Day 130 of our Green Year: Finding The Organic Certification

Recently, Layla and I watched a report on the news that showed many of the items that call themselves 'organic', are not actually organic. In fact, the report said that nine out of ten carry ingredients that are far from organic.

Going organic is very important to Layla and I, and even though we see something that says 'organic' on it, that does not mean that we will simply take it for granted. We always check the ingredients to make sure that when it says organic, it means organic.

However, even with that, how can we be sure that the cranberry sauce we buy, which only has cranberries, water and an orange peel in it, is actually organic? Who says they didn't use pesticides on the cranberry crop? This is where the certification comes in.

Organic certifications are put on items in teh grocery store that meet a set of criteria that is investigated by a third party. These are items like:

• Not using fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, food additives or GMOs on the food.
• No chemicals used on farmland for at least three or more years.
• The producer must provide a detailed production and sales record.
• There must be a strict physical separation of organic products from non-certified products.
• The producer must submit to several on-site inspections.

When they meet all the criteria, they get a badge on them that looks like what is seen above, in the United States and around the world. This is how you know what you are getting is organic. Of course the only way to know for sure is to grow and produce all your own food, because only you can know your food is organic.

It was time to take our recycling to the recycling depot. It took two car trips, and a full load each time, but it is great to know all those products will be used again, but in different forms.

Day 113 of our Green Year: Hiking Green

About a month and a half ago, Layla and I took part in the Mount Roberts hike, a tradition in our small town. It involved hiking to the Canadian flag on top of the mountain over the course of a day. It was a long and difficult hike, but it was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed it. In fact, we have always enjoyed hiking and while hiking is a very green thing to do, it can be even greener, hence why Layla and I are committing to be very green with our hiking beyond the 'leave only footprints' methodology.

The first thing we will be doing is buying second hand equipment, rather than the new and pricey equipment available through many retailers. We will do this because then we can help someone else re-use something, instead of having it thrown into the landfill.

The second thing we will be doing is ensuring we only hike on prescribed trails. There will be no hiking through areas that we are not supposed to because we may inadvertently be damaging sensitive plant species by walking where we should not.

The third thing we will be doing is packing lunches for hikes in reusable containers at all times. That way we do not create any garbage, we do not take away from the environment to make one-use only plastic wrap and we help keep the world a bit greener.

Lastly, we will only take pictures in the wilderness and nothing else. There will be no picking flowers or anything else while we are in the forest.

Hiking is very green, but it is possible to go even greener when you are hiking out there, and Layla and I will be doing that to help us become even greener when we do something we love.

Day 112 of our Green Year: Cleaning The Oven

One of the worst things you can do to your body, apart from drug-using, is cleaning the oven. Cleaning the oven uses harmful chemicals, dangerous aromas and a multitude of other things that can severely damage your health.
Two years ago, when Layla was cleaning the oven before a move, she ended up with her skin peeling off her fingers and severe cracking of the skin for a few weeks after. This was while she wore gloves as well.

As a result, finding a green solution to cleaning the oven is very important. We have looked around for several 'organic' oven cleaners but they have not been found, at least by us. However, in a previous blog we mentioned that vinegar could be used to clean ovens, and one of our long-time readers, Eryn (who has provided many tips herself), decided to try it out and this is what she had to say:

"For the record, vinegar worked like a charm! It isn't absolutely perfect (my husband did it and I don't think he used as much elbow grease as I would have) but it only took about 10 minutes and the blackened yuckiness just wiped off."

Naturally, vinegar is not going to work as good as chemical cleaners that could eat their way through cement if you left them long enough, but they will do a good job as long as your oven is not caked in old and cooked food.

There are plenty of cleaning tips we have mentioned in this blog over the past 112 days, including using vinegar and baking soda to unclog drains, using lemon juice as a disinfectant and more, so be sure to check them out.

