Shut it!

It takes as much energy to treat the water used from leaving a tap running for five minutes as it takes to keep at 60W incandescent bulb lit for 14 hours. 14 hours!
Water consumption is a concern because of the direct use of a precious resource, and also because several other resources are used to return water to a drinkable state, such as energy, chemicals, space, and labour.

From Environment Canada:
Compared to Europeans, we use more than twice as much water. Each of us uses about 329 litres of water each day.

· Of that, 30% is flushed down the toilet.
· Another 35% is used in showers and baths.
· Clothes washing takes about 20%.
· Another 10% is used in the kitchen for drinking, food preparation and dish washing.
· And, 5% goes for general cleaning around the house

Click the Environment Canada link to read more about how Canadians use their water and what you can do to help conserve this precious resource.

Is the Catch of the Day a Good Choice?

Most of us feel that we need to tread more lightly on this home we call Earth. As consumers, we can chose to 'vote with our dollars' in order to support or refute products that affect our values.
Food choices are powerful ways of influencing both local and far-reaching sustainability issues. The life cycle of our meals from source to plate can offer a host of complex factors that make it difficult to decide on a truly green choice.
Seafood is an important consideration, especially since over 130 million tons of seafood is harvested every year. We have a vested interest in ocean health to not only feed millions of people, but to maintain a functioning planet.

Harvesting can be detrimental a variety of ways:
· Overfishing - This is often either via mismanagement or illegal harvesting
· Bycatch - This is when non-target species are caught along with the sought-after fish. Bycatch makes up approximately 25 per cent of catches, and can include mammals, sea turtles, birds, and other fish.
· Harvesting methods- A variety of harvesting methods cause irreparable damage to coastlines, seabeds, and coral reefs.


Lessening the impact of our seafood choices is easily done through some readily-available resources.

http://www.seachoice.org/ offers a downloadable guide to seafood, with each species given a red (avoid), yellow (some concerns), and green (best choice) rating. This pocket guide will assist you next time you are at the market or at a restaurant. The website also has detailed information on species, fishing methods, and various forms of aquaculture.
Want to simplify the process? Choose a restaurant that is a part of the Ocean Wise Program. Run through the Vancouver Aquarium, this program works directly with restaurants and markets, ensuring that they have the most current scientific information regarding seafood and helping them make ocean-friendly buying decisions.

Happy shopping!

test run

Well, this is the test run of what will hopefully be something great. Something inspiring. Something that will mobilize folks and revive a treasured pastime: playing outside. The type of play that is free, unstructured, and is absent of perceived 'stranger danger' and allows kids to experiment, take risks, and find confidence in themselves.

This is also a work in progress, so stay tuned.