Laundry Challenge

Nothing beats the peak of summer, when the sun is hot and the air is dry, for putting laundry out on the line.

For this challenge, we will not be using a dryer until September 20th 2011 which happens to be the last day of summer. But we won't give up completely after that! Even in the fall, there are good drying days. Laundry will dry in surprising conditions, so don't be turned off by advancing clouds or cool breezes. Rain won't ruin your clothes and neither will leaving them out over night. Eventually the sun will return and dry your laundry.

By choosing to use an alternative drying method you will:

Save 100% of the electricity used by a dryer.

Use renewable and free energy provided by mother nature herself.

Make your laundry smell fresher and cleaner than ever before.

If you don't have a clothes line:

• Put up a clothes line
• Hang laundry on the railings of a balcony
• Lay laundry in a patch of sunny grass
• Put up a clothes line

If you don't have the space available to put up a clothes line, try hanging laundry on drying racks in front of a sunny window. Even better, open the window and let in the summer breeze!

We challenge you to hang your laundry outside!

Until next time,

Under A Tree

Good For You, Good For Our Earth

We have been so lucky to be given the opportunity to help with the production of "Good For You, Good For Our Earth": A new series on Shaw TV channel 4 starting August 17th about sustainable food and nutrition. Each segment takes place at a different farm where host Lori Petryk uncovers the farms sustainable practices and chats with the farmers who work hard to bring food to our plates.

 

Tune in on Wednesday's at 3pm, 6pm, and 10pm

 

To watch previous segments, check out our website:

http://www.goodforyouandearth.com/

 

Also, We are on the hunt for winter sponsorship so PLEASE like the shows FB page and show them how much you like the show! 

 

Link to facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Good-for-You-Good-for-Our-Earth/225933194094005

 

 

Herstory

We made this short film during a workshop with Reel Youth.
We started with the word "isolation".
We found it was more than being separated or alone.

We can be isolated in a city, from the source of our resources and the reality of our waste.
We can be isolated from decision making due to gender, physical appearance, age etc.
We can be isolated from one another because our voice feels week and we are afraid

We challenge you to help us free the isolated voices

Everyone has the right to be heard

until next time,

Under A Tree

aka Marie-Claire and Hannah



Love Vancouver Festival

A while back, we attended the Love Vancouver Festival. It was great! We met lots of inspirational activists who taught us a lot about sustainability. It was powerful to see how many individuals around Vancouver are altering their lifestyles to be more environmentally friendly. 

Paper Challenge!

Wait!!!

Avoid absentmindedly throwing away your school notes!
Before you toss your math excercises in the trash (gasp) or even the recycling bin, consider the following: Save each piece of paper that is blank on one side. Make a stack of reusable paper on your desk or in your drawer that can be used for future note taking, projects and even homework. 50% less paper means 50% less trees being cut down. Trees serve many purposes including:

• Reducing erosion of our precious soil ressource
• Allowing streams to twist and turn, creating calm sanctuaries where fish can spawn
• Supplying us with oxygen
• Absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

There are hundreds of other reasons why trees are our friend...easy on the paper!

WE CHALLENGE YOU!

Until next time,

Under A Tree

aka Hannah and Marie-Claire

Seed Bombing Challenge

No, these are not your typical destructive bombs. These are peaceful and beautiful bombs! Seed bombing is a planting technique used by First Nations Peoples. Its an easy way to re-introduce biodiversity to our cities.

Why is is important to seed bomb?
Plants are important to everyone. Yes, even for city-dwellers! Plants give us flowers, flowers give us bees, bees give us food. Plants detoxify soil, soil gives us healthy food. Plants give us oxygen, oxygen lets us breath.

What is in a seed bomb?
4.5 parts natural red-clay
3 parts compost
2 parts seeds: SEEDS MUST BE NATIVE TO THE AREA!
1 part water, as needed
*seed bombs should be about an inch in diameter
*wait for individual bombs to dry before throwing
*Never seed-bomb farmland
*Always use non-invasive native plant seeds

WE CHALLENGE YOU TO GO SEED-BOMBING!

