On the Eve of Earth Day, I have a Challenge for You! (52 weeks to a better bank account by going green)

We know the press is all over Earth Day.
How could they miss it?

In the last three decades environmentalism has gone from a loonie leftie concept to mainstream common sense...and rightly so.

Long before recycling became the norm my ma used to take her empty containers to the health food store and re-use the plastic bins, rather than buy a new tub. She was raised on an Irish farm, which is the equivalent of saying that nothing went to waste...how could it with eight children to feed, not including the livestock. (I was also stunned to learn that the store owner at the now-closed St. Clair and Bathurst health food store actually remembered my ma, 20 years later, and recognized me after I spent only five minutes in the store looling for spelt spread...now THAT'S a community relationship!).

Still, my ma instilled in my brother and I a respect for the planet and a respect for the dollar.

Now a new book by money-guru David Bach is out and it professes to appeal to the green capitalist in all of us.

Only half way through (and it's an easy, easy read) and I believe the man might be on to something.

Not that it is revolutionary or new...but it can and does appeal to EVERYONE...not just the environmentalist.

It's a way of respecting our resources, while respecting our earnings...of course...it's right up my alley...because it's underlying message is about responsibility.

Saying this, Mr. Bach has not done all his homework (for example, tip #5 suggests switching to bio-diesel. The problem with this is corn-based ethanol, which is what most of North American bio-diesel is made from, is extremely harmful to the environment...not the fuel itself but the production, shipment and destruction the increasing corn crops are having on the planet, the food supply and the irrigation systems in North America...more on that later). He does, however, provide some good, solid options.

In the next 52 weeks, I will share one option a week....one good option that I glean from either Bach's book or from other tried, tested and true experts. It will be a chance for us to either adopt, change or remove an expensive and wasteful practice from our life and a chance to slowly integrate cost-saving measures that make us more responsible for the rest of our lives.

That first option will start tomorrow on Earth Day.

The rest of the time, I will continue to offer insights and opinions on all matters affecting responsible living: from green initiatives, sad human rights situations, addictions and tools and examples of responsible living in the world today.

And if you have a tip, insight or suggestion, share it...we could all use a little humility by learning to listen.

Eco-weddings -- book review and lifestyle challenge!

Ladies and gents, the weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer and for many rose-blushed brides-to-be the season of matrimony is upon us.

For those not quite in the know Spring is wedding planning season -- and why not? Who doesn't turn their attention to all things new and exciting when tulips are in bloom and basements are awash in ground-water flooding (snow melt, in case there are those who have spent their entire responsible life in a multi-floor condo complex).

And, right on cue, comes a new book to help even the most traditional weddings become clean, green environmental machines.

Now, I just want to say upfront: I did not buy this book. The book was offered as a review selection from Random House. With that admission up front, I feel quite comfortable in stating that this book truly is a great preliminary overview and introduction into thinking green about the whole wedding day. First, the book dismantles the notion that green weddings are part of the granola and patchouli crowd. It allows us the ability to imagine the big day in all its apparent, traditional glory without sacrificing our values.

For example, author Emily Elizabeth Anderson starts off by explaining the enormous financial impact the wedding industry has on our economy. This brief overview helps us, as consumers, understand that our economic vote really does have an impact in how the marital industry conducts itself. While many organic, ethical or sustainable options currently have a premium attached to them, the notion that green weddings are an exception, rather than the rule, does not need to persist. Just as organic food, once the luxury of the well-heeled or the green-thumbed, is now a staple in all good grocery stores in North America, so can green-wedding options become part of the norm. What Anderson does is help us a) see our power as consumers and b) help this power become a less-stressful reality with simple, universal and easy to use options.