Do you have some cleaning tips we may not have thought of? Let us know and we will try it out and do a blog about it. E-mail us at crwbaird@gmail.com

Day 110 of our Green Year: Green Gift Giving

My dad celebrated his birthday on Thursday, and today we are holding a big birthday party for him at my parent's farm. As a result, there will be a lot of gift giving going on, and Layla and I have decided to make our gift giving a bit more green than it has been in years past for birthdays. So, here are some great ways that we have, and you can, go green with gift giving.

These are easy ways to go green with your gift giving and help out the environment in the process.

1. Only buy something a person is going to use. There is no point buying them a singing bass that they will think is cute for the first hour, and annoying for the next ten years.
   
2. Try and buy a consumable gift like organic tea, coffee, fruit fresh flowers and anything else that will not take away from the environment when you give it to someone.
3. Donate money to a charity in the name of the person. This may seem like a cheep way to go, but it is actually a very thoughtful gift and the right person will really appreciate it.
   
4. Make a gift yourself like a sweater or anything else that could eventually be considered a family heirloom. The person you give the gift to will love it.
5. Buy a gift that is made or produced in your local area. You will be able to support your local economy by doing this, and hopefully help keep a local shop in business for a little while longer as they compete against the big companies in town. You also save the environment because you don't have to have the gift shipped to you, which creates emissions.
   
6. Always think about the packaging before you give someone a gift. This is very important because to go green you have to think about the gift itself, and the packaging that goes along with it. Too many people forget about this.

No matter whose birthday it is, or how much money you may have, it is possible to go green when you are getting a gift for someone.

Day 109 of our Green Year: Curse That Junk Mail!

A few months ago, Layla and I signed up to limit the amount of junk mail that we get and it has actually made a nice dent in the amount we receive on a weekly basis. Of course we no longer hear about the 'Super Amazing Deals!' that are on in our area but some how we will just have to survive.

However, even with our junk mail reduction, some still makes it through and we don't think there is a way to stop these bits of junk mail. These items include:

1. A local newspaper that we don't really read.
2. Updates from local politicians who tout being friends of the environment while sending out 20,000 newsletters.
3. City notices.
4. Other little flyers sent out by businesses in the area.

We don't want to throw these items out and with our motto Re-use then Recycle, we want to use the paper for something before we go and recycle it. Recently, we found these ideas on the internet.

1. We can make little paper trees that will be put up in our house to help accentuate the real trees that we have. To make them you just do the following using junk mail, bristol paper, glue, scissors and a cutting surface. Adhere the bristol paper to the junk mail to make it nice and firm, then draw trees on the bristol paper, and then make perpendicular cuts to the base of each tree. Half the trees that should go up three-quarters up them, and the other half should go one-quarter down. Then erase any pencil marks and cut them out. After that, slide the two different pieces so they lock into place and you have some great trees.
2. Since we only really get paper and not glossy paper in the mail anymore, we can shred what we have and use it for mulch in the garden or our indoor plants. We just can't use colored paper for it.
3. We also make paper out of the junk mail paper. It is hard to write on something that is covered with words, so we need it to be clear. To do this, we rip the junk mail into very small pieces using your hands. After this, put the junk mail pieces in the blender with some water. the ratio should be 3:1 in favor of junk mail. Adding less water gives thicker paper. Then you pour the mixture on a window screen and let it drain completely. Put the mixture onto a towel and let it get completely dry. Then you can use your new, and recycled, paper.

That is all there is to dealing with the junk mail that seems to get through.

Day 106 of our Green Year: Learning The Secret Hypermiling

As people try and get by on high gas prices, the craze of hypermiling becomes more and more popular. Hypermiling really is not a bad thing when you think about it. It is getting the most miles per gallon out of your car, which in turn helps curb emissions and protect the environment. It is not always easy to do, and it can be dangerous (following close behind a semi-truck to limit wind resistance), but Layla and I are going to give it a shot so that we can use less emissions when we drive, which is rare as it is.

First, we will try and travel light. With an extra 100 pounds of cargo, the miles per gallon can be reduced by two percent. Whatever does not need to be in the car can be removed, so don't be afraid to limit your cargo when you drive.

Second, when we are parking, we will back into parking spaces when we can. The reason for tihs is that cold engines use more fuel, so a three-point back-up job is more efficient at the end of a trip when the engine is hot.