* recipe provided by Patch (www.facebook.com/letspatch)

Until next time,

Under A Tree

aka Marie-Claire and Hannah

Drinking Water Week Challenge

Did you know Canadians use an average of 329 litres of water per day? You can calculate the specific amount of water your household uses per year with the following calculator:
http://goblue.zerofootprint.net/

May 1st to 7th is 'Drinking Water Week'! During this week, we challenge ourselves as well as others to make an extra effort to conserve water. Here are some things we can do together:

• Take shorter showers  (try shortening to 2 minute showers). Or just shower in pairs ;)
• Turn off the tap when brushing teeth, shaving etc.
• When washing dishes by hand: half fill one sink with cold water and one sink with hot water instead of running the tap constantly
• When washing fruits and veggies: fill the sink with a shallow layer of water instead of running the tap
• Wash your car with a bucket instead of a hose
• If its yellow let it mellow

We are challenging ourselves to take 2 minute showers for an entire week...or longer! We are also going to drink the recommended daily amount of water (8- 9 glasses). Why? Because 'Drinking Water Week' is as much about conservation as it is about health. We encourage you to do the same!


We are going to visit our water shed soon to learn more about where our water comes from and other ways we can conserve it... stay tuned for our video!

Learn more about "Drinking Water Week":

http://www.bcwwa.org/dww-about.html

Learn more about Metro Vancouver's water sheds: 

http://www.metrovancouver.org/SERVICES/WATER/SOURCE/Pages/default.aspx

FIGHT AGAINST PRIVATIZATION! KEEP WATER AS A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT! 

Until next time,

Under A Tree

aka Marie-Claire and Hannah

100 Mile Easter Dinner

In the month of April, there are very few vegetables and even fewer fruits that grow within British Columbia's Fraser Valley. However, with the help of my family, we managed to serve a delicious "100 mile" turkey dinner with only a few exceptions.
The ingredients:

Salad
Lettuce: Windset Farms, Delta
Cucumbers: local hot house
Pea Shoots: Misty Mountains Farm, Richmond
Tomatoes: hot house, Delta
Stuffing
Chives: our garden
Oregano: our garden
Leaks: our garden
Parsley: our garden
Mushrooms: Misty Mountains Farm, Richmond
Bread*
Mashed Potatoes
Potatoes: British Columbia
Milk: Avalon Dairy Ltd., Fraser Valley
Turkey
Turkey: JD Farms, Langley
Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp
Rolled Oats: Chilliwack
Honey: Sweetcane by Everland, Burnaby
Flour: Anita's Organics, Chilliwack
Butter: Avalon Dairy Ltd, Fraser Valley
Rhubarb: our garden
Strawberries (frozen from last summer): Emma Lea Farm, Richmond
Yogurt: Fraser Meadow, Agassiz Harrison Valley

*" A Bread Affair" in Vancouver makes 100 mile bread, but we found this brand after making the stuffing

Where did we buy these ingredients?
Choices: Burnaby
Donald's Market: Quay, New Westminster
Drive Organics: Commercial Drive, Vancouver
Sweet Cherubim Natural: Commercial Drive, Vancouver

To avoid the extra carbon emissions it would take to drive to all these stores and gather the ingredients, we used transit and our walking shoes!

yum
until next time,

half of a tree

aka Hannah

Party for the Planet!

Check out this brilliant video about our experience at a carbon-neutral-earth-day celebration! You are gonna wish you went...hopefully next year it will happen again! If it looks like we are having your kind of fun, go check out other earth-friendly events near you. You'd be surprised how many you can find these days. Or perhaps, if none are already happening, you could make an event of your own!

Until next time,

Under A Tree

aka Marie-Claire and Hannah

Waste Verdict

After going to Southern United States for 6 days, a place where Styrofoam is a necessity and recycling is a foreign word, the small amount of garbage we produced during the 'paste your waste' challenge seems insignificant. However,after recording the amount of hidden garbage displayed the harsh reality: PLASTIC IS EVERYWHERE! The amount of products we use every day that are doused in plastic and swimming in chemicals is disgusting, almost inevitable...but not inescapable! There are countless products we can stop buying. To avoid being overly overwhelmed try starting with these:

AVOID COMPLETELY
Bottled Water...the most ridiculous of all products
Granola Bars...closer to a chocolate bar than oatmeal anyways
Disposable Cups...challenge yourself to bring your own thermos everywhere. Some coffee shops will even give you a discount!
Plastic Shopping Bags...If you can carry it to the counter, you can carry it to your car! If you are incapable, bring a large purse or a reusable shopping bag.
Plastic Garbage Bags...so let me get this straight, before we send our plastic to sit in a landfill, we cover it in another layer of plastic..? Is it to make sure our garbage has the greatest impact on the environment possible?
Plastic Wrap...yuck...please use Tupperware.

