Pondering

Summer decided to hang around for a few extra weeks and the weather has been phenomenal. Crisp clean warm air and sunshine - all perfect for pond digging! Hubby has been enamored with the idea of a natural swimming pond ever since he learned about them. When we discussed selling the cottage to move to a country home, one of my requests was to have a water substitute. The natural swimming pond with its regeneration zone that cleans the water without chemicals hits all of our hot buttons. We scoured YouTube, watching every video on natural swimming ponds that we could find. They are a fairly new phenomenon here in Canada and we were lucky enough to find a local eco-landscaper experienced in building them.

After only one day, the outline of the swimming area was defined and a shallow hole was dug. Day two revealed much more progress and we could visualize the final product. Hubby worried that it all looked a little smaller than he expected, but when he ventured down into the hole, he brightened up. We will skate  before we ever swim on it... and we have to trust that our landscapers know what they are doing. I can't wait for the final product... beautiful plants surrounding a luscious swimming pond and me sitting on the end of the dock dangling my feet in the cool water.

The vision is ours to ponder - and ponder it we will; and along the way, we will be grateful for the blessings in our life.

Day 2

Day 2 landscape

Earth Day

Holawa Valley, Molakai [Photo by Lyn]

Shouldn't every day be Earth Day?

Shouldn't we care more about treating our home - Planet Earth - with tender loving care to ensure continuation of the human race?

Shouldn't the conversation about financial costs and the economics of preservation efforts be replaced with the long term costs - to humanity and the planet - of continuing on the destructive path we are on?

For a supposedly "intelligent" species born with free will, why are we willingly, knowingly destroying our one and only home? What other species does that?

Every day should be Earth Day.

We need to care
every
single
day.

We must change our destructive, careless ways.
every
single
one
of us.

Wrap 'n Roll

I stayed up last night until all of the merchandise in retail bags had been converted to Christmas presents. It was a long haul but easier with my DIY gift bags and determination not to use any wrap that is not sustainable; it must be reclaimed, reused or hand made from recycled materials around the house. That goes for the tags as well. I have not had to buy any wrapping materials (except tea towels) for five years now and my new approach is not only good for the environment, it is good for my soul. I cast off the chains of "perfection" for made with love.  It is a challenge every year, and now it has become one of the most enjoyable Christmas preps I make. Thought I would share some of my tips ... keeping in mind that I am no Martha Stewart nor am I artistic. But I do have a good imagination!

Tools of the trade

Save everything! Then store for next year.
I have found the the zippered plastic bags that bedding comes in make excellent storage for gift bags, ribbons, bows and flattened cardboard boxes. Keep traces of ribbon, and used wrapping paper.


Wrap it up
Last year I bought big bundles of cheap but colourful tea towels and used them as wrapping paper, with tiny safety pins taking the place of tape. I even threaded the odd button onto the safety pin before securing it. This year I bought three bundles and sewed them into gift bags. I secured the gathered top of the bag with an elastic and wrapped cloth ribbons around it. I also used yarn and shoelaces.

If you don't want to use tea towels, reclaim old t-shirts, flannel PJs and pant legs of old clothes. My daughter pointed out that a pant pocket fits a CD perfectly. Hand sew if necessary.

I noticed that some of the plastic retail bags were richly decorated in shades of red so I cut them open and used them for wrapping paper. I had a calender to wrap (a tradition with our cousin) and noticed it came in a clear plastic sleeve. I took out and wrapped some reclaimed gold tissue paper around it and slid it back into the sleeve. I used a Sharpie to label it directly onto the plastic.

Jars make neat containers as well. Just wrap the contents in fabric and screw on the lid. You can cover the lid with  piece of fabric and then secure it with an elastic and ribbon.

Reuse cardboard boxes (shoe boxes, shipping etc), using colourful duct tape or green painter's tape to cover any labels or print on the boxes. Another trick is to spray pieces of fabric (old sheets, shirts and t-shirts count as fabric!) with adhesive and cover those big box store gift boxes. The fabric extends the life of the cardboard so that the box can be reused for years to come.

Label it.

I cut little shapes out of cardboard, plastic bags and old Christmas cards and decorate with Sharpies. I use pins to secure the labels to the fabric bags and tape to glass jars. I puncture holes in the tags and then thread the ribbon or yarn through to affix the tag.

Decorate it.
Use old beads and buttons to thread or sew onto the cloth bags. Old pins and brooches make attractive adornments on the rustic bags.

