From all of us to you... Happy Holidays!

Season's Greenings!

All over the world, December and January are traditionally times of celebration and renewal. From winter solstice festivals, to Hanukkah and Christmas, to Diwali and Kwanzaa, to New Year’s Eve, people come together to share holiday cheer this time of year. However you celebrate, most of these traditions share the common themes of family, togetherness, and generosity.

In recent years people have tended to go to excess throughout the holidays, from eating and drinking to elaborate decorations and gifts. North Americans produce 25-30% more garbage than usual this time of year, and much of that excess waste can be avoided without taking away from the enjoyment of the season. Whatever your holiday traditions are, winter can also be a great time to think about the planet and how you can make a little less waste and a little more merriment.

Here are some tips for greening your holiday season:

   

Lighting

If you’re buying new lights this year, invest in LEDs. They use about 90% less energy than incandescent strings, and they last for something close to forever. Also use a power bar that you can easily turn on and off, and a timer so that your outdoor lights will turn off in the morning. Old incandescent strings can be recycled, and if you’re concerned with power consumption, make sure to recycle your old strings when you buy new LEDs.

Trees

Ah, the tree. A centerpiece of the holiday season for many families, the tree debate has been going on since the invention of the artificial tree. Sometimes, though, the traditional way is still the best for the environment.

Real or fake?

If you don’t already own an artificial Christmas tree, it’s best not to invest in one. Artificial trees are made with PVC (polyvinyl chloride) which is neither biodegradable nor recyclable, and will one day end up in a landfill indefinitely. Real trees grow back, create oxygen, are 100% biodegradable. Just be conscious of where you’re getting it from, and if you can, buy a potted tree that can be replanted.

Recycling your tree

Most municipalities offer Christmas tree recycling, either by curbside pickup or drop-off at locations near your home. Check with your city as to the dates and methods of recycling.

Decorations

Natural decorations 

Items like sprigs of real holly and pine branches can make beautiful decorations for mantles and doorways, and can be shaped into wreaths.

Antique or vintage ornaments 

Older ornaments and other second- or third-hand holiday decorations can be cheaper, more unique, and more sustainable than new ones. Fortunately, most folks save ornaments and reuse them for years.

Homemade 

Making your own decorations can be fun and easy, and a great way to save money and reduce waste! They can be made from a variety of items such as old wrapping paper, popcorn, greeting cards, newspapers, and other colorful household items, and they can give your home a unique look over the holidays.

Shopping & Gifts

In Canada, the annual waste produced just from shopping bags and gift wrap is equal to about 545,000 tonnes annually. Bring a shopping bag or three with you, and think twice before accepting all the extras, like boxes and tissue paper.

 

Steer clear of disposable and gag gifts. For those small gifts for acquaintances and relatively unknown relatives, try making a gift, baking a gift, or bringing something consumable and recyclable like a bottle of wine.

Think about giving experiences, rather than stuff. Lessons or classes, or a membership to a gym or yoga studio, or even a subscription to an online magazine will usually be appreciated more than another nick-nack. 

Of course, for those tangible gifts that you want to wrap, be conscious of how and where the items are made. Try to stick to locally made, sustainable gifts that are recycled, biodegradable, etc.

For green gift ideas, check look online. A couple of good places to start are:

Treehugger’s gift guide - http://www.treehugger.com/giftguide/

David Suzuki’s Green Gifting- http://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/green-gifting/

Wrapping

For those tangible presents that need to be wrapped, get creative! Try:

Reusable items like pieces of cloth or the newspaper funny pages;

Wrapping box tops and bottoms separately, so you can reuse them next year; and

Making gift tags from old Christmas cards or scraps of wrapping paper.

  

Getting Around

Between shopping, family visits, and holiday parties, you’re probably all over the place this season. Try to think about your footprint as you go, and think about making actual footprints by walking, biking, taking transit or carpooling as much as you can.

To help reduce waste (and save you time!) do as many errands as you can in one trip, so you’re not driving back and forth across town. This will save on gas and help the environment as well as your wallet.

