Water conservation: Why Canada needs a national strategy

Very interesting article on how Canada needs to implement a water conservation policy. The idea that Canada's supply of fresh water is never ending is debunked. http://www.canadianliving.com/life/green_living/water_conservation_why_canada_needs_a_national_strategy.php

July 1St Canada Day Checklist

With one of the biggest travel weekends of the year impending, many folks are loading up the RV, hitching up the trailer and hitting the road or heading out to the cottage . We all know RV's, trailers and cottages can be more than rustic and are in fact are homes away from home. Below is a quick list of 2010 must haves for your July 1st Canada Day road trip or mini holiday.

Say Hello to The Queen,  Her Majesty, Elizabeth II and The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who are currently in Canada on a Royal visit. They will be celebrating Canada Day Festivities in Ottawa, and in Toronto on Sunday July 4, 2010 for the Queen's Plate Click here for info on the Queen's Plate  




1. Great Food (check out some excellent recipes)
2. Oxygenics® BodySpa® Shower Head (this shower head is perfect for an RV setting click here for more info) (Click here)
3. Citronella Candle (to keep away those nasty mosquito's)
4. Light Reading (Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda or Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel)
5. The Martini Club -Pink Tarragon (Click here for recipe)
6. Make sure your CAA ® membership is up to date http://www.caa.ca/home-e.cfm
7. Drink lots of water, no need for plastic bottles use a Brita® water pitcher, it stores easily in your refrigerator and can be used time and time again http://www.brita.com 
8. Make sure you use sunscreen when your out and about. Use one with a rating of SBF (Serum Blocking Factor) of 45 or higher especially if you are fair skinned. http://www.aveeno.ca   

Enjoy your holiday, and travel safe!

Summer is Here Let The Drinking Begin!!!

Water that is. As the weather heats up so does our risk to dehydration. The human body is 60 to 70 percent water. When a person doesn't drink enough water, it can have negative effects on the body and the way it operates. Not drinking enough water affects your health. According to www.naturodoc.com humans can survive without food for a whopping two months, but can only go without water for a few days before bodily functions are compromised. Among other things, water flushes out toxins in the body and keeps essential organs moist so they can function.

How Much Water Should People Drink per Day?

Most people live in a state of dehydration and don't even know it, according to www.naturodoc.com. However, if people follow the general recommendation to consume eight to ten glasses of water a day, they can stay properly hydrated. This water intake should be spread throughout the day so there isn't the constant urge to head to the bathroom.

Canadians wanting to do something about the environment can start by drinking tap water, environmentalist David Suzuki says.

Key environmental issues with bottled water, Suzuki said, are waste and uncertainty over the long-term health effects created by plastic.

"Not only does bottled water lead to unbelievable pollution — with old bottles lying all over the place — but plastic has chemicals in it," he said.

"Plastics are ubiquitous. I don't believe that plastics are not involved in a great deal of the health problems that we face today."

So by using tap water which is readily available and a stainless steel environmentally friendly water bottle that is BPA free (check out www.otterbottle.ca  for many water bottle options) you can stay hydrated, save money and save the environment.

Happy drinking and pleasant summer!!!!

Tips for an Eco-Friendly Bathroom

Most individuals use -and waste -more water in the bathroom than in any other room in the house. Add all that water use with polluting soaps and shampoos, the energy used to heat the water, and more- and your bathroom could be doing damage to the environment.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are many things you can do to bring a little green into your bathroom. Here are just a few.

Energy-efficient light bulbs. Fluorescent bulbs are 90% more efficient than incandescents. Incandescent bulbs lose most of their energy as heat—which makes them a fire hazard as well.

The best lighting for a bathroom is bright enough to let you shave or apply makeup without squinting, but soft enough to look flattering while you do it. Choose bright white energy-saver bulbs, and soften the light by hanging them at eye level on either side of the mirror or putting them behind frosted glass.

