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 

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!

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?’

Think about it. How does our eco challenge advance the cause of humanity? How does my personal choice of grocery items impact people on the other side of the world?

Senator Dallaire’s inspirational speech reinforced for me the importance of every change, no matter how small, that all of us are making to positively impact the health of the planet and the lives of every creature living on it.  It’s about raising the quality of our entire eco-system:  the oceans, the communities, the forests, and the people who produce the products and food that we consume.

It’s not just about being green. Or, as Adam Werbach likes to say, it’s about being blue.  Here’s how we can do our small part:

• Support your local community! Engage, and become an active part of your community; And don’t forget that shopping local helps support and grow your community. 
• Support responsible business. Companies who strive to make a difference.
• Buy organic. For yourself, the planet, and the poor workers who have to spray the pesticides.
• Buy fair trade. You support families around the world who are working to rise out of a life of poverty.

So, somewhere between switching my hair coloring products and trying to find an all-natural mascara, there is a greater cause.  Thank you Danièle for the invitation!

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.

Day 24 –  Wednesday, November 11:  Got a chocolate craving?  Make it Organic, Fair Trade.  And try the cocoa as well for hot chocolate.

Day 25 – Thursday, November 12:  Stop idling! If you are idling your car for more than 10 seconds you are wasting gas.

Day 26 –  Friday, November 13:  Need to get clean?  Buy bar soap vs. liquid hand soap (biodegradable of course!).  Lasts longer and a lot less packaging.  Plus they weigh less than the liquid in transport.

Day 27 – Saturday, November 14:  Updating your furniture?  Buy second hand, refurbished, or at least choose a product that is eco friendly.  And of course, don’t forget to recycle your old items.  Either give them to a charity or post them online at http://www.craigslist.com or http://www.freecycle.org/.

Day 28 –  Sunday, November 15:  Find a new home brew.  Switch your coffee beans over to organic, fair trade. 

Day 29 – Monday, November 16:  Check your tire pressure.  Apparently ~70% of cars on the road have underinflated tire pressure. An underinflated tire reduces the efficiency of your car.

Day 30 – Tuesday, November 17:  Share what you have learned in this Eco Detox Challenge!  Commit to continuing to learn about conserving nature and share your learnings with family and friends.

BONUS DAY!  Thursday, November 19:  Celebrate at LivBlu!  A fundraising event for the David Suzuki foundation.  Sample many new products and celebrate your hard work.

Alternative suggestions to substitute any of the above that work for you:

• Renovating your home?  Look for green options in insulation, lumber, flooring, paint, lighting, and bathroom fixtures -and much much more!
• Any of the previous week’s suggestions if you haven’t already tried them.

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:

• According to the National Cancer Institute, deep-colored dyes (like dark brown or black) may increase the risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple melanomas when used every month over a prolonged period of time.
• A study published in the International Journal of Cancer found that women who color their hair at least once a month with permanent shades were more than twice as likely to develop bladder cancer.  This is because the toxic substances used to adhere the color to our hair seeps into our bodies, and eventually passes through our bladders.  If you have been coloring for more than 15 years, your chances jump to 3x (that would be me… I’ve been coloring my dark brown hair for more than 15 years every 6 weeks!!).
• Long-time hairdressers who work with permanent shades are 5x as likely to develop bladder cancer.

Kind of scary, and that is not the end.  All the goop that is mixed and put on my hair to get that rich dark color eventually gets washed out and goes down the drain into our oceans and rivers.  While I may be doing this to myself, the fish and the rest of greater eco system did not get a vote in the matter.

Armed with a little data and two weeks into my eco detox, I was now not only willing to try a new hair coloring technique, I was on a mission to find a high quality alternative.  I did a little online searching to see what others were trying.  Most people said to go ‘au natural’.  Not an option.  Many others said to try a natural product from a health store… but I found reviews that reported ORANGE hair.  Not an option –plus I’m not really into doing my own color.   I did find out that Aveda, while not perfect, really seemed to be the best of the available professional products.  Their products claim to be up to 97% botanically based and reportedly have the least amount of synthetic ingredients, by a wide margin, of all other major salon-based solutions.   

So that was my baby-step this weekend…..seems easy because Aveda is actually a great brand, and has a great selection of colors.  But, because Aveda is only used by select Aveda concept salons, it required me to divorce my colorist of 7 years.  A hard thing to do….we’ve built a relationship, I know the inner most details of his latest vacation, and he doesn’t hesitate to stop me on the street to give me shit for going too long between appointments.  I will have no problem explaining the issue to him and challenging him to find alternative products for his salon.

