You’ve been asking for ways to get the kids involved in your quest for green, and we’re happy to provide some suggestions. A great way to start - if they haven’t seen the Earth Rangers, check them out at www.earthrangers.org and invite your school to book their free show.

Earth Rangers is an environmental education organization based in the Greater Toronto Area. They go into schools and offer a live show with a strong environmental message in a fun way, along with some amazing wildlife that the students can see in action. There are separate shows for primary, junior and intermediate students that inspire them to take action to protect the planet.

Their kids’ website, www.earthrangers.com provides a follow up to the school show. I has a bunch of great eco-tips for kids, along with fun games to play (my daughter likes Funky Skunky best – and I have to say that I see where she’s coming from). The games also have a great message woven into them, like recycling, composting, or energy efficiency.

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As summer has finally reached Canada, many of us turn our thoughts to the outdoors and gardening. What choices can we make to make our garden and gardening habits green?

Where is your garden?

Gardens for you may be your planter on your patio, that vegetable patch or flower garden in your yard, raised beds or even a roof top garden at your place of work.  Check out other urban roof top garden projects at University of Toronto. The Urban Agriculture Society is a campus club started to facilitate activities for a rooftop garden: http://uas.sa.utoronto.ca/about/]

What about Pesticides?

This time of year is great; going outside without a jacket, longer days, and most of all, my green lawn and blooming garden. Well, green and blooming except for those pesky weeds sprouting up. Dare I spray them? Absorbed through inhalation when being applied or through contact with treated vegetation, home pesticide and herbicide use has been identified as a key source for elevated levels of toxic substances found in humans; particularly among children with some disturbing side-effects (the most commonly used such substance in Canada, 2,4-D has been linked to male infertility and has been classified as a potential carcinogen).

Herbicides also wash off our lawns and gardens in the rain and end up contaminating groundwater and local waterways, affecting other species of wildlife. Many municipalities and some provinces (Vancouver, Halifax, Quebec and Ontario) have now banned the use of cosmetic pesticides and herbicides due to their strong link to conditions such as childhood asthma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and prostate cancer. After all, how healthy can pesticides and herbicides be when Health Canada lists over 20 points for their safe handling, including warning pregnant women to stay away from them? So how do I get rid of those pesky weeds?

Green solutions:

Green Cricket can help you with better choices. A phrase I have seen recently with regards to items is to choose products that “complement the environment”. Check out these options in our product line-up to compliment the environment in your garden by virtue of aspects screened using our “Green Cricket Criteria”:

Weed control: Pet safe biodegradable weed killer.

Soil – naturally weed-free potting soil.

Lawn patch to fill in those gaps that appeared over the winter.

Grass seed that yields a low maintenance lawn you hardly have to cut!

Fertilizer: Easy to use product made from hen manure or worm castings.

Clean up: Biodegradable recycled material leaf bags.

And…don’t forget the birds – seed varieties to keep them coming to your feeder.

Happy gardening!!

[written by Jaipaul Massey-Singh and Trevor Smith]

Each year Earth Day is a bigger event….Why?

Earth Day is now observed on April 22 in 175 countries, and coordinated by the nonprofit Earth Day Network, according to whom Earth Day is now the largest secular holiday in the world, celebrated by more than a half billion people every year.  Environmental groups have sought to make Earth Day into a day of action which changes human behavior and provokes policy changes.

Founded in 1970, Earth Day is a driving force steering environmental citizenship and progressive action worldwide, around the world. Through Earth Day, activists connect change in local, national, and global policies. Earth Day’s international network reaches over 17,000 organizations in 174 countries, while the North American programs engage 5,000 groups and over 25,000 educators coordinating millions of community development and environmental protection activities throughout the year. It is the only event celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities. More than a half billion people participate in Earth Day campaigns every year. 

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