Go Green This Earth Day!

1. Boiling water for tea in a pot on your gas stove uses one-third the energy of a plug-in kettle, according to Godo Stoyke's The Carbon Buster’s Home Energy Handbook.
2. Buying a new computer? Choose a laptop - it uses about six times less electricity than a desktop, according to The Carbon Buster’s Home Energy Handbook.
3. Screen savers don’t save electricity. Instead, set your computer to go into sleep mode when you aren’t actively using it. That can cut your power consumption by five times, cutting your electricity bills by more than 500 kilowatt hours per year, according to The Carbon Buster’s Home Energy Handbook.
4. Two large power plants have to run constantly to supply enough electricity to run North American television sets WHILE THEY ARE TURNED OFF. They’re called power vampires, as they suck energy to stay in a constant state of standby. Plug your television into a power bar and turn that off when you aren’t watching. That will save about 40 kilowatt hours over a year.
5. Wash your clothes in cold water. Since 80 per cent of the electricity in washing your clothes comes from heating the water, using cold rather than hot water will save you as much as 2,500 kilowatt-hours of power a year - more than twice the average household’s monthly energy bill. (Source: The Canadian Energy Efficiency Centre)
6. Think of a bath as a luxury. Instead, take a five-minute shower. If you have a low-flow showerhead, that will use less than half the water, saving around 40 litres each time.
7. Install a low-flow aerator on your showerhead. If you have an old shower, it could cut your water use for that five-minute morning shower down by two-thirds - from 150 litres to 50. The city of Toronto sells them as part of their $13 indoor water efficiency retrofit kits.
8. Set the photocopier to print double-sided only. It takes ten times as much energy to make a piece of paper than it takes to copy onto it, according to Godo Stoyke's The Carbon Buster’s Home Energy Handbook.
9. Get rid of that old fridge in your basement that chills a few lonely bottles of beer. A 1975 fridge sucks up four times as much electricity as new Energy Star model, according to the Ontario Power Authority. It will even pick up your old fridge for you.
10. If you drive to work, commit to car-pooling or taking public transit one day a week. Each time you carpool, you’ll keep 2.5 kg of greenhouse gases from billowing into the atmosphere (assuming an average 16 kilometre round-trip commute). Every time you jump on a bus, you’ll avoid 4.5 kg, according to World Wildlife Fund Canada. That, over a year, will add up to 216 kilograms of emissions - the equivalent of driving from Toronto to Sault Ste. Marie in a mid-sized car.
11. Clean - or replace - your furnace filter. A dirty filter forces your furnace to work harder to heat your home. According to the Ontario Conservation Bureau, a clean filter can cut your energy use by five per cent.
12. Turn your thermostat down at night, when you are tucked warmly into bed. A 4-degree Celsius difference at night will cut your gas bill by 10 per cent, according to Kingston's Energy Advisory Forum.
13. Buy some caulking and a caulking gun, and spend an hour sealing all your window frames. Is the weather stripping around your doors worn or ripped? Buy some new pads. For a few dollars, you could cut your heating bills by 10 per cent, according to Ontario’s Conservation Bureau.
14. Buy foam sleeve insulation for your hot water pipes at the hardware store and wrap it around the first nine feet off your water heater. It will cost only a few dollars and save around 13 kilograms of greenhouse gases a year, according to Godo Styoke's The Carbon Buster's Home Energy Handbook.
15. Replace your gas-powered lawnmower with an old-fashioned push-and-pull model. That will cut back your home's carbon load by almost 100 kg a year, according to WWF-Canada. 16 - By hanging up your laundry on a clotheshorse or line instead of throwing them in the dryer, you’ll save about 950 kilowatt hours of electricity a year. That translates to a whole month’s worth in the average Ontario household.
17. Wash, dry and iron in the early morning or evening when the demand on your cooling system is less, says the Chicago Solar Partnership. The same goes for ranges, lighting and TV. Save moisture-producing activities for cooler times.
