TIP for Tuesday March 31, 2009

Spring is here! Time to get the patio furniture out and get those decks ready! Make sure you GREEN your deck before the next rain and finish it with a low-emitting, low-VOC, finish or sealant. They offer the same durability and aesthetic appeal without polluting the air. Eventually the finish on your deck will wash off into the environment, which is far less of a problem if they're made with ingredients like veggie oils, rather than the usual petrochemicals. Look for sealants made with fruit oils and recycled veggie oils that you could indoors and outdoors, even on cutting boards!

TIP for Monday March 30th, 2009

Well we did it! Thousand of Torontonians joined in on Earth Hour and we almost doubled our drop in electricity. The weekends’ Earth Hour resulted in a 15% drop in electricity usage when we turned off our light for one hour on Saturday night. Canada was one of the 90 countries that took part this year in trying to bring about awareness of climate change. To see some awesome video footage of some of the worlds biggest cities in darkness check out http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/earth-hour-2009-video-roundup.php See Rio De Janeiro, Beijing, London’s Big Ben New York’s Times Square and even Dubai in darkness!

TIP for Friday March 27th, 2009

Earth hour is tomorrow at 8:30pm. With the flip of a switch, we'll send a powerful message of concern beyond our city that demonstrates a readiness to address the harmful effects of climate change. Last year Toronto had the biggest drop in electricity in out of all the Canadian cities that participated. This year WWF and Toronto Hydro are taking it a step further and asking participants to use battery-powered laptops during Earth Hour. Even Research in Motion (RIM) has launched a special website, accessible only through BlackBerry devices, asking smartphone owners to turn off their devices for one hour to support Earth Hour. The site allows users to access the latest news and videos about Earth Hour. BlackBerry owners can also access Earth Hour profiles on YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. If you have a BlackBerry Bold, Storm, Curve, Curve 8900, 8800 or Pearl go to the website www.earthhour.msite.tv

The city is hosting Earth Hour events around the GTA. For a list go to http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/608257

TIP for Friday March 27th, 2009

Earth hour is tomorrow at 8:30pm. With the flip of a switch, we'll send a powerful message of concern beyond our city that demonstrates a readiness to address the harmful effects of climate change. Last year Toronto had the biggest drop in electricity in out of all the Canadian cities that participated. This year WWF and Toronto Hydro are taking it a step further and asking participants to use battery-powered laptops during Earth Hour. Even Research in Motion (RIM) has launched a special website, accessible only through BlackBerrys devices, asking smartphone owners to turn off their devices for one hour to support Earth Hour. The site allows users to access the latest news and videos about Earth Hour. BlackBerry owners can also access Earth Hour profiles on YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. If you have a BlackBerry Bold, Storm, Curve, Curve 8900, 8800 or Pearl go to the website www.earthhour.msite.tv

The city is hosting Earth Hour events around the GTA. For a list go to http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/608257

Don’t forget to turn your lights off at 8:30pm and join millions of people around the world during Earth Hour.

TIP for Thursday March 26th, 2009

Earth Hour is almost here. Millions of people in hundreds of cities around the world will all turn off their lights Saturday for one hour, to show there concern and bring about awareness of climate change. Homes, businesses and famous landmarks, from Toronto's CN Tower to the Golden Gate Bridge and the Eiffel Tower, will all go dark from 8:30-9:30 p.m. Last year Toronto's electricity demand dropped 8.7% during Earth Hour, the highest reduction of any city in Canada, proving that everyday actions such as turning off non-essential lights can make a big difference.

This year once again Nathan Phillips Square will host, along with the World Wildlife Find, a free concert featuring Suzie McNeil, Karl Wolf and many others starting at 7pm. Saturday afternoon at 4:30pm Yonge Dundas Square, the heart of the city, will have BRITA on hand giving away 3,600 free BRITA water pitchers. Each pitcher represents one second of Earth hour, and is a part of BRITA’s effort to help switch from bottled to filtered water to reduce waste. Earth Hour has shown us that small changes, like switching off your lights, can reduce your carbon footprint, and so can switching from bottle water to filtered tap water in a refillable bottle.


For a list of more Earth Hour events around the GTA go to http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/608257

TIP for Wednesday March 25th, 2009

Earth Hour is almost here. Saturday March 28th at 8:30pm, the city of Toronto will join hundreds of cities around the world in an effort to bring about awareness about climate change, and demonstrate that people from all over the world care about the issue. Last year, 50 million people in 35 countries turned off their lights for one hour and here in Toronto we dropped our electricity demand by 8.7 %. That's the equivalent of taking 262 megawatts off the grid, or approximately 5.8 million light bulbs! To increase participation in this year's Earth Hour, when everyone is asked to turn off the lights for an hour, Toronto Hydro is launching an online contest asking Torontonians How Low Can We Go T.O.? You can go to http://www.howlowcanwegoto.ca for more details.

