to boxing week sales. This seems like an appropriate time to be reminded that each thing we buy, give and receive has its own environmental history and future.

The problem is that as consumers, we are blind to the impacts of our everyday choices. And the choices are so embedded in complexity that it is difficult to know which is the best environmental choice.

For example, last year the Calgary Public Library tackled the existential dilemma of paper-versus-plastic-versus-cloth bag question. Plastic bags are made of nonrenewable petroleum and take hundreds of years to decompose, but paper bags take more energy and water to manufacture. The Library did settle on creating a cloth bag made of recycled material, but even then there were questions as to whether the bag was made using appropriate labour. Perhaps the safest thing is to only borrow from the Library what you can carry in your hands. (Just kidding. It’s better to borrow a lot, and use our attractive cloth bag).

And then we move on to the debate about which is more harmful: paper books (dead trees!) or e-book readers (chemicals, electronic trash!).

Basically, until we learn to judge which harm is more harmful, which advantage is more advantageous, it is difficult to make an informed judgment about consumer products.

Thank heavens then, for Daniel Goleman who has looked at the complex issues of consumerism in his new book, Ecological Intelligence. Goleman argues that, much as we might wish to buy products and services that are more environmental responsible, in most cases it is all but impossible to find the information we need to make those decisions. Goleman's solution for this mess is a system of "radical transparency". Radical transparency converts the chains that link every product and its multiple impacts — carbon footprints, chemicals of concern, treatment of workers and the like — into a force that counts in sales.

We are still a long way off from shifting the power from producers to ecologically intelligent consumers, but this book significantly advances the discussion.

Along with Calgary Public Library's vast eco information resources, here are a couple of guides to assist you in developing your ecological intelligence:

GoodGuide – largest source of information on health, environmental and social impacts of home products

Skin Deep - a safety guide to personal care products

My Green Resolution is Fishy

I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. I never make them anymore, as I usually break them days (hours?) after making them. So this year I’ve decided to make one that I’ve already more than half way achieved.

As of January 1, 2010 I won’t eat fish or seafood anymore, unless it’s sustainably harvested fish, from non-endangered stocks.

Why am I even thinking about fish during this turkey and chocolate-dominated season?

Last weekend I saw a documentary called The Cove. It’s a hard-hitting expose of the dolphin entertainment and meat industry, focusing on one small Japanese town called Taiji, which is a major centre for dolphin drive hunting.

Ric O’Barry, the man who captured and trained dolphins for the hit 60’s TV show Flipper, (and now works to protect dolphins) joined forces with filmmaker Louis Psihoyos and the Oceanic Preservation Society to gather evidence of Tanji’s top secret industry and bring it to the world. The result is a gripping spy thriller suitable for adrenalin junkies and nature lovers alike.

But it’s not for the faint of heart. The slaughter scenes were absolutely horrifying. Were it not for the breathtakingly beautiful shots of free divers swimming with whales and dolphins and the passion and dedication of Ric O’Barry, I wouldn’t have made it through the movie and I wouldn’t have made this New Year’s resolution. All oceanic creatures are threatened by overfishing, climate change and pollution. The less we consume the better.

David Suzuki's website has information on options for sustainably harvested fish products here.

The library has the Cove on order. You can get in line by going to our catalogue and placing a hold.

Be a Scrooge this Christmas

Joel Waldfogel is my kind of economist. His new book Scroogenomics asks us to analyze our gift-giving, especially at this time of year, and ask ourselves if it's really worth it. Waldfogel says that our consumer spending creates huge amounts of economic waste because so very often the gifts we get, aren’t the gifts we want. Think of the book from Aunt Millie you’d never read in a million years, or the sweater your brother picked out which would look better on…him.

Waldfogel is approaching the problem of gift-giving from a purely economic point-of-view and economics is renowned for leaving the Earth out of the picture. The tons and tons of waste holiday gift-giving generates through not only unwanted gifts, but also the packaging, the transportation and the disposal of said gifts is a sign of a consumer culture gone wild.