18. When summer comes, keep your home cool by using window coverings and a couple of fans instead of air conditioning, says the Conservation Council of Ontario. Open windows and run fans at night when it’s cooler outside. Shut and curtain most windows during the day. A stand up fan uses 75 watts; a window unit, 100 watts. Running them continuously for 12 hours a day will use 2.1 kilowatt-hours of electricity, costing about 21 cents. A 1,000-watt air-conditioner, running for three-quarters of the day will use 18 kilowatt hours, and cost about $1.80. A central air-conditioner can use up to 3,500 watts, or 63 kilowatt hours a day, and set you back about $6.30.
19. Preheating your oven is often unnecessary for any food requiring more than a full hour of cooking time, says the Chicago Solar Partnership. Check your recipe instructions. Don't open the oven door when cooking; it will let heat escape and cause your oven to work harder. And thaw meat before you cook it. Roasting time will be shortened, energy will be saved and the meat will be more uniformly cooked.
20. To cut heating energy and costs in winter, on sunny days open your south-facing drapes and let the sun in, says SaskEnergy. It's a natural source of heat. If you have large windows that don't receive direct sun, keep the drapes closed. And close your drapes and blinds during the night.
21. Get rid of an old dishwasher. New Energy Star models use one-third of the electricity required by the average mid-’80s vintage, says Natural Resources Canada, for savings of about $80 a year. Do a load only when the machine is full, keep its drain clear and don’t pre-soak dishes. Use the shortest cycle that works, and let dishes air dry.
22. Unplug your chargers when you’re not charging you’re your cellphones, PDAs, digital cameras, cordless tools and other gadgets, says the National Resources Defence Council. Keep them unplugged until you need them.
23. Set your refrigerator temperature at 2 to 5.5 C (38 to 42 F); your freezer should be set between minus-15 C and minus-17.5 C (0 and 5 F). Use the power-save switch if your fridge has one, and make sure the door seals tightly. You can check this by making sure a $5 bill closed between the door gaskets is difficult to pull out. If it slides easily between the gaskets, replace them.
24. Replace your 18-year-old fridge with a new Energy Star model. That will save enough energy to light your home for nearly four months, according to Ed Begley Jr.'s Living Like Ed: A Guide to the Eco-Friendly Life.
25. Forgot to pick up a carton of eggs for your cake recipe? Walk or bike to the nearest store instead of driving. For every 6.5 kilometres you bike, you keep around 7 kilograms of pollutants out of the air we breathe, according to according to Ed Begley Jr.'s Living Like Ed: A Guide to the Eco-Friendly Life. According to his wife, the Hollywood actor regularly cycles to Vanity Fair parties.26. Check your toilet for leaks by putting dye in the tank. If the colour appears in the bowl within about half an hour, you need to check for worn out, corroded or bent parts. Repairs will cut your water bill, and Toronto Water will require less electricity. It takes a kilowatt-hour to purify, deliver and treat every cubic metre (1,000 litres). Last year, the city consumed 374 million cubic metres.27. Drive at the speed limit. Slowing from 120 kilometres an hour to 100 cuts your fuel consumption by 20 per cent.28. Hang your clothes up to dry. Even now, in winter. One load in the dryer uses enough energy to toast 250 pieces of bread, according to Change The World for Ten Bucks: 50 Ways To Make A Difference - a book put out by the “movement” We Are What We Do. (http://www.wearewhatwedo.ca/)29. This is action 13 from Change The World for Ten Bucks: 50 Ways To Make A Difference: “There are 9.3 million mobile phones replaced in Canada every year. That’s a heck of a lot of annoying ringtones and worse, it equate to around 1,000 tonnes of landfill (and a whole bunch of nasty chemicals).” Instead of throwing your old broken down phone in the garbage, take it to a collection centre - where it will be either refurbished or recycled. There are many around Toronto - in high schools, community centres, even Pizza Pizza outlets. Find the nearest one to you at: http://www.pitch-in.ca/Pitch-In.php%20

