celebrating 40 local actions for Earth Day's 40th b-day

In honour of Earth Day's 40th birthday how about celebrating 40 great local actions...big or small. OK, so I don't ramble on too long, I’ll start with 4, and I invite you to add to the list:

1. three cheers for Vancity branch staff, Kat, Linda, Victor, Summer & others that volunteer to organize sale of Green Zebra Savings Guides at their branches. Sale of these coupon books raises funds for a wonderful local not-for-profit, TB Vets...AND it helps gets folks shopping at local 'green' businesses. Got your Green Zebra yet? http://www.greenzebraguide.ca/

2. big shout out to the Strathcona Business Improvement Association (SBIA)...and the kool local businesses in that part of town that are finding that one business' trash is another's treasure. They're trading packaging & other reusable goods & materials to keep waste out of the landfill. That shrinks costs for business AND their enviro footprint. It’s all part of SBIA's vision for a green business zone: http://www.strathconabia.com/sustainability.php#Goals

3. "hip hip" for ClimateSmart Business...a great local org that's trained more than 180 small-to-medium size enterprises to measure and manage their carbon footprint. Vancity has been proud to sponsor some of our own business members to participate in this training program because we recognize that small biz sometimes needs a little help to be part of climate change solutions. Check out http://www.climatesmartbusiness.com

And...

4. if you weren't there you missed some fun days in the dirt. Kudos to United We Can, Projects in Place and Building Opportunities for Business (BOB) -3 super local orgs that rallied volunteers to build SOLEfood Inner-City Farm out of a desolate parking lot on East Hastings. SOLEfood's creating local food and jobs on the DTES. Check it out: http://1sole.wordpress.com/about-3/