Must haves
Safety pins, duct tape (colourful), green painter's tape, a collection of Sharpie markers, raffia, yarn, adhesive tape, scissors, spray fabric glue, and glue stick.

The best part is the fun it is to use your imagination and stuff on hand. ENJOY!

Plastic bag as wrapping paper

Tea Towel bag

Wrapped in tissue and slipped into a plastic sleeve.



Finished product



Painters' tape



Give a Toilet and a Little Empowerment

Photo credit: Gates Foundation

Thanks to a nasty headache that landed me on my assets for most of the day, I am not feeling like the day was particularly productive. The bright spots were the initiatives I found to support for my "give a little" effort.

I have been lax in blogging about my weekly give a little challenge so please bear with me.

In honour of World Toilet Day, and the 2+ billion people who do not have access to a private, clean place to poop oh don't be a prude - we all do it, I donated to World Toilet Org. I can't help it -- the thought of doing my private business in public is unfathomable so anything I can do to support the cause to improve the situation ... The mission of this organization is to improve sanitation conditions for people globally through advocacy, inventive technology, education and building marketplace opportunities locally. Like the Gates Foundation, they are supporting efforts to reinvent the conventional toilet; to find solutions that are not water based. It doesn't get any more basic or revolutionary than that!

Wendy Smith, author of Give a Little inspired me yet again with her suggestion to donate to the Imagine Rural Development Initiative (IRDI). This Zambian non-profit organisation is providing free skills-training in moringa cultivation to 30 previously unemployed local Zambian women. Moringa is an affordable and highly-nourishing superfood that can fight malnutrition, improve health and eradicate poverty. Sound good? Many of the local women taking the training are widows and breadwinners in their families and take care of not only their own children, but also grand-children and orphans who have lost their own parents due to HIV/AIDS and other illnesses. The donations help sustain the families while the women take the 6 month training. Wherever possible sustainability is key for me in my "investing" efforts. Don't we all want the same thing; to be able to take care of ourselves and our family and provide the foundation on which to build dreams?

So although I spent most of the day horizontal with reruns of "Love it or List it" playing in the background (helps me sleep), I feel like somehow I made a small, positive contribution and the day wasn't a total write off. And so another week begins!

Give a Little Light, Hope and Opportunity

We have electricity in our cosy little cottage retreat at the lake, but the tiny bunkie out back where my daughter stays, does not! Light is a luxury restricted to the handheld flashlight she carries to see the pathway and then hangs on a hook. And then the batteries burn out.

As mentioned in a previous post, I recently donated to onemillionlights.org and also ordered one of the solar lanterns to try out for myself. Since the first day it arrived in its simple brown wrapping, it has been wonderful. The lantern gives off a soft white light that illuminates an entire room and provides a renewable source of light. It brought me back to when we were in Kenya navigating the pathways in the absolute pitch black dark of night with our headlamps. Made me think about the people who don't have flashlights or headlamps.

Through Twitter I stumbled across a compelling social enterprise called Solar Sister. The slogan - light, hope, opportunity – is also the mission statement. This organization tries to improve the lives of women by providing access to solar energy in a way that reaches the people with the most need, the women and girls living in remote rural villages.

Solar Sister is a woman-to-woman direct-sales distribution system (remember the Avon lady?) for solar lanterns that leverages women’s family, friends and community networks to bring the solar technology right to the women’s doorstep.

So this week my "give a little" donation goes to Solar Sister. The best part of this initiative is that it empowers women with economic opportunity and helps lift them out of poverty - and it is a wonderful example of women helping women; sisters helping sisters.

Read about my Thursday's Give a Little Challenge and other posts. I have to give ongoing props to Wendy Smith for her inspiring book, Give a Little. Consider giving it a read.

Give a Little Light - Or Maybe 1 Million

I move from room to room happily flicking lights on and off as I need them - lately preferring the low, romantic lighting that casts a softness about my face - but I digress! My worn little spot on the couch that so coincidentally is shaped exactly like my behind is great for watching TV, but a pain to read in. There is no direct lighting strong enough to light up the pages of whatever I am trying to read for these dazzling green AGING eyes of mine! So I complain.

When Kidlet and I were in Kenya last summer, we saw first hand the cosy little clay and dung homes that relied on a single window-type opening for light. Our hostess Jane showed us her new block house she built with her earnings from her farm, which is the only one of its kind in the community, but told us about how it was still difficult for her children to do their homework by the light of the cooking fire and kerosene lamp.

SO - this week for my Give a Little challenge, I donated one Kiran solar lantern ($15) to One Million Lights, an organization with a goal of replacing one million harmful and polluting kerosene lamps with clean and healthy solar light.