We have already discontinued our use of bottled water, granola bars and plastic bags! Our challenge now is to avoid disposable cups, plastic wrap, zip lock bags and paper towel. We are also going to use reusable bags for produce (available at IGA).

WE CHALLENGE YOU TO DO THE SAME!

Until next time,

Under A Tree

Words of Wisdom

 "Eco" comes from the Greek word oikos, meaning home. Ecology is the study of home, while economics is the management of home. Ecologists attempt to define the conditions and principles that  govern life's ability to flourish through time and change. Societies and our constructs, like economics, must adapt to those fundamentals defined by ecology. The challenge today is to put the "eco" back into economics and every aspect of our lives.

David Suzuki
The Sacred Balance, 2007

 I came across the above quote while reading "The Sacred Balance" by David Suzuki. I have thus far only read up to page 47, but I have already placed 11 sticky notes marking passages that made me say "WOW". His insightful philosophy brings spirituality back into the increasingly scientific views of our earth. I understand now that taking care of the earth is not the same as following the care instructions when doing the laundry or bringing the family car in for an oil change. Truly taking care of the earth is like placing a bandage on your child's knee or hugging a friend who's having a good sob. Despite the physical, chemical and biological patterns examined by scientists, our earth has an unpredictable, passionate and lovable spirit that must be respected.                                          

Sincerely,

Half of a Tree

aka Hannah

           

Hidden Waste Challenge

Last week's challenge revealed the waste we physically placed in the garbage can. This week, our goal is to reveal our "hidden" waste: the products we use on a daily basis that are eventually thrown out. This includes shampoo, milk jugs, ketchup, face cleanser etc. This will be a challenging challenge, but it will help us brainstorm alternatives to these disposable products.

Wish us luck!

Under A Tree

aka Hannah and Marie-Claire

Our Waste Is Pasted Verdict

This week's challenge was eye opening! At the beginning of the week, it felt like we weren't throwing much away. But as spring break accelerated, so did our production of waste. It's amazing how much garbage one take-out/fast food meal can produce! For us, it has become a physical and emotional pain to throw things away. When you start thinking about what you throw in the can, it really puts into context the amount of garbage we as humans produce; garbage that will sit in our landfills for a much longer time than it takes to unwrap a chocolate bar.

Here they are, the much anticipated results:

Hannah's Week of Waste

Monday: 2 tissues
               Dental floss
               Candy wrapper
Recycling: 1st page of my garbage diary
                 Toilet paper roll
Tuesday: Craisin's package
               2 tissues
               Paper towel
               Dental floss
Wednesday: 8 tissues
                  Kinder surprise wrapper
                  Paper towel
                  Dental floss
 Recycling: Ginger ale can
                  Bus ticket
Thursday: Blenz cup and lid
                2 candy wrappers
                Dental floss
Friday: A&W -cup, lid, straw, chicken strips container, fries container, 2 napkins
           1 tissue
           Dental floss
Recycling: Random advertisement in the A&W bag
                Straw wrapper
                A&W bag
Saturday: 2 tissues
                Dental floss
Recycling: Hot sauce bottle
                Dip container
                Paper
Sunday: 3 plastic bags
             Dental floss
             Granola bar wrapper
Recycling: Happy Planet bottle

Marie-Claire's Week Of Waste

Monday: 1 tissue
              White Spot- burger wrapper, plastic drink cup, fries container, plastic coleslaw container, straw
Tuesday: 3 tissues
Wednesday: 4 tissues
                    Dental Floss
Thursday: 3 tissues
                1 napkin
                Plastic wrap on sandwich
Friday: 1 napkin
            1 sticker
            4 tissues
Saturday: 2 tissues
               1 napkin
               2 plastic wraps for cheese
               Pringles lid
Recycling: Pringles container
Sunday: 5 tissues
            
Wow!

