... Next Project ...

Sorry, internet was on the fritz last night. Our next project is escort cards! We started folding envelopes last night. I'll share pictures tonight.

Wade's bachelor week-end went well. He came back tired, but not too tired to avoid housework. (Wade does the laundry on Sundays, and does not like it when I do the laundry ... because I don't fold socks "right".)

For your pleasure, here's the Earth Week quiz I promised last week:

2009 Earth Week Quiz

1. What percentage of the world’s total water supply is fresh, accessible water?
a) Less than 1%
b) 5%
c) 15%
d) 25%

2. Ozone in the earth’s upper atmosphere forms a layer, but at ground level it is a primary component of:
a) Car exhaust
b) Dew and fog
c) Smog
d) Ozone doesn’t exist at ground-level

3. What can you do to improve the efficiency of your furnace?
a) Change the filters every two months
b) Replace your furnace if it's old
c) Install a programmable thermostat
d) a, b, and c are all correct

4. Which action has the greatest impact on reducing the threat of global warming?
a) Recycling
b) Reducing your energy use
c) Composting
d) Planting a tree every year

5. Which of the following produces the most oxygen?
a) Algae and archaea –microscopic ocean organisms, which are vulnerable to even tiny changes in the ocean temperature or current
b) Rainforests, which contain 82% of the world’s known biodiversity
c) Coniferous trees, such as pine, spruce and cedar, which continue to produce small amounts of oxygen in the winter
d) Deciduous trees, such as maple and oak, which produce oxygen in the summer

6. Growing trees captures carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen. True or False

7. When trees are harvested (cut down or die), carbon stored in the tree is released back to the environment. True or False

8. How much could annual energy costs drop nationally if every Canadian household replaced one 60W incandescent bulb with a 20W compact-fluorescent bulb? (For example, you change your outdoor porch light to a compact-fluorescent bulb.)
a) $53 million
b) $63 million
c) $73 million
d) $73 thousand
(Our population is ~30 million, so multiply these numbers by "10" to get the American estimate - enery costs are similar so it'll be close. Note: you can't really multiply by "2" to get the British equivalent, because your energy costs are generally higher. Maybe multiply by "4" - that's my best guess!)

9. The biggest cause of tropical deforestation worldwide is:
a) Pollution
b) Wildfire
c) Clearing of lands for agricultural use
d) Natural extinction

10. The average NHL (National Hockey League) player generates how much pollution as a result of travelling with his team?
a) Ten tonnes of carbon per person
b) One tonne of carbon per team
c) Half a tonne of carbon per person
d) Ten kilograms of carbon per team

11. What is a carbon footprint?
a) The total volume of garbage created by your household
b) The total set of greenhouse gas emissions you create, both directly and indirectly
c) The total volume of recycling diverted from landfill by recycling
d) The total volume of compost diverted from landfill by your household composting bin

12. Which form of transportation creates the biggest carbon footprint, mile for mile (or km for km)?
a) Planes
b) Trains
c) Automobiles
d) Walking

13. If you merged all the cracks, gaps and unsealed openings in an average home, how big would the resulting "hole" be?
a) 14.3 square feet
b) 2.3 square feet
c) 1.2 square feet
d) 0.5 square feet

14. If a leaky faucet drips one drop per second, how much water will be wasted each year?
a) Just over 1 L (1000 mL or 4 cups)
b) Just over 10 mL (2 tsp)
c) Just over 100 L
d) Just over 1,000 L

15. If you must water your lawn, how should you water it?
a) In the morning, with a rotary sprinkler
b) In the evening, with a garden hose
c) In the afternoon, using a garden hose
d) You should not water your lawn

16. What kind of bake ware is the most energy efficient?
a) Metal
b) Silicone
c) Glass
d) Ceramic

17. What accounts for the most energy consumption in the average home?
a) Hot water
b) Heating and cooling
c) Lighting
d) Appliances

18. Approximately how many plastic bags do consumers worldwide go through in a year?
a) Approximately 1 million
b) Just less than 100 million
c) Approximately 100 billion
d) More than 500 billion

19. The average plastic grocery bag is biodegradable. True or False

If you're brave, put your answers in the comments! :)

Happy Earth Day!

At my work, we celebrate Earth Week, so we have lots going on for me to do. And I'm one of the organizers, but I'm finding both the organizing and the participating to be lots of fun.

Things I'm doing for Earth Week:
Monday
-I received a free, reusable grocery bag that was made from recycled water bottles (my employer purchased one for every employee in our district)
Tuesday
-I purchased 25 biodegradable, compostable bags for 5 for $2. My employer had purchased a lot of these bags last year, and sold during Earth Week last year and again this year with all the money from these bags being sold is going to a charity called Threads Of Life. This is not the proceeds, but all the money - so it's a loss to my employer. Threads Of Life is a charity to support people who have been severely impacted by workplace injuries and families of those who were killed by workplace injuries. I think it only exists in Canada, but most countries have a similar charity.
Wednesday
-I will be attending a "lunch and learn" on composting and my city's new "Green Bin" program. This program is neat - you put your compost in a green bin that the city picks it up every week to compost.
Thursday
-At work, I will be distributing a quiz. I wrote the quiz, which is about 15 questions, so I won't be completing it. The questions are all from Earth Day. Maybe I'll post them on here to see how you all do!
Friday
-Along with a dozen or so co-workers, I'm going to a local park to clean it up. With safety gloves, of course. And we won't be touching sharps or hazardous materials.

I should clarify that at my workplace, if you participate in Earth Week in any of the above options, or if you come to work in a sustainable manner (bicycle, carpool, telecommute, etc), you are entered in a draw to win a carbon monoxide detector or a fire extinguisher.