30. More than 8 billion disposable cups are thrown out every year in Canada, according to Change The World for Ten Bucks: 50 Ways To Make A Difference. Buy a reusable coffee mug. And take it with you on your morning coffee break.
31. Don’t fill up your kettle. Only pour in as much water as you need right now. If every Canadian did this, we’d save enough electricity to power every street light across the country, according to Change The World for Ten Bucks: 50 Ways To Make A Difference.
32. More than 170 million trees are cut down every year just for paper used in Canadian offices, according to Change The World for Ten Bucks: 50 Ways To Make A Difference. We agree with the book’s Action 46: Use both sides of the paper. Save old copy paper for notes.
33. Cold pours into a house from a poorly insulated or drafty basement or crawlspace. If you have either, says SaskEnergy, check for leaks by looking for spider webs. If there is a web, there is a draft.
34. Plug gaps around pipes, ducts, fans and vents that go through walls, ceilings and floors from heated to unheated spaces.
35. If you have a heated garage, keep it cool until a little while before you’ll use it. Your car doesn’t mind spending a chilly night alone; in fact, warm air makes road salt more likely to damage its metal parts.
36. If you have a wood-burning fireplace or stove, make sure the damper fits tightly and keep it closed when there’s nothing burning. Otherwise, huge amounts of heat will pour up the chimney.
37. Dripping taps can waste 9,000 litres of water each year. If it’s cold water the leak will cost about $16 at Toronto’s current low water rates. Not much, but it’s still money you don’t need to waste and nine kilowatt-hours of electricity the city won’t have to consume. The savings soar if you replace the washers on a leaking hot-water tap.
38. Save up to 50 per cent of your cooking energy costs by using a microwave instead of a conventional oven. Microwave ovens cook faster because the energy goes directly into heating the food, not the oven or utensils. Food cooks faster when placed at the edge of the rotary tray, as more microwaves can interact with it there than at the centre. And in summer, microwave cooking doesn’t heat your kitchen.
39. Irons use a lot of energy. Save it by taking your clothes from the dryer and folding or hanging them up while they’re warm. (Better, hang your clothes to dry.)
40. If you have a yard, consider planting a deciduous tree on the south side of your lawn to block the sun during the summer, and let in solar energy during the winter when it sheds its leaves. If there’s room, plant conifers on the north side to act as winter wind blocks.
41. Don't idle. Any stop longer than 10 seconds will save you gas. The federal government's Office of Energy Efficiency says the average Canadian idles their car for five minutes a day, not counting warming it up on cold mornings. But cutting that out, you’ll save about 42 litres a year - the equivalent of 101 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions.
42. Switch to Bullfrog Power. It’s a small Ontario company that funds green electricity generation - through windmills and small hydro dams. It costs more - president Tom Heintzman says about $1 a day - but it comes with a huge carbon kickback. Over a year, you’ll have cut back on almost 2,900 kilograms of carbon dioxide - enough to drive from Toronto to Hamilton and back 70 times.
43. Americans buy more than 5.1 billion pens every year – most of which end up in the dump, according to Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin’s True Green @ Work: 100 Ways You Can Make the Environment Your Business. Think about the energy that goes into making that 770 tons of plastic waste every year, let alone the landfill space. Use long-life refillable pens made from recycled plastic, paper or timber.
44. Don’t just chuck that unwanted fax, junk mail into recycling bin. Remove yourself from the mailing list by contacting the company directly or calling the Canadian Marketing Association and asking that your name be taken off their list: 416-391-2362. Also: put up a “No Junk Mail” notice on your mailbox. Canada Post carriers respect it and won’t drop off coupons, flyers and free catalogues.
45. More than three-quarters of dry cleaners use large amounts of the chemical solvent tetrachloroethylene, a powerful degreasing agent that’s a suspected carcinogen, aggravates asthma and allergies and is particularly toxic to fish and wildlife. It breaks down into the toxin phosgene and contributes to smog. So, instead of lugging your shirts to the dry cleaner, wash them by hand in cold water with a gentle, natural soap and hang them to dry. If you are a dead-set dry cleaning type, opt for a green dry cleaner. You can find one in your neighbourhood at: http://www.greenearthcleaningcanada.com/
46. Switch off your computer before you leave work. It will cut its electricity use by about one-quarter, according to Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin's http://www.betruegreen.com/. Taken over a year, that's about 700 kilowatt hours - about three week's worth of electricity for the average Toronto household.
47. We spend about one-third of our time at work. And that's where almost half of our greenhouse gases come from, according to Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin's http://www.betruegreen.com/. Form a green team for your office and look at ways to cut back on electricity and waste. Start with simple things like making recycling easy, and switching to recycled copy paper.
48. Thinking of buying a new fancy computer, even though your old one still works fine? Hold back. On a weight-by-weight basis, computers are more environmentally destructive to make than cars, according to Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin’s http://www.betruegreen.com/. Research by the United Nations University in Tokyo shows making standard desktop computer with 17-inch CRT monitor requires 2 tonnes of materials, including 240 kg of fossil fuels, 22 kg of chemicals and nearly 1,500 litres of water.
49. Don't throw out that toner cartridge. Instead, reuse it. About 167 million toner cartridges are dumped into American landfills every year, totalling about 18 million kg of waste, according to Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin's http://www.betruegreen.com/. Most can be refilled up to four times.
50. Introduce casual Fridays to your office. Short-sleeved open-necked shirts mean you can set your office thermostat higher. Every degree you save will cut up to 20 per cent of air conditioning costs.