Yuck! 

That's gross!

We challenge you to do better than us!

Until next time,

Under A Tree

aka Marie-Claire and Hannah


          
               

                
              

Paste Your Waste Challenge!

This week's challenge involves diaries, feelings, emotions, sentiments and waste. We are going to track the amount of garbage we produce by writing it in a journal. This includes every item thrown into a garbage or recycling bin, but does not include compost and toilet paper . At the end of the week, we will review our diaries..awww...and reflect! By doing so we hope to find ways that we can cut back or minimize the amount of waste we produce.

Until next time,

Under A Tree
aka Marie-Claire and Hannah

Ghost Power Verdict!

This past week's challenge proved to be...well...a challenge. There were certain inconveniences that came with unplugging regularly used appliances. For example, Hannah's family had to turn their heads to look at the clock, instead of reading the microwave's time. On a more serious note, it's hard to change the routine of, not only yourself, but your entire family. We found that the following were the easiest to keep up with:
1) CD player
2) alarm clock
3) cell phone charger
4) toaster (oven)
5) computers/ televisions/ DVD players/ VCR players that are not used regularly

Bottom line is, take inventory of what you use often and finds ways to UNPLUG the rest!

Until next time,

Under A Tree
aka Marie-Claire and Hannah

Phantom Power Challenge!

This weeks's challenge is to unplug all those silly electronics who are pulling power from our outlits 24 hours a day. Certain electronics and appliances use electricity even when they're switched to "standby" or powered off. The best way to stop this waste of energy is to unplug after use.

This week ( March 14th to 20th) we will unplug the following between each use:
1) Alarm Clocks- Hannah's spare room, Marie-Claire's room
2) Washing Machines- Both Hannah's and Marie-Claire's house  

3) Computers- Hannah's basement and Marie-Claire's computer

4) Microwaves-Hannah radioactive ovens

5) Computer Speakers- Marie-Claire's computer

6) Video game units- Marie-Claire's Wii and X-box

7) Televisions-Hannah's basement and upstairs (everything will be unplugged except satellite)

                    - Marie-Claire's television

8) Cell phone chargers- we already unplug these, but its worth mentioning.
9) Toaster Oven- Hannah's kitchen
10) CD player-Hannah's bedroom

Not only do we challenge you to take this initiative and save large amounts of wasted energy, we challenge you to tell everyone you know! Why? Because according to BC Hydro, Ghost power can account for 10% of the average home's annual energy consumption....and thats pretty spooky.

Until next time,

Under A Tree

aka Marie-Claire and Hannah

Taste Your Paste Verdict

SUCCESS!

After a week of brushing our teeth- morning and night- with our homemade toothpaste conconction, our smiles feel sustainable and squeaky clean. We have decided to continue using this toothpaste on a regular basis!

There has been some concern about the lack of fluoride in homemade toothpaste. However, we recently discovered that fluoride is all talk and no action. Apparently fluoride has more environmental and health risks than it does benefits. We could be wrong as there are two sides to every story, so we will continue to research this topic. But for now, we wont be stressing about our enamel as much as our planet.

WE CHALLENGE YOU to make your own toothpaste!

Until next time,

Under A Tree

aka  Marie-Claire and Hannah

Toothpaste Challenge!

For our first challenge ever we have decided to...make our own toothpaste! Why? Well, it may seem random and insignificant but if you think about it, toothpaste is something we all use every single day, at least 2 times a day (hopefully). Imagine how many toothpaste tubes our population must go through! Also, If you've ever read the ingredients on the back of a toothpaste tube you'd know there are all sorts of chemicals that are being spit down the drain that may be harmful. We started our challenge yesterday (Sunday, March 6th) and will continue until this coming Sunday. If all goes well and we don't have terrible breath/ cavities/ yellow teeth, we hope to make this an ongoing part of our routine. We challenge you to do the same! 

Our potion ( a week's supply) :

7 teaspoons baking soda

3 teaspoons of salt ( if you can take it)

4 drops peppermint extract 

as much TAP WATER as needed to make a paste.

note: these ingredients can be altered according to personal preference. Also, bottled water does not work, only tap water. Thank you.

Until next time, 

Under A Tree

aka Marie-Claire and Hannah