For example, Anderson suggests methods for cutting the cost, while sticking with sustainable choices (her suggestions are in italics, my added rational is not):

*Using in-season flowers. This saves on price (out of season flowers must be exported and are at a premium) and certainly eliminates the massive environmental impact of shipping in non-local flowers.
*Eliminating the save-the-date card. This not only saves postage (think about 150 invites/cards at $0.52 a piece PLUS stationary cost!) but also many, many trees. While many people recycle these days, the fact is the reduce option (out of reduce, reuse and recycle) is the most effective sustainable option. Even with recycling, trees must be harvested and used to produce the paper and eventually this recycled paper must end up in landfill (wood-pulp paper can only be recycled 5 to 7 times before the fibres are too weak to make new products). A paperless option eliminates this entire cycle and helps keep waste to an absolute minimum.
*Don’t purchase items you will only use at the wedding; instead, invest in dresses, shoes, or glassware you will alter and reuse. This was a mantra my mother taught me many, many moons ago. In fact, my prom dress is STILL a staple in my cocktail attire (yes, yes, it is a classic cut and a powerfully sexy dress!) and a constant reminder that a well thought out purchase can be reused many times without losing its charm.
*Opt for ethical jewellery options - such as non-diamond based (or Canadian mined) jewellery and ethically mined gold adornments. This is, perhaps, one of the most powerful suggestions in the book -- because the stigma around the diamond is so strong in our culture. The fact is diamonds do have a nasty environmental and ethical history. Even with media awareness, the diamond industry is still on tenuous ethical grounds, given the poor working conditions and the continued guerrilla warfare that occurs in diamond-mining nations. As such, Anderson's suggestion to scrap the sparkly is akin to a revolutionary coup in wedding culture -- a suggestion whose time has come. I particularly appreciated her generalized and fairly apolitical insight into the difficulties of gold and diamond industry and her "this celebrity does it" examples.

And there are other, many, many other, suggestions found in the book.

Now, saying all this, I would be remiss to not offer two, albeit, minor criticisms about the book.

First, the book is a PRELIMINARY overview. For the rather affordable price (under $20) it is an excellent prepatory source for the happy couple-to-be. However, the exact sourcing out of sustainable options must still be done by bride and groom. Thankfully, however, the book does provide a plethora of online sources. Second, I found the discussion on honeymoon options rather juvenile. The fact is, one of the major sources of environmental damage is travel -- particularly global travel. Yet, many of Anderson's options included jetting off to some remote, green-tourist site without mention that getting to and fro is perhaps the most damaging aspect of the trip. Still, Anderson did offer questions to help people BEGIN the process of questioning their choices, even in the transportation aspect of wedding-day options, and this, to me, is the start of conscientious change.

All in all, out of four RRRR's I would give this book a three RRR rating.

Eco-Chic Weddings
Simple Tips to Plan an Environmentally Friendly, Socially Responsible, Affordable, and Stylish Celebration
Written by Emily Elizabeth Anderson
Category: Reference - Weddings
Format: Trade Paperback, 168 pages
Publisher: Hatherleigh Press
ISBN: 978-1-57826-240-3 (1-57826-240-2)

Pub Date: January 2, 2007
Price: $16.00

Going green with Green Day

Punk rock is more than a fashion statement. While 'hawks, studs and pins became the visual symbol of the anti-status-quo, the rants and raves were the ideological rational for the less-than-angry music style. Enter pop-punk. This was the feel good, boppy punk that dominated the 90s. It started with Green Day and exploded with replica bands (namely: Blink 192, Sum 41, etc. etc). While these bands paid homage to punk roots, they borrowed the light and fluffy attitudes of pop to make the music more accessible to everyday kids (not just the angst-ridden trench-coat crowd).

But this is life -- and art, like life, comes full circle. Even as Green Day toured Canada on the 1998 Edgefest tour (and, yes, I was there...for each and every show) the kids from California were beginning to understand the power and prevalence of punk -- anti-authority, anti-corporate, socially relavent punk.

Now, in the 21st century the band that launched a musical style is turning back to its punk-rock roots. It started with the release of their last album, and was recently supported by their decision to promote clean and green.

In a press statement, release yesterday, Green Day announced their partnership with Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to urge young music fans to demand clean, renewable energy solutions. The rockers hope their latest cause will help break America's "dangerous dependence on oil".

Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong stated: "This campaign is about channelling the power of millions into something positive and powerful. People are sick of our oil addiction and feel like nobody is doing anything about it. The solutions are there, the support is there, but the leadership is not."

OK -- so the whole idea of formal partnership and corporate messaging goes against the pure-punk attitude of grassroots and underground; and so the call for positive solutions is a little different than the angry demand for destruction and dismantling of society and its values -- but the sentiment (to change the status quo) is as punk as you can get. Green is the new anti-corporate and punk is the ideal medium to get kids on board.

For more information on the Green Day initiative go to:
www.GreenDayNRDC.com