Good lighting provides more opportunities for education and income generation for rural, families in a developing country. It helps the environment by reducing carbon emissions and ultimately helps improve the health of people living in rural communities by eliminating dangerous kerosene smoke fumes as well as the risk of deadly burns and fires from kerosene lanterns.

I applaud One Million Lights for having a creative, effective solution to a problem that may not seem huge, but the solution of which will have lasting impact. It provides what I and all of us in our country enjoy with wild abandon - often in excess and wastefully. I am going change my ways ... and I started by buying myself a solar lantern as well. And gosh darn it, it feel so good to give - even if it is just a little!

Read about my personal Thursday's Give a Little Challenge. I have to give ongoing props to Wendy Smith for her inspiring book, Give a Little. Give it a read.

It's Clear

I take a glass from my cupboard and fill it with fresh, cold water from the dispenser on our fridge. It's that easy - water on demand. I think of my Kenyan sisters for whom it is anything but easy. They spend hours a day hauling unclean water from a river or stream that is shared with wild and grazing animals. Backbreaking work for water that can make them and their families seriously ill.

I look at water differently now. I live in a country that has more fresh water than most and we squander it. With one flush of our low flush toilet we use more water than the average African uses in a day. The UN says that each person needs about 20-50 litres of safe freshwater a day to ensure their basic needs for drinking, cooking and cleaning. The shocking reality: only 1 in 6 people on the planet have access to safe freshwater.

 So today on World Water Day, I am renewing my commitment to stop the squander. It's clear. We have to stop the drain. I am going to start with trying as many as these tips as possible.

Happy World Water Day!

Just in case you're interested ...

• The Global Women’s Water Initiative
• World Water Day 2011
• UN Water Statistics
• The World's Longest Toilet Queue
• 100+ Tips to Conserve Fresh Water

One for One

They came! My yellow Portsmouth Cordone TOMS arrived and they are even better than I expected. I slipped them on and suddenly I felt a little livelier, a little lighter (yay) and kind of sunshiny! Yup - I am going to look so darn adorable bopping around in these rustic - but nifty little slip-ons.

I have been lurking the TOMS Shoes website for a couple of years now and I finally gave myself an excuse to order myself a pair. Thought they would be easy to pack and fun to bring along to Africa, and I saved some money by having them delivered from California to my Dad's place in Florida instead of to Canada.

TOMS is a truly remarkable company. They have a One for One business model that embodies social responsibility. With every pair purchased, TOMS gives a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One. And then they organize shoe drops and accept volunteers to go along for the experience. These shoe drops happen all over Africa and Guatemala and more. Companies like TOMS are the future for the betterment of the planet. They offer a useful product, provide meaningful employment and generate a positive outcome for children in need. It doesn't get any better than that.

Let's face it. $69 US is not chump change for a canvas pair of summer shoes ... but when you consider that you are actually purchasing two pairs, and helping a worthy initiative, it is a small price to pay. I am choosing to vote with my consumer dollars mindfully, and I think I"ll look cute in my TOMS doing it!

They really work at getting their message across ...

And you know where I'll be flying the TOMS flag in about 7 weeks.

Be Kind to Our Mother

Today is Earth Day - a day designed to remind us that which is our home, our sustanance, our environment, and our source of nourishment is in peril.

I think we are going to have to expand our thinking a little and consider every day Earth Day. We have disrespected our Mother - abused her - and she is quickly becoming depleted. She needs attention and tender loving care. Hubby and I are working hard to make changes that will reduce our carbon footprint by reducing the amount of energy we consume, the volume of garbage we send to the landfill, and increasing our recycling efforts.  We know we have to do more. I have listed what efforts we currently make and also what we have to do better.

What we do to minimize our negative impact on our environment:

• compost all fruit, vegetable and garden waste
• collect all organic material in our green waste bins
• recycle all eligible glass, paper, metal, and plastic
• reduce waste to one garbage bad every two weeks waste
• buy products in minimal/recyclable friendly packaging
• leave grass cuttings on the lawn as nourishment
• drink tap water - not bottled water
• collect unused water for the plants
• use organic, non toxic cleaning products and laundry detergents
• turn off lights in empty rooms
• use programmable thermostat to reduce energy used
• donate all unused clothing
• repurpose items instead of buying new
• use only  energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs
• buy less packaged food and more fruits, dairy, vegetables, meat and fish
• cooking fresh, from scratch
• reduce the use of plastic - replace with glass
• strive to eliminate chemicals from my personal products entirely
• use cloth bags when shopping and eliminate the use of plastic bags

What we are going to do to minimize our negative impact on our environment:

• collect our rain water for garden use
• change out our 6 cyclinder car for the 4 cyclinder, clean diesel green car of the year
• buy more organic products made from natural, non toxic materials (rugs, bedding, clothing)

Hubby and I have "miles to go before we sleep"  but we are committed to learning more to do our part to respect and care for our Mother Earth.