Dual-flush toilets. Most new toilets use about seven or eight litres of water every time you flush. Older toilets use 9-12 litres. However, you don’t need this much water to flush a toilet.

If you want to save water, replace your toilet with a dual-flush model. Dual-flush toilets have one flush for water waste, and another for solids. Naturally, you need less water to flush water waste.

Faucets that conserve water. Leaky faucets waste millions of litres of water per year, and cost you money as well. To prevent leaks in your bathroom taps, replace your old fixtures with self-closing taps that shut off the water as soon as you stop pressing a button. This ensures your water isn’t left on while you brush your teeth or shave, and it keeps your faucet from leaking.

Think green in the shower. We waste a great deal of water in the shower—plus massive amounts of energy used to heat the water we waste. If you want to save water and save the planet at the same time, consider installing a low-flow energy saving showerhead from Oxygenics.

A typical showerhead delivers 25 litres of water per minute, while a low-flow showerhead delivers only 6 to 15. Cut your shower time in half and use a low-flow showerhead, and you’ll save a great deal of water. Furthermore, by using an Oxygenics showerhead you won’t have to give up any of the flow in your shower to achieve those savings.

Oxygenics shower devices can be attached to your existing plumbing without calling a plumber or using specialized tools. Oxygenics showerheads pump each water droplet full of air. This makes each water droplet bigger, so it feels just as wet and strong as a typical showerhead. Studies show that Oxygenics showers can cut your water use by an additional 30%.

Making your bathroom more eco-friendly doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Making a change in the soaps you use, limiting your time in the shower, and installing water-efficient fixtures can make a big difference. Whether you plan a few simple changes or a big overhaul, a greener bathroom is within your reach.

For more info on a wide range of water and energy saving showerheads visit http://www.oxygenics.ca/ and start saving today.

Environmentally Friendly Lingo Part II

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

Organisms from bacteria, plants or animals which have been genetically changed in a laboratory through DNA technology.

Geothermal

Literally, heat from the earth; energy obtained from the hot areas under the surface of the earth.

Global Weirding - is an increase in severe or unusual environmental activity often attributed to global warming. This includes freakish weather and new animal migration patterns.

Green-Collar Workers people who are inspired to work in the green industry for what might resemble blue-collar wages.

Green Design - a design, usually architectural, conforming to environmentally sound principles of building, material and energy use. A green building, for example, might make use of solar panels, skylights, and recycled building materials.

Greenhouse Effect: The warming of earth’s atmosphere as a result of atmospheric pollution by gases. It is now feared that the warming effects are being undesirably increased by humans, causing climate changes and melting polar icecaps, known as

Global Warming.

Holistic Interior Design / Zen Interior Design

A complimentary way of designing interiors based on achieving a balance between; design principles, human health and well-being and our natural environment.

Life Cycle Assessment - methodology developed to assess a product's full environmental costs, from raw material to final disposal.

Low-Emission Vehicles - vehicles which emit little air pollution compared to conventional internal combustion engines.

Low-Impact Camping - camping that does not damage or change the land, where campers leave no sign that they were on the land.

Managed Growth

Growth or expansion that is controlled so as not to be harmful.

Off-Gassing

Gases released from building materials, finishes and products which are inhaled by humans and animals. Off-gassing causes interior air pollution and is connected to poor health and illness.

Off The Grid or Off-Grid: Living in a self-sufficient way without relying on one or more public utilities.

Organic: Food that is grown without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers. Organic foods are minimally processed without artificial ingredients, preservatives or irradiation to maintain the integrity of the food.

Renewable energy - energy resources such as windpower or solar energy that can keep producing indefinitely without being depleted.

Run-Off - precipitation that the ground does not absorb and that ultimately reaches rivers, lakes or oceans.

Salvage Logging

The logging of dead or diseased trees in order to improve overall forest health; used by timber companies as a rationalization to log otherwise protected areas.

Sustainable: Meeting the needs of the present without damaging the ability of future generations to meet their needs. When a process is sustainable, it can be carried out over and over without negative environmental effects or impossibly high costs.

