The Report Card is In!

Hard to believe, but the 30 day detox is up.  Getting off our butts and making changes in our lives takes effort.  Even the smallest change.  But once you do it, you look back and ask ‘why didn’t I do this sooner?’  Or ‘what was stopping me?’  Having some help, good reference material, and friends looking over my shoulder really did help.  Over the course of this detox challenge, we made many conscious decisions and changes in our house, and will continue to do so.  Congrats to everyone who completed the challenge, and to everyone who made even one lasting positive change.

So how did my household do?

A:  17  –  We really made good progress here; we can sustain the change and will not be looking back.

B:  10 – We made progress; more work is still required to do well in these areas.  These are harder changes to sustain but we will be working on them.

C:  3 – We did not make good progress in this area and are not likely to sustain these changes.

Not bad, although I really do think we could have done even better.  There were a few biggies, a few aha’s, and lots of very simple little things.  The two that I laugh at the most are the ones that I came up with in the past couple of days:  changing our toilet paper over to recycled paper, and getting rid of the saran wrap!  How simple are they?!

Here’s my family Report Card.  See you all on Thursday night as we celebrate and toast to a greener, and bluer, tomorrow!

 The Report Card

1. Reduce car use:  Doing Great with this!!  I think that I walked to work every day, except maybe on two rainy days!  I am worried though about sustaining the good behaviour now that it is dark out at 5pm (and the street lights are not so great in my area).  In addition, once the snow starts it seems that the city forgets that we ‘sort-of’ have sidewalks in this area.  The canal bike path is not cleared at all (I could try x-country skis?).  Rating: A, but this could go down for a few months.
2. Reduce water use:  Not such great improvements here, although I think that we are already quite good.  I timed my showers and a real worse-case scenario was 20 mins, best case 5 mins.  We don’t run the water to get cold –we drink it room temperature and like it this way.  I’m *trying* to remember to turn off the tap when I brush.  We do have to run the tap to get hot water though.   Rating:  B
3. Eat vegetarian at least 1x/week:  Doing well –and thank you to everyone who sent me great recipes.  Here’s one from my friend Leigh in LA for Tamarind Soup with Chickpeas, Chard, and Spices.     Rating: A
4. Purchase organic fruits, vegetables, and meats whenever possible:  Again, we are doing very well here, especially with fruits, vegetables, and dairy.  Meats are still quite expensive so we do find a lot of alternate choices at the Atwater market.  At least there is no mass processing and they can tell us which local farm it is from.  This website also has a great ranking of fruits and veggies to help prioritize organic purchases.   Rating:  A-
5. Increase overall organic diet:  This was a hard start, but every week I have been stocking up on different pantry items from eCollegey, Loblaws, or the pantry store at Atwater.  As I replace and stock our cupboards it is becoming a lot easier to reach that higher % organic diet.  Slow but steady progress.  Rating:  B+
6. Switch cleaning products to eco-friendly:  This was confusing as labeling is not always clear, and is Biodegradable Hertel the same as buying BioVerte?  Which is greener?  What to look for?  You need a PHd!   But, alas ALL of our household cleaning products have been converted.  The last one that we did was the dishwasher soap –I was pretty stuck on Cascade, but thanks to this challenge we successfully tried two local products:  Attitude and BioVerte, and have been very happy, although I still don’t know why the liquid Attitude is 25% less expensive than the powder (for the same number of washes!).  Rating:  A+
7. Switch skin care & make-up to all natural, eco-friendly:  Not bad here.  I’ve been using Dr. Haushka skin cream and love it.  I bought more of the Pangea facial mask since it was so wonderful!  As for make-up, I read that the two main products to focus on switching are mascara and lipstick (but I really don’t wear a lot of lipstick).  The mascara though has been challenging!  I finally found a Dr. Haushka one online and have ordered it –but it is not cheap -$31!  Rating:  B+
8. Switch to a more eco-friendly hair coloring product:  I am very happy with the results of my new Aveda hair color.  This change is sustainable, except that I really miss going to my existing salon.  I will be in to see them this week and will have a chat with them re: finding another eco-friendly product.  Rating: A
9. Recycle clothing: buy and sell/giveaway:  We have been dropping off winter boots and clothing to local centers and this is highly sustainable.  My son has also been the recipient of wonderful hand me downs from my girlfriends.  Jeans, snow suits, sweaters –you name it.  They are all gorgeous and come with love.  As he grows, we pass the items on to our network of even younger kids.  It’s the fun part of being a new mom!  Rating: A+
10. Support local eco-friendly designers:  I have done minimal shopping during this challenge –except for a pair of Montreal Pajar boots in anticipation of the snow.  But, I’ve been working with many vendors in preparation for LivBlu on Thursday –and there will be many products there that I just might get to take home with me!  Rating:  B
11. Recycle kids toys:  I have great friends, period.  I have friends who have awesome garage sales, and I have one friend in particular who has pre-tested a zillion toys on her daughter and saves the best ones for Nicolas.  And the best part:  when he is done I give the toy back to her to loan to someone else!  Rating: A+
12. Take action to reduce household heating and energy:  We haven’t done a whole lot here, given that we are living in a large condo building.  The biggest thing is that we added digital and programmable thermostats.  We use throws and sweaters in the evenings.  Rating:  B
13. Switch to eco-friendly laundry detergent and stain removers:  Laundry detergent was a scary one –I am so worried about wearing out expensive, favorite clothes prematurely!  We are still testing different ones but all seems to be going OK.  I’d really like to see my favorite brands coming out with greener options though.  This week I noticed that Sunlight has started marketing their new green product, so I will likely give it a try as well.  The one area that I have not really made much progress in is laundry stain remover.  If anyone has a fabulous green recommendation, please send it… a 10 page booklet of home remedies just is not sustainable to me.  Rating B
