It is getting complicated as we steward resources used for carrying groceries and for garbage!

Waste management programs around the GTA have been in effect for some time aimed at reducing landfill burdens. We are now getting used to sorting our waste into separate containers for recyclables, compostable organics, garden waste and any remaining miscellaneous garbage. It is only the latter garbage, we are told, ends up in landfill. The Green Bin program for organic waste has received good press in The New York Times.  However with the praise comes a note of caution: The Toronto Star claims that not all authorities around Toronto are ideally set up to sort non-compostable plastic bags that are often mixed with much of the Green Bin material. As Toronto stores in June 2009 start charging customers a fee for every plastic bag used, our thoughts go again to using reusable bags or bins for our groceries. But even then, there might be a hitch. A May 2009 National Post article cites potential health risks from reusable cloth bags that touch food - so an argument is made for staying with plastic!

What should the environmental and health conscious consumer do? Here are some thoughts:

* Make full use of waste segregation available in your municipality

* Minimize plastic bags used in your Green Bin

* If required, use biodegradable plastic bags in the Green Bin for odour control

* Be aware that often there is not a perfect solution even with biodegradable plastics [see Blog (C) by Niagara College students].

Perhaps that best advice is to minimize all garbage and extra packaging in the first place.  There’s some food for thought!

Well, the devil is always in the details, but it’s sure a good start. Ontario’s proposed new Green Energy Act is hoping to make a few key changes in the way that we manage energy in the province:

• It sets strict conservation targets. Conservation is always the most cost-effective to start, so this is a good angle.
• It introduces real cost pricing of energy. Right now we’re subsidizing consumption – which is NOT an effective way to foster conservation.
• It weans us off of coal once and for all by 2014. Coal is neither clean nor renewable, so this is an absolutely necessary step.
• Incentives for clean and green technology development, not status quo. We’ve been subsidizing the wrong technologies in past, so this makes amends.
• Streamlined approvals for renewable projects so that we don’t create additional costs for already expensive development projects.
• It creates mandatory requirements and priority spots for renewable energy on Ontario’s Electricity Grid. This means guaranteed consumers for energy projects and that will lower the risk for new development.
• New technology for energy storage. One of the challenges of renewable energy is that it’s not always windy or sunny when you need energy. Better storage means that we don’t need to fire up the coal plant as backup.

You’ve probably also heard a lot about the green jobs that the new Act will create. This part is a little harder to judge, given that we really haven’t seen a plan that details how the proposed 50,000 jobs will be created. Canada is not exactly a hub of green manufacturing – so we’re not likely to be building many large-scale turbine or solar panel plants to compete with Europe. Sustainability includes being able to meet our own needs locally, though, so we’ll need to get started.

Clearly Ontario doesn’t have a long track record of environmental success, but on paper, this is a very strong leadership move. In the words of the Premier, Dalton McGuinty, “Because of our Green Energy Act, our province would be greener, stronger, and in a better position to compete and win against the rest of the world. We’re going to seize this opportunity to build a better Ontario — better for jobs, better for our children, better for our planet.”

Here’s hoping that’s the case…

Check out the details of the act  http://www.greenenergyact.ca/

[written by Katie Altoft]

Editor’s Note:    At Green Cricket we are keen to raise awareness to environmental issues. We want to help our customers make intelligent choices with products they can purchase, that make best use of the earth’s precious resources. Our “Green Quality Criteria” designation is an easy way to access product specific information about how items are made and sourced, as well as their distance to market.

When talking to people about buying green I feel it’s important to point out that being a green consumer can take many forms or “shades”. There’s being green by buying local in an effort to reduce one’s carbon footprint. There’s being green by following the three R’s. There’s being green through efficient use of fuel and energy. All these shades lessen our impact on the planet; some even have the benefit of improving our personal wellbeing. That said there is a shade of green that provides a third benefit: safeguarding the health of those involved in the production of the goods we buy; and that’s through buying organic; particularly when it comes to cotton.

Conventional cotton is one of the world’s most chemically treated crops, consuming 10 percent of all agricultural chemicals and 25 percent of insecticides. That adds up to 1/3 of a kilogram of chemicals just to produce enough cotton for a single pair of jeans! The impact of all this chemical usage however isn’t felt by those wearing the clothing in question but rather by those that must live around and work with the cotton crops on a day-in-day-out basis. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 20,000 deaths occur each year from pesticide poisoning in developing countries, many of those from cotton farming. (more…)

Organic coffee - Is it better than non-organic coffee for the planet and for you?

Green Cricket coffee is certified organic.  But what does that mean? Is organic coffee better for you than non-organic coffee?  Does it taste better? 

Some research suggests that drinking organic coffee is better for you. In addition to being rich in antioxidants (as is all coffee) organic coffee is free from chemical pesticides and fertilizers. (Conventionally grown coffee is one of the most chemically intensive crops in the world, commonly treated with endosulfan and chlorpyrifos, both highly toxic endocrine disrupters as well as diazinon, a substance that inhibits neural function.)

Drinking organic coffee is also socially responsible. Growing organic coffee is healthier for the farmers that tend to and harvest the crop, and the does not leach chemicals into the soil or local water supplies.  This results in reduced toxic impact on the whole community and wildlife (particularly birds).  Cultivating organic coffee is better for the environment. Organic famers use biological pest control, composting, terracing and intercropping, all good land stewardship practices.

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You are probably asking “What are we doing here?”. Through the many late nights that our team at Green Cricket has endured getting to this point, we’ve all asked ourselves that same question many times.

Timing is important in business, but so is doing the right thing. At the time that I was thinking about a “green emporium” earlier this year, I was motivated by the desire to get the right information to the consumer in a marketplace where many of my friends expressed frustration over the amount of research needed to “shop well” for their children and husbands, AND help the planet all at the same time! Who has time to do it?

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