with Annie Leonard
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.
http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Let’s Pop the Paper Plastic Bubble We Live In
By Beth Ann Knowles, BSc, P.T.S., N.W.SWhat is wrong with you? You know who you are. You ruined my walk on the beach this morning. I took the dogs for some fresh air but everywhere I turned I kept seeing your tampon applicators! I bet you didn’t think they would end up on your local beach a few weeks after you flushed them. I can’t even imagine the pile of pads you are contributing to the landfill each month.
“About 12 billion pads and 7 billion tampons are used once and tossed in the trash each and every year in the U.S. alone!...Horrifically, tampon applicators and other plastics were found in the stomachs of Hawaiian Laysan albatross chicks that had died in their nests.” (Ecoholic, Vasil, A., 2007, p. 54) You can help prevent this. You can cut down or even eliminate your monthly menstrual product contribution to landfills. Options include tampons and pads made from certified organic non-chlorine-bleached cotton and biodegradable plant-based bioplastic. You can also try out reusable cloth pads, sustainably harvested sponges, and my personal favourite...reusable cups. For convenience, comfort, and cost-effectiveness, I choose reusable cups. I bought The Keeper in 2000 and replaced it only recently with The Diva Cup. In almost 10 years I’ve spent only about $100 and contributed no waste!
And what’s with this fancy thick toilet paper, paper towel, and facial tissue? Does your toilet paper really need to be scented? Does there really need to be designs in your paper towel? Did you know there was a time before facial tissue? It is amazing how many trees, forests, chemicals, and waste go into ensuring we all have extra-cushy disposable paper with which to clean up spills and wipe away our bodily excretions. Why are we cutting down our precious and vital forests for this?
There are options for us however; and they don’t have to involve wiping our bottoms with the pages of old catalogues. As far as toilet paper goes, “[i]f each household in Canada switched just one roll of the virgin bleached stuff with one roll of the recycled kind, we’d save almost 48,000 trees and prevent 4,500 kilograms of the air and water pollution that comes from making it.” (Ecoholic, Vasil, A., 2007, p. 157) Be savvy when choosing a brand and be sure to select one that uses at least 80% post-consumer content.
Why do you even need to use paper towel to clean up a spill? I’m sure you have old rags or dish clothes/towels that have seen better days. Why not keep these under your sink and use them to clean up your messes?
“Back before disposable tissues, a cloth handkerchief was up everyone’s sleeve. In fact, its replacement, Kleenex facial tissues, had trouble catching on until 1926, when they were peddled under the catchy new slogan ‘Don’t carry a cold in your pocket.’ Wouldn’t you know it, germ-phobia took hold, and 80 years later, the thought of a reusable cloth hanky makes most of us wince.” (Ecoholic, Vasil, Al, 2007, p. 168)
Let’s step out of the cushiony five-ply bubble we all live in and ‘rough it’ a bit. Just a few days even. You might discover that your bottom can in fact survive wipings with one- and two-ply tissue; and your nose will not fall off if you don’t use facial tissue ‘infused’ with scents and lotions. I know you can do this...we can all do this. If not, how will we ever survive the guilt of wiping out Canada’s boreal forests for the sake of our pampered tushies and killing off animal species by choking them with our tampon applicators?
About the Author:
Beth Ann has a degree in Sciences from Dalhousie University and is a Personal Trainer and Nutrition and Wellness Specialist. Additionally, Beth Ann has a personal interest in holistic wellness and sustainable environmental practices and enjoys being the Canadian Sales Manager for Naturally Nova Scotia Health Products.
“About 12 billion pads and 7 billion tampons are used once and tossed in the trash each and every year in the U.S. alone!...Horrifically, tampon applicators and other plastics were found in the stomachs of Hawaiian Laysan albatross chicks that had died in their nests.” (Ecoholic, Vasil, A., 2007, p. 54) You can help prevent this. You can cut down or even eliminate your monthly menstrual product contribution to landfills. Options include tampons and pads made from certified organic non-chlorine-bleached cotton and biodegradable plant-based bioplastic. You can also try out reusable cloth pads, sustainably harvested sponges, and my personal favourite...reusable cups. For convenience, comfort, and cost-effectiveness, I choose reusable cups. I bought The Keeper in 2000 and replaced it only recently with The Diva Cup. In almost 10 years I’ve spent only about $100 and contributed no waste!