Third, we will try and use cruise control when we can because accelerating can burn your miles per gallon. If you use the acceleration button on the cruise control it will burn less gas than the lightest tough on the gas pedal. This is not always easy for us to do, since we live in the mountains of B.C. and cruise control can be dangerous there, but we will try when we can.

Fourth, braking very gently will save fuel, so we will be doing that than slowing down suddenly. Doing this right can save a few percent on your miles per gallon.

Fifth, we will not be exceeding the speed limit since the faster you drive, the faster you burn your fuel and the less miles per gallon that you get. As well, we save money because we won't be getting pulled over for going over the legal speed limit.

Sixth, we have already decided to get rid of the air conditioning, and its a good thing considering it can lower your miles per gallon efficiency.

There are other things you can do to save on fuel and get better miles per gallon, but these are dangerous and Layla and I will not be doing them as we would prefer to arrive at our destinations in one piece. These are things like:

• Driving far below the speed limit.
• Taking corners at very high speeds.
• Coasting with the engine off.
• Passing red lights and stop signs when there is little traffic.
• Over-inflating tires to reduce resistance when rolling on the road.

Day 99 of our Green Year: Cooling Off In The Car

Whooo! One hundred days of Our Green Year so far! That is a big milestone for us and we are really excited about the next 100 days.

For today, since it is so hot out and since we have already talked about cooling down the house, we are going to talk about cooling down the car. Most people will simply use air conditioning to cool down the car, and while this is not as bad as using it in your house since it does not use the energy grid to power itself, and most air conditioners are made without harmful CFCs now thanks to the Montreal Protocol.
However, it does use your gas to power the air conditioner, it is still not healthy and in the long run, you still do damage to the environment. Thankfully, there are ways to get past the old air conditioner.

First, you can just roll down your windows. Sure it is not as good as the air conditioner, but it uses no energy except the movement of the car, which you are already doing. It does cause some problems with the flow of your car, and it does slow you down slightly, but even doing that means you drive a bit slower, saving fuel.

Second, try and park your car in shaded areas. This will keep it cool and you won't be switching the air conditioner on the minute you get into the car. You will be able to get about 20 minutes of cool driving with the windows down if you park in the shade.

Third, you can keep the interior of your car cool with a car window screen. This will prevent the sun from cooking the inside of the car, and prevent you from resorting to the air conditioner for a little while longer.

Fourth, if at all possible try and limit your errands and car driving to the morning and evening, when it is much cooler out. Driving at noon is just asking for a hot car.

These are just a couple of good ideas for keeping your car cool without the air conditioner. Many will say that the cool shade only works if you can find it, and the windows only cool down the car when it is moving. These are true, and in regards to the second point, why would you have your car idling when you don't need to anyways? The only case where you would do that is at a red light, and that only lasts for about 30 seconds to one minute.
As well, if you are thinking of using air conditioning in the car because you have a dog in the car, then it is probably best not to be taking the dog for a car ride during that hot of a day.

Keeping cool in the car is not that hard, and if it bothers you not to use your air conditioner, well too bad, you should be car pooling, taking public transit or walking anyways

Day 97 of our Green Year: Spreading the Environmental Message

For the next few weeks, Layla and I are visiting family and one of the big points of doing this is to help spread our environmental message.
It is important that when someone goes green, they attempt to spread the green message to others, without being too annoying about it of course. Doing this helps to convince people that a green way of life is truly the best way of life. Of course, it is easier said than done and it does not always go over well with people, even your family.

While visiting my parents, I have already got them to begin using vinegar to wash their floors, and even told my grandmother that she should not let the water run while brushing her teeth.

It may seem annoying to do this to some, but it is important to spread the message of the environment and why we have to help it with those close to us. By convincing others to go green, we can help create a better world for everyone. A world where people will think about the effect what they do will have on the environment before they go about it.

Have you tried to convince someone else to go green as well?