Heating & Cooking

Canadian energy consumption is extremely high per capita, higher even than the United States, but only 18.1% of our electricity comes from fossil fuel sources. It is possible that this cheap, relatively clean source of power has led us to be more wasteful of energy than we would otherwise be. Being aware of your energy use over the holidays is a great start to reducing your overall consumption for the year.

It’s true what they say: the more, the merrier! The more people you have in one place, the warmer you’ll be. Also, at this time of year, everyone will likely be dressed in warm attire, so there’s no need to crank up the heat. Furthermore, all that cooking can’t help but heat the place up a little as well. And don’t forget your Christmas sweater! Those are sure to keep you cozy this time of year.

To save additional energy, try not to leave the oven door open unless you’re actually putting something in or taking something out. The same goes for your home doors as well, and remember to turn everything off when all is said and done!

Food

  

Baked, fried, boiled, or broiled, food is a central component to any holiday gathering. Here are a few tips to help you help the environment, and often your budget, too.

To keep your holiday low-impact, buy local food when you can. Local farmers’ markets often have great winter vegetables at this time of year. To find a local Canadian farmers’ market, check out Farmer’s Markets Canada.

Bring your own grocery bags. They’re both bigger and stronger than disposable plastic bags, and you can use them again and again.

Buy food with minimal packaging, and skip the small plastic bags for fruits and veggies.

Try to buy in bulk, especially for non-perishables. This may seem counterintuitive, but will avoid the excess waste generated by individually packaged items.

Use real cutlery, plates, and napkins. The disposable kind make cleanup easy, but they also generate a mountain of garbage. Real wine glasses and dinnerware also add a touch of class to any gathering.

Whatever your plans are for travelling  gifting, eating, and general merry-making are this holiday season, you can still have an amazing time while taking care of your environment!

Sources: MSUAPX, Planet Green, Environmental Law, Shop Clues, LED BC, Garden Centres, Earth911, BC Living, Arkive, Best Home Decorators, RDN, Earth911, David Suzuki, Carriage, CBC, Post Consumers, CTSweep, Energy Centre, Holiday Food, Grit, CDC, Whister, Niagra Parks, Work Place Live, Food, Christmas City, Italy, Design Meg, Festival of Lights, Wilkinson, TLC, Saving the Earth

How to Go Green at School

Steps for going green are adaptable and can be applied anywhere you can fit them. You can translate what you already know about going green at home and use it to go green at school! Simple actions such as: 

• turning off lights and electronics when they are not in use;
• buying energy efficient light bulbs and electronic systems;
• using environmentally friendly cleaning products; and
• turning down the heat are all important actions that can be done both at home and school. 

These smalls steps can have significant impacts, and on such a large scale as the school system they can be highly influential. There are more than 1 million computers being used in Canadian schools, and the average desktop computer is estimated to consume 420 kilowatts of power each year; the energy savings that result from turning them off can quickly add up!

In addition to our steps for going green at home, you can also apply any or all of these to your school:

For Students/ Parents

Bus, carpool, or walk

As mentioned in our previous blog post on going Back to School - The Green Way, try to do your best to reduce the amount you drive your individual kids to and from school to reduce your driving emissions. One popular way is to enroll your children in a school bus program. School buses reduce a great amount of emissions, especially if they're newer and up to date with the current emission-reducing standards. You can also choose to organize or join a carpool program and alternate with neighbours to drive a group of children at one time. If you live nearby, get your children to ride their bike or walk to school! A co-op walk team can help keep your kids safe by having groups walk together and alternating parent escorts if needed. 

Re-use school supplies or buy recycled or renewable ones

Take time to look at the supplies you already have and see what can be re-used. You do not always need to buy new pens and pencils when you still have some that are usable. You can easily re-use old binders by taking the contents out, and if only a few pages of an old notebook have been written on you can just discard them and re-use it. 

If the purchase of new supplies is necessary, many major retailers carry recycled and renewable school supplies such as biodegradable pencils, as well as recycled notebooks, paper, and binders. Paper Mate is offering biodegradable pencils that are offered at many major retailers, such as Staples. There is also Ecojot, which offer notebooks, journals, sketchbooks, and more made entirely from post-consumer waste. For more eco-friendly school supply brands check out what Practically Green has to offer here.