TIP for Tuesday march 24th, 2009

Ok…go ahead and POP YA COLLA! The green tips are finally paying off! A recent report published in the journal of Environment and Urbanization shows that Torontonians are responsible for 8.2 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year, while the average Canadian produces 24 tonnes. This makes us the greenest residents in Canada when it comes to climate change pollutants. If you haven’t jumped on the GREEN bandwagon this weekend is your chance. Earth Hour is this Saturday at 8:30pm. You can do your part to fight global warming by switching off ALL your lights for 1 hour. Last year is was very cool to see all the buildings downtown turn their lights off and even the CN tower in darkness!

TIP for Monday March 23rd, 2009

It’s time to GREEN your home room to room. Start with the kitchen it’s the easiest way to get in to the GREEN spirit. Make sure that your fridge is in good operating condition and well sealed. If you can close the door on a piece of paper and then pull it out, your fridge seal may need to be replaced. Boil water in an electric kettle instead of on the stove top. Fix any faucets that drip. If you must use your dishwasher, wait until you have a full load and let them air dry. If you're doing dishes in the sink, fill it up instead running the tap while you wash. Find a reusable alternative to paper towels, like sponges, kitchen clothes and towels and for cleaning windows try using old newspaper with your window cleaner for a steak free shine.

TIP for Friday March 20th, 2009

Use digital desktop notes that act as reminders on your laptop or your phone instead of Post-its. They're cost-free, and tree-free. Sticky notes don't use that much paper, but the average person uses the equivalent of a tree 100 feet high and 18 inches in diameter each year in paper. If 10,000 people used digital desktop notes instead of three packages of Post-its, we would save 36 trees. Post-its aren't that expensive either but free is even better. Mac users have STICKIES already installed or you are a PC user you can install the freeware Stickies 6.7a. http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/index.html

TIP for Thursday March 19th, 2009

GREEN clean power with stuff you already have around the house.

Toothpaste, not the gel kind, but the paste is a great mild abrasive that polishes chrome, silver, enamel and it even gets food stains out of clothes. To find out to clean with toothpaste http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/how-to/cleaning-with-toothpaste-015118

Lemon Juice is a natural acidic cleaner. It's best used for copper-bottomed pots or fixtures, countertop stains, and it's a great bleach alternative. Place it on white linens or clothing and let them dry in the sun to bleach away stains. For more info check out http://housekeeping.about.com/od/environment/a/lemonscleaning.htm

Cornstarch absorbs grease, and, when it's mixed with warm water it makes a nice countertop cleaner. To find out how check out http://www.ehow.com/how_2199277_use-corn-starch-clean-kitchen.html

Olive Oil, when mixed with lemon juice (two parts oil to one part lemon juice) makes a non-toxic furniture polish. To make it go to http://www.doityourself.com/stry/furniturepolish

TIP for Wednesday March 18th, 2009

Going on a trip? Make your hotel stay green. We are all guilty of indulging in extra long showers when we stay at a hotel. Hotel guests use double the utilities at hotels than they do at home ...but the impact on the environment even though you may be paying for your stay the impact on the environment doesn’t change. How often do you change your sheets at home? How many towels do you use each day at home? Not three? So why let your hotel change all your towels and sheets every day you are staying there? We can help make normal hotels more of a green hotel while we are there. Keep your towels and sheets for your three-night stay and you save 66% of the hotel's laundry emissions.

TIP for Tuesday March 17th, 2009

Go White to be Green! Whiteboards, especially if they are made from recycled materials, and refillable erasable markers, are the eco friendly way to go around the office. Erasable markers are less toxic. Most disposable permanent markers are made with a chemical called Xylene that increases indoor air pollution in classrooms and your office. Also make sure you use refillable erasable markers and save some cash! One pack of six refillable markers with refills included equals 246 disposable ones, which in turns means less trash! Here’s a trick if you’ve accidentally used a permanent marker on your whiteboard, just write over top of it with a dry erase and wipe it.

TIP for Monday March 16th, 2009

Have you ever received an email that has “please consider the environment before printing this” in green at the bottom? Well have you considered it? If you have to print something save ink and paper by using Draft Mode and, if you can, printing double-sided. When you print double-sided you use half as much paper, and if you print 100 pages in Draft Mode instead of regular mode, you'll save as much as $2 on ink. It’s faster too! In a PC World test, a typical inkjet printed 12 ppm (pages per minute) in regular mode but printed 36 ppm in Draft mode. Plus in a year the amount of ink cartridges used around the world could, when stacked end to end could circle the earth three times! So consider the planet before you hit print and then if you have to switch to Draft Mode. For more on this tip http://idealbite.com/tiplibrary/archives/draft-dodger-0

TIP for Friday March 13th, 2009

Do you wear glasses? Have you got some old spec lying around the house? Or have you had Lasik surgery and have no need for those glasses anymore. Why not donate them instead of trashing them? Be GREEN and help someone less fortunate at the same time. Reusing glasses means saving the energy and materials needed to create a new pair. Most Optical stores will accept them. OR You can donate your old eyeglasses to Hakim Optical they have partnered with Lions Clubs International to provide used eyeglasses to needy people in Developing Countries.