Sustainable Communities - communities capable of maintaining their present levels of growth without damaging effects.

Sustainable Products - products providing environmental, social and economic benefits while protecting public health, welfare, and environment over their full commercial cycle, from the extraction of raw materials to final disposition.

Telecommuting - working with others via telecommunications technologies (e.g., telephones, modems, faxes) without physically travelling to an office.

To go Green / Green Living

To make both a conscious and active decision to reduce the negative effect on the environment through your own lifestyle choices. A lifestyle intended to ensure that one’s impact on the environment is as minimal as possible.

Traffic Calming - designing streets to reduce automobile speed and to enhance walking and bicycling

Triple Bottom Line (People/Planet/Profit)

Companies who add environmental and social standards into their concerns for profit and performance.

Trip Reduction - reducing the total numbers of vehicle trips, by sharing rides or consolidating trips with diverse goals into fewer trips

Virgin Product

Products that do not contain any recycled content, manufactured with 100% new materials

Watershed

A region or area over which water flows into a particular lake, reservoir, stream, or river.

Zero Emission Vehicles

Vehicles (usually powered by electricity) with no direct emissions from tailpipes or fuel evaporation.

For the Entire Month of May in honour of “Earth Month” we are waving shipping and handling charges on all orders placed by phone. Please call 416-829-1761 to save on shipping and handling.

How You Can Save 20%-70% A Month On Your Energy Bill

Making the switch to environmentally-friendly Greener Options products is as easy as shopping at your local hardware or Big Box Retailer. Greener Options helps you make the right product choices for the environment and your world. Look for logo’s on products that reduce the impact on the environment by promoting energy and water conservation and improving air quality. With hundreds of items available, your ability to make a difference starts today.

Tips & Advice for Environmentally-Friendly Living

Switch to CFL Light Bulbs (Compact Flourescent Light Bulbs)
Save Energy and Lower Your Electric Bill

Consider switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). You’ll lower your electric bill and pay less in the long run since CFLs last up to 10 times longer than traditional bulbs. To save even more on lighting, install dimmer switches and use timers, both indoors and out. Keep in mind the times of the year that you are not home and set your lights accordingly. Timers will reduce your consumption and keep your lights from burning throughout the entire night.

STOP FEEDING YOUR APPLIANCES. A 50-watt stereo, for example, burns 18 watts per hour, even when the music's off. Instead, plug electronics into a power strip, and then flip the off switch when you're not using your appliances.

DO WITH LESS HEAT. For every 10-degree temperature reduction, you use 5 percent less energy a month. Insulate your hot water tank to save more.

Consider a front-loading washing machine. They use 50 percent less energy and one-third less water. Plus, they remove far more water in the rinse cycle, and that translates into big savings in dryer time.

Switch to Low-Flow Showerheads
Conserve Water While Lowering Your Water Bill

Install water efficient showerheads. With the new low-flow models now available, a family of four can cut water usage by as much as 280 gallons a month—and with an Oxygenics showerhead you will not feel the difference of a whimpy shower. The Oxygen that is infused by the Venturi principle will actually increase water pressure.

Fertilize the All-Natural Way
Preserve the Earth Without Using Chemicals

Plants that are chemically fertilized may look lush, but this type of fertilizing promotes plants that are more susceptible to disease. Chemicals from the fertilizer infuse the soil and, ultimately, contaminate our water supply. Using an all-natural fertilizer balances the pH of the soil, is environmentally safe and not harmful to animals, plants or you.

Breathe Easier with Low-VOC (Volitile Organic Compounds) Paint
What Goes on Your Walls can Stay on Your Walls for Years

According to Environment Canada,  indoor air is considered to be one of the top five hazards to human health. Traditional household paint contains toxins that can still be released into the air years after application. Use low-VOC products for better indoor air quality.