In honour of Earth Day I am sharing two of my favourite photos taken several years ago on a trip to the Grand Canyon. If you have ever doubted the existence of a higher power, God or life force -- just stand on the edge of the Canyon. The power surges through you and you become instantly aware of being connected to all things living; an intelligence greater than ourselves.  Maybe it is an epiphany that is necessary for humankind; to be awed into being gentle and kind to our Mother.

Water Here, There and Everywhere

It rained today ... I think it was in honour of World Water Day. Still hard to fathom that something as basic and essential to human life - and all forms of life - is not readily accessible to all who need it. As a child in school I remember laughing in disbelief as our teacher told us how people in France actually bought water to drink in bottles. That people couldn't drink the water that flowed from their taps was inconceivable to us - never mind that many others didn't even have taps.

To this day I am shocked by the imbalance of accessibility to clean water and sanitation that exists around the planet. What is an everyday occurrence to us in Canada - flushing toilets and drinking clean tap water - is a pipedream for others who drew the short straw in the birthplace lottery. I can't think of any more basic human right than clean water and proper sanitation systems - the foundation for good health and sustenance. We have been spared the hardships of walking miles for water and then lugging it back on our backs or heads; we have the luxury of privacy and clean washrooms when nature calls and as a woman, I can't even imagine how my sisters in developing countries cope with their menstrual cycles.

It was sheer good fortune that I was born in this land of bountiful resources; most are not so fortunate. Most of the human race struggles with the daily challenge to survive - let alone thrive.

So it is our responsibility to appreciate these gifts that have been so generously bestowed upon us, with every sip and flush.

You may be interested in Not For Granted.

Peace Seeking

I am longing for wide open spaces; breathing room. A place devoid of the man made commotion soundtrack. I can do without the blaring rhythmic bass tones broadcasting from cars at four in the morning, or the high pitched whine of motorcycles as they race down our street in weekend ritual. I would love to sleep with the windows open - and hear nothing but the snoring from my dog. Our neighbourhood used to be a sleepy suburb bordering on open farm fields. That was twenty-one years ago and now our street has become a main line from the new build area to the mall.

Progress. Yet I  find myself fantasizing about life amongst tall pines with a lullaby of waves hitting the shoreline. I plan how I will spend my imaginary winfall - the land I would buy; the sustainable abode I would build; the goats I would nurture.

And even though I have no reason to expect that I would have money to fund such dreams, my faith and confidence is unshakeable. I know that if I internalize this dream,  think creatively, and set sail in the general direction, the dream will materialize into reality. I just don't know when -- but I can't wait!

For now, the windows stay closed at night. Peace.

Organically Yours

I just finished unpacking the fruits and veggies we bought today at the Organic Garage. The name describes the store perfectly -- all things organic and it's like shopping in a garage!

Hubby and I continue to make small changes to reduce the harm we do to our earth -- and our bodies. We are making a conscious effort to buy meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables that are organic and where possible, locally grown and produced.

I was raised in a community hours away from any city and meat from local farms was not only easily accessible - it was the only meat I knew until I went to college. Once or twice a year our freezer would be bulging from the side of beef, free range chickens and pork we had delivered from local farms. It was wrapped in that waxy brown paper and tied with string and tape. It all looked the same -- no fancy packaging here-- with the "cut" scrawled on each package in black oil pencil. I can remember coaxing my mother to buy the nice red meat when we were food shopping. She would tell us that it's only red because of the preservatives and chemicals they added -- that the grey colour was natural. I think we still would have preferred the packaged bacon rather than the thick slices of side bacon in our freezer. What did we know?! We were actually eating organic before there was a name for it. Now when I taste beef or chicken that has been raised locally without antibiotics I can say without reserve that it definitely tastes better.

Side note: We have been dumping our potato peelings and vegetable scraps into our composter dailiy for 10 tens years now and we have barely recouped a cup of compost for the garden. I think we have a magic composter that swallows the organic material ... just a thought.

Anyway, to be truthful, it is definitely more costly and it will be wonderful when the demand for organic produce and products drives the prices down. But then again, sometimes you get what you pay for. In this case you pay for what you don't get ... additives and other chemicals.

