My first delivery of organic fruits & veggies

It’s been years that I’ve been telling myself that I would do it but it took a sales rep for Jardin des Anges at the Expo Santé Manger natural food exhibition at Montreal’s Palais de Congrés to kick my ass into signing up.

Jardin des anges (Angel Garden) is just one of many cooperatives popping up across North America that deliver fresh organic food to residents in their surrounding area. In general, they favour local produce, thus supporting local farmers and import when necessary (like in winter for example).

A customer, like me, can choose from an array of different basket sizes serving both single households and families. For those that are picky, you can replace certain fruits or vegetables with your choice making it somewhat personalised for your needs.

Delivery happens every week but you choose the frequency (weekly, bi-weekly or monthly) that serves your needs and budget. I pay $37 every 2 weeks.

If someone is guaranteed to be home during the delivery day, they will ring the door. Otherwise, what most people do, including myself, is give them a key to the front entrance of the apartment building where you live, then leave a box out for them to put the delivery in to. Houses in residentials neighbourhoods leave coolers out by their doors for the food to be placed into. In general, you can make arrangements with them for which ever method best serve your needs.

Likes:

1. Reduces packaging waste. No pre-packaged vegetables or fruits with stroyfoam trays and saranwrap covering
2. I’m finally eating fruit!
3. Non GMO gigantic California straeberries with no taste.
4. The flavours are incredible. I’ve never tasted carrots so sweet, non bitter celery and spinach so packed with flavour!
5. Because each week contains different veggies and fruits, I’m eating more diverse foods and increasing my mineral and vitamin intake.
6. I’m supporting local farmers
7. I’m eating vegetables and fruits I would normally not buy, but actually enjoy
8. Guilt free eating – no pesticides, herbicides or potatoes that have been irradiated
9. Fresh!
10. My delivery is like a surprise present each week. I’m always excited to open my door and see what I got
11. I can change the delivery frequency whenever I need (no extra fee)
12. I can stop the delivery if out of town and cancel whenever I want (no extra fees)
13. In order to not waste food, I’m actually planning out meals and freezing some so my grocery bill has dramatically decreased
14. I’m cooking new recipes to incorporate all the foods

Dislikes:

1. Ummm…..having to think about writing the cheque and leaving it out the night before?
2. Planning meals
3. Food waste – I eat out a lot during the week and at friends homes so sometimes I can’t eat everything. I deal with this by inviting friends over to eat and make lots of soups in advance and freeze them.

Find an organic delivery service in your city:

There are so many out there. The easiest way to find one is to do a google search for “Organic food delivery + your city” and you’ll find tons.

Here are some that I know of though.

Toronto:

Green Earth Organics

Front Door organics

Mama Earth Organics

Vancouver:

Green Earth Organics

Small Potatoes Urban Delivery (Spud)

Organics at Home

Ladybug Organics

Calgary:

Small Potatoes Urban Delivery (Spud)

Farm Fresh Organics (Edmonton too)

Ottawa:

Ottawa organics

New York

Organic Direct (New Jersey)

Urban Organic

Door to door organics (Colorado, Michigan, Kansas City, East Coast)

Organic fruit and veggie club

Chicago

Fresh picks

San Francisco

Planet Organics

SPUD (Seattle, LA, Portland)

Farm fresh to you (Home & office delivery)

Portland:

Organics to you

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Reflecting on being green in Trinidad, Cuba

This past week-end, i got back from a much needed vacation in Cuba. While there, I reflected a lot upon the feasibility of being green in a developing, socialist no less, nation.

Often in the developed world, we equate being “green” with “green” products. It’s true that making the switch from conventional to “green” or eco-friendly products is definitely a step in the right direction, but I think we’ve lost track of the essential meaning.  A green lifestyle should be about reducing consumption, not the buying of new “green” products. Check out the story of stuff if this doesn’t make sense.

It’s easy to be ethnocentric and judge other peoples cultures. Immediately upon arriving in Varadero, I was quick to judge the resort I was at for not recycling (shampoo bottles, pop cans, wine & rum bottles etc.) and bus drivers that would idle for half an hour at rest stops.

However, upon reflection, the Cubans did much more than I have seen Canadians do in a long time which probably impacts the environment even more. They live a lifestyle that we have long forgotten about. A lifestyle that embodies the basics of no waste, albeit for economic reasons.

