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Climate Change: It’s Impact on Animals
This week Caroline from Environline Blog shared about the impact on animals by human-induced climate change. She chose to feature a few specific animals and the section on corals impacted me. About 20 years ago I spent several months in northern Australia. The Great Barrier Reef was not far from the town I lived in and it was very much a part of the collective consciousness. Tourists came to town to see the reef, and there was a research centre in town to study the diversity of marine life in the area. The very geography of the town was impacted by the teeming offshore reef as it blocked wave action…
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Low Waste Teacher (or Anyone!) Gifts
This year with my kids now in two different classes, piano lessons, sports, and dance, there are a lot of teachers and so a lot of teacher gifts to pull together! I know it’s not necessary to give gifts, but I like the idea of taking the opportunity to thank and show appreciation to the people who pour so much into my children on a regular basis. But what gifts might be appreciated while not adding to the “stuff” of life? My criteria for teacher gifts What I’ve come up with! I’ve decided to give a few of my favourite low waste products and will include a family Christmas card…
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Save on Groceries With a Pantry Challenge
It’s been said there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but a pantry challenge might come close! What is a pantry challenge? A pantry challenge is a way to use up items that you purchased in past grocery shops but have been sitting unused in your cupboard. Why do a pantry challenge? There are a few good reasons to do a pantry challenge, but probably uppermost in many of our minds right now is the current cost of groceries. Though the items sitting in our cupboards likely weren’t free, you don’t have to buy them again! As such, using these items up can reduce the amount you need to…
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4 Ways to Reduce Waste this Halloween
It’s so easy to reduce waste at Halloween, it’s scary! Though Halloween doesn’t leap to mind as the most significant target for waste reduction, there are some simple changes everyone can make to have some waste-free fun! DIY costumes Costumes can be expensive and, as with all new items, consume resources to create. And the thing about Halloween costumes is that we only wear them a few times and then they gather dust. So why spend a lot of hard-earned money and resources on them? In a past post, Alison shared 20 Easy DIY costumes to make this Halloween, check it out for some inspiration! Another great option is to…
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Welcome to Circular Economy Month!
Background October is Circular Economy Month! Circular Economy Month is a new, expanded program emerging from Waste Reduction Week, a national program run by the Circular Innovation Council. Waste Reduction Weeks began happening around Canada back in the 1980’s but, 20 years ago in 2001, Waste Reduction Week became official. Waste Reduction Week, which has been held in the third week of October, continues to focus on the following daily topics: In previous years we’ve posted our experiences with Waste Reduction Week and the theme days: Waste Reduction Week and the 7 Important Theme Days #WRW2020: 3 Ways to Upcycle T-shirts In an expanded program, Waste Reduction Week is now…
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3 Ways to Preserve Summer Produce
The plan for freezing summer produce It’s officially the end of the summer season, though it’s been an extended summer here in Southwestern BC! As a result we’ve still been seeing some amazing summer produce in the last month or so and the question is – how best to keep a taste of summer to enjoy through the winter? In the past many people canned peaches, pears, beans, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes… and I’m just not confident enough to do it! I had attempted pickles once and a couple of the jars went bad which made me nervous to try again. So this year I’ve decided to freeze some of our…