14. Reduce garbage; improve level of recycling:  Given that the recycling supervisor is sitting beside me here at work, I think that I am doing very well.  We have also upped our level of consciousness around recycling at home and when we are on the road. I even started toting home my son’s used juice box from the park!  This weekend on CBC, I heard that 88% of plastic water bottles are not recycled in Canada!  Shocking!!   Rating: A
15. Adopt organic wines, beer:  We have been testing a few organic wines throughout this challenge and I can’t believe how good they are!  Organic Beer is very hard to come by.  I did some research, and the motto here has to be ‘buy local’.  I am very much looking forward to the organic wine tasting at LivBlu along with the local, all natural, beer from Bierbrier.  This is one area that we can certainly sustain!  Rating:  A
16. Buy local wherever possible:  This has always been my motto, although I think we lost sight of it a bit in recent years.   One thing that is special about my neighborhood is the number of shops that are owned by local artisans, where they are cooking, sewing, painting, etc. in the back room.  I’ve been checking them out, and this year I will be making a special effort to do as much of my Christmas shopping as possible from local shops and vendors.   Thankfully LivBlu is also happening right across the street!  Rating: A
17. Shop online vs driving out of the way to a retailer:   This is an easy one given that I seem to have zero time to go anywhere these days!  My work colleagues were laughing that I ordered a new reusable water bottle and some other eco-household items from ReusableBags.com, until I explained that it was a lot more eco friendly than me driving all over the city to find exactly what I wanted.  And, when you think about it, running a warehouse and shipping products via Canada post can be a lot more eco than what often goes into building, renovating, and sustaining a retail store.  I have also ordered hard to find eco-friendly beauty products from Saffron Rouge.    Rating: A
18. Take public transit where I might otherwise take a car:  OK, so you may have seen my blog on this topic.  I tried it.  We had fun.  But I really don’t need it, and it is not stroller friendly enough for me….  I just don’t think that I will keep up with this one, except once in a while.  At least now I know where the entrance is!  Rating: C
19. Reduce printing at work:  I have made a serious effort to reduce the amount of printing that I do in a typical day.  I have a new large monitor (recycled!), which I hate for taking up too much space on my desk.  Let’s just say that I’m better than I was, but not great.  Rating B
20. Put up no flyer stickers on mailbox:  thanks to Paul, who traipsed all over the city, we have one on our new mailbox and we distributed them to our neighbors and at Breathe.  Rating A.
21. Get outside more and enjoy the environment and your community:  If it is dry out, we are out.  Even if it looks like it will get dry we are outside.  And by the way, let me commend whomever designed, built, and commisioned the new playground on Mount Royal.  It is gorgeous, sculptural, fun, and a wonderful addition to the park.  Thank You.  Rating: A
22. Get involved in a community clean-up:  I wish there were more of these!!  I joined the TD Great Canadian Shore Cleanup  and it will be happening again next year.  There is also Provert to check out.    Rating A
23.  Host an eco celebration:  Thanks to my friend Danièle we hosted a great EcoWeen party at her place… complete with an organic pumpkin (from a friends garden), fair-trade chocolate treats, local maple sugar treats, vegetarian and organic food for the guests, and recycled decorations.  LivBlu is coming up… watch for this report –even the plastic taster cups are made of corn.  Not sure how Christmas will go, but we will see!  Rating A
24. Switch to recycled toilet paper:  So, I have to admit that in the frenzy of doing my report card I noticed that I was struggling to get to 30.  Conveniently, I read last night that if every Canadian switched just ONE role of toilet paper to recycled paper we would save 48,000 trees.  Can you believe it?!  So, dear Paul was sent to Loblaws this morning to source recycled toilet paper to try, since we were running low anyway.  He came home with President’s Choice, and the verdict: a keeper!  Alex also recommends Cascades –and it’s available at Costco .  I think we can stick with this one!  Rating A
25. Clean-up your bathroom –switch to bar soaps, all natural products:   Yes, bar soap uses less packaging and it is much easier to find eco-friendly bar than liquid soap.  I’m not terribly excited though because they get messy and ugly very quickly.  I’ve been using them, but honestly I prefer my eco-friendly, refillable lemon hand soap from Neil’s Yard, and I have stocked up on Pangea shower gel ($20 –but it really lasts a long time).  Rating B+
26. Buy Fair Trade:  This is a tough one.  The biggies are chocolate, coffee, sugar, and banana’s.  These are really hard to find for everyday.  Daniele and I had to work really hard to find fair trade Halloween treats –and I even have Equita down the street (and they didn’t have anything!).  To get basic household staples like coffee, sugar and banana’s in fair-trade, organic format you need to make a special trip to a health store or organic grocer.  We have them accessible, it just takes extra work.  I am committed to these whenever I have an option.  Rating B-
27. Vote for your green candidate:  I did vote for our green candidate in the Municipal election, even though she only received 645 votes!!  So sad, as we need life injected into our parks in this community!  Rating B
28. Fix something that you would normally toss and throw out:  We had a couple of projects lined up, but only got one completed, but it was definitely one that I was aiming to replace.  Rating A-
29. Reusable lunch packaging, reduce use of plastics:  Here’s an easy one that I didn’t know until this week.  Which is better:  plastic or foil?  Answer: foil.  Plastic wrap is not even recyclable!  I’ve been doing great with my reusable lunch containers, even taking yogurt in them.  And with almost no saran wrap left in my roll, I am 100% committed to not replacing it.  We have plenty of reusable containers just waiting to be pulled out of the drawer!  Rating B+
30. Share your experiences! This is so important.  Many people have asked me about this challenge and we’ve had great laughs swapping tips and findings.  Pass it on.  Rating A 