Day 95 of our Green Year: Checking Out Happy Frog

This post is for all our BC readers out there, and I know there are a lot of you judging by the log visits. Personally, Layla and I feel that BC is the best place on Earth to live and we consider it our home, despite only living here for slightly less than two years.

As a result, we want to support BC and we want to support businesses in BC that are dedicated to helping BC become kinder, smarter, healthier and greener. Which brings us to HappyFrog.ca, which is a great site that serves as a fresh and innovative online community who has content created by its members.

Members who log into the site will be able to contribute the listings of their favorite businesses and organizations, while reviewing and rating them based on their sustainability practices and other green values. This means that those who live or visit BC will be able to find the green businesses who deserve support because of their dedication to making BC healthier and greener.

On top of all this, members can submit events to the calendar, ask questions and get the answers they are looking for, create their own pages of their favorite listings, and design personal directories.

Now, if Layla and I journey elsewhere in BC, we don't have to wander around looking for somewhere to buy green items, because HappyFrog.ca does that for us

Day 94 of our Green Year: Reusing Sweaters

It may be odd to start talking about sweaters as we go headlong into August, but the truth is that this is a great time to start looking through your closet at things you can reuse or recycle, and one of the most common pieces of clothing people will toss out is sweaters. Many people are not big fans of sweaters because they can only be used for part of the year, unlike a T-Shirt that can be worn year-round (at least under a big coat in the winter).

So, for Day 94 of our Green Year, Layla and I will be reusing our sweaters in new ways.

First, we will be giving old sweaters to thrift stores so someone else can get as much use out of these as we did. On the flip side, when we need a sweater, we will get ours from thrift stores as well. Why buy new when you can buy used?

Second, if you have a hand-knit sweater, and you know someone who can knit (Layla can), then have the sweater unraveled, cut out the thin spots and turn it into a toque!

Third, if it is wool or mostly wool, you can make a great heavy fabric that is great for craft projects. Just get a bunch of old wool sweaters, put them in a zippered pillow case and wash them by hand or by an energy-efficient washer. Only use a small bit of laundry soap (the green kind) and fabric softener (also green). After the load is done, check to see if the sweater has shrunk, if not, then do two loads by hand or in the washer. Now, just air dry and cut into pieces for a quilt, pet toys or anything else!

Lastly, use the old sweater as stuffing for a pillow. Why buy new pillow stuffing when you can give new life to pillows and cushions with an old sweater.

Got any ideas for what you can do with an old sweater? Let us know!

Day 92 of our Green Year: Collecting Shower Water

We had a great idea for a green tip from one of our readers, Eryn, yesterday, and it involves collecting shower water in a way neither Layla or I have thought of.
When we start up the shower, we usually let it run for about 30 seconds while we wait for it to get to the temperature that we want it. You don't want to step in a cold shower, but you don't want it too hot either.

There is nothing wrong with this, but it does waste water and that is a problem. As our loyal readers know, we have already limited our showers to only five minutes to save water, but we can go a step further to make that 30 second of water running does not waste anything.
Therefore, what we are going to be doing at our house, as part of Our Green Year, is putting a bucket in the shower when we start it up.

Sitting the bucket under the faucet, we will be able to collected that previously wasted wasted water in the bucket. Then, we can take that water out following the shower and put it in the garden to help the plants.
Naturally, you will want to take that bucket out when you shower or else you may get shampoo or soap in it, which could pollute the garden's soil.

Thanks Eryn for the great tip! If you have some tips for us, or pictures of you doing green things, send them to crwbaird@gmail.com

Day 91 of our Green Year: Clearing Up Some Light

Light pollution is a serious problem that most people do not take too seriously. Most people think of pollution only in terms of air, soil and water. However, light pollution is a serious problem and for our 91st day, Layla and I are turning out the lights.

As much as we can, we will be keeping the lights inside, and outside, off so that we are not wasting any power, or blurring up the sky with light. Look at any large city and you will see a lot of light pollution all over the place.
If everyone turned their lights off, like they did for Earth Hour, it would not only clear up the sky, but help our environment too.
So, we are turning off our lights whenever we can.

