Now that the seasons changes it’s time to pull out the lawnmower. If your grass is looking a little patchy from the winter a great way to fertilize it is Grasscycling. It improves lawn quality when grass clippings are allowed to decay naturally on the lawn. Grass clippings when left on your lawn, release valuable nutrients, add water-saving mulch and encourage natural soil aeration by earthworms. Plus it saves you time and work not having to rake and pick up the clippings!
I know you’ve been told before…but do you practice flicking the switch? It’s one of the easiest ways to conserve energy. Lighting accounts for nearly 25% of total energy costs in the home or office. Fluorescent light bulbs consume 75% less electricity, last 4-15 times longer, and generate 74% less heat than incandescent bulbs. So remember to turn off all lights when you leave a room. Replace incandescent light bulbs with EPA ENERGY STAR-qualified compact fluorescents (CFL) or LED’s. Now you’ve done your part in helping the planet! Happy Earth Week!
Happy Earth Day! Toronto’s 20minute makeover is underway and the city is hosting all kinds of GREEN events to celebrate Earth Day. Brita is at Yonge/Dundas until 7pm helping people to go GREEN by handing out free water pitchers with FilterForGood.ca One water pitcher filter can effectively replace as many as 300 bottles. With Canadians taking the online pledge they’ve helped reduce waste by more than 12.5million water bottles. They will be hosting a FREE Earth day concert that kicks off at 7pm w David Usher. ALSO this afternoon from 4-6pm The Malvern Youth Cabinet invites you to clean up Neilson Park in Scarborough followed by a barbeque. You can also take the kids to see the Disney film OCEANS opening in theatres today. If you buy a ticket opening week you will help save our coral reefs.
Earth Day is tomorrow and is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. It’s a great opportunity to teach your kids they can make a big difference by doing simple things like shutting off the water when they brush their teeth, flicking the switch off when they leave a room and walking or riding their bike instead of taking the car. If your children have old clothing, toys, shoes, or other items in reusable condition, make a trip down to the donation center so they can see how their items can be reused. Real-life examples will teach kids that many items they would normally throw away can actually have a second life.
Earth Day is Thursday and the city is celebrating in many ways. Toronto is hosting the 20minute makeover…at 2pm Torontonians are getting together to clean up around their homes, neighbourhoods and business’. Make sure you get out and get involved and keep Toronto Green and clean. Then Thursday evening you can check out SunFunk 2010, An Earth Day-themed music and comedy show at Clinton’s. If you’re looking for some GREEN Earth Week outdoor activities GreenSkate 2010 starts at the CN Tower at 2 p.m. for skateboarders who will all take to the streets of Toronto. Sunday Downsview Park will hold its annual Earth Day Celebration with a public tree planting from noon to 2 p.m. an Earth Run, and lots GREEN activities for the kids. For more info visit www.toronto.com
Today kicks of Earth Week here in Toronto. Earth Week is not just about one week, it is about making long-term changes to the way we use resources both in the workplace and at home. Friday at 2pm the city will be hosting the 20-Minute Toronto Makeover and more than 100,000 registered Torontonians will head outdoors to their street, business area, park or schoolyard and pick up litter. If you haven’t registered with the city you can still get a group of co-workers, friends or neighbours together and hit the street in your area and clean up. Keeping Toronto green, clean and beautiful is up to all of us!
It feel’s like an ice cream day…cone or cup? Your calorie conscience will tell you cup but your environment conscience will prefer cone. The greener answer is the edible container, a cone! One less paper cup or plastic spoon isn’t going to save the world, but it’s one of those little things that add up. In North America we throw away over 25 billion polystyrene/styrofoam cups a year. Help keep those cups and plastic spoons out of our landfills that will still be sitting there in 500 years. One cone won’t hurt your waistline as much as the ice cream that’s in it, plus cones are more fun anyway!
Since I was talking about hair earlier today I thought I should turn it into a GREEN tip. This time of the year we always feel like making a change, like a fabulous new color. Make a change for the environment by changing your hair dye to an eco friendly one. Look for plant-based dyes, they will gently color your hair without altering the structure or natural color. Standard dyes contain chemical
ingredients like ammonia and peroxide, which when combined can cause damage to your hair and possible allergic reactions. Henna and natural dyes not only color your hair, but they act as conditioning agents to keep it protected and healthy and are free from coal tar.
Summer is right around the corner and many Brides to be are busy wedding planning! Saying, “I do” to a green, eco-friendly wedding is saying “yes” to a better future for you and the planet. It’s also a smart way to cut costs because many of the things you can do to go green will save you money. For example; streamline your invitations – If you don’t want to send your wedding invitations via e-mail, which isn’t very formal, minimize waste by utilizing e-mail or phone for the RSVPs. Save-the-date notes can also be sent via e-mail. Print your invites on recycled or plantable paper that is compostable paper impregnated with seeds. This is a great way to make your wedding memorable. The invitee can plant the invite in the garden and have flowers spring up in your honor!
Looking for a new home computer? Buy a laptop instead of a desktop, it consumes five times less electricity. If you buy a desktop, get an LCD screen and enable the power management function on your computer, the screensaver does not save energy. Turn it off when you’re not using it. You will save energy and extends your computers lifetime. Leaving a computer running the whole year will cost you more than 1,000 kWh/y, or almost as much as the total electricity consumption of a high-efficiency household.
