(© Bonnie Schiedel. Originally published in Green Living, Spring 2009). 



Free
1. Get two for the price of one
A child’s birthday party that has no questionable gifts, no mounds of unrecyclable wrapping paper and helps a charitable cause too—no, it’s not too good to be true. Here’s how this website, the brainchild of two Toronto moms, works: at EchoAage.com, parents send out e-invites, and guests make an online contribution of the amount of money they’d normally spend on a birthday gift. Half the money goes to a cause the party hosts support, such as Second Harvest or EcoKids, (the parents of the birthday child get a tax receipt) and half the money goes towards buying one special gift. (While the service is free, EchoAge.com collects 15 per cent of the money contributed to cover administrative costs.)

2. Let it whirl
As the weather warms up, set your ceiling fan to turn counterclockwise. This pushes the breeze downwards, making you feel like the room is about 10 per cent cooler. 

3. Blow ‘em up
Canadian drivers would save a whopping 643 million litres of fuel this year if we all had properly inflated vehicle tires, according to Natural Resources Canada. Read your owner’s manual to see what your tire pressure should be, and use a tire gauge to check your tires when they’re “cold” (ie, the vehicle hasn’t driven in the past three hours, or for longer than two km). 


4. Perform your drug diligence
Leftover medications end up in our water supply and soil if they’re just flushed or tossed. Take prescription and over-the-counter drugs to your pharmacy to be disposed of properly through incineration. Visit www.medicationsreturn.ca to find a drop-off location in your area. 

5. Cut your food-print
The food system is responsible for a third of global greenhouse emissions, according to www.eatlowcarbon.org, which features a low carbon diet calculator. At their site, drag and drop food items onto a virtual frying pan to see how your choices stack up. Then, head over to www.foodkm.com to find restaurants, farmers’ markets and suppliers in your community that provide or support locally grown food. 

6. Return to sender
Stick a “No Junk Mail Please” sign on your mailbox. Download one for free at www.reddotcampaign.ca, a grassroots organization in Vancouver. Canada Post tracks the number of people who opt out of “unaddressed mail” delivery, meaning advertisers print fewer fliers. To stop addressed junk mail from Canadian companies, register at the “Do Not Contact Service” of the Canadian Marketing Association at www.the-cma.org.

7. Pitch in, eh!
National Pitch-In Week is April 20-26. Visit www.pitch-in.ca to find out how to lend a hand at projects that help clean, beautify and protect your community. 



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8. Embrace your inner herbivore
“Water footprint” describes the amount of water used to create a product. Bessy the cow leaves a pretty hefty water footprint when you consider packaging and transportation—it actually requires 2400L of water to make one burger, according to www.waterfootprint.org. Choose meatless meals a few times a week. (For planet-pleasing recipe ideas, consult the Big Green Cookbook (Wiley), less than $20 through amazon.ca.)

9. Bag it up 
Rather than putting apples and rice in plastic bags at the supermarket and bulk food store, reach for ultra-thin reusable bags. Try these made-in-Canada options: KootSac, (www.kootsac.etsy.com, $4 and up for cotton, nylon or silk bags) and CredoBags, (www.credobags.com for retailers, $5 and up for drawstring mesh cotton bags). 

10. Sprout some delicious greens
Crunchy sprouts and other microgreens are a hot food trend for 2009. Plus, they’re ridiculously easy to grow in a small container right on your kitchen counter. Look for sprouting seeds in gardening catalogues or your neighbourhood health food store. Or, visit Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds, based in Parkdale, SK, at www.sprouting.com to buy organic seed mixes such as Spicy Lentil Crunch ($3 for 125 ml) or Spring Salad ($4 for 100 ml). Bonus: sprouts show promise as cancer-fighters, according to current health research. 

11. Opt for clover
Seed bare patches in your lawn with White Dutch clover. It’s cheap, tough, stands up to dog pee, requires little maintenance and no fertilizer, and stays green even through extra-dry conditions. Buy it at a supplier such as www.oscseeds.com ($9 for 500 g of seed)


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12. Offset your life
You can purchase carbon offsets for more than just flights. At Less.ca and Planetair.ca, two high-quality Canadian carbon offsetters, $20 per month for a year will offset 5 tons of greenhouse gas emissions—the amount the average Canadian generates annually. You can even set up a pre-authorized monthly payment. 