TIP for Thursday March 12th, 2009

Do you flush more than your dead goldfish down the toilet? Well here’s something to think about, where do you think your Qtips and bandaids go when you flush them? They go to the Wastewater Treatment Plant were workers have to sift through your bandages, condoms and other unmentionables and throw them in the trash so they can go into the landfill. The gross part is that some of that trash can slip by and end up back in nature floating around in the lake and wash up on the beach. By tossing the garbage yourself there is a better chance of making sure it goes directly to the landfill and prevents you from clogging your pipes. So unless it's toilet paper, throw it in the trash, even used facial tissue or cotton balls.

TIP for Wednesday March 11th, 2009

Yesterday I told you about stainless steel straws, today…cast iron cookware! Why cook in grandma’s favorite frying pan? Well first of all it’s free of chemicals. Non-stick cookware is made from a chemical called polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and the EPA has a labeled PTFE a likely carcinogen, in other words cancer causing. When oiled properly cast iron pans are as nonstick as the usual options. They also cost half than a non-stick pan and last forever. Plus foods cooked in cast iron absorb valuable iron that's good for your health. See below for tips on how to properly oil your cast iron pan.

To initially season your cast iron pan:
1)Heat it on the stove while you brush the pan's surface evenly with cooking oil
2)Bake in a 350 degree oven for an hour
3)Let it cool in the oven.
To keep your cast iron nonstick, only use salt (or very mild soap, if you must) for washing, dry, then drizzle on some oil and wipe with a cloth.

For more on why you should avoid using Teflon pots and pans check out IDEAL BITE
http://www.idealbite.com/tiplibrary/archives/real-stickler

TIP for Tuesday March 10th, 2009

Ditch the plastic straws and get with the times…stainless steel reusable straws! Most disposable straws are made from polypropylene, which means they can’t be recycled. And plastic never fully biodegrades, so it ends up pilling up in landfills. Look for reusable stainless steel straws that are durable and not all that expensive, a box of 4 for about $10. Or try the ultra chic glass straws that are see through for about $10 each that come with their own scrub brush for easy cleaning. Or skip the straw all together if you’re not worried about lipstick stains J

TIP for Friday March 6th, 2009

You only use cold water to wash your clothes to reduce your washing machines energy consumption. BUT, the type of detergent you use can also be a factor. Too much detergent makes your machine work harder and therefore uses more energy. The manual for your washing machine should indicate the amount of soap to use in hard or soft water. (If you’re not sure what kind of water you have contact the city). Try using eco-friendly detergents, they will not only prevent dyes and chemicals from getting into our waterways but also increase the efficiency of your machine. Always make sure you fill the machine up to its capacity before you do a load and with heavy loads, adding an extra spin cycle can reduce dry times. The permanent press wash cycle uses extra water, as much as 20 litres for the additional rinse.

TIP for Thursday March 5th, 2009

You’ve been really good at being GREEN this year. You separate you kitchen and household garbage into compost and recyclables, but what about the bathroom? Do you recycle your toilet paper tubes? A family of four uses about 240 rolls per year, that’s a lot of cardboard tubes being tossed into landfills. It’s easy to just toss them into the bathroom trash but you can have a separate bin just for recycling in the bathroom too. Or stack them on the plunger handle then toss them into your regular recycle bin. Another thing to do is reuse them for arts and crafts or donate them to a school for a kindergarten class to use. For more on this tip check out http://idealbite.com/tiplibrary/archives/deserving-your-throne

TIP for Wednesday March 4th, 2009

Got some white vinegar in your cupboard? I’ve got a great GREEN use for it…use it to rinse away pesticide residue from your fruit and veggies. A diluted vinegar rinse kills 98% of bacteria on produce and researchers found it works even better than a scrub brush. Plus it’s cheaper than the produce wash that you buy from the store that can cost you around $4. Making your own wash means less plastic bottles and waste because most of us keep vinegar in our kitchens for other uses. Mix water to white vinegar 3:1 in a spray bottle, spray then rinse!

TIP for Tuesday March 3rd, 2009

Press NO for a receipt and avoid the paper trail and save a tree! We make about 8 billion ATM transactions a year, that’s a lot of paper waste that usually ends up in the garbage not the recycle bin. Now just think of the number of trees being cut down to make those receipts. If 10,000 people went electronic with just one credit card account, over a lifetime we'll save a collective 3,481 trees. You can view all your transactions on your bank's website, and some stores, such as Apple, will send an e-receipt to your email. And the biggest bonus is that without a receipt there’s less of a chance of identity theft.

TIP for Monday March 2nd, 2009

Has your office made the switch to electronic faxing? We consume over 730 lbs of paper per year, that’s enough to construct a 12-ft high wall from Toronto to Vancouver.
If 1% of all paper faxes sent in North America each year were sent electronically, 73.5 million trees would be saved. Electronic faxing also reduces landfill dumping, and saves you money on paper and ink. No more paper jams or missing pages, and you can keep documents nicely organized as image files on your computer.