Energy saver light bulb in Varadero's Josone national park

1. Energy saver light bulbs – Every park I visited including outdoor restaurants, had energy saver light bulbs. Honestly, this was the last thing I would have expected, but definitely pleasantly surprising. How they get there though is another question. Are they importing from another country, and if so, does that impact the environment more or less than the reduction in energy to light up the parks?
2. Emphasis on seasonal foods – At the hotel buffet, one of the bowls was labelled seasonal fruits. I said to my friend, “When was the last time in Canada we ever saw that at a buffet?”. The answer was never. Even in the dead of winter, we still find strawberries imported from California and berries imported from Chile. Eating seasonally means we can eat locally which reduces food miles. We need to return to seasonal eating, which even has health benefits as seasonal foods contain the vitamins and minerals we need to ward off seasonal sicknesses.
   
3. Emphasis on locally produced food- As repetitive as it got, we were always served cabbage, tomatoes and cucumbers for vegetables for example. Why? Because this is what they grow. They live off the food that they produce locally. I wish we would do that. You could even say their livestock is free range as it runs around on their street. I don’t eat meat but I would much rather livestock living outdoors then cooped up in cages, buildings or factory farms. However, one of the restaurants we ate at was so local that we saw them tying up pigs for slaughter for the next tour bus that was arriving. That was hard to watch and hear, but a fact of meat eating life I guess. At least these pigs weren’t transported long distances for slaughter before being transferred to grocery stores, (food miles) everything happened on location.
   

   Free range chickens in Varadero, Cuba

4. Oxen used in agriculture - Now don’t get me wrong, as the animal rights activist I am, I’m vary weary of “working” animals. I hate seeing cows and oxen with rope through their noses and wood tied to their heads to connect them to other oxen. This said, the environmental impact is nil compared to the modern day machinery we use which consumes vast amounts of fossil fuels and pollutes the air. Also, since they’re only producing for local means, they don’t need GMO’s or crazy amounts of machinery to produce massive amounts of food for export.
5. Horse-drawn carriages, bikes and scooters used for transportation – Again, I’m weary of horse-drawn carriages and don’t like seeing tourists go for rides in them around town. I’m never convinced that the horses are treated that well. However, they were better fed than the ones I saw in Egypt. None the less, using them combined with bikes is an excellent means of transportation that contributes to no air pollution. And scooters are definitely a way of “reducing” their consumption of fossil fuels imported from Venezuela compared to using cars.
   

   Horse-drawn carriage transportation in Varadero, Cuba



Three-seater bike transportation in Havana, Cuba

6. Bus drivers respected the speed limit which reduces exhaust and air pollution – A simple gesture but driving the speed limit reduces air pollution.
7. Repair and reuse old cars from the ’50’s – I swear this is one of the most charming aspects of Cuba. It’s a total flash back to the 50’s, but they, much like other developing nations, take the old cars of richer nations, repair the motors and reuse them over and over.


Reused cars from the '50's in Havana, Cuba

8. No wasted food at hotels – All the leftover food at the buffet was given to the employees to take home after. Granted, Canadians would snub their noses up at this but hey, if no one has touched the food, then why not package it and take it home? It’s better than throwing it out, no? If not for the employees, could we at least donate the leftover restaurant food to homeless shelters? Just so we’re clear, I’m not talking about the scraps on peoples plates but simply the cooked food that was never served.
9. Minimal to no chemical pesticides used on crops - So technically, from what I was told, sugarcane for example, is grown totally naturally without the additional of chemicals. Thus, I believe it is fair to say that Cuban rum is organic! Another reason to love pina coladas and mojitos!

Now don’t get me wrong, I know very well that every point mentioned above is due to economics, you often see this in poorer countries simply as they don’t have the means to afford richer methods.  If they were richer, they’d want the same luxuries that us developed nations have come to consider a right as opposed to a privilege such as strawberries during the winter,  non-local food brands transported across the country and large SUV’s to drive 1km instead of taking a bike.

Eco-surprise in a small colonial town of Trinidad, Cuba:

Right before this past Christmas I blogged about Escama studio purses made from recycled beer can pull-tabs. Much to my surprise, I found these exact kinds of purses in a market in Trinidad, Cuba. Here they’re made from the local Cristal beer cans. The local ladies put this waste to use by making these cute purses. I bought one for 8 pesos ($9 US/CAD).