13. Let ladybugs loose
No need for poisons in your garden: ladybugs will happily and naturally munch on aphids and other soft-bodied pests. Buy local ladybugs if possible, since those raised far away won’t stick around long, says Marjorie Harris in her new book, Ecological Gardening: Your Safe Path to a Healthy, Beautiful Garden (Random House). Check your favourite nursery or visit www.natural-insect-control.com (Stevensville, Ont.; 1000 ladybugs for $16) or www.thebuglady.ca (Fort Langley, BC; 500 for $10). 

14. Tote your lunch fare with flair
Cut down on paper, plastic and aluminum foil by packing your lunch or picnic in stainless steel stackable Tiffin boxes, used for decades in Asia (about $15 at Lee Valley Tools and kitchen retailers). Don’t forget reusable bamboo cutlery, such as a set from To-Go Ware. It’s stored in a wipeable case made from repurposed plastic bags created by Conserve, a NGO in Dehli, India. (about $20, visit www.to-goware.com for retailers). 


15. Use eco-sunscreen
Sunblock is a must, but if you’re wearing it when you hit the beach or lake, you risk creating a chemical oil slick, potentially harming vulnerable ecosystems. To minimize your impact, choose a fragrance-free, paraben-free, biodegradeable sunblock such as Mexitan ($16 and up, www.mexitancanada.com). 

16. Take a cue from your grandmother
Two hundred billion tissues are achoo’d into in North America every year, which means that an incredible amount of trees, electricity and chemicals go into a product that’s used once and thrown away. Instead, stash a teeny package of three washable, made-in-Canada organic cotton hankies in your pocket or bag. (www.hankettes.com, $17). 


17. Pull the plug remotely
You know you can reduce phantom energy use (energy that’s drawn by appliances in standby mode) by unplugging items like DVD players and cell phone chargers, but it’s tough to remember to actually do it. Enter the Bye Bye Standby Plug and Play Energy Saving Kit ($20 at www.grassrootsstore.com). It consists of two units that plug into regular electrical sockets, and a remote control that operates up to 30m away to quickly and easily cut the power to appliances. 


18. Green your greetings
When only a hand-written note will do, choose cards that are easier on the earth. Pistachio, a new Canadian eco-store affiliated with Chapters and Indigo bookstores, carries chic stationery made of 100 per cent post-consumer waste recycled paper that’s certified by the Forest Stewardship Council of Canada, processed without chlorine and printed in Canada using soy- or vegetable-based ink. ($14 for a set of 10 cards, www.epistachio.com for stores)

19. Plant a tree, cool the planet
Trees really do deserve to be hugged: they remove carbon dioxide and add oxygen, provide shade and wildlife habitat, buffer noise, and prevent soil erosion. Urban trees are particularly valuable for combating urban heat islands, those hot spots that result from concrete and pavement absorbing and then radiating heat. There are plenty of tree-planting organizations to support: http://charitrees.ca (kids’ tree-planting projects and education), www.treecanada.ca (including a program called ReLeaf, which targets specific areas affected by tornados or forest fires), www.lifecyclesproject.ca (planting urban fruit trees in Vancouver) and www.mybabytree.org (a project from the World Wildlife Fund, where trees are planted to replenish the Indonesian rain forest—you can see your actual tree using satellite imagery from Google Earth!)

20. Don’t leave home without it
The next time you look at a plastic bottle of water, picture a quarter of it filled with oil manufacture and transportation. And it takes more water to produce a disposable bottle than the bottle actually holds. Canadians guzzle a huge amount of bottled water a year: 30 per cent of homes use bottled water as their main source of drinking water, according to new research from the Households and the Environment Survey from Statistics Canada. It only makes sense to tote a reusable stainless steel bottle. Check out the hip floral, skull and camo designs from the Calgary-based OtterBottle ($18 and up, see www.otterbottle.ca for retailers).