UN Convention on Climate Change
| US Environmental Protection Agency | Environment Canada | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Eating local in the summer and fall is easy. An abundant harvest means that farmers' markets spring up throughout cities, towns, and sometimes even along highways. In Toronto, for example, there are at least 25 weekly farmers' markets in the growing season. But when snow is on the ground, all of those resources seem to disappear. So where to turn when you're trying to find local products in the winter?
In Toronto, there are a few options for the intrepid locavore. First, the obvious: check your labels! Produce is labeled with country of origin, and often even the big retailers will highlight items that come from nearby. Loblaws supermarkets, for example, have been selling Ontario Empire, McIntosh, and Honeycrisp apples all through January, and will continue while supplies last. There are also the winter farmer's markets.
Part 1 of this series discussed the environmental challenges caused by solid waste. A drive for natural resource exploitation characterized the last few centuries and with this drive came the discarding of waste, materials considered to be worthless. The ever-increasing volumes of waste discarded, are resulting air, water and soil pollution.
Though the holidays are over and images of summer sunshine and flip flops are invading our thoughts, we still have that pesky month of February to get through. Don’t worry, there are still some fun indoor activities besides watching reruns that can help you pass the time! By winter-proofing your home using LED light bulbs, energy-saving space heaters and water efficient showerheads, you can lower the cost of staying indoors for the remainder of the cold season. LEDs are extremely long-lasting and durable plus they give off the same amount of light and generally use one third of the amount of energy to power the light source as a normal incandescent bulb.
Solid waste is hardly a matter that can be eliminated from our daily existence. Yet, it is causing increasing environmental degradation, ranging from pollution to climate change. The intention of this series is to provide information on how the management and handling of solid waste can be turned into a sustainable practice that is safe for the environment. This first article of the series will explore why solid waste is an environmental challenge.
How does solid waste affect our natural environment?
Solid waste generation is synonymous with the human race's existence. Levels of waste generation varied during the course of world history, but with a steady increase noted during recent centuries.
It’s all very well buying local produce but you need some ideas of what to do with it! Here is recipe I like, which uses ingredients you should be able to buy locally this winter.
Here is your step-by-step guide on how to buy fresh produce, support the local economy, save money and save the environment… sound good? Your average meal bought from a supermarket has travelled huge distances to get to your plate, this, while it sounds exotic and exciting, has a less than appealing reality.
The food has had to be preserved but it has also polluted the environment unnecessarily.
Dear What's Your Impact: Composting is good for the garden, but is it really better for our carbon footprints than just letting the same stuff decompose in the landfill? - Mickey Microbe
Dear Mickey Microbe,
I think a lot about what ends up in the landfills, hanging around for eternity, increasing our carbon footprints in a few different ways. The majority of the cities I've lived in as an adult offer recycling programs in addition to good old "toss it in the landfill" pickup. This has been going on for decades, but I still know some folks who cannot be bothered to separate their recyclables from their trash.
Champagne is a traditional way to ring in the New Year. But traditional Champagnes are flown in from France, a trip of approximately 6,000 km that gives the average bottle a carbon load of almost 1.5 tons.
So what can an environmentally minded reveller do?
Luckily, those living in the Ontario area have a wealth of options at their local LCBO to choose from. Anything labeled VQA is made entirely from Ontario-grown grapes! There are more than twenty wineries in this province alone that craft sparkling wine. In fact, Ontarians can make their choice of wine region based on their area.
VQA divides the province into four wine-growing regions: one east of Toronto, the very well-known Niagara region southwest of Toronto, and two around Windsor. The Wine Council of Ontario has also set out guidelines for ecologically-friendly land use, for member vineyards.
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Resolutions for a Greener New Year
One of the best things about social networking is the ability to "crowdsource"; when you ask a question of a diverse group of individuals, you get a surprising number of high-quality, enthusiastic responses.
This week, ASK WYI turns the tables and asks the crowd to respond to OUR question, "If you were to make a New Year's resolution about living a little greener, then what would it be? Drive less? Recycle more? Stop using plastic bags? Start a compost pile? Insert your own idea here!".
This is the second part of a two-part series about green practices that can be put into use during the holiday season. Don't be shy; hit that "comment" button and tell everyone how you're planning to make YOUR holidays a little greener :)
Dear WYI: Please share what we can do about the wrapping paper and bows situation. It's expensive, and it only ends up being thrown away. - Gayle the Giver
Dear Gayle the Giver:
Thanks for all the tips you shared with me! I learned a lot by discussing this with you and other readers. I'm going to mix them all together here in one awesome list:
1. Save all the bows and ribbons immediately as they come off the presents.
I asked my friends if they would pose questions to me about having a "green Christmas" - what would they like to know about implementing a little "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" during the holiday season? WELL! I was greeted with a cavalcade of questions, testimonials, and discussion! This is Part 1; I'll post Part 2 next week. Without further ado, let the sharing of "green Christmas" tips and tricks commence :) - Erin
Dear What's Your Impact: Which are more "green" - real trees, or artificial ones? - Midwest Maggie
Dear Midwest Maggie:
The answer might surprise you, but it is said that using a real, live tree for the holidays is much greener than using an artificial tree. It is true that you can REUSE an artificial tree for many years.