Your home should have both. Do you?

Tomorrow is Earth Day

Here's what I really want to share with you - tomorrow, I'm getting a free coffee from Starbucks. And you can, too!



This is only their coffee, not their lattes and other yummy things. But still!

New Year's Resolution

I said I don't make resolutions. And I don't. But a few days into the New Year, I decided to make one. I wanted it to be easy. I wanted it to have an impact. I wanted to succeed.

And so, I made a resolution to take my travel mug to the coffee shop whenever I get coffee on my way to work at least 4 out of every 5 trips.

I don't get coffee every morning. I didn't want to create a resolution to remember my travel mug, but if I forget once then I've failed. And I didn't include week-ends, because sometimes I'm out and about, and I decide to get a coffee. Well, if I didn't know I was going to get coffee, I can't bring my mug, can I?

This won't have a huge impact. But I will reduce the number of paper cups I use.

This past spring, Wade & I decided we'd take our own re-usable bags to the grocery store. We forgot a few times, but now it's such a habit that forgetting is rare. And honestly, those re-usable bags are quite convenient: they hold a lot and we don't have to worry about the handle breaking or the bottom giving out. When I reflected on our success with this one small goal, I decided to repeat it with travel mugs.

One step at a time, people!

Weee! I'm going to learn more ways to be green!

I won a book on ways to become eco-friendly, The Green Bride Guide from That Bride (aka Mrs. Avocado). There are tips such as this tip for buying a vintage dress: "Did you know a size 12 dress from 1940 is a size 8 today?" (I did know that, but I don't know why I knew that. I'm pretty sure wedding dresses follow that "old" size chart, which is why you're usually 4 sizes larger in wedding dresses than street clothes.)

I promise to share some tips from the book on my blog.

The Broke-Ass Bride: Need a "favor" from you!

The Broke-Ass Bride: Need a "favor" from you!

Do you not follow or regularly visit the Broke-Ass Bride? Yep, you probably do. She is also know as Miss Meatball on Weddingbee.

The Broke-Ass Bride, aka Dana, aka Miss Meatball, has entered a contest to greenify her wedding. (Yeah, I know that's not a word. Oh well!) And she's now one of the finalists. To help The Broke-Ass Bride with the contest, click here to support her entry to win an eco-friendly honeymoon or an eco-friendly runner up prize such as carbon offsets.

Green weddings

Apparently, it's very "in" right now to have a "green" wedding, meaning a wedding that is environmentally friendly. I've posted on my desire to have an ecologically friendly wedding before.

The trouble is, sometimes there is a competition between what is eco-friendly and what is budget-friendly. I'd love to be completely carbon neutral, including off-setting the carbon used by guests to travel to the wedding, but that could become quite costly. I also want to use silk flowers, to save money and Wade's allergies. However, silk flowers create a non-biodegradable waste that real flowers do not.

Sometimes, being environmentally friendly saves money. For example, driving a fuel efficient vehicle uses less gas, which creates less pollution and costs less to drive. If you turn off the water while your brush your teeth, you save water and money. But sometimes it costs more to be environmentally friendly, such as purchasing carbon credits to offset the carbon (pollution/waste) generated.

So how do I strike the balance between ecological and budgetary concerns?

I will try to coordinate carpooling amongst guests to reduce the number of cars driving between the ceremony site and the reception site. That only costs me time, and saves my guests' money. I will also look into the cost of off-setting the carbon footprint generated by those driving between the ceremony and the reception site. Fortunately, the church requires us to remove the ceremony flowers, so flowers can do double duty at the reception, reducing the flowers used. As I've already discussed, we may be able to take advantage of some local foods and drinks.

How else can we consider the environment in our wedding?

Eco-Friendly Wedding

Like most ceremony sites these days, we can't have confetti or rice thrown at us. Confetti leaves a lot of garbage behind, which someone must pick up or it becomes litter. Rice can make birds quite ill because it expands in their little tummies. The two options suggested to us were bird seed or bubbles. I'm not thrilled by the idea of bird seed being thrown at me, though the birds would like it! Bubbles only works on a nice day (who wants to stand outside and blow bubbles if it's raining). Not to mention, the containers create garbage, which is not something we want to do. AND bubbles can actually stain some women's dresses (or so the internet has told me).

Wade and I are not having a totally carbon neutral wedding. That would involve off-setting the travelling of ourselves and all our guests, imposing strict requirements on the reception site regarding the food and drink, among many other things. We are, however, trying to reduce our carbon footprint. This goal means we are trying to be considerate of the environment, reduce the waste we generate, re-use when we can, recycle, and be considerate of where purchases come from. For example, we are going to try to ensure food and alcohol is from more local sources. Buying local reduces carbon emissions: enery (gas) is used to transport those items from its source to us, which creates pollution (carbon).

Buying apples from New Zealand, wine from Australia, beer from Europe and strawberries from California will release substantial amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, from the gas used to transport the items. One option to reduce one's carbon footprint is to: buy Ontario apples (if not in season, North Carolina is closer than New Zealand); wine from Prince Edward County (no sacrifice there!); local beer (such as a microbrewery or Toronto's Steamwhistle); and local strawberries (again, when in season).

We are most likely going to off-set our honeymoon. More information on off-setting on another day, though!

For more information
Carbon Neutral: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change/What_You_Can_Do/carbon_neutral.asp or
Carbon Footprint: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_footprint

Ask yourself: is there one little thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint? For example, turning down or up (depending on if it's your air conditioner or heating) the thermostat by even 1/2 C or 1F can make a huge difference!