When looking for a new backpack, look for both an environmentally as well as child friendly backpack; one that’s made from recycled material and is padded to prevent back pain. You can check out The Ultimate Green Store or Ecocentric Bags to find some of the cool green backpacks being offered.

Making smart, economical decisions about school supplies can go a long way in saving your money and reducing production and waste emissions that result from purchasing new and non- recycled supplies.

Pack a waste free lunch

The average child is said to produce 67 pounds of trash at lunch per year! Through packing a waste-free lunch at home, energy emissions, meal costs, and the waste produced are all reduced. Pack lunches for your child using reusable utensils, containers, napkins, sandwich bags, water bottles and lunch boxes to avoid trash generation. Watch this short video by the Recycling Council of Ontario to learn how to shop for a waste free lunch 

Reuse wrapping paper, paper bags, or newspaper for book covers

Many schools require kids to cover their books and it is a good idea to do it to prevent the wear and tear of them. Instead of buying a manufactured cover, or using new paper to cover them, you can reuse paper bags, newspapers, old wrapping paper, or even outdated maps. Using old paper products will save trees and water, as well as reduce air and water pollution. If you need some help making one, Crafting a Green World has a good tutorial on how to fashion your book covers from paper bags (it can also be applied for newspapers, wrapping paper, and maps too).

Educators/ Administrators

Grow a school garden

By building a school garden you can create opportunities to teach students about ecology, sustainable agriculture, and nutrition. Growing food and native plants also helps kids connect with the source of their food, and problems such as grocery transport emissions, and food waste issues. Plant herbs, fruits, and vegetables that are easy to grow, pick, and cook. You can use them in students’ lunches, cooking classes, or even in your school’s cafeteria! You can use this School Garden Checklist for tips on how to create a garden for your students. If you cannot grow an outdoor garden you can still bring plants and their educational opportunities into your classroom by using indoor plant containers.

Compost

By composting you can help the environment by naturally recycling a large amount of your school’s waste into nutrient-rich soil. You can use the soil produced from it for your school’s flowers, trees, shrubs or even vegetable garden. Composting reduces landfill greenhouse gas emissions and toxins, as well as reduces the amount of space required for landfills. Composting presents a good opportunity to educate on the connections between food, waste and humankind’s impact on the planet. Additionally, it educates on the impact that many small but important biological interactions in nature have; they ultimately make our lives possible through recycling essential life-giving nutrients. If composting outside cannot be done at your school, consider getting a worm bin for your class. For more information and a guide to easy composting visit our Composting for a Greener Future page.

Recycle while raising funds for your school

Recycling reduces the size and affect of landfills, helps conserve natural resources, decreases pollution, saves energy, and can earn money for your school! How does it work? Your school can collect items such as beverage containers or electronics and give them to programs like Encorp’s Return It program (for schools in BC) whom then pay your school money and responsibly recycle the items. Think Recycle is another school recycling program which accepts electronics such as laptops, toner cartridges, inkjet cartridges, and digital cameras. Also, remember to put in place easily accessible recycling bins for other paper and plastic wastes.

Use recycled paper products and use both sides of paper

Make a policy for your classroom or school that urges students and teachers to use recycled paper as well as print, write, or draw on both sides of the paper. You can even set the school’s printers to duplex mode to ensure double sided printing. Whenever possible, be sure to use recycled paper towel, toilet paper, envelopes, and tissues. As a result you will lighten your environmental footprint by saving trees, water, energy, and landfill space!

If your school is able to go the extra mile, you can also dramatically reduce your class’s paper footprint by using digital textbooks instead of printed ones! Touted as the way of the future, going digital helps reduce the burden on paper and can even improve learning and teaching.

Make your school a "no-idling zone"

To avoid unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions you can create a policy that urges parents, bus drivers, and anyone else who visits your school to turn their vehicles off while waiting. According to Friends of the Earth, Canadians idle away $1.3 million in greenhouse-gas-producing fuel each year! Turning idling vehicles off immediately can go a long way in reducing this amount.

