Loblaw's New Green Bags Are Not All That Green!

In the past week or so Loblaws has launched a major marketing campaign promoting their new reusable bag. They are touting it as "Canada's Greenest Shopping Bag". The problem is that it is also among Canada's smallest reusable shopping bags!

There is both a Loblaws and a Dominon about equidistant from where I live. As a result, which grocery store I shop at depends largely on what I need to get, and the route I will be taking. However, last week I intentionally went to Loblaws to do my shopping and to check this new and supposedly super fantastic bag. What I found was a disappointment.

From my perspective the main advantage of a reusable bag is that it will cut down on the plastic bags used to pack groceries. However, even though the Loblaws bag claims to be the equivalent carrying capacity of two shopping bags, as near as I can tell it is large enough to carry a bag of milk and that it about it. In contrast, the Dominion bag which has been on the market for months with much less fan fare carries the same amount as about three shopping bags!

I used to feel awkward about using my Dominion bag at Loblaws, but now that I have seen their interpretation of a reusable shopping bag I am waving my Dominion bag hoping that maybe someone will get the hint.

Sustainable Cottages

In just over a month from now Canadians will be embracing the first long weekend of the Summer season. Regardless of any calendar, Victoria Day, or as some refer to it: May 2-4 Weekend, is the beginning of Summer. One of the long standing traditions associated with this weekend is a pilgrimage north to open up the cottage.

What better time then when this to also take a look around the cottage to identify ways that it can be a little bit less harsh on the environment. While my personal vote is to avoid the slog back and forth each weekend and just live up there for four months, apparently some employers frown on this option. Alternatively, you might want to consider applying some of the energy efficient habits from home to the cottage.

For example:

• fix leaky faucets
• invest in a low flow shower head or toilet
• switch out incandescent bulbs with CFL light bulbs
• or my personal favourite - retire the lawnmower and just let the grass grow!

For more information on these, and other ideas, check out the Green Cottage section of Cottage Life magazine.

From the Magazine Rack

The April 9th 2007 edition of Time Magazine is a Special Double Issue entitled "The Global Warming Survival Guide". Squished in between an article on the impact of global warming and an article on what some cities are doing to adapt to the effect of climate change is an article on "51 Things We Can Do" to slow global warming. In my opinion, this is the gem of the publication.

As is evident from the title, this article identifies 51 things that we can do to cut our carbon emissions and live more lightly on the earth. Many of the suggestions are the simple things that almost everyone can do, such as: use Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs; take the bus or car pool; buy energy efficient appliances, as well as some of the more involved options such as heating and cooling buildings with geothermal technology.

Furthermore, for each tip they gauge from high to low the "Impact" and the "Feel-Good Factor", as well as the Time Horizon" for possible implementation from now to later. Admittedly, quite frequently the Feel-Good Factor is higher then the Impact. However, with so much doom and gloom about the environment, sometimes 'feeling good' about something is almost as important as it having an actual impact on carbon emissions.

Click here to access both this article, as well as some other interesting online features.

Is a $1 a Litre a Bad Thing?

Gradually I think the reality is starting to set in that the price for gasoline is not going to dip below the $1 per litre mark. I expect over the coming months and years this will have a foundational impact on everyday life.

For example, if the commute to and from work each day ends up costing an extra $50/week [not to mention the wear and tear on the vehicle], then maybe taking public transit or finding a job closer to home starts to become a real option. Similarly, what if the expense of driving across town to that favourite store or restaurant starts to become a noticeable expense. Will the local stores and restaurants start become more appealing? What about housing prices in the suburbs? Could these once hot properties start to see a decrease in value because driving is a necessity to living in the suburbs?

The price of gas will also be evident in other areas such as the cost of groceries and other products. Buying local produce and products might not only be good for the environment and the local merchants, but also a matter of what the pocket book can afford.

Unfortunately, the people that are going to be impacted the most by the price of gasoline are those at the lower end of the economic spectrum. These are the people that do not have the disposable income to cover increased food and transportation costs and are unlikly to have the option of finding employment closer to home.

For years the carrot method of encouraging people to decrease their fuel consumption was used. Society's response - the Hummer! Now comes the stick.

Dirty Food?

In a perfect world, ALL the fruits and vegetables we consume would be grown organically, without herbicides and pesticides. I am not sure about your world, but mine is far from perfect!

There are at least two main advantages with organic food. One, the use of herbicides and pesticides in the agricultural process is very harsh on the soil, killing many of the microorganisms that made the soil rich and fertile in the first place. Second, study after study has shown a co-relation between consuming foods grown with herbicides and pesticides and health risks.

However, the unfortunate reality, at least for me, is that many times organically grown produce is simply not available. To help make smart decisions in the face of this reality there is now a guide available to identify which foods have the highest amount of pesticide and herbicide residue, and therefore would be a wise organic choice.

For information about this guide and to download a handy card identifying the top twelve dirtiest and cleanest foods, please visit: FoodNews.org.

Happy munching!

Who Needs the Federal Government!

Last night on the CBC show The Hour [which by the way, if you have never seen it is worth catching] there was an interview with Terry Tamminen the environmental advisor to Governor Arnold Schwarzengger. While initially I did not have much interest in this interview, as the conversation continued I became more and more captivated by some of the idea's being expressed.

The key idea that made me sit up and adjust my pillow was that it does not matter all that much what the US or Canadian federal governments do or think about climate change because so much the lower levels of government at the Provincial and Municipal levels regardless of the Federal policies. Tamminen was in Canada to meet with Premier's Campbell [BC]; Doer [Manitoba] and McGuinty [Ontario], not Prime Minister Harper, to discuss solutions to the environmental issues we all face.

When one considers that policies and regulations such as building codes, power generation and conservation of green spaces often fall under the jurisdiction of the provincial, state or municipal governments, does it really matter all that much if the Federal government[s] are just providing lip service to things such as the Kyoto Accord? As Tamminen mentions, more important then Federal policies is that the States and Provinces enact legislation and policies that support and work toward Kyoto targets, as at the end of the day, this will have just as much, if not more impact then Federal policies.

For proof of how Provincial/State environmental legislation can have an impact regardless of the Federal politics, one only has to look as far as the State of California and the landmark bill AB 32 -the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 legislation that will result in a decrease in CO2 emissions of 25% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. This action was happening while the Bush administration is still questioning if global warming was even an issue!

An example of how the Ontario government is starting to form their own alliances and environmental policies can be found in the recent announcement that Ontario is interested in joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the Western Regional Climate Action Initiative, two US state-level strategic partnerships looking at ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Perhaps it is time we stop exerting energy trying to change the Federal government[s] and instead use this same time and energy to work with the Provincial and Municipal governments, on both sides of the border, to make real change happen.