52. Calculate your ecological footprint – how much water, air and land your personal lifestyle gobbles up. Then, commit to reducing it by one hectare by this time next year. Go to http://www.myfootprint.org/.
53. Cancel that flight. One round-trip flight across the country creates 2 to 3 tonnes of CO2 emissions per passenger. In those ten hours, you’ll cancel out the effect of every single energy-saving device you’ve installed in your home. In fact, that round-trip has spewed out more emissions than the average Toronto home’s electricity use for an entire year.
55. If you have to fly, buy carbon offsets. Some people call them guilt money. But, at least by investing in projects that introduce green electricity elsewhere or plant carbon-dioxide sucking trees, you’ll be helping to clean up your mess. Make sure you pick a gold-standard company, certified by the World Wildlife Fund. Here’s one we’ve used: http://www.myclimate.org/
56. More than three-quarters of computers sold in the United States each year end up in a dump. That's why computers and other electronic waste make up 70 per cent of the lead, cadmium, and mercury in landfills, according to Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin's True Green @ Work: 100 Ways You Can Make the Environment Your Business. Instead of pitching it, recycle it. Give it to the non-profit iRecycle Computers.
57. Organize an "inorganic market" for your community. It will give your neighbours a chance to pitch their old electronic gadgets and computers without sending them to landfill. Instead, they'll be refurbished, reused or recycled.
57. Have a family birthday coming up? Ask for only second-hand gifts from your guests. Go so far as to specify that on your invites. Need inspiration? For every can of garbage you put out, 70 cans are made upstream to produce that product, according to Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff. If your daughter worries she’ll be unhip, tell her it’s all the rage in ultra-cool Berkeley, Calif.
58. Spring is on its way and that means it's time to clean your winter-soiled windows. Try doing the chore in a greener way with a cup of white vinegar, a cup of water and, as an option, a half teaspooon of dish soap.
59. In the mood for sprucing up your house? Look for paints and floor finishes that are low in volatile organic compounds. The paints work just about as well as the more toxic varieties, according to Green Remodeling. Water-based polyurethane for floors isn’t as tough as the oil-based version: You’ll need to apply more coats and, in high-traffic areas, re-apply every year or two. On the other hand, it won’t yellow over time.
60. Why buy cleaning cloths and wipes when you can reuse so much of what often goes into the garbage, says Irene Ashby, a 93-year-old who wrote us with plenty of good ideas. Old towels and cotton underwear, well washed, make the best cleaning rags.
61. More than 1.5 billion disposable lighters end up in landfills or incinerators every year, according to Gillian Deacon's Green For Life. They carry an ugly environmental legacy - the casings are made of petroleum-based plastic, and the butane fuel is a petroleum product. Use cardboard matches instead. They are made from recycled paper.
62. If you are a parent of a young child, chuck your baby wipes. Most contain propylene glycol, a derivative of natural gas and hormone-disrupting parabens, according to Gillian Deacon's Green For Life. They've also been bleached in chlorine - a real no-no, since chlorine produces very toxic dioxins. Instead, try wiping your baby's bum with small washcloths and warm water. A handy tip - keep a thermos of warm water on the change table for that purpose alone.63. Are you doing the Easter egg thing? If so, opt for some free-range, organic eggs. Even though most egg dye kits are labeled as non-toxic, some food-grade, government-approved dyes are made from coal tar and other petroleum products, according to The Ideal Bite. They suggest making your own all-natural dyes instead, from things like spinach (green), red onion skins (violet), orange peel (yellow), red cabbage (blue) and beets (pink).64. Need a new crisp, clean, lightweight cotton shirt? The trail behind it is anything but clean. It comes with a half-pound of pesticides, according to Gillian Deacon's Green For Life. Cotton is the world's most heavily sprayed crop, and at least half of those pesticides are classified as known or possible carcinogens. Choose certified organic cotton instead.
66. Become a 'kept woman.' No – that doesn't mean find a wealthy lover. It means that instead of going through dozens of tampons or maxi-pads every month, buy a Keeper. The silicone or latex cups that collect menstrual blood from inside a woman's vagina last 10 years, which means hundreds fewer pads or tampons in landfill. Speaking from experience, you really can't feel them. Check out keeper.com.
67. Instead of having all your bills dropped in the mail, sign up for epost.ca. The bills will arrive in your email inbox instead - saving all that paper and gasoline.
68. Around 8 billion ATM transactions occur each year in the U.S., most of them spitting out receipts. That's a lot of unnecessary paper, considering after a quick look, it all inevitably gets balled up and pitched. Instead, keep tabs over your transactions online. If 10,000 people decided to do that, together they'd save a roll of paper more than 460 metres long, according to The Ideal Bite
69. Buy organic bananas. Even though the pesticides on regular bananas won't make you sick, they're heavy on the health of workers in Costa Rica, where many of our bananas come from. There, only 5 per cent of cultivated land is used for banana plantations, but they account for 35 per cent of the country's pesticide imports, according to Gillian Deacon's Green For Life.
70. Use your dishwasher! Energy-efficient automatic dishwashers use half the energy and one-sixth of the water to the old fashioned way, according to a study out of the University of Bonn in Germany. Sometimes it's easy being green.71.Turn off your lights tonight, from 8 to 9 p.m. Unplug your TV, your computer, your DVD player - or if you’ve been following these tips, just flick off the power bar you have them all plugged into. Head outside and check out the skyline, by foot - not car. And, if you haven’t done so already, print up a copy of all these tips - on recycled paper- and get cracking on reducing your eco-footprint!