Teach students about the environment and sustainability

Teachers play a significant role in encouraging environmental thinkers for society; in a few short years your students will be helping to decide the fate of the planet. Teach kids simple things such as the principles of zero-waste, the carbon footprint calculations of their commute to school, the basic science behind climate change, and the benefits of making decisions for the planet as well as themselves. Steps like growing your own food, supporting local businesses, buying second hand, and minimizing waste can make a big difference when practised for a lifetime. Teaching children about the planet early can help inspire kids to think and learn more about the world around them and humankind’s significant impacts on it. The basic skills and knowledge students learn today can grow into planet-saving capabilities they could put into use tomorrow!

You can check out these easy ways to get kids thinking about the environment early, use these Renewable Energy Documentaries and films by The Story of Stuff project to environmentally engage students, and visit the rest of our blog for more information on many other green topics to reference in the classroom.

Remember to stay tuned to our Twitter account for daily green updates as well as our special #TeacherTuesday tweets for eco-friendly education!

Some other helpful environmental teaching resources are:

• The GREEN School program
• World Wildlife Fund
• Resources for Rethinking
• The Guardian Teacher Network
• National Geographic
• Discovery Education

Sources: TreeHugger, EPA, Practically Green, World Vision, National Fire Protection Association, About.com, New Mexico State University, Isle of Wight Council, Planet Pals, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, New Energy Connections, Inhabitat, Goumbook, The Family Groove

How to Go Green at Home

1) Everyday Actions

Turn off the lights when you leave a room

Turning off the lights saves both energy and money. For example, a standard bulb uses 60 watts of energy an hour and can chew through a whole kilowatt of energy over approximately 16 hours. A kilowatt hour of energy costs approximately $0.12. Leaving that light on unnecessarily for 16 hours a day all year adds up to 365 kilowatts of energy and $43.80 down the drain! Leave the lights on in a room with multiple bulbs and you will cost yourself even more. CFL and LED bulbs use less energy but they still should be turned off when you leave the room. 

If your household occupants are having difficulty remembering to regularly turn the lights off you can install motion or occupant sensors. These will automatically turn off lighting when no one is present and come back on when they return. There are also some creative systems designed to help you monitor your lights, like the Tio for kids!

Unplug your appliances/ electronics when you are not using them

Electricity continuously flows through the plugs of your electronic gadgets so they are ready to jump into action at any time; even if your gadgets aren't on they are still consuming energy to be ready when you are. Things that are not on but are still plugged in suck up to $4 billion a year in energy; just your laptop plugged into the wall and turned on can cost you $9.00 a year!

To remedy this unplug your electronics manually or plug groups of electrical items into Smart Strips. Smart strips stop drawing power when your gadgets are turned off so your energy emissions and costs are reduced. How do smart strips work? When a printer plugged into a basic smart strip goes into standby mode, its power consumption drops. Consequently the smart strips circuitry detects the change and cuts the power to that outlet but the rest of the outlets in use stay on.

Conserve water

Turn off the tap and shower when not in use, limit the number of baths you take, and only run a washing machine or dishwasher with a full load. You can even install a low-flow shower head and save as much as 60% of the water used by a conventional fixture! Dripping taps should be replaced because they can waste 9,000 litres of hot water each year.

Additionally, if you are watering your lawn in the summer purely for aesthetics, consider decreasing the amount of water you use on it and let it become brown. Grasses go dormant when they go without water, but do not die. A prolonged drought will eventually kill your grass but if you water it only a couple times a month (or it rains), your grass should still be fine.

Recycle

Return your old bottles, cans, and juice containers to recycling depots. Most cities even have recycling programs for old newspapers, magazines, paper, and cardboards such as Vancouver’s blue box program. If you don’t already have a recycling box, check to see if your city offers a recycling program and get started.

Additionally, make sure to recycle your old electronics such as computers, cell-phones, televisions, cameras and kitchen appliances such as microwaves. Recycling all these items reduces the size and affect of landfills, helps conserve natural resources, decreases pollution, and saves energy. For example recycling one million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by more than 3,500 US homes in a year.  

There are many places you can take your items for proper disposal and recycling. If you are in the United States, Earth 911 has a quick search option for you to find recycling solutions for many different items. In North America, the E-Stewards Initiative provides locations for recycling electronics. For electronics in the US, you can use www.ecyclingcenter.com, www.ecyclingcentral.com, or www.greenergadgets.org to find recycling locations close to you. In Canada, Environment Canada has links to where and how you can recycle various items by province.

