Biking to a photo shoot during No Impact Week

Hi Everyone!

We wrapped up the No Impact Experiment yesterday and I have to say that it went really well! Each day had a specific theme that continued onward for the rest of the week, really giving us a chance to focus on the changes we could make:

• Sunday – Consumption – No buying new things (besides food)
• Monday – Trash Reduction
• Tuesday – Transportation – Focus on human powered
• Wednesday – Food
• Thursday – Energy Reduction
• Friday – Water Conservation
• Saturday – Giving Back
• Sunday – Eco-Sabbath

Eliminating Consumption was a pretty easy one for us and I thought that Trash Reduction would be a breeze however last week I was inspired to begin cleaning out my office. Reducing the amount of garbage we set out on the curb is definitely something we’ve always been aware of and we’ll continue to work on in the future. We currently put out one small shopping bag of garbage a week but our recycle bin is half full, something else we need to work on.

Transportation Tuesday, oh the irony! We decided that as of last Tuesday we would no longer be driving our cars (for the week). Well wouldn’t you know that my car was scheduled to go in for some routine maintenance that very day? Once that was taken care of we rode our bicycles everywhere we needed to go, including:

• 4 trips for darren to and from work (for a total of 40 km)
• 1 acupuncture appointment (14 km)
• 1 trip to the market (6 km)
• 2 location photo shoots (14 km)

And you know what? I loved it! Darren has always rode his bike to work (except when there’s snow on the ground) but I haven’t actually gotten my bike out in the last four years. Of course the first trek I needed to make was also the farthest one, 14 km round trip, but it was beautiful! I’ll definitely be spending more time on my bicycle from now on.

I was completely unprepared for making Food changes. And in all honesty we didn’t really do anything differently. We aren’t vegetarian but we only eat meat on weekends and more and more of our food comes from our local farmer’s market. What we did do was ride our bikes to the market, made conscious decisions to buy most of what we need unpackaged and locally produced, and we even visited our local tea shop and had them fill our jars with loose leaves. Yum!

Making cinnamon rolls by candlelight

Big cuts were made in the energy department. Thursday had us turning off our furnace, shutting down the computer outside of work hours, leaving all artificial lighting off, and hand washing the dishes instead of using the dishwasher. I think we picked a good (read: easy) time of year to come into this project. With the furnace off we woke in the mornings to indoor temperatures of 14C (57F) but we quickly warmed up with tea, wool hats, hot water bottles, lap blankets, and a few candles when it got really cool. Plus all that bicycling kept us nice and warm. I really enjoyed the electrical cut backs, Darren and I had many lovely evenings cuddled on the couch under a blanket talking by the soft glow of a few candles, he even got out his guitar and played a few songs. Wonderfully romantic!

We only made a few small adjustments in the Water department: showering every other day and if it’s yellow let it mellow… Still, these are some pretty easy things that can end up making quite a bit of difference.

Giving Back and the Eco-Sabbath are two things that we did not take part in for a few reasons, but mostly because we just didn’t have time. I know that’s not a good excuse but we really do feel as though we’re up to our ears in home renovation projects, plus I was busier than usual working last week, including a shoot on Sunday, and did I mention the tax deadline is this week? Having an Eco-Sabbath is something I’d like to schedule in the coming weeks and maybe even make an on-going occurrence.

All in all we quite enjoyed our No Impact Week and hope to participate in the next round coming this summer. Now our question to you is: what are some of your favourite environmentally conscious changes you’ve made (big or small)?

Wednesday was a beautifully overcast wintery day in our part of the world, perfect for snowy tree photographs. Darren found a new area just outside of town that he thought I should check out, so off I went – camera in tow! Many gorgeous trees were captured; this image being my personal favourite. Look for it to be available in our shop some time next week.

We haven’t come up with a name yet, we’re thinking Elviage Pearl or Alone Together. Please comment with your suggestions.

Have you noticed a new blog appearing in our blogroll? I just added a brand new one (new as of December) to our list and it might just be what I’m looking for to fill the green void left by the signing off of Green as a Thistle. Plastic Manners, brought to my attention earlier this week via the David Suzuki Foundation Facebook page, chronicles the tale of Taina’s self-imposed year without plastics and the creation of her “Vile Pile”, unavoidable and incidentally acquired plastics.