Ref: http://www.thestar.com/Earth%20Hour/article/295953

Health Canada Ready To Declare Plastic Additive In Baby Bottles Dangerous

It's probably in your home and there's a good chance your baby may be using it. And as of this week, Health Canada may declare it a dangerous chemical. It's called Bisphenol A, a long name for a substance that's found in hard plastic bottles.

BPA is widely used by industry and it's in a lot of products - including baby bottles. That has left many parents worried about the potential harmful effect on their infants and Health Canada has heard their concerns.

A recent study by Environmental Defence raised questions about the material, which manufacturers insist is absolutely safe.

If Health Canada comes out with its widely expected declaration on Wednesday, the chemical could be listed as a toxic substance under the country's Environmental Protection Act - and that would allow officials to severally limit its use in this country.

Studies in the U.S. show 90 per cent of the population there carries some traces of it in their bodies. Figures aren't available yet in Canada. If the federal agency issues the edict, it will be the first regulatory body in the world to rule that BPA endangers people and the environment.
"We would very much hope, if it does happen, that it starts a snowball effect around the world," declares Environmental Defence's Rick Smith. "It's linked to developmental problems in kids, different kinds of cancer like breast cancer in women, prostate cancer in men."

But some companies aren't waiting for the pronouncement. Zeller's and the Bay have already issued a press release proclaiming their stores will only sell baby products that are Bisphenol-A free.

And the Forzani Group, which runs such popular chains as Sports Chek and Athlete's World in Ontario, announced Tuesday it also wouldn't be waiting for Ottawa to act. It's pulling all the products it sells that contain the chemical. The company joins other outlets, including Mountain Equipment Co-op and Lulullemon Athletica, which had already removed the items.

It's a smart business move for the retailers, regardless of what Health Canada does because many parents have been concerned about the problem for months - and they've already made the switch. "I heard about the bottles and I give him glass," assures Laura Mangoes about her son.

Anna Taormina was alarmed enough to make the alteration, too. "Right away, I grabbed my husband and said we have to go to Toys 'R Us and switch the bottles." BPA is also found in the lining of tin cans of foods like tuna, vegetables and baby formula, which means it could be in your kitchen cupboard.

So should you be worried? Manufacturers insist tests show there's nothing to fear about the substance and extensive research has been done to prove it.

Still, most consumers are concerned about what it might be doing to the tiniest amongst us. "When it comes to these kinds of chemicals, kids are the most susceptible because their little bodies are growing," Smith warns.

And right or wrong, that's enough to make some people give this "A" a failing grade.
Environmental Defence fact sheet on BPA
Manufacturers' side
'Toxic baby bottles' report
Products containing Bisphenol A

Reference: http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_21724.aspx

This Month's Review

When Nicola contacted me about her company I was very delighted to check out her products. I was very impressed with the packaging. Great reusable bags, which came in handy already!! I can't tell you how many times I've been soaked to the core when I bathe my baby and toddler. I always put out clothes for me to change as well but not anymore. "Soak it Up" Bath Time Apron is perfect. I didn't get wet after I bathe my boys!! Believe me, my toddler jumps out of the tub whenever I wash his hair and this time I was ready for the splash of water. The "Soak it Up" Bath Time Apron is soft and thick enough that you can gladly rest your wet baby on your chest and not soak your clothes beneath. The Bibs Bag will make your baby's feeding time easier. Put all of your bibs in one place, no more searching for the next clean one. If you like being organized, the Bibs Bag is for you. It's very practical and saves on space. The Top n' Bottom Cloths is another great idea. It's the perfect size and feels soft. This really makes things so much easier when they are labeled. Now I know for sure which cloth was used for which body part. No more guessing! All of these products are certainly a bonus for any mom and mom-to-be. Be sure to visit: http://www.babygiftsformom.com