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December 16, 2007

Day Five: Giving the Gift of Not Having to Cook

Posted by greenlivingottawa under 100-mile, Ottawa, food, organic, recycled, reduce, waste reduction
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This year my mother has put “a catering gift certificate” on her Christmas wish-list.  Good food speaks to the body and soul and having meals cooked for you can be a great treat. If you’ve got more time than money, a gift certificate for a simple wholesome meal cooked by you can be a great eco-friendly thingless gift to give. However, if you’ve got more money than time and you want to give the gift of a meal cooked by a professional chef, there are a couple of caterers in Ottawa that are particularly eco-friendly and worth mentioning here.

First, if the person is lucky enough to live or work in the Kitchissippi Ward of Ottawa (basically the near west-end) you could buy him or her a week or two (or more) of eco-friendly catered lunches from Credible Edibles. Judy Varga-Toth of Credible Edibles cooks healthy nutritious weekday lunches using as many organic and locally-grown ingredients as possible and then delivers them to her customers in reusable lunch boxes. As she writes on her web-site: “No one should have to choose convenience at the expense of a healthy body and mind or a healthy planet.”

Jennifer and Jo-Ann of The Red Apron run a “dinner club.” They cook and deliver healthy suppers to their customers on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Jennifer and Jo-Ann try to source their ingredients locally and buy organic when they can. Their meals are delivered in special cardboard containers that are 100% recyclable. They currently run their business out of Old Ottawa South, though they will soon be moving to a new location in Centre-town.  Recently, my husband and I decided to buy ourselves three weeks of the Red Apron Dinner Club as our wedding anniversary present to ourselves.  We were not disappointed.

Judy, Jennifer and Jo-Ann are all members of Slow Food Ottawa-Gatineau, a non-profit group that seeks to promote good, clean and fair food in the Ottawa area.

 

December 3, 2007

Twelve Days to a Green (but I hope Snowy) Holiday

Posted by greenlivingottawa under Ottawa, books, household, recycled, reduce, volunteering, waste reduction
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I’ve decided to set myself the goal of making 12 blog postings on greening the holidays (that’s greening in the environmentally-friendly sense, I’m all for a snowy Christmas) before December 25th.

So my first tip is to go to the fabulous holiday site run by the Center for a New American Dream. While the Center is, obviously, aimed at a U.S. audience there is still a lot of  information that Canadians can make use of. For instance, they have a page of tips and links on creative gift giving, reducing holiday waste, and inspiration for a simpler and more satisfying holiday season.  They also have a page of ideas for meaningful gifts that don’t cost the earth, a set of “gift of time” cards you can print out and give to your loved ones, as well as a link to the Green Guide’s gift-giving guide.

If you sign up with the Center for a New American Dream (which you can do for free) you can access other resources like a booklet on simplifying the holidays as well as material specifically for parents.  I signed up this time last year in order to download the booklet, which was a fairly comprehensive guide to having a simple, meaningful, environmentally-friendly holiday.  In return I get maybe one email from the Center every other week or so, usually for some campaign aimed at American government or corporations.  If you don’t want the extra email you can always cancel your membership after you’ve downloaded the resources you want.

 

November 8, 2007

Computer Recyclers Take Back e-Waste in the Nation’s Capital

Posted by greenlivingottawa under Ottawa, household, recycled, waste reduction
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This post is by guest blogger Erinne White, a freelance writer and
editor based in Ottawa. Erinne moved to Ottawa partly because of its
parks and green spaces, and would like to see the city develop a
greener culture. Erinne writes:

I found this place listed in the City of Ottawa Take it Back program,
so it is easy for a devoted recycler to find. But it was such a
revelation when I actually went there that I thought
I’d share what I found out.

This place, Computer Recyclers, takes back all kinds of things that
we feel bad about throwing in the garbage, and guarantees complete
end-of-life recycling. I understand them to mean that no parts go
into the garbage. The guy I dealt with told me that nothing they
accept will go to a landfill, either here or overseas. You pay about
50 cents per pound, so for three large bags of stuff I paid about $8.
I brought cassette tapes, computer floppy disks, CDs and even the
plastic cases for the cassette tapes. Oh, and I also brought a bunch
of old electrical cords and a pair of broken headphones.