Hand-made purse made from recycled beer can pull-tabs

Eco purse made by Cuban woman

Another cool surprise:

The night before leaving, I was running around town frantically looking for thongs, that’s right, I still refuse to call them flip flops. As it turns out, the Ipanema ‘”flip flops”  that I bought, incidentally designed by Gisele Bundchen, are actually eco-friendly and ethical.

The sales clerk in the store told me they were made from the sap of a tree in Brazil. To be honest, I didn’t find anything about this on their website. But I did learn that they are made from recycled PVC in an environmentally sound way, vegan, recyclable at the end of use, and they have strong human rights laws to protect their workers in Brazil. Sounds like a good sustainable business that I like to support when I do actually have to purchase something!

My ethical Ipanema flip flops

In conclusion, there are drastic changes that must be made in developing nations. But how does one go about bringing environmental change to these places when clearly they have more important issues to worry about?

Cuba is a special case. Since they are a socialist country (contrary to popular belief they are not actually communist) and all companies are owned by the government, what’s their incentive to have their companies listen to foreign complaints about sustainability? One company won’t necessarily benefit over another for making improvements. I suppose I could write my complaints, mainly about the lack of recycling or idling tour buses to their tourism bureau as a threat to their tourism industry would be the biggest motivator to change.

If this was any other island in the Caribbean, where some sort of capitalistic system was in place, the practice of competition between other hotels or tour companies would be a reason to change in response to consumer demands. As far as Cuba’s concerned, I wonder if they even have the infrastructure in place to create recycling facilities, but stopping the tour buses from idling is simple.

I am not a political science or economics expert and my thoughts may be quite naive in the matter but I do know that doing nothing, does just that. So as naive and optimistic as I might be, I have written to both the Cuban Tourist board in Canada and Tours Mont Royal the tour operator that I booked my trip through, bringing my two main environmental complaints to their attention.

Be assured that should i hear back from them on this matter, I will put it in a follow-up post.

Do any of you have thoughts on how developing nations can make the switch to environmental sustainability?

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Letting the water run while doing the dishes drives me mad

Of course, women make these mistakes too, but since I am a woman and well, this is my blog, I’m talking about my experience!  And before you “stupid boyfriends” get mad at me, I don’t actually think you’re stupid, I just think you need a little whip in the green direction.

Let’s face it, relationships are hard. When things can already seem tumultuous, having a partner that’s not as “green” as you can drive you over the edge for something as menial as letting the water run. It shouldn’t be a deal breaker but rather a chance to teach someone about your values and how they can make a difference in the world.

So I’ve rallied up my past experience and that of my girlfriends to compile this list of 10 things partners do that drive us mad.

1. Boiling water on a stove without a lid – I’ve never understood why people do that. Besides waste energy, it simply takes more time to cook your food.
2. Throwing away recyclables – The last thing I want to see when I come home from work is pasta sauce jars, cat food tin cans and toilet paper rolls in the garbage. These things are so easily recyclable. They just need a quick little rinse and they’re good to go into the recycling bin.
3. Buying non environmentally-friendly cleaning products – I’ve been trying so hard over the past 2 years to use up all my old cleaners and replace them with eco-friendly versions. So although I appreciate the effort of someone picking up dish soap when I’m out, it’d be nice if they could pick up an eco-friendly one so I don’t have to stare at Mr. Clean for another year!
4. Leaving the lights on -Plain and simple; if you’re not in the room, turn the lights off. Not only will you reduce your monthly energy consumption but you’ll also lower your energy bill. Every little bit helps to reduce our demand so we don’t have to build more dams.
5. Leaving the heat on (or air-conditioner) – I unfortunately don’t have an automatic thermostat so I make sure that when i leave for work in the morning, I turn the heat off in every room. Otherwise, it’ll keep heating, regardless if the room needs it or not and that’s a real waste. And if it gets too hot in one room, please turn down the heat as opposed to opening the window while the heat is still on. Oh yes, I’ve seen this happen. It aggravates me like nails down a chalk board, nails down a chalkboard!
6. Letting the water run while they brush their teeth or wash dishes – Ooh this one drives me mad. Seeing someone foam up their mouth with toothpaste while the water just pours down the drain makes me want to pull my hair put. Same thing for dishes. A quick solution is either to soak all dishes then rinse one by one or to turn the water off while you scrub the dishes. The goal is not to have water going down the drain for nothing. Water is a precious resource, people who have been to Africa or heck, gone camping, understand this very well.
7. Running the dishwasher or washing machine with half empty loads – This is a big no-no! I’ve gone 2 or 3 days before turning on a dishwasher just because I was waiting to fill it up. If you need some dishes right away but don’t have enough for a full load, try washing the necessary ones right away in the sink so you can at least wait to turn on the dishwasher when it finally fills up. Same thing for washing machines and dryers, try to wait for full loads, and don’t forget to wash in cold water.
8. Leaving the TV or radio on in an empty room – I get leaving them on for background noise if you’re in the same room, but if you’ve left the room, please turn your electronic devices off. This can especially be a problem with children so make sure to teach them young so they don’t grow up with this bad habit.
9. Buying water bottles instead of using a water filter – Ok, once in a while it happens that we buy bottled water, but please, at least recycle the bottle after. If you find yourself continually buying them for transportation purposes, invest in a $15 BPA-free sports bottle that you can cart around. Don’t forget to fill it up with filtered water from home or TapIt while out and about.
10. Letting the car idle while stopped – This is more of a new initiative we’re starting to see implemented throughout cities. Municipal by-laws are being passed whereby taxis and motor coaches must turn off their engines while waiting. Idling wastes fuel, degrades local air quality and contributes to climate change.  I’ve known men that while waiting for me outside, would literally idle in their car with the music on for up to 20 minutes.  So, I’ll do my best to leave the house quicker but men you have got to turn that engine off while waiting for anything over 1 minute and run the radio off your battery. According to the government of British Columbia, idling over 10 seconds will waste more gas then turning your engine off and on. So save gas and the environment by turning your car off. For all you non-believers, check out idlefreebc for more information.