Here are just a few facts about light pollution:

• Powering street lights in the United States alone puts two billion pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere. This is equal to 500,000 car tailpipes.
• In the last seven years, average night time brightness in Northeast England has gone up by 4000 percent.
• It disrupts our sleep and leads to health problems. It can also cause problems with our vision, hypertension, headaches and more.
• Many animals are confused by the stray light in their habitat at night and it can affect their breeding and feeding.
• Most street lights and home outdoor lights are so poorly designed they waste large amounts of light into the air above them.

Can you turn your lights off? We will.

Day 90 of our Green Year: Collecting Dew

This post will be a short one as it has been a rather long day. For our 90th day, and our third month anniversary, we are going to be collecting the morning dew for use on plants. This is really easy to do. All you have to do, is take a bucket, put a piece of plastic over it (some of the packaging we have has plastic that we re-use, and make sure there is something in the middle to act as a weight.
This will allow the dew to collect in the middle during the morning. Then, all you have to do is take that dew and put it on some small plants. You will be helping to water your plants, without using your water system.

It is a win-win scenario for everyone.

It works best on cool mornings obviously, so try and do it then. Hot days may not work as well. You also have to make sure you collect it early in the morning, before it evaporates.

Day 86 of our Green Year: The Plain Truth About Paper

Every single day, we all use paper. It may be reading the newspaper, reading a book, writing something down or cleaning up after Fido. That paper, unless recycled or manufactured in a way that is sustainable, can cause large problems for the environment.

Living in Canada, Layla and I are lucky. We are able to work out on our deck, surrounded by tall trees and the environment. Trees are everywhere I look, and the air smells sweet thanks to them. However, recently I read a story on Treehugger.com that stated the two biggest offenders in the world for the destruction of forests and pollution from pulp mills, are the two countries with 50 percent of the world's forests; Canada and Russia.

This really bothered us because we always take pride in the fact that we are Canadian. We feel that as Canadians, we see the environment all around us. However to find out that we are the worst in the world for protecting our forests, well that hurts our Canadian pride deeply. On the news we hear a lot about China's environmental record, but in many ways they are starting to outstrip Canada in terms of protecting the environment and its forests. In fact, China is the best in terms of preserving forests. Studies have shown that 90 percent, yes 90 percent, of the logging in Canada is done in old growth forests. These are forests that are literally hundreds, if not thousands of years old. On top of that, some of the worst cases for paper mill pollution are found in Canada.

It is not all bad of course, Canada did publish all of its Harry Potter books on recycled paper. While that is a lot of books, it does not make what Canada is doing right. As well, one thing we try to do here at Our Green Year is educate people, so here is some 'fun' facts about paper and how it is used, or misused, on Earth.

• Half of the forests on the earth have been burned or cleared, and 80 percent of what is left is seriously degraded.
• 42 percent of the wood harvest is used to make paper.
• The paper industry is the fourth largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions
• One-quarter of the waste in the landfills of North America is paper.
• If the United States cut its paper use by only 10 percent, it would prevent 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases from going into the atmosphere. That is like taking 280,000 cars off the road.
• Recycled paper uses 44 percent less energy, produces 38 percent less emissions, 50 percent less waste water, 49 percent less solid waste and 100 percent less wood. Sadly, only 48.3 percent of all paper is recycled

Obviously there is a problem.

So, for our 86th day of Our Green Year, Layla and I are being paper-conscious.

• When we receive an e-mail, or have something on the computer (other than stories that need to be sent by snail mail), we will not be printing anything off.
• All the paper we will be buying, from toilet paper to writing pads will be recycled.
• We already recycle all the paper we can, and we will continue to do that.
• We will make our own birthday and Christmas cards, while reusing envelopes as well.
• We will read magazines and news online, not buying them, unless they are from recycled paper.
• We will write small on our paper pads and we will use both sides.

Also, Layla and I plan on writing a book about our experience with Our Green Year following this (any agents or publishers reading this?...) and we plan to publish with recycled paper as well.
I encourage everyone to check out one of the best sites I have found on the internet, and one of our Green Friends; Eco-Libris. They plant a tree for every book that you read and they should be commended for what they are doing. We need more companies like them.