I am certain this is a blog that is going to get me riled – not by Taina, but by the plastic world we live in and the little things that I often overlook. For instance, why do apples from the grocery store have to come with one form of plastic or another? They are either packed within a clear plastic bag, or they individually brandish a plastic sticker. Argh…

I was really excited when just days before my Christmas holiday I was able to get my hands on a copy of Sleeping Naked is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days by Vanessa Farquharson. I first heard about Vanessa through her blog Green as a Thistle (I’ve mentioned it previously), which has since gone off the air but you can still read the archives online.

What a great read! Especially during a time of year that is often filled with consumption. I took it with me to my parent’s house for the holidays, and boy did it peak the interest of many of the people who saw it. A great way to start earth-minded discussions without being preachy or forcing the topic on someone that isn’t interested, I might have to start carting more eco-books around with me.

Last week when I saw that I was nearing the end of the book I felt a little sad, like a friend was moving away, because I knew that very soon I would no longer be reading about Vanessa’s quest. I am quite fond of her writing style, especially on such a hot topic – she’s a real person who’s struggling with keeping our planet healthy but also living a full life that includes travel and the occasional piece of beef. She’s not afraid to admit her faults to the masses and laugh at herself along the way.

This book isn’t for hardcore earth protectors but more for the average person looking to reassess their living habits. If you’re looking for some simple tips about how to live greener by using recycled toilet paper and plugging your home electronics into power bars, then this book might be for you.

{image: wiley}

Last week I signed us up for the Apartment Therapy Fall Cure and Green Cure. I know, I know, we already have enough going on with our warming our home project, but I figure winter is coming so it’s a good time to make our interior more livable and enjoyable. Since we bought our house in 2006 practically all the work that we’ve done has been structural and somewhat invisible (re-shingling, plumbing, insulating, etc) and there hasn’t been much fun stuff. We’ve done a little painting plus we’re amid a bathroom renovation, but I think it’s time for a project that’s fairly “frivolous” so enter our living room cure.

Week one of our living room cure had us drawing a floor plan of our existing living room and assessing our needs and vision.  We would like our living room to be:

• cozy, comfortable, and intimate
• less cluttered but more interesting
• good storage for the things we often need in this space

Here are some of the specific things I’d like to look at:

• lighting
• artwork
• storage for our knitting supplies
• perhaps new curtains for the three small windows and new curtain rods
• clutter control by reducing the surfaces that, as my Dad always said, are horizontal spaces where I tend to stack things vertically
• a way to display our camera collection
• move at least one of Darren’s guitars into the living room

We’ve searched the interweb and our style tray for elements that we’d like to include or draw inspiration from and here is some of what we’ve come up with:

Michelle’s home has a nice cozy living room.

Jessica and Alex’s home has lots of different options for lighting and a cohesive colour palette.

Jen Bekman’s simple, grid-style art display is something we’d like to incorporate.

Calvin Lockwood’s bedroom has fabulous lighting.

As far as the Green portion of our cure goes we’re removing from our home:

• a few of the remaining cardboard boxes
• some plants that we’ve received in gift baskets (don’t get me wrong, I love plants, but sometimes I get baskets of house plants that wouldn’t normally be my choice, these have all found good homes with my Mom and my Aunt)
• an old stereo system

We’re committing to switching most of our cleaning products over to home made substitutes, focusing mainly on the bathroom.  We plan to do this on an as needed basis using Re-Nest as our first resource when creating new cleansers.  I’ll try to keep you posted about what we find works well.

We’re definitely open to suggestions, so share yours in the comment section below.

No Impact Man by Colin Beavan was my muse last week at the cottage.  This is another book that I just couldn’t put down!  It is a guided tour of the year that the author and his family set out to reduce their impact on the planet:

• eradicating garbage
• all but eliminating any non-self-propelled means of transportation
• making wiser food choices
• greening their home

An engaging account of their trials, tribulations, and experiences described in a very human, easy to relate to way. It was so nice to read a book that is this radical but written by every day people who have just decided to take matters into their own hands. It was inspiring to hear of their struggles and the way they balanced the no impact project with what was practical.