I’ve always tried to buy things I think my family and friends would like, but sometimes it feels more like a shot in the dark. Does John already have a Leatherman? Would my Aunt like this toque?

Then, when I get frustrated and panicked in the mall, I sometimes reach for something I’d like, and hope they’d like it too. This year I nearly bought my brother and sister each a neti pot, along with the salts and how-to book for cleansing your nasal passages before my sense kicked in and I thought “Maybe they wouldn’t really want a neti pot as a Christmas gift.”

I think next year I’ll remind myself of Scroogenomics and give consumables like home-made granola (insert hippie joke now) or simple gifts like beaded bookmarks instead of haunting the malls with a feverish look on my face—like the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Green Gift Wrapping

While the greenest gift to give might be none at all—or at least something that doesn’t require wrapping—many of us will still be giving wrapped presents to loved ones this holiday season. When my children were younger (and the gifts from grandparents and friends were larger and more numerous), we would end up with at least two large garbage bags of wrapping paper alone at the end of the gift giving. The City of Calgary blue boxes will surely be filled with wrapping paper this month and while it's good to know that much of this paper will be recycled, it would be even better to use far less of it in the first place.

Green gift wrapping has been a trend for many years now. I remember one year wrapping all of my gifts in old newspapers or brown paper bags and another when everything was given in hand sewn, reusable fabric gift bags. Here are some creative and green ideas for wrapping gifts:

▲ If you love to decorate with beautiful, new paper, consider purchasing recycled wrapping paper.

▲ Recycle other pieces of paper—use your imagination. I’ve received gifts wrapped in children’s school or art work, outdated maps, newspaper, magazines, flyers, wallpaper samples (!), photographs and sheet music. Try to save wrapping paper and reuse it each year. Add some decoration (or not) and you’re done.

▲ Wrap a gift in another gift. Use a scarf (or pashmina or mitts or a toque or blanket or sweater or towel)—bonus points for anything homemade—to wrap a gift.

▲ If the item came in a attractive box or bag, use that as the wrapping. You can also purchase reusable boxes in pretty designs.

▲ Fabric bags: I know I can never have enough cloth bags for groceries. Put your gift in a reusable bag. The Calgary Public Library’s bags are a pretty purple, only $1.25, and pass on the message that you support the library!

▲ Fabric: Anything in the house can be used to wrap…old sheets or clothes that are heading to the throw away pile. I just happen to have enough fabric to fill a room (including Christmas themed fabric) and plan on using some of that to wrap gifts. In Japan, furoshiki is pieces of fabric used to wrap gifts. This site has some furoshiki wrapping ideas. 

Wrapagami, by Jennifer Playford (796 PLA), is a new book with creative ideas on how to use fabric for wrapping gifts.

▲ No gift wrap. Does your gift need to be wrapped at all? Lots of items may need only a bow or ribbon—or nothing at all.

And while you're admiring your lovely, eco-wrapped gifts, remember that the important part of giving isn't the gifts, but the people to whom you give them.

Helping local wildlife—the right way

CPL employee and guest blogger Jocelyn G. gives some excellent advice on what to do if you come across injured wild animals.

In the “wild” of the city, all sorts of problems—cars, trucks, construction, power lines, dogs, outdoor cats, windows (for birds), and people—are hazards to wild animals. There are a few things to do if you find injured or orphaned wildlife. One is to wait—watch the animal at a distance to be sure it in need of help. It is normal for many baby animals (birds, deer, and hares included) to be by themselves for a long period of time without their parents. Baby hares and fawns are scentless, so their parents leave them alone during the day so as not to attract predators. Animals may seem hurt if they are not moving—and yet that can be a normal defense.

About birds and windows: Peel-off stickers placed on the outside of the windows (The Wild Bird store in Calgary has them) are an easy solution to help birds avoid flying into your window.

Wildlife Rehabilitation links:

Alberta Birds of Prey Centre: (403) 345-4262

Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation: (403) 946-5689

Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society: (403) 239-2488

Cochrane Ecological Institute: (403) 932-5632

For large mammals (e.g., a bear) contact the Alberta Sustainable Resource Development Ministry, Alberta Fish and Wildlife Branch: (403) 297-6423

For more centres in Alberta, visit the Alberta Wildlife Rehabilitators' Association site.  