Their website doesn’t say much about what they will take, but the guy
I talked to told me they would take plastics that are not recyclable
by the City, such as old plant pots (I guess they should be
relatively clean first). You might want to double-check before
bringing random plastics, but they did take all my plastic cassette
tape cases! They also take computers free of charge.

Computer Recyclers Inc., 163 MacFarlane Road, Ottawa, K2E 6V4, (613) 723-3135

P.S. When you look at the pricing you don’t have to worry about the higher
“secure destruction” fees - those are for organizations with security
concerns regarding information on their disks, etc.

 

October 31, 2007

Eco-Friendly Simple Shoes Available at Roots Stores

Posted by greenlivingottawa under Ottawa, clothing, organic, recycled, vegan, waste reduction
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This evening I stepped into the Roots store in the Rideau Centre and confirmed that it does indeed sell environmentally-friendly shoes made by Simple Shoes.  I posted a few days ago about my saga of buying Simple Shoes from an on-line U.S. store.  Well, now I know I can buy them right here in Ottawa.  However, they do not carry the particular style that I bought on-line (and which is shown in the photograph for that blog post).  Instead they carry the ecoSNEAKS for men and for women.

I assume that other Roots stores across Canada also carry Simple Shoes, but if you’re making a special trip I suggest you call ahead, just in case.

Roots, Rideau Centre, 50 Rideau Street, Suite 247, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 9J7, (613) 236-7760

 

October 30, 2007

Local Eco-Shopping: Ten Thousand Villages Stores

Posted by greenlivingottawa under clothing, fair trade, food, household, organic, recycled, volunteering
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Tis the season, already, for shopping at Ten Thousand Villages.

There are currently two Ten Thousand Villages Stores in Ottawa. One in Westboro, across from the Mountain Equipment Co-op. And the other in Old Ottawa South near Patty’s Pub. However, starting this Friday (Nov. 2nd), a third temporary “festival” location of Ten Thousand Villages will open at the Mennonite Church on Kilborn in Alta Vista. This is an annual event and is always good news for conscientious consumers.

Ten Thousand Villages stores are committed to fair trade and are run as non-profits by volunteers. Ten Thousand Villages operates on the principle that “trade should have a conscience.” The Ten Thousand Villages organization purchases high quality products made by artisans and agriculturalists in low-income countries for a fair price and sells these products to consumers in wealthier countries, such as Canada. They also aim to educate consumers about the importance of fair trade and about cultures in other parts of the world. For example, their web-site provides lots of information about the various groups of artisans whose goods are for sale at their stores.

Everything sold by Ten Thousand Villages is produced by hand, often through cooperative or aid organizations. While it is all produced in a manner way more sustainable than anything you could buy at the mall, there are a few products in this year’s line that stood out for me:

  • Colourful plates and bowls made out of magazine pages
  • Decadent hats and scarves made out of recycled sari silk
  • Elegant journals made out of banana fibre, cornhusks, water hyacinths, jute and recycled cotton and paper
  • Baskets made variously from grass, bamboo, and banana leaves
  • Bowls carved from salvaged teak wood
  • Bags from jute, or hemp, or recycled saris
  • Organic coffee
  • Organic chocolates and cocoa powder

To purchase any of these products (or some of the countless others I didn’t list) or to volunteer your time contact your local Ten Thousand Villages store…

Ten Thousand Villages, West 371 Richmond Road, Ottawa, 613-759-4701

Ten Thousand Villages, Old Ottawa South 1174 Bank Street, 613-736-0401

Ten Thousand Villages Christmas Festival, the first four Fridays (3pm-8pm) and Saturdays (10am-4pm) in November (for 2007 that’s Nov. 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24) at the Ottawa Mennonite Church, 1830 Kilborn Avenue, 613-238-2774

 

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