Earth Hour 2010

In Edmonton, power consumption dropped by 3% during Earth Hour last night. That number sounds great, but in 2009 we saw a decrease of 5% during the same hour. Ah well, at least we did better than Calgary's 0.5%...

Shopping Green

Today I just want to send a shout out to -- and let the world know about -- my favourite eco store in Edmonton.

Carbon Environmental Boutique opened its doors on 104th Street and 101st Avenue (home of the absolutely fantastic City Market) at the end of last year and has been my go-to shopping spot downtown since my sister brought me there in January. If you can think of an eco-friendly product, the folks at Carbon most likely have it... and if they don't, they probably know where to get it. Some of the items are a little pricier than their chemically-charged counterparts, but the extra investment is worth being free of the harmful side effects. I'm a HUGE fan of the Nature Clean line they carry -- their Multi-Surface Cleaner & Degreaser is the first cleaner I've ever used that didn't trigger my asthma! And I not-so-secretly covet the SunJars kept on the counter in the middle of the store.

So, if you just like me, trying to start out on this 'green' thing, but don't know where to start, Carbon is a fantastic place. I'm hoping I can attend a few of their in-store classes this spring... Hopefully I'll see you there!

The Uniform Project

One of the biggest strains on the environment (and the wallets of young women) is the ever-changing ideals of what is considered "fashionable". Rotating wardrobes and constant trips to shopping malls lead to great amounts of wearable wastes heading to the dump.

If you think you need the latest cuts and hottest colours to fit in, check out the Uniform Project, one woman's year of wearing the same outfit in what she calls, "an exercise in sustainable fashion." Wearing only one dress (while 7 identical dresses) with an variety of vintage, thrift store, etsy-sourced, and donated accessories, Sheena Matheiken is aiming to create 365 unique looks while raising funds for the Akanksha Foundation.

Give this a thought before you hand over your credit card at your favourite new clothing store -- perhaps your old clothes just need a breath of new life.

Regardless of your political leanings, this is a really neat clip of Jack Layton giving Rick Mercer a tour of his green home in downtown Toronto. I'm surprised more companies don't let you know just how quickly solar water heaters pay for themselves.

Greening Your Work

Planet Green has some tips for Going Green at Work. They might not be for everybody, but some are really easy! Before you click over to that, here are some numbers to consider:

• 1: the number of times that most of the 25 billion+ cartons manufactured in the U.S. are used.

• 55 percent: the amount of water saved by producing recycled paper vs. new paper. Recycled paper also takes 60-70 percent less energy to produce than paper from virgin pulp.

• 120: the number of tons of steel saved if every UK office worker used one less staple a day.

• 8 billion: the number of gallons of gas saved if every commuter car in the U.S. carried just one more person.