Call2Recycle is also a great resource to find locations for recycling your old batteries and cell-phones anywhere within North America. Additionally, many companies have recycling programs for their products, with some even offering you a credit or rebate for returning old products. For example, Apple offers customers gift cards for returning old iPhones, iPads, Macs or PCs. Apple will take care of the shipping costs if you mail it back to them or you can drop it off at any apple store.             

Go paperless

Go a step further than just recycling your paper; avoid initially using it whenever possible!

• Cancel your paper delivery and use online news websites to keep up to date on important issues
• Sign up for e-billing options wherever possible; most financial institutions, utilities, and electronic service providers now offer this
• Send e-cards instead of paper cards for special occasions
• Print only select pages instead of entire documents
• Keep electronic copies (and backups) of documents on an external hard drive instead of printing them out for your records
• Use cloths or sponges instead of paper towels
• Cancel your yellow pages delivery
• Switch to a metal mesh reusable coffee filter so you do not need disposable paper ones

Line dry your clothes

A clothes dryer is one of the largest energy hogs in your home. By relying on air and sun to do the drying work, you eliminate the use of electricity or gas, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and conserve non-renewable resources.

Sunshine acts as a natural sanitizer and whitener, eliminating the need for bleach. Air-drying is also gentle on fabrics so it helps them last longer, though dark items should be kept out of the sun or they will fade. When the weather is not very nice you can dry your clothes on racks inside instead.

Practice Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)

People are not the only ones going green; companies are as well. Spend your dollars on companies that have corporate social responsibility programs related to the environment and avoid dealing with companies that cause the environment more harm. Encourage the institutions you are affiliated with such as universities and banks to invest in companies that are improving the health of the planet. Many institutions may promote sustainable initiatives but still invest millions of dollars in fossil fuel stock so do some research before letting them handle your money.

Turn down the heat when you are not home

Why keep the heat running if no one is home? It is another great way to save money on your energy bill. If you are someone who is in a rush in the mornings and tend to forget, try installing a programmable thermostat instead. You save 2% on your heating bill for every 1⁰C that the thermostat is lowered. There are also electronic systems designed to help you manage the varying levels of heat in your home, like Tado!

2) Buy Green Products

Clean Green

Using green products in your household cleaning can be better for the health of the planet, yourself, your family, and your pets. Green products are typically made with natural ingredients and can reduce the amount of harmful toxins you are exposed to each day. Green products are also often packaged in recycled or biodegradable materials and offer bulk options to reduce waste. Research and read the labels of your green products, looking for words such as biodegradable, 100% recycled, certified organic, and green certified, to chose the ones that are right for you. You can also make your own simple formulas using ingredients like vinegar and lemon juice.

Choose alternatives to aerosol sprays

Aerosol sprays are convenient but if the sprays they emit miss their target those aerosol particles can remain suspended in the air for hours or even days. Consequently, the particles can become air pollution that is harmful when inhaled. Additionally, the chemicals used to actually propel the sprays out of the can include petroleum-derived volatile organic compounds like isobutene, butane, and pentane, which are unhealthy to breathe and create air pollution, too. Aerosol sprays are a key reason why ordinary household products, including cleaners and personal care items, are second only to cars as the Los Angeles region’s leading source of air pollution.

Buy energy efficient appliances and light bulbs

Remember to look for the EnerGuide tag when purchasing new appliances as it displays a product’s estimated annual energy consumption and evaluates it against the consumption performance of similar products. The Energuide label appears on major household appliances, heating, cooling and ventilation equipment, new houses, and cars.

Also, look for the ENERGY STAR label which indicates the most energy efficient major appliances, lighting products, electronics, windows, doors and skylights. Refitting your home with energy saving light bulbs labelled ENERGY STAR® not only helps the environment, but helps you save money on your electricity bill as well! Compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs use 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs and can last up to 10 times longer. Light emitting diode (LED) lights are an emerging technology and are also 75% more efficient than incandescent bulbs. LEDs can last even longer than CFLs—lasting 15 to 20 times longer than incandescent bulbs. 

