I started by eliminating plastic bags, water bottles .After seeing the movie " Bag it" last night I want nothing to do with any kind of plastic. I made a list of things I use daily that contain or are plastic. Interestingly enough the two biggest categories that contained plastic in their usage were food and toiletry items. Currently I m searching for other alternatives to everything on my list...

On Feb 7th 2011, I decided to take a shot in the dark and started an environmental volunteer group on meetup.com. My goal is to gather volunteers to participate in hands-on stewardship activities in partnership with metro vancouver parks, city parks, charities, non-profits and stewardship groups.

some of the activities include:

• Pulling invasive plants that are overtaking our native flora
• Planting of native plants/trees
• Restoring areas along a stream, river, marsh or shoreline
• Beach/River/lake clean up
• Harvesting organic fruits/veggies
• Trail building/maintenance
• Restoration of wildlife sites

What will volunteers get out of it?

• Meet like-minded people
• Feel good getting your hands dirty and being active in something you believe in
• Educate yourself about natural spaces and the environmental problems they face
• Learn first-hand about work being done in the lower mainland by different environmental groups
• Get the experience of a variety of stewardship activities
• Restore a natural space from a damaged state
• Be trained in stewardship practices
• Explore a nature space you may have never been to before
• Realise the benefits of working together with others
• Learn about environmental activities other group members are involved in
• Get physical exercise
• Have fun!

Ultimately, the success of this group is contingent on whether people jump aboard and participate. So far (it's March 27th 2011 today) it's been great with 164 members signed up to participate and 3 events are already under our belt (I listed these under "my success stories") I would love for the group to grow.

the change I want to ultimately make is bring people together to enable them to positively impact the environment.

I want to be more sustainable by using less electricity, water, plastic, & by addressing other sustainability issues. Not only do I want to change my actions, but I hope to influence others and to build a closer community.

This change is in addition to my change "Help Plant 1000 Trees". I figure that in order to assure the health of the forest I want to plant, I need to help maintain the health of current local forest patches. My mission is to set out and pick up litter in the little neglected patches of forests that run through Nanaimo, areas that are littered by neighbours and nightly teenage strolls.

Bring any mobile phone, battery or accessory, irrespective of carrier, into your local Telus store, and they'll plant a tree for FREE!

Starting next week I will be advertising drop-off locations around Nanaimo for broken and unwanted phones. Help my campaign to plant a new forest in BC this year!

For those of you reading this outside the Regional District of Nanaimo and inspired to lend your support by dropping off your old phones at a Telus location, please drop a comment that you did so and I will add your donation to the total count.

Thanks and remember: know green, no waste!

Paper and ribbons and tape oh my!

We all get stuck in the holiday trends: shiny new toys, name brands, exciting wrapping paper and curly ribbons. Here's a call out to the alternative: gifts from the heart.

Just because we're not in grade-school anymore doesn't mean we're too old for arts and crafts. Ask any parent, grandparent, friend or child and they will all agree that a home-made gift has a rich, special quality to it.

This year, I propose we find treasures in the recycling, paint a picture, write a poem, sew, put a book together - whatever stirs your creativity.

The excuses and reasons of why some people still don't recycle seem to pile up quicker than the waste in our landfills. Facts and stats have no impact on those who don't care or couldn't be bothered. I've nagged, I've explained and I've simplified the process - going as far helping my family get set up for weekly recycling pick-up. To no avail, I leave feeling defeated.

I regroup and reconstruct the way I approach the issue: Lead by example!

Now, instead of reminding and rolling my eyes, I pack up their recycling and bring it home for my bi-weekly pick-up. Currently, I load up on recycling every time I visit my mom for a weekend, and I pick through the garbage all day at work, pulling out milk jugs, plastic containers, tins and bags. At the end of the work-day, you can find me busing it home with my bag of recyclables. Over the past three weeks, I have kept 14 full black garbage bags out of the landfill. I estimate to save 260 full bags of recycling over the year.

The bonus to all this: the girls I work with have started bringing me the milk jugs instead of throwing them in the can.

The excuses and reasons of why some people still don't recycle seem to pile up quicker than the waste in our landfills. Facts and stats have no impact on those who don't care or couldn't be bothered. I've nagged, I've explained and I've simplified the process - going as far helping my family get set up for weekly recycling pick-up. To no avail, I leave feeling defeated.

I regroup and reconstruct the way I approach the issue: Lead by example!

Now, instead of reminding and rolling my eyes, I pack up their recycling and bring it home for my bi-weekly pick-up. Currently, I load up on recycling every time I visit my mom for a weekend, and I pick through the garbage all day at work, pulling out milk jugs, plastic containers, tins and bags. At the end of the work-day, you can find me busing it home with my bag of recyclables. Over the past three weeks, I have kept 14 full black garbage bags out of the landfill. I estimate to save 260 full bags of recycling over the year.

The bonus to all this: the girls I work with have started bringing me the milk jugs instead of throwing them in the can.

Tired of constantly hearing about environmental issues and feeling helpless to do anything about it? Here is a constructive way to direct your energy!

We’re a group of people from all over the Lower Mainland who get together once a month (sometimes more) to help an environmental group, non-profit organization, charity or city tackle an environmental issue that needs co-operation and teamwork to get done. Gloves and tools will be supplied as well as refreshments! If you care about the environment, this is the group for you! All ages welcome!! Some activities will include:

• Pulling invasive plants that are overtaking our native flora
• Planting of native plants/trees
• Restoring areas along a stream, river, marsh or shoreline
• Beach/River/lake clean up
• Harvesting organic fruits/veggies
• Trail building/maintenance
• Restoration of wildlife sites

What will you get out of it? Here are a few things we think you’ll get. You’ll..

• Meet like-minded people
• Feel good getting your hands dirty and being active in something you believe in
• Educate yourself about natural spaces and the environmental problems they face
• Learn first-hand about work being done in the lower mainland by different environmental groups
• Get the experience of a variety of stewardship activities
• Restore a natural space from a damaged state
• Be trained in stewardship practices
• Explore a nature space you may have never been to before
• Realise the benefits of working together with others
• Learn about environmental activities other group members are involved in
• Get physical exercise
• Have fun!

go to http://www.meetup.com/the-lower-mainland-green-team

Our goal is to drive less as a family and do our part in making changes to our daily life. We have put a cap on our kilometer usage, we drive a small fuel efficient car, and we allow ourselves 500 km per month. This is about 1 tank of gas a month for us. On our worst month, we use about 1000km. So this commitment could cut our usage in half.