Reality check - If you’re the greeny in a relationship, you can’t just assume that your partner will do exactly as you would, as not everyone has green values. The solution? Communication, pure and simple.

When you move in together or even you’ve been living together for years, you have to let them know what you expect from them and show them how they can do it. I know this sounds more like training a dog but seriously, if you catch them improving on the green front, reward them for it and tell them you’re proud.

Everything above is simple, if not, common sense. So don’t let my getting sued for using a picture of my ex go to waste, communicate your wishes to your partner so you can live in peace and harmony!

Oh and while we’re at it, do let them know you’re also open to changing something you do that drives them insane. Just because we’re green doesn’t mean we’re saints, although I’d sometimes like to believe we are!

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Me with clutch purse made from recycled pop-can pull-tabs

According to Wikipedia, Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.

I recently learned about upcycling after a Sunday morning brunch with a friend at Aux Vivres, a favourite Montreal vegan restaurant, when we discovered a hip, little, eco shop while walking down St Laurent blvd.  Il était deux fois (Once upon two times) is the newest boutique to have opened up by an American transplant that saw a market for recycled items at a premium price.

Purses made from discarded candy wrappers and pop-can pull tabs

Decisions, decisions; so many purses to choose from. These chic and unique purses are definite art pieces. What I really like the most about them, besides being made from what would otherwise be discarded, is that they are all fair-trade. Each purse is signed by the maker themselves from a shop in Brazil.  I won’t lie, these purses cost a pretty penny, i believe the clutches start around $50 or so, but at least you know the money is going to a good cause.

Back in April 2009, I bought an Ecoist purse at the airport in DC, that was made with misprinted magazine papers from Mexico. I’ve also seen them made form New York subway tickets and Wrigley gum wrappers. And if you think this sounds junky, don’t be fooled, these purses are showing up in the latest fashion magazines like Vogue and on runways across Europe!  Green fashion is so hot right now!

Cork boards made from reused wine corks and hockey stick mirrors

Do you like to drink wine? I sure do! This wine cork board is the perfect way to reuse corks and who doesn’t need an extra place to pin important pieces of paper or concert tickets to a wall? And talk about these mirrors made from broken hockey sticks! With such a vintage look, they would be the perfect decoration for any boys’ bedroom wall.

Escama Studio pop-can pull-tab bracelets and necklaces

These jewellery pieces were the best. Necklaces and bracelets made from pop-can pull-tabs. These ones were made from the Brazilian company Escama Studio. Whoever would have thought that something so cheap could produce something so glamourous.

I bought a bracelet for myself. It cost me around $25 but I feel good knowing that my money is going to a fair-trade company helping to get Brazilians off the street.

The next time you go to throw something away in the trash, just ask yourself if there’s a better way. Could you reuse it in some way shape or form to create a masterpiece? Could it become the next art project for your kids perhaps?