Yesterday, when we did our TV interview, we were asked if we felt we were making a difference. I have thought about this and I hope we are. I hope that the people who read this are learning about the environment and learning that going green can be a small step (changing lightbulbs) or a big step (recycling everything and being zero-impact). I hope everyone who reads our blogs enjoys them and becomes educated from them about the world around us. We are on day 86 and still have about 250 days left, which is about nine months. There is still a long way to go, and Layla and I appreciate everyone who comes to our site to read our journey.

Day 83 of our Green Year: Local Eggs

In a continuing effort to go local, Layla and I have been looking for local providers for all the things we want for our house, from dog food to cheese. We are succeeding, and today is the day we go local with our eggs.
Eggs that come from the large factory farms are not the most environmentally friendly. The decision comes after reading a story that detailed what many chickens have to go through all so we can enjoy bacon and eggs.

In the United States, 340 million chickens are raised as laying hens through a nightmare life that lasts for two years. In some factory farms, a large portion of the hen's beak is cut off with a burning hot blade to keep them from biting handlers. Then, they are put in battery cages which are 18 by 20 inches, holding five to 11 hens. These cages are stacked on top of each other, and many birds die, leaving the survivors to live with the rotting caged corpses. Since male chicks are worthless, they are usually tossed out or thrown in highspeed grinders to become mulch for other animals.
After two years, the hen's bodies are nearly exhausted and egg production falls. They are then shipped to the slaughterhouse to be turned into food. Not a very nice life. Here are two pictures of some of these conditions.









As a result, Layla and I are now buying our eggs from a local organic supplier in an effort to lower our environmental impact, and clear our minds of any guilt for what we are eating.

Day 80 of our Green Year: Going on the Global Warming Diet

While reading AboutMyPlanet.com, where we are contributors for blog posts, we found out about an interesting new trend called the Global Warming Diet. This diet involves walking and eating less meat in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This is actually becoming very easy for Layla and I to do because every morning we walk to our corner (and locally owned) grocery store to pick up food for the day. This walk, round trip is 30 minutes.

Therefore, taking part in the global warming diet is going to be something very easy for us to do. Studies have found that public health and climate change can be tied together for a solution, and if more people used the global warming diet, they would improve obesity problems and climate change problems at the same time.

All you have to do with the global warming diet is walk instead of drive for half an hour each day, and limit the red meat you eat, replacing it with vegetarian choices. Doing this can actually cut the greenhouse gas emissions of the United States by millions of tons! Yes, that is true, millions of tons! So, Layla and I are taking part in this to do our part.
The reason that this can reduce that amount of greenhouse gas is because you will be driving 30 min less each day, while eating less meat. The walking will limit your appetite because you will become thinner, which also helps.
In the meat industry for example, the energy and land that is used produces 18 percent of all the C02 emitted by the United States!

So, instead of driving to the store, walk! Instead of driving to the park, walk! Instead of having steak three times a week, have it once a month! Eat vegetarian and organic and you will be surprised by how great you feel. Layla and I have been doing this for weeks now and we feel great from it!

So, join us on our global warming diet!

Day 79 of our Green Year: Green The Toilet

One of the biggest water wasters in the house is the toilet. This is something we all use, multiple times a day, which we have become so accustom to that any place that does not have a flushing toilet is considered to be 'a backwater shack'.

However, how can you go green with your toilet? Well, there is the obvious tip of 'when it is yellow, let it mellow, when it is brown flush it down', but what else can you do to conserve water? You really need to think of ways to conserve water with the toilet because it uses 20 liters of water every time it is flushed. So, for one person, who uses the bathroom five times a day, and flushes every time, they flush 100 liters of water down the toilet, literally. For a family of four, that can be over 500 liters depending on how often it is used!

So, what are some other solutions? Here is something that we will be doing during Our Green Year in our house.

First, we are putting a brick, or at least a plastic bottle full of water in the back of the tank. This will actually cut down on the flush of water by a quarter, or even one third. When you do this, just make sure you don't impede the flushing mechanism.