And what’s with this fancy thick toilet paper, paper towel, and facial tissue? Does your toilet paper really need to be scented? Does there really need to be designs in your paper towel? Did you know there was a time before facial tissue? It is amazing how many trees, forests, chemicals, and waste go into ensuring we all have extra-cushy disposable paper with which to clean up spills and wipe away our bodily excretions. Why are we cutting down our precious and vital forests for this?
There are options for us however; and they don’t have to involve wiping our bottoms with the pages of old catalogues. As far as toilet paper goes, “[i]f each household in Canada switched just one roll of the virgin bleached stuff with one roll of the recycled kind, we’d save almost 48,000 trees and prevent 4,500 kilograms of the air and water pollution that comes from making it.” (Ecoholic, Vasil, A., 2007, p. 157) Be savvy when choosing a brand and be sure to select one that uses at least 80% post-consumer content.
Why do you even need to use paper towel to clean up a spill? I’m sure you have old rags or dish clothes/towels that have seen better days. Why not keep these under your sink and use them to clean up your messes?
“Back before disposable tissues, a cloth handkerchief was up everyone’s sleeve. In fact, its replacement, Kleenex facial tissues, had trouble catching on until 1926, when they were peddled under the catchy new slogan ‘Don’t carry a cold in your pocket.’ Wouldn’t you know it, germ-phobia took hold, and 80 years later, the thought of a reusable cloth hanky makes most of us wince.” (Ecoholic, Vasil, Al, 2007, p. 168)
Let’s step out of the cushiony five-ply bubble we all live in and ‘rough it’ a bit. Just a few days even. You might discover that your bottom can in fact survive wipings with one- and two-ply tissue; and your nose will not fall off if you don’t use facial tissue ‘infused’ with scents and lotions. I know you can do this...we can all do this. If not, how will we ever survive the guilt of wiping out Canada’s boreal forests for the sake of our pampered tushies and killing off animal species by choking them with our tampon applicators?
About the Author:
Beth Ann has a degree in Sciences from Dalhousie University and is a Personal Trainer and Nutrition and Wellness Specialist. Additionally, Beth Ann has a personal interest in holistic wellness and sustainable environmental practices and enjoys being the Canadian Sales Manager for Naturally Nova Scotia Health Products.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Herbal medicine and food workshop with Susun Weed!
The Peaceful GardenerA hands-on herbal medicine and food workshop
with Susun Weed
July 17,18, 19th 2009,
at Pollination Project, Baker Settlement, NS
Acclaimed herbalist, author, homesteader and organic gardener, Susun Weed will be making her first teaching visit to Nova Scotia to share her wisdom, knowledge and humour in a workshop that is guaranteed to change forever how you relate to plants. Over the course of the weekend you will come to appreciate the numerous gifts bestowed upon us in the form of the same weeds we would normally consider as useless and unwelcome companions in the garden.
The weekend opens with a meditation on Friday afternoon that will connect you deeply to the earth and plants. Our talking stick ceremony will help clarify goals and needs and attune us to the gifts of our “green allies” Over the next two days, we will learn to identify edible and medicinal plants, pick wild salads, make salves, tinctures and teas to heal and nourish, and learn how weeds serve to indicate soil conditions, heal gardens, and relate to other cultivated plants. With story, song and her encyclopedic knowledge of plant lore, Susun will delight us in the journey to becoming a Peaceful Gardener so that we may all count our green blessings.
Bio: Susun S. Weed is the author of four highly-acclaimed books on herbs and women’s health: Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year, Healing Wise, New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way and Breast Cancer? Breast Health! the Wise Woman Way. Ms. Weed lectures world-wide on women’s health and herbal medicine. From her home in New York State’s Catskill Mountains, she directs the activities of the Wise Woman Centre, acts as editor-in-chief of Ash Tree Publishing, personally oversees the work of 400 correspondence students, and trains herbal and shamanic apprentices. Susun has lived the simple life for nearly 40 years as an herbalist, goat-keeper, homesteader and feminist. She has been called “a true radical … deeply rooted” “a modern pioneer” and “one of the founding mothers of herbal medicine in the United States.”
For more information: Camelia Frieberg (902) 624-1979
camelia@pollinationproject.org / www.pollinationproject.org
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