If visiting Montréal, check out  this 3-block strech of St Laurent boulevard between Mont-Royal and Villeneuve which is now being dubbed the Green Mile full of eco-boutiques, veggy restaurants and high-end consignment stores.

Il était deux fois is located at 4539 St-Laurent Boulevard in Montreal (1 block north of Mont-Royal).

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George's opening speech at the World premiere of Terriens in Montréal

The world premiere of Earthlings in French, “Terriens”, was a smashing success last Friday night with more than 750 people squeezing into the theatre at UQAM. The ambiance was definitely full of love and excitement. Besides Georges Laraque, special guests included 2 other Montreal Canadiens; Maxim Lapierre and Michael Cammalleri. Read the rest of this entry »

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NHL superstar, Georges Laraque, turns vegan

(Film info below)

Barely 7 months ago, this NHL hockey superstar, Georges Laraque, shocked fans across North America with his decision to become vegan after watching the award-winning film Earthlings. As if he didn’t get enough flack for being a “black hockey player”, he took media criticism to another level with his decision to defend the animals and the environment. Despite it all, he continues to make a huge difference in the world and for that – he truly rocks!

I recently had the pleasure of meeting this true hockey hero this past month for his birthday at Chu Chai, Montreal’s best Read the rest of this entry »

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Dropping off my desktop computer at PC Recycle in Montreal

To me, throwing your old computer out on the street is absolutely unacceptable. But let’s be honest, what’s the alternative? It’s not like there’s a company that comes to our mind when we want to get rid of our computer? Read the rest of this entry »

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A low-fat diet where potato chips don’t count is about as absurd as world leaders talking about climate change but not addressing deforestation. Yet, that’s exactly what happened at the last summit on climate change.

Did you know that 20% of all CO2 released into the air “from humans” comes from the clearing of forests? That’s right, cutting them down results in more carbon being released into the air then cars, trucks, trains and planes combined. That’s huge!

This December, global leaders, including Obama, will be meeting in Copenhagen to discuss climate change. They must address deforestation if they want to make a difference. In order to make this happen, CPAWS (Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society) just launched a great campaign called MakeForestsCount which includes a petition to Canada and United States asking them to:

• Protect intact forests and wetlands;
• Account fully for the carbon lost by cutting forests and destroying wetlands — accounting must be based on actual changes in emissions from the past.
• Help developing countries to reduce deforestation and forest degradation while protecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights.

So if YOU want to make a difference against climate change, go to MakeForestsCount.org and sign the petition today!

Watch the video:

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Car sharing gives you the benefits of a car in an eco-friendly fashion

Lets face it, in an urban world, there are just some times where we need to have a car. From  picking up friends or family at the airport and transporting furniture or big purchases to simply wanting to get out of town for the week-end, the use of a car is imminent.

In my day to day life, I fortunately do not need a car.  I use the metro (subway) to get to work and can walk to all necessary stores and services. This is one of the reasons I believe living in a urban centre is actually quite eco. However, there are times where I legitimately need a car. So here’s what I did, I became one of 20,000 Canadians that signed up for car-sharing. I did it with Communauto.

About car sharing:

Car sharing is one of the coolest trends in the “eco” movement and is practiced around the world, especially in Europe. It started in Switzerland in 1987 and made its way to North America via Quebec in 1993. It entails sharing a car with others through an organisation, only when you need it. It is the perfect compliment to someone like me who uses public transport but needs a car from time to time. It has apparently become so popular in the urban eco movement that new condo developments are being built with parking spaces available for cars from car-sharing companies only.

My experience with car sharing: Read the rest of this entry »

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Reduce plastic bag and litter waste by reusing resealable pet food bags

If you’re like me, you hate cleaning the cat’s litter box. On top of that, you probably use your grocery store bags, but now that you’re using reusable grocery store bags, you have fewer of these left and they’re reserved mainly for your garbage can. Am I right?

Here’s a tip i discovered. Nowadays, a lot of dry pet food comes in these resealable zip lock type bags. So, rather than throwing them out, I reuse them for litter waste.  One 9lb bag reduces the need for 10 grocery store bags.  This bag will last 1-2 weeks and I can clean out the litter box more frequently. This makes my cats happier too.

Smart? I think so. Just another way of implementing the 4 R’s of waste management.

Rethink -> Reduce -> Reuse -> Recycle

Putting the litter in the resealable cat food bag

Not only can you clean the litter out more frequently by using this same bag, there’s also less odor since i can easily store this bag on my balcony.

Clean litter box thanks to reused pet food bag

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