Thanks to everyone who attended my presentations at this past week-end’s Cottage Life Show, held in Toronto. It was a pleasure talking with others who have a vested interest in treading lightly in cottage country. I’d like to include some links here to info I presented:
Seafood Watch (Monterey Bay Aquarium): http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp
David Suzuki Foundation’s Seafood Watch card: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/files/Oceans/seafoodwatchcard.pdf
Finding a local farmer or Community-supported Agriculture: www.localharvest.org or www.farmersmarketsontario.ca

Hope that helps and thanks again!

Sure they save energy — lots of it. And kudos to you for changing all your incandescents to compact fluorescents. But…there is that pesky little problem with mercury. While CFLs contain a teensy amount — about enough to cover the tip of the pen — it’s enough to contaminate anywhere from 1,000 to 6,000 gallons of water (depending of whether you’re using low-mercury versions or not). So a broken CFL isn’t as simple as sweeping the pieces up and tossing.
So what can you do? Fortunately, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offers up some advice. Please don’t use this as an excuse to stick with those incandescents which, incidentally, are a better source of heat than light. Just install and remove CFLs carefully — and dispose of them responsibly (IKEA takes them back, for example) and you’ll never have to use the following:
fore cleanup: Vent the room
1. Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
2. Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.

Cleanup steps for hard surfaces
3. Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
4. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
5. Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag.
6. Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

Cleanup steps for carpeting or rug
3. Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
4. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
5. If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
6. Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.

Disposal of cleanup materials
7. Immediately place all cleanup materials outside the building in a trash container or outdoor protected area for the next normal trash.
8. Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing cleanup materials.
9. Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken lamps be taken to a recycling center.

Future cleaning of carpeting or rug
10. For at least the next few times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window prior to vacuuming.
11. Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed. (Source: U.S. EPA)

Bottled water is 500 to 1,000 times more expensive than tap water. Now how convenient is that plastic bottle it comes in?

As promised in my most recent Virtuous Consumer column, here’s my tried-and-true recipe for delicious and nutritious whole-wheat chocolate-chip cookies:
1 cup organic butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar (organic, if possible)
2 organic eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups whole-wheat organic flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups (or more!) fair-trade organic chocolate chips (Whole Foods sells them, as does El Camino brand)
Mix together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda and baking powder. (You can add organic rolled oats - my kids tend to balk at it and it makes a doughier cookie.) Add in dry ingredients. Then mix in chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes.
Enjoy!!

I recently contributed to a book, The Green Parent, written by Jenn Savedge, a mom herself and someone who strives to make the notion of living lightly on the planet an easier one for parents – saddled as we are with pint-sized consumers!
Jenn’s book is published through Kedzie Press, which is progressively offering to plant a tree for every book sold. What’s more, the company is offering a discount until March 31, 2008 if you order off their site (www.kedziepress.com). The coupon code is TGP2008. So go ahead – buy a green book, printed on recycled paper and processed chlorine free, and get a tree planted on your behalf!