Just a few resources at the Calgary Public Library:

101 Ways to Help Birds by Laura Erickson  (639.978 ERI)                 

Wildlife Gardening: how to bring birds and bugs to your backyard by Martyn Cox (J 635.96 COX)

NatureScape Alberta: Creating and caring for wildlife habitat at home by Myrna Pearman and Ted Pike (639.92097123 PEA)  

Bird-by-bird gardening: the ultimate guide to bringing in your favorite birds year after year by Sally Roth (639.978 ROT)

Wildlife in the kitchen—and other great animal tales by Roxanne Willems Snopek (639.96091 SNO)

Dreams of a Greener Christmas

Are you dreaming of a simpler, greener Christmas?

For many, Christmas reeks of too much: too much money spent, too much noise, too many people shopping, too much wrapping paper, too much food, too much to do—simply too much. It is a season of stuff. Gifts are to be purchased (or made) and given to family members, friends, teachers and pretty much any other person with whom you’ve come into contact (or so it sometimes seems).  It all adds up to a whole lot more stuff—often stuff that will end up in the garbage or recycling bin. Most of the ideas on how to simplify the holiday season are beneficial to both our bank accounts and the planet.

Gifts? I ran into a friend in the supermarket who said that while she and her husband still purchase their three children Christmas gifts, they’ve stopped giving to each other and to anyone else (family or not). One colleague’s family has a longstanding tradition of purchasing only consumables for one another (food, bath items, books—which can be passed on to others­­—or gift cards).  Yet another friend searches out the most beautiful, thoughtful gifts from thrift stores to give.

If you’re looking for ideas on how to simplify—and green—your holiday season, check out the books and websites listed below.

(And as an addendum to my Christmas tree post—here is an option that may become another alternative to the artificial/real/no tree question: renting a tree with roots! CBC: Christmas tree rental firms battle waste)

A greener Christmas: discover a simpler, greener Christmas hand-crafted gifts and cards, natural decorations, traditional recipes by Sheherazade Goldsmith

I'm dreaming of a green Christmas: gifts decorations, and recipes that use less and mean more
by Anne Getty

▲ Environment Canada: Adding the environment to your Christmas gift list! 
4 Steps to a Green Christmas

▲ Calgary Herald—Dreaming of a green christmas "Used or vintage goods, natural fabrics, homemade products or 'experiences' are some of the gift ideas for the eco-conscious."

O Christmas Tree, Your Branches Green Delight Us

We put up our Christmas tree this past weekend—our artificial Christmas tree.

After many years of debate as to which are more environmentally friendly—real or artificial trees—the answer is clear: real trees are a vastly superior choice. So why does my home sport an (admittedly pretty) artificial one?

While the environmental debate around artificial versus real may be over, the debate around convenience and cost is not. Up until seven years ago, my husband and I had a tradition of going out every year to buy a real tree each Christmas. It was usually fun to find the "perfect tree," although it often took time (and money). I can barely remember purchasing the artificial tree. (In my defense, I had three children at home aged three and under—I don’t remember much from that time.) Did we buy the artificial tree for convenience? Probably. It really is a nice looking tree (though, frankly, once covered in a couple hundred ornaments I’m sometimes surprised that we can see the tree at all) and we’ll continue to use it while it’s still in good condition rather than send it to languish in a landfill. But there is no doubt that real trees are always a better environmental choice than artificial ones.

I look forward to the day when we get a real tree again. A new trend and even better choice? Go treeless. And take the money you would spend on a tree—real or artificial—and donate it to an organization that helps protects forests in Canada or around the globe.

▲ The City of Calgary continues it’s excellent Christmas tree mulching program this year. The city turns the trees into mulch that is then used on city property and is available to Calgarians to use in their own yards. Put your real tree (minus all decorations) out for pickup on either Saturday, January 9th or Saturday, January 16th, 2010. Or you can drop your tree off at several recycling locations across the city between December 26th, 2009 and January 18th, 2010.