Cocktail Transport avec Bébé

 

 

Car-phobic Danièle and three day old Alice on the streets of Montreal.

Editors Note:  My friend Danièle provided today’s blog update.  She felt that we needed more promotion of Monteal’s fabulous new Bixi system and the great lengths Montrealers go to fight car pollution!  This is her typical daily transporation ‘adventure’:

Those who know me will have been invited to participate in one of my favourite dinner conversation topics: What’s the weirdest thing about you?

As we age, we all seem to develop amusing quirks and habits, even some that border on OCDs… I have several, the most impactful being a pathological aversion to BACKTRACKING, especially when it involves a car.

For example, you will NEVER catch me coming home from work downtown, to then return downtown for an event… how inefficient and polluting, what a waste of time! Or driving to go work out at the gym, that’s just crazy! My travels around the city are carefully planned to avoid going from A to C and then back to B… Friends are quizzed to make sure they are taking the most direct route to our place. Most of my ‘déplacements’ are inspired by Equiterre’s ‘Cocktail Transport’ (English or French) and combine walking, cycling and public transportation to avoid driving (this also has to do with a real laziness about the hassle of looking for parking). Bixis are my very favourite new thing in 2009!

Well… alot of this changed when I had my daughter Alice in early December 2008. She was born in a snowstorm – which bodes well for her life as a child of skiers – and during her first few weeks on our planet several others virtually closed down our neighbourhood sidewalks. Her very first outing as a 3-day-old was on foot (mine, not hers) – in the baby carrier safely bundled under my boyfriend’s puffy coat. Still, staying active and connected last winter required more driving than I’ve ever done in my life…

Then, things got really challenging when I got a spot in daycare (yes, LUCKY me) located neither near my home nor my work. On average, I could spend more that 1.5 hours in the car per day – alot of it very ineffcient BACKTRACKING… Is the universe sending me an invitation to be more Zen and face my deepest fears?  (All I can say is may the Goddess bless Radio-Canada and CBC!)