We rent, so we cannot get a low-flush toilet, but it will be on our list when we do buy a house.

What else can you do? Have any suggestions, let us know!

One thing I would like to talk about now, is the Alberta government's decision to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2050. There are several problems with this, and most of it is fluff with no substance from a government that is trying to make it look like they care about the environment. First, they are using carbon capture technology that has not been completely researched for long-term effects, and they are putting $2 billion into it. Second, I do not understand why governments like Alberta's insist on setting goals that are four decades away. Nearly every climate change scientist has stated that immediate action is needed (AS IN RIGHT NOW) to ward off climate change. There is no time to waste, yet the G8 countries and Alberta feel that lowering emissions by 1.19 percent a year until 2050 is a good plan. What is needed is a 50 percent reduction now, not later. We are nearing the tipping point, and the time to 'wait and see' or slowly lower emissions is long gone. This is just another reason why Layla and I are boycotting all things Albertan.

Day 8 of our Green Year: Lighting Up The House Efficiently

Yay, one week ago today this blog was created and already we are getting a lot of feedback on it and a lot of visits. Both Layla and I are excited about where this blog will go in the coming weeks, and months.

For Day 8, we decided that the time was right to switch our house over to Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) from the standard incandescent lights. We are doing this to not only save energy, which means less fossil fuels, but also to save money on our electric bill. These lights will replace the rest of the old fashioned lights in our house, and while they cost more, they are better in the long run.

A full 25 percent of the energy bill in a typical home is from the lighting and the price to light an incandescent bulb over its life is as much as 10 times what the bulb cost originally. The CFLs we are purchasing will last 10 times as long as the old bulbs, use 50 to 80 percent less energy and are four times more efficient.

Surprisingly, one of the easiest and best things you can do for the environment is to install these bulbs, which is why our house is now a Compact Fluorescent Light house. If everyone in the U.S.A used these bulbs, it would mean 90 power plants could shut down; reducing CO2 pollutants and nuclear waste.

CO2 Removed from atmosphere after replacing incandescent bulbs with CFL bulbs (five rooms) over life of bulbs: 2.5 tons.

Day 3 of our Green Year: Going From Plastic to Cloth

We are beginning our third day of our Green Year by scrapping buying plastic bags, and instead using cloth bags. These bags (modeled by our dog Niko) were bought (we have four) for .99 cents each from a local store, except for the big one which we got for free from our local city.
We calculated today that we use about eight plastic bags per week in our weekly shopping (food and otherwise), and that amounts to 32 plastic bags per month, or 384 plastic bags per year. We are a family of two, so a family of four will use 768 plastic bags per year on average.

The cloth bags we have can not only hold more, they have longer usage lives and they cause no ill effects to the environment. Sadly, even though these bags can last a decade or so for use, plastic bags will exist in our landfills and elsewhere for about 500 to 1,000 years, despite being used for five minutes on average. Many of the plastic bags used actually end up in oceans, where they get in the stomachs of marine animals and slowly kill them horribly.

Thankfully, there will now be 384 less plastic bags in the landfills and oceans because of four cloth bags that cost us three dollars.

Reduction on our Carbon Footprint: 384 Plastic Bags in Landfills From Our House (.0029 tonnes or 6.4 pounds of waste)

Day 2 of Our Green Year: Snow and the Green Party

Well, we are onto Day 2 of our Green Year and we begin it by waking up to more snow. Yes, that is right, it is snowing on April 23. In fact, our yard still has snow in it, making this the longest period of time we have ever had continuous snow in the yard; November to April (and at least May).

Obviously, this means that things are out of whack for the environment. Scientists predict that places that are traditionally wet (where we are in the Pacific Northwest) and places that are dry, will get wetter and drier.
Temperatures have been below normal for at least 2 months, and they don't appear to be going up anytime soon.
Spring Snow and No Flowers, not a nice combination.

Layla and I joined the Green Party today as part of our Green Year. We thought that a good start to this year would be joining the most environmentally friendly political party in Canada.

The Journey Continues.....