Environmentally Friendly Lingo Part I

Continuing with words that will aid in helping you navigate the “Green” revolution. How well do you know YOUR green-vernacular?

By now, we’re all more than likely aware of the greenification of the world and many of us have either gone green or are motivated to become as eco-friendly as possible. Some actively reduce their carbon footprint, eating clean sources of meat and certified organic produce and even try their hand at composting. Others seek out green collar jobs and purchase eco-chic products that use biodynamic, solar generated oranically-grown ingredients. The common denominator in the three previous sentences you just read – many of those terms didn’t exist in our vocabulary just a few years ago but today they have become so widespread that they can actually be found in the dictionary. How well do you know your green-vernacular?

Biodiversity

A large number and wide range of species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. Ecologically, wide biodiversity is conducive to the development of all species.

Carbon Capture

A process to trap and hold carbon dioxide as it is being produced before it reaches the atmosphere, as a method to reduce damaging emissions.

Carbon Footprint

A measure of the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted through the combustion of fossil fuels; in the case of an organization, business or enterprise, as part of their everyday operations; in the case of an individual or household, as part of their daily lives; or a product or commodity in reaching market.

Carbon footprint

The total amount of greenhouse gases produced directly and indirectly to support human activities. Your carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of carbon dioxide, which were created by your activities.

Carbon Neutral

Human activities which have reduced the creation of greenhouse gases together with carbon offsetting, which overall do not increase the amount of CO2 already in the atmosphere.

Carbon Offsets

Funding projects that reduce our emissions of carbon, such as paying to plant new trees or investing in “green” technologies such as solar and wind power, in order to balance or offset the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere as a result of intensive use of fossil fuels like oil and coal.

Carbon Tax

A charge on fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) based on their carbon content. When burned, the carbon in these fuels becomes carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the chief greenhouse gas.

Chief Sustainability Officer

A business executive hired to meet environmental regulations and to find ways to profit through environmentally friendly products and services. Tons of Fortune 500 companies have brought on a CSO in recent years.

Clean Fuel

Fuels which have lower emissions than conventional gasoline and diesel.

Close the Loop

To buy a recycled product which has been remanufactured / reprocessed / reused on more than one occasion.

Compact Fluorescents

Florescent light bulbs small enough to fit into standard light sockets, which are much more energy-efficient than standard incandescent bulbs.

Compost

Process whereby organic wastes, including food wastes, paper, and yard wastes, decompose naturally, resulting in a product rich in minerals and ideal for gardening and farming as a soil conditioners, mulch, resurfacing material, or landfill cover.

Daylighting

Integrated design and use of natural daylight at the beginning of the build process. This optimizes the position of a building and allows as much light into the interior as possible to reduce energy costs and encourage resource reduction.

Ecological Footprint

Measurement of the human demand on nature and compares human consumption of natural resources with the earth's ecological capacity to regenerate them.

Ecology

A branch of science concerned with the interrelationship of organisms and their environment. Eco (Ecology) The relationship between organisms and their environment. Commonly and informally used as a term for products and materials which are environmentally friendly.

Eco-Chic / Green Chic

The trend and fashion of being environmentally conscious and buying 'green’ products.

Eco-consumerism / Green Consumerism

Environmentally conscious people buying 'green' products and manufacturers producing them for that demand.

Eco-Elite

A person who is environmentally conscious and who has the finances to support their environmental preferences.

Ecosystem

An interconnected and symbiotic grouping of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms.

Ecotourism or Ecological Tourism

A form of tourism which has both environmental and social connotations...Generally speaking, ecotourism focuses on local cultures, wilderness adventures, volunteering, personal growth and learning new ways to live on the planet.

Electric Vehicles

Vehicles which use electricity (usually derived from batteries recharged from electrical outlets) as their power source.

Embodied Energy

The total amount of energy used by a process e.g. the total energy for a building begins with sourcing and manufacturing raw materials through to ongoing maintenance as the building ages. Embodied energy looks at the whole lifecycle.