Now off I go to empty my compost bowl into the magic machine ...

Organically yours ... Lyn

Meatless Mondays

Green, green, what does it mean -- to me, us?

We are lucky in that our community has a green conscience and they make it easy to be eco-responsible. They make home composts and rain barrels available at a low cost and they provide green bins to residents to collect food scraps as well as the beloved blue boxes for recycling. As a family we delight in flattening cans, gathering cardboard and even tin foil for the bins. We really need to get out more. The downside is the unsightly stainless steel compost bowl heaped with veggie scraps that is perched on our counter until it is emptied every day.

There's nothing quite as appetizing as the wafting aromas from the fermenting organic material when you are cooking. That'd make anyone green. Hubby has really gotten with the program and I noticed over the past few months that he has really stepped it up --even chasing down dryer sheets, toilet paper rolls (wait til it's empty please) and used tissues. We even replaced our paper towels usage with a slew of white bar towels. It's a mission to only put one garbage bag to the curb every two weeks.

Now we're starting a new tradition in our house -- meatless Mondays. And it was his idea. He is really taking an interest in the health of our planet and coming up with all sorts of ways we can help reduce the harm we cause. He suggested that we start with meatless Mondays to ease our consumption of meat. That clapping is the sound of cows high-fiving and chickens clucking all over the planet.

Nothing is more attractive to me than a person with principles, who is living them. I am enjoying that feeling when you are united in purpose, as well as in love.

Now that being said - that compost bowl looks like it needs emptying.

The Lives of Poo!

I had been complaining that I've been having a hard time trying to find gifts that are responsibly produced and "green". Then today - after all of my shopping was completed (of course) - I stumbled across the most interesting website with the best gift ideas ever ... Ellie Poo! Paper products made from elephant dung collected mainly from elephant orphanages from Sri Lanka (and then distributed by Mr Ellie Pooh.) Doesn`t get much greener than that. They have a wonderful collection of handmade journals, stationary, scrapbook/photo albums and paper.

Hits all my hot buttons: eco friendly, environmentally sustainable, "green" environmentally conscious company.

Definitely something to keep in mind for next year. And it reinforces that old adage -- when life hands you poo, make pooper -- paper!

It's The Real Thing ...

Today was a great day; one that marked a very important tradition in our family -- decorating our Christmas tree. Old dusty boxes were retrieved from the various storage nooks and my hubby set up and readied our artificial tree. Yup - artificial. For years I felt that I was taking the environmentally friendly option by not killing a living tree for the pleasure of having it in my living room for a mere two weeks. I now feel very differently ... regrets -- I've had a few.

I am embarrassed by my unnaturally perfect, unnatural tree - that - once I am finished with it - will end up in a landfill, not decomposing forever and ever. The other problem I have is that half my family (me included) are seriously allergic to the live trees. What to do??

For now I have decided to keep using my already purchased artificial tree until it can be used no more. It would be pointless to retire it to a landfill prematurely solely to assuage my shame and guilt.

One thing that isn't artificial though - the warm and fuzzy feeling I get watching my girls "Christmasize" our home. Lights, stockings, garlands and ornaments. Finally - it's beginning to look alot like Christmas -- and it's the real thing!

To Dream The Impossible Dream

What do we have if not our dreams?

My entire life I have spent countless hours deliciously painting vivid mental pictures of the endless possibilities of my life. I have meticulously developed businesses, conjured career schemes, bought and decorated countless dream homes, wrote screenplays and lyrics, and imagined living in foreign countries. And even though most of these have remained dreams yet unfulfilled, the hours spent visualizing and anticipating have been filled with excitement and utter joy. I am sure that my pulse quickens and my heart races during these brilliant sessions.

These days I feel a strong compulsion to live on a rural piece of land, living a sustainable life in a green home, growing our own food, raising chickens for eggs and goats for milk -- never mind the cute factor! I want to create the kind of home that (future) grandkids want to flock to - and that cultivates an airy peaceful existence.

At 48 with the last of my three daughters closing in on her own dream of graduating high school and going to university, I have a sense that this time heralds a new beginning for me. I can feel creativity surging within and my interest in photography renewed.

My husband teases me that I always say I get a tickle in my tummy when I feel something good is about to happen -- and the teasing comes from the fact that I feel this frequently! Call me an eternal optimist -- however I can feel the tides turning and that familiar little tickle is back.

One thing I know for sure is that dreams do come true -- and there really are no impossible dreams.