Wash clothes in cold water with coldwater detergents

In a typical wash, just heating the water accounts for approximately 75% of the energy use and GHG emissions generated from the load! To reduce energy and emissions companies such as Tide have developed cold-water detergents that compensate for the benefits of heat. This is done through adding different enzymes and surfactants that work better in cold water to the detergent. Tide’s Coldwater detergent has been ranked among Consumer Report’s top detergents; proof coldwater washes with the correct detergents really can get clothes clean!

Use recycled paper (when you cannot go paperless)

Paper products often offer at least one recycled version of a certain percentage, typically anywhere from 30% - 100%. Try buying the highest percentage you can afford for:

• Tissues
• Toilet paper
• Printing paper
• Paper towel
• Greeting cards
• Envelopes
• And more!

Buy your clothes from second hand stores or buy clothes made from sustainable fabrics

Textile manufacturing uses large amounts of water while also emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases and pollutants. Buying your clothes second hand and donating your old clothes helps to reduce the demand for new textiles and thus reduces their environmental impacts. If new clothes are necessary many popular brands like Adidas, Levi’s and H&M offer clothes made from more eco-friendly material.

Switch to rechargeable batteries 

Rechargeable batteries are both better for the environment and save you money in the long run. Most batteries (even rechargeable ones) can release harmful metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium when taken to landfills. Rechargeable batteries are easy to recycle though and because rechargeable ones can be reused numerous times, they result in less energy and waste product overall.

Although rechargeable batteries cost more initially they typically can be recharged hundreds of times, consequently saving you from having to buy hundreds of single use ones which would be overall more expensive. You can even buy rechargeable batteries that can recharge through your computer’s USB ports!

Learn more about recycling batteries from our blog post, The Life, Death, and Resurrection of a Battery.

3) Eat Green

Buy reusable containers

Use reusable containers and make tonight’s dinner into tomorrow's lunch! That way you can reduce the amount of packaging used for a bagged lunch and eliminate the need to get take out. Use reusable coffee mugs and water bottles to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills. Plastic water bottles are a major source of waste in landfills with approximately 40 million plastic water bottles being disposed daily worldwide! Use a water filter in your home instead and use a stainless steel water bottle (which won’t leak any chemicals) when on the go.

Compost

By composting you can help the environment by naturally recycling a large majority of your household waste into nutrient-rich soil. Composting reduces landfill greenhouse gas emissions and toxins, as well as reduces the amount of space required for landfills. For more information and a guide to easy composting visit our Composting for a Greener Future page.

Buy food with small amounts of packaging

Food packaging generates large amounts of waste. The average American generates roughly 300 pounds of packaging waste a year. This makes up about a third of the typical household waste stream, and around 66% consists of food packaging alone. Additionally, plastic packaging is made from fossil fuels so buying food with less packaging can help reduce your environmental impact. Buying in bulk can sometimes facilitate this as it tends to have the maximum amount of product in a minimum amount of packaging. However, if your bulk goods are just going into the garbage in the end since you do not have a real need for them you may not actually be reducing your waste impact.

Eat less meat

Livestock can create about as much greenhouse gas pollution as cars, planes, and other forms of transport; the production of just a 1/4lb hamburger can release 6.5 pounds of greenhouse gases. Eating meat also takes a heavy environmental toll on land and water worldwide with 1,800 gallons of water being required to produce 1lb of beef. If all Americans did not eat meat or cheese one day a week, it would have the same effect as taking 7.6 million cars off the road for one year! Learn more about the hidden costs of beef in this animated short film from the Center for Investigative Reporting. Making the change to a full vegetarian may be a hard change to suddenly make but you can start out by cutting out meat from a few meals a week or being a weekday vegetarian.

Use reusable shopping bags

Disposable plastic bags harm the environment as only 1% of them are recycled and the degradation of them releases toxins. A reusable bag’s longer utility life equates for the production of many disposable ones offsetting a reusable bag’s initial production emissions. A key factor in reusable bags being more sustainable than non-reusable ones is the actual continued use of the bag; if each bag is used at least once a week, four or five reusable bags can replace 230 disposable bags a year. Overall reusable bags make more environmental sense than disposable ones but only if they are reused many times. Most stores no longer have plastic bags or charge a fee if you require one.