Emissions Cap

A limit on the amount of greenhouse gas that a company or country can legally emit.

Reduce Water Usage as Much as 70%

Most showerheads use twice the water needed for a thorough, enjoyable shower. To get clean water, we tap lakes, build dams and reservoirs, and construct processing plants. By using more than we need, we overload sewer and septic systems and leach fields. Both the water itself and the energy needed to heat it costs money and puts excess train onto the environment. Oxygenics showerheads offer a 30% water and energy savings from the industry standard 2.5 GPM showerheads and as much as 70% compared to older fixtures.

"Environmentally Friendly Lingo"

By Victor @Oxygenics Canada

visit us @ www.oxygenics.ca 



With so many new trends and developments in the “Environmental World” navigating articles and information can be a daunting task.  With so many new environmental catch words and phrases, becoming eco-friendly is an ongoing learning process; here are some more words to expand your "Green language".

Of course this is not a complete list but it is enough to get you started as a backseat environmentalist.

Abiotic

Non-living; devoid of life.

Acid Rain

The precipitation of dilute solutions of strong mineral acids, formed by the mixing in the atmosphere of various industrial pollutants (primarily sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides) with naturally occurring oxygen and water vapour.

Agritainment                                                                                                                

Farm-based tourism. Includes family style activities, such as corn mazes, haunted hay rides, pick-your-own pumpkins, etc. This growing phenomenon is giving  city folk a taste of rural life while helping farmers diversify their revenue stream.

Air Pollution

The presence of contaminants or pollutants substances in the air that interfere with human health or welfare, or produce other harmful environmental effects.

Alternative Energy

Energy that is not popularly used and is usually environmentally sound, such as solar or wind energy (as opposed to fossil fuels).

Ancient Forest

A forest that is typically older than 200 years with large trees, dense canopies and an abundance of diverse wildlife.

Appropriate Technology

Technology that creates minimal environmental impact while serving basic human needs. Uses the simplest level of technology that can effectively achieve the intended purpose in a particular location.

Aquaculture

The controlled rearing of fish or shellfish by people or corporations who own the harvestable product, often involving the capture of the eggs or young of a species from wild sources, followed by rearing more intensively than possible in nature.

BioAccumulate

Exposure to dangerous chemicals adds up over time. This term refers to just that-the gradual buildup, in an organism, of a substance that is not easily metabolized and eliminated. Toxic chemicals such as dioxins can bioaccumulate in the systems of cattle, fish, and chicken, for example, and enter the systems of humans when they digest these foods. In a human, repeated exposure to toxins considered safe in small amounts can bioaccumulate and may become hazardous to one’s health.

Biodegradable

Waste material composed primarily of naturally-occurring constituent parts, able to be broken down and absorbed into the ecosystem.  Wood, for example, is biodegradable while plastics are not.

Biodiesel

An alternative fuel made from virgin vegetable oil or used vegetable oil. Even animal fats like beef tallow and fish oil can be used to make biodiesel fuel. Biodiesel may be blended with conventional diesel to get different blends such as B2 (2 percent biodiesel and 98 percent conventional diesel) or B20 (20 percent biodiesel) or it can be used as 100 percent biodiesel (B100).

Biofuels

Any fuel derived from biomass. Agricultural products specifically grown for conversion to biofuels include corn and soybeans.

Biomass

Any organic material made from plants or animals. Domestic biomass resources include agricultural and forestry residues, municipal solid wastes, industrial wastes, and terrestrial and aquatic crops grown solely for energy purposes.

Check back as I will be adding more catch words and phrases in upcoming blogs with the hopes of getting you to the letter "Z". 

Approximately 70% of water used in the shower is hot water. Oxygenics showerheads use less water overall in the shower which means less energy is being used to heat excess water. Whenever you save energy, you not only save money, you also reduce the demand for such fossil fuels as coal, oil, and natural gas. Less burning of fossil fuels also means lower emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary contributor to global warming, and other pollutants.