So, how did it go?  Fabulous!  I found a great salon in the area, and while sipping an Aveda teasan, I had a good chat with the stylist over what she and her salon are doing to be earth friendly.  Turns out quite a lot:  from low-flow toilet bowls and window insulators at home, to re-usable hair foils and implementing a zero waste directive in the salon.

I’m happy, and I hope the fish are a little happier too.  Challenge your salon to find more eco-friendly products and to learn more about the chemicals that they are working with.  Hair salons will follow suit if they know that their clientele want earth friendly, non toxic products.  I made a point of telling the salon that I came specifically for the Aveda product, and why.  They said that they still have a lot of clients who specifically request their ‘other’ brand as they have specific color mixes.  Personally, I think my new color looks better than before.  So baloney to that excuse.

P.S.  It should be noted that while I have convinced myself that the Aveda option is good one, there are several reports online that question this fact.  Give us your comments!  Aveda does not publicly publish many details about their salon colors, and they do say that they still have parabens and synthetic additives in some of their products (although they are phasing them out).  Furthermore, a quick sniff of the goop will tell you that there is definitely ammonia in it, albeit a lot less than my old brand. 

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.

Day 17 – Wednesday, November 4: Take a home eco evaluation and make any changes: change over any remaining cleaning products, install dimmers and programmable thermostats. Change to CFL lighbulbs where possible.

Day 18 -Thursday, November 5: Purchase some carbon offsets. Not ready for this? Then get your ticket to Liv Blu in support of the David Suzuki foundation –learn, celebrate, and shop with a purchase.

Day 19 -Friday, November 6: Have a movie night at home… turn off all the lights for a theater experience.

Day 20 – Saturday, November 7: Host an eco friendly wine tasting with friends in advance of ThinkBlu! event. Local cheeses and hors d’oeuvres. Organic snacks.

Day 21 – Sunday, November 8: Repair something that you would normal toss and replace.

Alternative suggestions to substitute any of the above that work for you:

• Need to update your home appliances? Be sure to choose an Energy Star approved appliance
• Buying a new car? Make fuel efficiency a priority when selecting a model.
• Any of the previous week suggestions if you haven’t already tried them.

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!

Our eco challenge today started out great… a walk along the canal, a stop at Au Pain Doré for coffee and muffins, and then onto the Lionel Groulx metro.  I had walked past the metro station many times this past summer, so I knew that new elevators had been installed and that it would be stroller friendly. 

The metro ride was great –not crowded, no waiting, and before we knew it we had arrived at Viau station.  We exited… and then I looked up and saw the stairs.  No escalator.  No elevator.  I couldn’t believe it!!  This is the metro stop in the center of the Olympic Park!  The Biodome stop!!    Thankfully I had reinforcement with me and we were able to carry the stroller up the stairs –but what if I didn’t?  What a way to put a damper on our great outing.

I can’t tell you how disappointed I was.  This was my first metro ride in Montreal in 14 years, since first moving here.  And even though I don’t typically take the Montreal Metro, I do make extensive use of subway systems throughout the world when I travel.   I was enjoying my ride, reminiscing about how my grandmother used to take me everywhere by bus when I was a toddler, and I was hoping that my mom would take Nicolas back to the Biodome on the metro when she visits later this year.  Unfortunately it won’t be until he is older and doesn’t require a stroller. 

So, while the metro experience was generally quite positive, it really isn’t an initiative that I will be able to stick with on a regular basis in the near term, especially since I don’t need it for a daily commute.  I guess there is always the bus –but, it just isn’t the same as the subway.

Mimi Cukier and a group of kids had a great time making eco-friendly Halloween decorations at Studio Breathe last weekend.

• Recycled/2nd Hand costume. Check
• Cardboard & burlap decorations.  Reusable ceramic led haunted house. Check
• Organic hors d’oeuvres & organic wine for adults. Check
• Fair trade chocolate & treats. check.
• Donation box for Sainte Justine Hospital. Check.
• Locally grown pumpkin, to be cooked tomorrow into a delicious soup with roasted pumpkin seeds. Check.

My little Zebra is ready to celebrate his first Halloween with his friends and their parents. It may not be perfect, but we are feeling pretty good about our first big celebration!

Have a safe and happy halloween everyone!

A simple breakfast with friends featuring organic eggs florantine and questionable orange juice (read below for more....).

I know that organic food is the ultimate choice.  But it’s not always the convenient choice.  Sourcing specific ingredients can be difficult, and it can be more expensive (unless you grow your own of course). 

