Holiday Trash
December 17, 2009
It’s true.
We generate a huge amount of trash during the holidays, all in the name of giving.
Metro Vancouver is encouraging us to cut down on our holiday trash.
Here are some suggestions:
- Give great gifts, but don’t buy garbage. When trying to decide between two gifts, choose the one with the least amount of packaging.
- Give the gift of time. Offer your services or expertise as a present. Make dinner, knit a sweater or plan a special day out.
- Give an experience. Dinner, tickets to the movies or a hockey game, or passes to the local skating rink.
- Give a gift that lasts. Pass on a family heirloom or start your own tradition.
- Give a group gift. Pool resources with a few people to give a high quality gift.
- Give a gift wrapped in newspaper. Reuse a ribbon to fancy it up.
- Give your garbage can a break! Visit www.metrovancouverrecycles.org for a comprehensive list of things that can be donated, reused or recycle.
If you’ve got some holiday waste tips, you can share them with others on the Metro Vancouver website. Here are some waste tips already submitted.
Here’s the video they did to get the point across:
Good to Grow – Author Interview
August 25, 2009
Author David Tracey has a new, 6-part series of articles about urban agriculture, currently running in the The Tyee.
The series is called Good to Grow: Raising Food in BC’s Cities.
I recently sat down with David to find out more about the series…
Runs: 11:08
click to play
podcast ISBN: 978-1-926758-02-2
podcast and photo © Bigsnit Media Consulting Inc.
- David Tracey’s website: DavidTracey.ca
- David is the author of Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto
- Good to Grow, a 6-part series in TheTyee.ca
Urban Agriculture podcast
June 27, 2009
I’ve started producing a series of podcasts about Urban Agriculture, hosted by Spring Gillard and David Tracey.
The series is for Spring’s new website, CompostDiaries.com, and will also be available here on VanGoGreen.
We recorded the first in the series on Tuesday at the YWCA downtown’s roof garden. It’s an interesting project, and all the food grown in the garden is taken to a women’s group on the downtown east side. You can read more about the rooftop garden / food project on the Y’s website.
Ted Cathcart runs the project, and he was kind enough to spend an hour with us explaining the project and discussing the challenges.
The podcast runs just over 18 minutes.
click to play
podcast and photo © Bigsnit Media Consulting Inc.
podcast ISBN 978-0-9809054-9-6
Checking-in on Bowen Island’s Eco-Shed
May 26, 2009
It’s just over a year ago that I did a podcast with James Glave regarding his book Almost Green and we toured his, then yet to be finished, eco-shed. (Give the podcast a listen, James is hilarious)
A year later, the Eco-Shed is one of the jewels of Bowen Island, and was even featured in one of Oprah’s magazines.
Whether you’re visiting from thousands of miles away, or from just across Howe Sound, Bowen is a fantastic escape. And you can feel good while you’re there, knowing that your carbon footprint is tiny – eco-tourism in the lap of luxury !
Creator and owner, writer James Glave and I had a catch-up meeting recently aboard my tiny sailboat Madsu at the Bowen government docks.
Here’s the latest on the Eco-Shed, according to James:
Within a couple of weeks guests will be able to help themselves to strawberries and blueberries in the rock garden bed right out their front door. Soon after, they can browse the raspberry patch nearby. We’ll be rolling this fruit into our baked goods that we deliver.
There are guest book entries in flickr.com/ecoshed… including one where the guest created a chinese character for the eco-shed.
Our favourite wine at the moment is blasted church “hatfield’s fuse.”
The weather is gorgeous and paddling season is well underway.
Over the summer I will be improving the rough trail that connects us with Artisan Square… the Artisan Eats bakery cafe, just down and over, is a popular destination.
At some point, James and I should arrange to bring a lucky guest(s) over or back from the island aboard Madsu, lowering the carbon footprint even more.
There are still dates open – so check out the Eco-Shed website, and book your escape now.
Healthy Eating at the Rec Centre
May 1, 2009
Healthy food isn’t the first thing we think of when we picture the concession stand at our local recreation centre.
You are more likely to find fries and burgers than smoothies and salads – which is why so many parents of young children drag their kids past the café area after swimming – out to the car for a more healthy juice box and granola bar. It is also why teens like to hang around, filling up on fries and sweetened flavoured coffees.
That picture is changing.
The Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre in Victoria, British Columbia received a grant to help them transform their concession into one that serves healthy high quality foods.
This involved changing everything from the name, the menu, the food distributors, the kitchen equipment, servery and seating, to getting ride of the vending machines in the immediate area. Also key to the transformation was changing people’s ideas about healthy quality foods.
Springwell Nutrition Group, a team of registered dietitians with a holistic edge, were contracted to develop nutritional guidelines, a new menu and recipes, and to provide onsite nutrition education materials to support the transition.
What is Quality Food ?
First on the list was defining “What is quality, healthy food?” Something that goes beyond categorizing foods as green, yellow or red foods; something more holistic.
