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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.

 

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

 

June 17, 2007

Field Notes: Volunteering at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden

Posted by greenlivingottawa under Ottawa, flora and fauna, volunteering
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Mike and I spent this morning doing some volunteer work at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. The Fletcher Wildlife Garden encompasses a 7-hectare site located between the Arboretum and the Central Experimental Farm. It was started and is still run by the Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club.

There are several different types of renaturalized habitat in the garden: a couple of woodlots, a large pond, an old field, many hedgerows, several meadows, and a demonstration backyard garden. There is also a sizable interpretation centre with a library of information on local natural history and conservation issues. A great deal of information on the Fletcher Garden as well as on renaturalizing your own garden is available on-line through the numerous pages of their informative web-site.

Walking around the gardens and using the materials of the interpretation centre on-site are free. While the gardens are open 24-7, the interpretation centre is only open weekdays during normal working hours and on Sundays from noon to 4. If you’re planning on going to use the centre resources, it’s probably a good idea to phone ahead just to make sure it will be open.

In terms of the gardens, there are two things to look out for at the moment. First, the lupines are in full bloom in the butterfly meadow and are well worth a visit (see the photo above). Second, although I haven’t seen them, there are a couple of green herons living near the amphibian pond (for photos of the green herons go to the Fletcher Garden blog and scroll down to the May 7th entry, P.S. the green herons aren’t very green).

Fletcher Wildlife Garden, 613-234-6767, fletcher@ofnc.ca

 

June 15, 2007

Ecology and Faith in Ottawa

Posted by greenlivingottawa under Ottawa, building, volunteering
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I was deeply disappointed last week to see that a local church had exchanged its “Pesticide Free, Safe for Me” signs for posted warnings about the use of pesticides on its property. I have no idea what inspired this dramatic change of heart. I walk my dog past this church almost every day and their lawn always looks lush.

Fortunately other local faith communities are moving forward on issues of sustainability and environmentalism. The local chapter of the national interfaith network, Faith and the Common Good seems to be fairly active in Ottawa. I see them every Earth Day weekend at the Eco-Stewardship Fair at the RA Centre. Unfortunately their web-site is not very informative, seems to be updated only infrequently, and is mostly under construction.

Faith and the Common Good nationally and locally run a program called Greening Sacred Spaces. This program helps interested faith communities make their buildings (churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques) and grounds more environmentally-friendly. In Ottawa, if you are interested in helping out or are part of a faith community or religious group that would like help in becoming more environmentally-friendly, you can contact Faith and the Common Good Ottawa by email: ottawa@faith-commongood.net

On a related topic, CBC radio’s weekly news magazine on faith, religion, and spirituality–Tapestry–is airing a program on the Goddess and the Greenman this Sunday (June 17th) at 2:00 pm on Radio One. This program will explore how the history of religion in the West is related to our current environmental crises. If you miss the broadcast, they post audio files of most of their past shows in their archives. You might also like to listen to their past show: God’s Green Earth: Religion and Ecology

 

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