This weekend I dropped into eCollegey in NDG, a wonderful ‘strictly organic’ grocer and picked up two giant bags of groceries to see us through the weekend and beyond.   They are a small grocer, but I was amazed at the selection of products available.  I found almost everything I needed, with a few exceptions, at rather reasonable prices.  We’ve been eating, I am estimating, a 75% organic diet this weekend.  From organic ravioli with homemade tomato sauce (made from tomatoes grown in our organic container garden); to homemade gourmet pizzas -3 kinds (I have to especially call out the gorgeous organic salami from Charlevoix that we put on one of the pizzas); and breakfast Sunday with friends –Eggs Florentine with fruit. 

Here are a couple of places where I failed to get the job done:  coffee:  testing and selecting a new coffee is an indepth project in our house, and I simply ran out of time on Saturday.  We’ll save that for another day.  Thankfully though my guests on Sunday brought us a bag of organic, fair-trade coffee to try out this week; pizza dough: I’m addicted to my homemade pizza on Indian nan bread, and haven’t found an alternative yet; and lastly, juice: absolutely no excuse here.  I had organic apple juice boxes in the fridge for the kids, but Tropicana got served.  The juice selection led to quite a heated table discussion based on a scary MacLeans book review, putting all packaged juices (organic included) into question. 

In addition to eCollegey, Nicolas and I stopped by the Jean Talon market to pick up some fresh organic eggs from Le Capitaine.  They were gathered at his farm on Thursday… which beats the 2-3 weeks that other eggs sit around in food warehouses and stores before we buy them.  He’s passionate about his eggs, so the next time you visit Jean Talon make sure that you look for him (and strongly suggest that he also set up shop at the Atwater Market!!).

We can purchase many organic ingredients at large grocery store chains, such as Loblaws, but it is a small sub-selection.  While it is unfortunate that the large box stores have such a small selection, it is even more astounding that our local farmer’s markets have so little, with Atwater failing terribly in this area.  

While change has come, it has been slow.  And it’s not just the price difference when buying green that is an issue, it’s the extra effort that we have to go through to achieve a 90+% organic diet.  We need better ‘green’ grocers in every neighborhood –and they need us as customers!

The question that I ask myself as I go through each of these challenges is whether or not I can stick with the change going forward.  Can I maintain a 75%+ organic diet?  I doubt it.  I just came back from Atwater and neither of the ingredients that I needed are organic.  So, what level can we maintain, and what priorities do we set?  These are some questions that I will look at more throughout the remaining 3 weeks of this challenge. 

As I sign off to prepare dinner and open a bottle of organic wine that Paul & I want to taste, I will leave you with a few powerful statements: 

• “A recent study found that there are 287 chemicals in the cord blood from babies in the United States.”
•   “An estimated 35% of cancer deaths are directly attributable to diet.”
• “If everytime we bought a gallon of milk, it was organic, we would save 200 million pounds of pesticides a year.”

                                 -Adam Werbach, The Birth of Blue 

 How is everyone doing?  Over 70 people have signed up and are collecting gold stars at the Studio!  Share your experiences here!! 

Day 8 – Monday, October 26:  Look for ways to reduce your water consumption.  Take shorter showers, turn off water when brushing teeth, put a container of water in your refrigerator to keep it cold instead of running your tap to cool it down.

Day 9 – Tuesday, October 27:  Evaluate your household cleaning products.  Change over any non eco-friendly items, or make your own cleaning solution using vinegar, water, borox.  Try a laundry ball or soap nuts to do your wash instead of detergent.

Day 10 – Wednesday, October 28:  Car pool somewhere that you would have taken multiple vehicles.

Day 11 – Thursday, October 29:   Try an organic wine.  And if you have recommendations share them!  (I need one!!)

Day 12 – Friday, October 30:  Start an eco-friendly fall wardrobe.  Support local designers and eco-friendly shops.  Don’t want to shop?  Then give away any clothes not worn in two years:  someone else probably needs them.

Day 13 – Saturday, October 31:  Have an eco-friendly Haloween.

Day 14 – Sunday, November 1:  Take the bus or metro somewhere that you would normally drive.

Alternative suggestions to substitute any of the above that work for you:

• Evaluate your seafood/sushi purchases.  Review the Sustainable Sushi Guide posted to the David Suzuki web site.  Make a change and tell your local fish monger/sushi shop about it.
• Got kids?  Talk to your kids about what they can do to be more environmentally friendly.  Ask their school or day care to do a project with the kids.
• Use reusable lunch bags, containers, and water bottles at work.
• Assess your recycling initiatives and look for improvements.
• Any of the Week 1 suggestions, if you haven’t already tried them.