Juan de Fuca and Springwell decided to support a broader view of nutritional health, supporting quality foods – those that contain no artificial colours, flavours, preservatives and sweeteners.
They also believed that where food is grown, how it is grown, how it is transported, sold and ultimately prepared and enjoyed are all part of an integrated definition of what is nutritious.
Nutritional guidelines for the café that reflected these values were developed. The guidelines are similar to those used in leading natural foods stores and cafes such as Capers Whole Foods Markets. And yes, they work on a small level!
People are ready – vendors, distributors, cooks and customers – are all ready to take nutrition and health to the next level.
We just need more models of how it’s done and how to do it. Imagine, making money and having happy healthy people enjoying real food!
(click the photo for larger version. photos courtesy Victoria Pawlowski)
Café Fresh at JdF Nutritional Guidelines
All products sold are made with natural and/or organic real food ingredients,
without artificial flavours, colours, preservatives or sweeteners
Locally grown, locally sourced and locally manufactured ingredients and products are used whenever possible. Local is defined (in order of preference) as made within:
- Greater Victoria
- Vancouver Island
- Southern BC
- Pacific Northwest
- Canada
Fairly traded imported products are served (coffee, sugar, bananas, chocolate)
Cooking oils are mechanically pressed and/or organic including olive oil; grapeseed oil and organic canola oil
Breads and bread products are made with natural and/or organic sprouted whole grains
Yogurts are organic with live culture probiotics and less than 3.5% milk fat
Nuts, seeds, trail mix are raw or dry roasted, without added salt or oil
Baked products (whether made on site or outsourced) contain:
- at least 50% whole grain unbleached organic sprouted grain flours and
- at least one nutritional booster: fresh or naturally dried fruit; nuts or nut butter; seeds or seed butter; chia seeds; oatmeal; oat and/or wheat bran.
- natural whole food sweeteners such as honey, blackstrap molasses, maple syrup; raw sugar/organic fair trade sugar
Beverages served are natural and/or organic without artificial ingredients
- Coffee – organic/fair trade, locally roasted
- Tea – organic black, green, white and herbal (mint, chamomile, rooibos)
- Fruit juices – only real fruit juice with no added sugars or colors, etc.
- Sodas – natural source i.e. Organic Jones Sodas, Flavoured San Pellegrino
- Vegetable juices – V-8 and tomato juices (not Splash)
- Water – natural bottled waters (without added salt)
Real dishes are used for onsite eating
Take out containers and utensils are recycleable
Bins are available to recycle bottles, cans, and containers
Customers are offered a 10 cent discount for bringing their own cups/containers
REAL FOOD TASTES GREAT!
FEBRUARY 7, 14, 21, 28 and MARCH 7, 2009 | Create a Potager Garden
January 11, 2009
Explore the delights of the potager garden: vegetable gardening using French flair. The five sessions include hands on exercises for planning and cultivating a garden of edible ornamentals in your back yard, balcony or deck.
COST: $135 members, $150 non-members.,
TIME: 9:30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
LOCATION: Vandusen Botanical Garden. 5251 Oak Street (at West 37th Ave.), Vancouver.
Feb 28 | Seedy Saturday at VanDusen Gardens
January 11, 2009
A celebration of heritage varieties and organic gardening featuring more than 30 growers, seed companies and exhibitors. Heritage Seed Swap. Great Bean Count. Admission by donation. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Vandusen Botanical Garden. 5251 Oak Street (at West 37th Ave.), Vancouver.
FEB 1 | Chinese New Year Parade
January 11, 2009
Bring the family for a cultural experience, and a day of fun. 2009 is the Year of the Ox:
Venue: Chinatown, Vancouver
Time: 10:00am-4:00pm
Van Go Green’s top 5 green giving tips.
December 10, 2008
We challenge you to dig deeper and make a difference this holiday season. Many of us have already done our holiday shopping, but as you rush around to buy your final gifts, plan parties, and prepare for festive dinners challenge yourself to do things differently.
BCIT Gets Green Nod
November 26, 2008
A UK magazine has named BCIT “Canada’s Greenest” campus.
All right !
If making it a competition means more institutions will become greener, I’m all for it
BCIT won the gold green star from Achieving Business Excellence magazine – a UK based magazine that recently did an article on Canada’s Greenest Campuses.
“I am thrilled that Achieving Business Excellence has featured BCIT as Canada’s greenest campuses,” says Jennie Moore, director of Sustainable Development and Environmental Stewardship within the BCIT School of Construction and the Environment (SoCE). “It is thanks to the foresight and team approach between BCIT operations and academics that we are reducing our footprint.” read the full press release
Congrats to BCIT.
The article is on page 63 of the hard-copy version of the magazine.
They do have a very fancy flash version of the magazine online – you know, with pages that turn – essentially what looks like a PDF on steroids. It looks great but it’s really tricky getting the pages sized so that you can actually read the copy.
A little tip: use this direct link instead, and you’ll get a larger version without having to futz with the pop-up window on the magazine site.
