Perhaps the most popular saying amongst new parents (besides “I’m *$!^%$#@ exhausted”) is: “If I had do it all over again I would…”. I find myself already listing these things in my mind. One of the first things on my doing-it-better-next-time list is this: I would take better care of myself postpartum.
When Cedar was born, and for a good chunk of time afterwards, it was such a challenge to feed myself properly. I ate a lot of scones. I ordered a lot of thai food. I couldn’t keep up with everything. Read more...
We’ve rounded up these gems from Earth Days gone by
1. Building a green roof on your garage. The uber-cool eco-dad and founder of Green Garage tells us about going green with his family and building a natural green roof on top of his garage. He now counsels other families on how do the same.
2. Brockton Triangle neighbourhood cleanup. This amazing Toronto neighbourhood gets together for pot lucks, street parties, yard sales and even childcare. They also get together to clean up their neighbourhood for Earth Day. Adults and older kids perform the actual cleaning, while younger kids do crafts and decorate the ‘hood with sidewalk chalk. Coolness!
3. National Audubon’s Pennies for the Planet. The National Audubon Society provides lots of Earth Day fund-raising tips to help kids collect pennies to save wild species and places. The site also offers suggestions on how kids can save energy and respect the environment. The ideas are all child-friendly, inspiring and very easy to accomplish and help to make a difference. Read more...
What self-respecting eco-minded Canadian doesn’t love the Suzuks? His latest kids book keep you (and your kids) engaged and interested in this adventure as a brother and sister discover the magic of the natural world all around them.
This book is about much more than a mother and son who go shopping at a local farmer’s market. The incredible illustrations will help show kids how food is grown, how it is sold in stores and all the steps in between. Healthy eating and a healthy environment? Love it!
Make great looking gifts from recycled materials and things you find around the house.
Wrapping Paper
For the paper itself, use old newspapers, tissue paper (from your recent purchases perhaps) or blue prints. You can acquire old blue prints by calling up a local contractor. Pro tip: Make sure you use the Arts & Life or Style section of the newspaper — a murder-suicide headline really saps the Christmas spirit. All these techniques can also be applied to paper shopping bags.
Potato Prints:
Cut potato in half and cut out holiday shapes in relief. (This part is for the grownups) We suggest pine trees, holly berries and leaves, stars, ornaments, snowflakes, snowmen and standard geometric shapes.
Paint stamps with a brush, or dip into a paint-filled plate. Pro tip: Make a “stamp pad” by soaking a piece of felt in the paint plate — this gives a crisper potato print. Read more...
Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada gives some suggestions on how to celebrate the holidays while having a low impact on the planet
In our society, what was once a religious observance (and still is to many who celebrate Hanukkah or Christmas) has become an orgy of consumerism. The messages of peace and good will have been overtaken by indexes of consumer confidence. We are expected, practically as a matter of national duty, to max out our credit cards. We stress out finding things we can’t afford to give to people who may or might not ever use the stuff we all feel obliged to buy.
We all know it’s the thought that counts. And the ecological footprint of the thought, the expression of love and caring, is zero. But the impact of buying, wrapping, spending and spending some more puts a serious boost to our carbon footprint.
So here are some tips to reduce the ecological impact and to expand the network of compassion this holiday:
Gifts:
Give a meaningful gift to fight poverty. Oxfam, Unicef and World Vision all have great on line catalogues. Tell you aunt or college buddy that you bought them a goat for a family in a developing country. Our go the whole hog; give them a pig. Or solar panels too.
Shop local. Go to the local craft fairs and support local artisans.
Support local writers. Go to your independently owned local bookstore. Support Canadian writers!
Make a gift! Bake a gift!
Give a membership in an environmental group, or make a donation in the name of a friend.
Reduce the waste in wrapping. Give re-usuable wrapping – cloth bags.
Take a shopping cart worth of goodies to the local food bank.
Donate parkas and snowsuits to the snowsuit fund.
Be a secret Santa for a family in need. (In my town, the local RCMP organized this. See if there’s such an effort in your town).
Cards:
Search out Christmas cards on 100 percent recycled paper.
Oh Tannenbaum!
The big ecological question– the tree!
For life cycle ecological impact, your best choice is a live tree you can re-plant.
But a cut tree, grown without pesticides, and chipped after the holidays is a good choice.
Artificial trees can be re-used, but are made with plastics and metal and petroleum by- products and eventually end up in a land fill.
Make your own ornaments. A string of popcorn and cranberries make a great decoration, and a great gift to the birds, strung outside after the holiday.
Be sure your Christmas tree lights are energy misers. Replace any old wasteful bulbs with LED lights.
Holiday meals:
For Christmas dinner, order ahead and have a locally grown, organic free range turkey, duck or goose. Or have a vegetarian Christmas dinner (we do!)
Make your holiday a 100-mile diet cuisine. Holiday menus are usually big on root vegetables, a great Canadian winter staple. Get to know turnips, parsnips, potatoes, carrots and jerusalem artichokes. Stock up on fair trade organic cocoa for home-made hot chocolate (ok, I know it’s not 100-mile, but after out door winter activities, nothing beats a cup of hot chocolate!)
Activities:
Slow down. Slow way down. Plan ahead for quiet family activities. Cook together. Let the kids try to prepare a boxing day brunch (free range eggs!). Card games, chess, Scrabble. Go skating together. Try for less TV and more time being together.
Have a wonderful holiday. Hannukah was early this year, but if you celebrate it, have a Merry Christmas. And may we all have a wonderful, peaceful and very green New Year.
Elizabeth May is the leader of the Green Party of Canada and was recently named one of the most influential women in the world by Newsweek.
What steps have you taken to have a more environmentally-friendly holiday? Let us know!
Bunchland likes to give props to families who love helping the planet and getting down and dirty with nature. The ones who really knock our organic, pesticide-free cotton socks off get our coveted Gosh Darn Green! Award.
Mark Frauenfelder may just trade in his King of the Internet crown for a King of DIY crown. He’s co-editor of superblog Boing Boing and editor-in-chief of DIY bible MAKE Magazine. His bookMade by Hand is hitting shelves on June 1, and it promises to inspire families to slow down and make stuff.Read more...
Bunchland likes to give props to families who love helping the planet and getting down and dirty with nature. The ones who really knock our organic, pesticide-free cotton socks off get our coveted Gosh Darn Green! Award.
OUR BUNCH:Nici, 27, Applied Behavior Analyist Instructor therapist. Geordie (Amelie’s dad), 28, TA and research assistant at the University of Toronto. Aaron (Nici’s boyfriend), 30, Applied Behavior Analyist Instructor therapist. Amelie, 3, optimistic singer and dancer. Remus, Riddle, Smeagol, Aphro, hairless cats. Stegga Nona, fish.
Would you consider letting bugs chill out on plants in your house? What about letting them hang out a few feet away from your sleeping child’s head?
Nici’s 3-year-old daughter Amelie has never been one to be squeamish about bugs. She is enamoured with butterflies, and once let a caterpillar crawl all over her. Nici’s boyfriend Aaron, a former kindergarten teacher, recalled a project he did with his students and suggested trying it for Amelie’s birthday: witnessing the transformation of caterpillars into butterflies. In the house. Read more...