I have tried all sorts of formulas to reduce my driving time: driving only 10 minutes and walking the rest of the way; leaving the car near the daycare and Bixi-ing or busing it to work; posting a note to share the commute with other travels, carefully analysing route options on the STM’s site…

So… determined and very stubborn and VERY sick of driving, I tried my Bixi-Walk-Bus combo yesterday. Taking advantage of the nice weather, I walked 2/3 of the way to drop Alice off. I then Bixi-ed from Côte-des-Neiges to a work event downtown, wearing the baby backpack (filled with the biodegradable diapers I had to bring to daycare). I bumped into my honey on his Bixi and we cycled around looking for parking (hmmm…). After the event, I bused and walked it back to daycare and popped Alice into the backpack for her very first public bus ride. Turns out it only took 15 minutes more than driving, and I got at least 20 minutes of walking exercise in. Alice thought it was a hoot. And the bus was pretty empty so I can probably take the stroller next time…

Soooo… it felt good to know it was doable, with a little planning and a little extra time. No car, NO BACKTRACKING, lots of fresh air and exercise.

All the same, it seems the long-term solution will be to move closer to the daycare. So yup, we’re house-shopping! It will be more expensive and the car will be buried in Mile-End snowbanks, but still I can’t wait!

Danièle MacKinnon is a Montreal-based lawyer and the Director of Financial Development for the YMCAs of Québec.  She is an eco-obsessed leader, who continues to inspire, promote, and practice all things environmentally friendly.  Her current pet project is the ecological development of camp YMCA Kanawana.  Check it out!  

Challenge Day 26: From Green to Blue

Today I attended the YMCA Peace Medal Awards Luncheon. The Peace Medal Awards are given to individuals and groups who make an impact in their community by promoting peace, tolerance, harmony, and/or welfare for others. Simple but passionate acts of caring. Receiving an honorary Peace Medal Award was Senator Roméo Dallaire.

As I sat in my seat listening to the winner’s acceptance speeches and the Q&A session with Senator Dallaire, I felt so small for my little quest to change such superficial personal things like detergent, hair color, cosmetics, tomatoes, etc. As Senator Dallaire said, ‘how do you describe our nation’s obsession with getting rid of plastic bags to a teenager in Rwanda who is working to eliminate land mines?’

Week 4 Activities – The Home Stretch!

 

This is the last week of the 30 day detox!!  Make the most of it !

Day 22 – Monday, November 9:  Find something to help reduce your home heating and electricity consumption, such as sealing around your windows.  It can also be as simple as putting on a sweater instead of increasing the heat!

Day 23 – Tuesday, November 10:  Stop washing the dishes!  Fill up your dishwasher to capacity, and stop doing the dishes in the sink (the dishwasher uses 50% of the energy and 1/6^th of the amount of water of hand washing!).  Also, don’t rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher –a good dishwasher should get ‘em clean.  And last, make sure that your dishwasher is an Energy Star.

Challenge Day 20: The Color of Eco

When I started out on this challenge I was very clear that anything reasonable was fair game.  There was one major exception though:  I was not open to experimenting with hair color.  This was firm.  I checked in with my eco friends and they all agreed that hair could be off limits.

But a funny thing happened along the way:  I stumbled upon some research.  And it turns out that making a change to the way I color my hair could be one of the most significant changes that I make.  Yes –there are some biggies, like reduced car use, eating vegetarian, buying organic products … but the toxic substances in hair color are very, very potent –especially for regular users, such as myself.  Here are some stats from the book Ecoholic, by Adria Vasil:

Week 3 Challenges: Almost There!

A few suggestions to try.  A bit late, sorry –but it looks like everyone is doing really well on the challenge from a look at the charts at the studio!!

Day 15 – Monday, November 2: Visit a consignment shop for new toys or vintage clothes. Organize your own toy/clothing swap. You can also donate toys to http://www.leslutinsverts.ca/

Day 16 – Tuesday, November 3: Recycle your sandwich bags; wash & dry ‘em.

Challenge Day 14: Montreal’s Inaccessible Metro

This is a wonderful video on how to get more people to take the stairs.  A GREAT initiative… unless you’re the one stuck at the bottom (or top) of the stairs with a wheelchair or stroller.  And that is what happened to me today!