I did find myself wanting more in the way of day-to-day tips, but this just isn’t that kind of book. Never fear though, there’s a great appendix in the back that lists all kinds of resources depending on which aspect of the project you’re interested in.

So what am I going to do now?  For starters I plan to:

• unplug the television
• search for bulk food stores in our area that will let us bring our own reusable containers
• try to reduce car use – this one I’m still working out the details on, a lot of my photo shoots lately have required driving out of the city
• eat more locally

What are your favourite books full of ideas to help save the planet? What are some simple things you do?

{image: Amazon.ca}

PS. A while ago I blogged about the documentary film that compliments the project, No Impact Man, the movie.

A few weeks ago I came across the trailer for the new documentary by No Impact Man.  And I am hooked!  I find myself watching the piece over and over again.  I need to see this film!  I know it’s extreme but I think there are some really good points to be made.  Here are my favourite parts of the preview:

• Colin’s wife, Michelle, because she says what most of us are thinking
• the alternate titles for the movie
• getting rid of the tv

This preview makes my heart flutter!  So far this movie is scheduled to come to Canada, but when it does, I’m there!  You can read more about the No Impact Man documentary here.

What to do with the little sliver of soap left after a lifetime (well a soap’s lifetime) of washing enjoyment?  Enter the rebar jar!  Once a bar of soap gets down to an unbearable size the little flake that remains gets added to our rebar jar.  And once our rebar jar has grown to a respectable amount of soap bits we melt them down and make a new bar of soap.  Our motto: no soap left behind!

What do you do to help reduce your bathroom waste?

{images: jennifer squires ross}

Help! The mosquitoes are driving me crazy this year! I get a couple bites every single day – in my own yard! So I caved and bought a citronella geranium plant. I have no idea if it’s going to work but I figure it’s worth a shot.

What are your earth friendly ideas to keep mosquitoes at bay?

I’m super excited about our vegetable garden this year! Lots of tomato and pepper plants now find their permanent home out in our yard. I thought it was about time to post updated photos of how things are going.

Here the resident master gardener is inspecting the peppers, yup, they seem to be up to snuff.  Those are our peas on the right, some days I feel like I can see them growing they’re doing so well. I wish more people grew them, they’re really easy and full of instant gratification – well, at least in terms of gardening.

This is our first year for beets (lower right), onions (grassy bits above the beets), and potatoes (not shown) and I think they were a great choice since the weather seems to have been unseasonably cool and wet.

I’m particularly thrilled about our potatoes, we’re growing them in a 5 gallon bucket with drainage holes drilled in the bottom.  They’re planted good and deep and we mounded them over until the bucket was full of dirt, now the shoots are a few inches above the rim of the pail!

I’ll post more pictures of our vegetable garden as the season progresses, I might even cut the grass next time so you don’t have to look at our shaggy backyard, sorry about that.

What are your favourite vegetables to grow?

Summer Pasta, 8″ x 10″ modern fine art photograph

We’ve recently made a big change to what we eat at our house.  We’ve begun a weekly ritual that we call meatless mondays.  We don’t eat much meat as it is, but this initiative is helping us to consume just a little bit less.

Why it’s a good idea to reduce your meat consumption:

• the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that livestock is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gases, that’s 4% more than the world’s transportation sector produces (source: David Suzuki Foundation)
• eating 454g (1 pound) of meat emits the same amount of greenhouse gasses as driving an SUV 64km (40 miles) (source: goveg.com)
• reduce your meat consumption by one meal every week (150g serving) and over a year you will reduce your greenhouse pollution by up to 300kg (661 pounds) and reduce water use by up to 10 000 litres (2 640 gallons) (source: Australian Conservation Foundation)
• if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20% it would be as if they all switched from driving a standard sedan to the ultra-efficient Prius (source: The New York Times)

Be sure to stop by the blog this coming monday for the recipe for one of our favourite meatless dishes:  Eggplant and Feta Skillet.

What’s your favourite meatless meal?

(image: jennifer squires productions)