Buy sustainably sourced seafood

Today 85% of the earth’s fisheries are being harvested at or above capacity or have collapsed. The fishing industry also is a major cause of ocean habitat destruction due to catching methods like trawling. Farm-raised fish also can have environmental impacts such as pollution, disease, and contamination of wild fish stocks. When buying seafood look for the label of the Marine Stewardship Council, which indicates that a seafood product has successfully met requirements for sustainability.

Additional resources to determine if your seafood purchase is sustainable:

• The Environmental Defense Fund’s Pocket Seafood Guide
• Blue Ocean Institute’s FishPhone – Get the FishPhone App for Iphones or you can text 30644 with the message FISH and the name of the fish in question, and they'll send a text back with their assessment and recommended alternatives
• Greenpeace’s Sustainable Seafood Supermarket Scorecard

Purchase sustainably produced coffee

Coffee is just behind oil as the second most traded commodity in the world. Coffee beans are generally farmed in areas that are considered high priority for conservation. You can help maintain these forests and the wildlife habitat they provide by purchasing coffee that is Rainforest Alliance Certified. Approximately 1.3% of the world’s coffee is Rainforest Alliance Certified.

Eat local and in season

Produce that is grown in your area requires lower inputs to get to the store/farmers’ market/restaurant, and by buying seasonal produce you’re more likely to get produce that’s local. A good way to know if your food is sustainably produced is to talk to the farmer!  Buy farm-gate produce or shop at farmers’ markets whenever it’s possible.  Ask the farmer how they grow their crops. The farmers that are passionate about sustainable practices will enthusiastically share their knowledge. You can read more about sustainable agriculture on our blog here.

Another great way to make sure that your food is produced sustainably is to grow your own! Growing food in your own back yard or community garden ensures that the food is pesticide and GMO free (so there are no negative impacts on the surrounding soil, water, or organisms), energy used to produce it is minimized, and that transport emissions associated with it are very small. Learn more about the local food movement at Farm-to-Table: Local Sustainability.

Know your certifying bodies so you can eat organic

Certified organic food is regulated by strict environmental stewardship and resource conservation standards that seek to enhance natural processes that sustain plant and animal life in nature and avoid using synthetic methods to control pests and soil fertility. Organic food standards reduce pesticide use associated with the contamination and damage of ecosystems and prevent a number of negative human health problems linked to pesticide use.

Each piece of organic produce is certified, and each certifying body has different regulations about what makes the produce organic.  By having a general idea which bodies have regulations to ensure sustainable and ethical practices, you can make educated decisions while shopping. Canadian Organic certification indicates that products meet the Canadian standard for organic production, contain at least 95% organic ingredients and are not GMOs (genetically modified organisms).  In British Columbia, check out the Certified Organic Association of BC.

4) Build Green

Renovate or build eco-friendly

You can use this tool by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to estimate your household emissions and provide possible solutions to lower them. The tool breaks it down in both a dollars perspective and an emissions perspective for you.

Particularly make sure to seal and insulate your home well to ensure that your home is not unnecessarily losing heat through your windows, walls, and doors. Heating costs take up a large chunk of your home’s energy bill. You can even improve your home’s air tightness by installing caulking or weather-stripping. Double glazed windows are also a worthy investment.

Find more information on eco-friendly ways to retrofit existing building structures, eco-friendly home products, and eco-friendly green roofs here.

Install your own renewable energy producers for your home

Though some regions generate their grid power from cleaner energy sources such as hydropower other regions source their grid power from emission-heavy fossil fuel powered plants. To ensure that the energy that powers your home is sourced sustainably you can install your own renewable energy technology. Over the lifetime of your renewable energy producer you could save money overall and potentially make money selling some energy back to your region’s energy provider if it generates surplus energy.

Check out our pages on wind, solar, and geothermal energy in the home for more information.

Sources: Hortmag, Go Green, Go Paperless, Practically Green, 28 Ways, Green This Week, Daily Green