[from guest student blogger* Adam Grzegorczyk]

The ski season in Canada is in full swing, boosted by some good snowfall in many places since the New Year. Skiing and snowboarding is such a breathtaking outdoor sport that it seems wrong not to be green when you hit the slopes. After all, if you are taking advantage of that great part of nature that includes snowy mountainous inclines in its design, why not lessen your impact while there? So what’s the best way of going green when on the slopes? Well it is probably something you consider anyway: where to go?

Ski resorts are caught in a classic catch-22, they generate huge amounts of emissions through snowmaking, grooming, moving people, and even getting to the resort itself, that they can often be the largest non-point source polluter in any given area. Yet it is those very emissions that may very well lead them to having no snow at all in a few decades (or years depending on who you want to listen to). You do still need snow to ski, right? So you can imagine that ski resorts have a natural incentive to go green. Not all resorts are viewing this in the same manner however.

The choice you must therefore make is to choose a resort that is proactive in its environmentally sustainable principles. Resorts all over North America and the world are choosing to use different initiatives to make their resorts more sustainable, while some resorts still chose to keep their heads in the snow. Those who decide to do something are initiating projects such as the building of wind turbines for power, the purchasing of carbon offsets, or the promotion of car-pooling initiatives all to lessen their impacts on climate change. Making a conscious choice to support resorts that practise these principles is a great first step in making sure that when you hit the slopes you do so in a responsible and educated manner.

Whistler, British Columbia for example has made commitments to conservation efforts that have cut electrical consumption by 18% in the last two years. The resort has also dedicated $320,000 to conservation initiatives this season alone and has cut more the 540 tonnes of waste produced this year.  For examples south of the border one has to look no further than Aspen, Colorado. Aspen has been an industry leader in sustainability for years.  Some of its most significant environmental initiatives include using biodiesel fuel in all of its snow grooming machines, and making snow with specks of dust to lessen the energy and water needed for production. They were also the first in the U.S. ski industry to offset 100 percent of its electrical use with renewable energies. These pioneering principles have led to over 45 other U.S. based resorts to follow Aspen’s lead.

The choice you are making is a choice you will have to make anyway. So why not choose a resort that practises sustainability principles and makes commitments to reducing its impact on the environment. Ask questions and do some research. Not only will you be able to cruise down those slopes with a lighter conscience, you’ll be doing all the other resorts who don’t a favour, because unless they want to get inline they won’t be around much longer.

A great site that recommends and highlights sustainable ski resorts can be found at www.OnTheSnow.com: Green Guide.

* We would like to welcome the Niagara College Bloggers! These students are in the second term of a 1 year post-graduate program in Environmental Management and Assessment at Niagara College. The students have diverse backgrounds and will be sharing their expertise in all things green.

[Student Profile: Adam Grzegorczyk is from Oakville, ON who has been snowboarding for the past 15 years. He has been lucky enough to be able to travel around the world snowboarding and been involved in multiple sustainability initiatives during his young environmental career]

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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