There are four outdoor farmers’ markets in the city of Santa Monica. Geographically, two are held in the busy downtown shopping restrict, while two are held in the neighborhood of Santa Monica. By schedule, one is on weekday and three are weekends. They all open year round, no matter what the weather is. Each farmers’ market lasts 5 hours and has different features, for example, the Downtown market features a restaurant in downtown Santa Monica and the Main Street market is filled with lots of musical entertainment. Visitors and residents are easy to access to refresh fruits, vegetable and flowers grown in the sunshine state, California.
Established on March 1992, the Saturday Pico Farmers Market is located in the heart of the neighborhood, Virginia Park.
Thanksgiving is generally known as the celebration of the ceremonial meal between the Native Americans and the Pilgrims in the new world. Centuries later when thinking about this momentous gathering that North Americans celebrate every year, food is most likely the first thing that comes to people's mind. This year, besides the turkey, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, maybe we should take time to think about that first Thanksgiving and where the food served there came from.
The menu in the 17th century was a festival of the harvest and thus consisted of corn, onions and possibly pumpkins in addition to plentiful fowl and venison. Despite the disparity between early and current menus, one thing remains constant: the ability to commemorate in an environment that celebrates sustainable and local food products. <
Dear What's Your Impact:How can I make my home tap water more drinkable? It tastes terrible, but we want to reduce our carbon footprint by stopping the use of water that comes in plastic bottles...
WYI says:I had this very same problem when I first moved into my newly-built home here in Florida. The water here is notoriously untasty to all except those who grew up on it. This leads to the purchase of millions of plastic bottles of water per year, by both tourists and residents. Bottled water sales are typically robust here in Florida.
To find a solution, it helps to understand the source of the problem.
Trick or treat! Fall weather brings a holiday that celebrates creativity: Halloween. From the costumes to the snacks, Halloween is a time to shine for enthusiastic families worldwide. However, don’t get caught up in all the excitement and forget that it can also be a time to think conscientiously about the environment. One way to show your understanding and environmental knowledge is to put your decorations to good use, specifically pumpkins. Pumpkin carving or simply using pumpkins as outdoor decorations is a traditional activity, but let’s take it one step further.
It can be hard to find a good bite to eat in between lectures. On a student's budget, eating out can be out of the question. And while grocery-store pre-packaged lunches and snacks are convenient, they aren't ideal.
As easy as they are, prepackaged food can be a doublewhammy of environmental sin.
During the rainy, cooler months I find myself slowing down a bit, reading, and watching movies. This is also a great time to plan for travel and events! Traveling out of the country does have an environmental impact. Commercial airliners are becoming more efficient, but how can we travel and see the amazing things we want to see without dirtying the air?? Reducing the amount you travel by air in or out of the country by one or two trips a year can make a difference.
Also, If you like traveling to Europe as much as I do, keep in mind that traveling by train for example from London to Paris instead of plane travel can result in 90% less carbon emissions. High Speed Rail is also being explored in many areas beyond Europe.
It is no secret that Toronto residents' mailboxes are stuffed with unaddressed mail that ends up in the recycling (if lucky). The amount of unsolicited ad mail in the city has grown exponentially and is starting to become a problem when its transportation, distribution, and eventual disposal is considered. The junk mail tactic doesn't seem to be fruitful as most people have a very passive reaction to it and end up throwing it out without even considering its offers.
The city of Toronto has jumped on the Red Dot Campaign bandwagon for a number of years now. The campaign provides "No Junk Mail Please" stickers from Canada Post that you can put on your mailboxes to indicate your disinterest.
Sometimes the last few bites of a meal are just too much to finish, too little to save for later, but too delicious to throw in the garbage. Luckily there is a solution to this problem that puts both your belly and your mind at ease. Composting leftover scraps of food such as fruit and vegetable skins, coffee grounds, tea bags and many other natural food items is a way to reduce trash sent to landfills and create fertile soil that can be in turn used to help plants and flowers flourish. This activity takes the recycling movement a step further and puts on display the physical amount of food wasted each day on an individual basis. Not only is this eye-opening and a refreshing way to reevaluate an eating regime, but it promotes giving that bit of nourishment back to the environment where it came from instead of clogging up landfills with something as natural as a peach pit or a banana peel.
It’s not exactly news that Canada is behind the times when it comes to climate mitigation. During the 2009 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Canada was even “awarded” Fossil of the Year by the Climate Action Network. National governments have often been tasked with combatting climate change by committing to emission reductions and investing in renewable technologies, yet in Canada and around the world these targets are often left unmet, swallowed by large government bureaucracy.
