Over the next six months construction plans for the plant will be finalized; currently building costs are approximated at US$1 billion, and a completion date has been set for 2015. The PM hopes this will lead to a network of solar power plants across Australia.

We hope Australia’s confidence and vigour will inspire other countries, including Canada, to aim big on environmental advancements. For now ambitious Australia is a leader to follow in the fight for a healthier planet built on sustainable resources.

Edina Tokodi is a contemporary artist from Hungary currently residing in Brooklyn, NY with a penchant for turning heads. Tokodi and her partner József Vályi-Tóth (a fellow Hungarian artist) have brought a fusion of greenery and art to the concrete jungle: Moss Art.

Tokodi creates stencils and cuts familiar shapes out of living grass or moss (as shown above) and places these “Moss Art” installations in areas typically dominated by graffiti. She has also taken her unique art form to subway cars and busy urban centres.

These installations are intended to unite the urban with the wild, creating green spaces nearly anywhere, and to remind residents of the wildlife that still exists beyond the city core. These pieces have been extremely effective and have caught attention the world over. Feature articles on Moss Art have appeared in Marie Claire Hungary, Staf! Magazine from Spain, Time Out New York and Germany’s Style Magazine, all praising Tokodi’s unique and visionary sense of art.

We hope Tokodi’s work continues to crop up urban centres around the globe, reminding us all that we are innately green.

A number of lobby groups (i.e., Sea Choice, Sierra Club, Ecology Action Centre, Living Oceans Society, David Suzuki Foundation) are working with governments to implement eco-friendly fishing practices.

As consumers we can also do our part in the fight to maintain our oceans by choosing seafood products conscientiously. Sustainable options can be found in most grocery stores simply by checking the label or asking the seafood counter. Most major cities, including our own—Ottawa—offer restaurants with Ocean Wise certified menus. Canada’s leading sustainable seafood program, the Ocean Wise logo certifies all menu items are ocean friendly.

The Whalesbone (430 Bank Street @ Gladston) restaurant location offers customers an Ocean Wise certified menu. Also maintaining a retail store (504 Kent Street @ Flora) The Whalesbone offers sustainable seafoods to restaurants, hotels, and the public.  Open only Fridays and Saturdays this location offers a rotating selection of local or sustainable fishery products. The origin of all products is labeled including the fishing method used to acquire them.

Environmental progress is important to Canada—choose wisely and show your economic power in support of the ecosystems underwater.

Recently, while enjoying some fresh air and trolling Bank Street for a place to grab lunch, bored of the daily cafeteria routine, I discovered LUNCH at the corner of Bank and Slater.

Entering the quaint location I was greeted with modern décor and a busy team behind the counter. Taking in the shop, with minimal seating designed to accommodate the majority of their clientele—the ‘to-go’ customer—I made my way to the fridges full of salads, sandwiches, wraps, drinks and a variety of snacks. The front counter steamed with hot sandwiches, wraps, soups and chili. Ingredients of each item are listed; I opted for the hot portobello mushroom wrap with roasted peppers and goat cheese. I then discovered, not only was I about to consume a delicious meal, but also an eco-friendly one.

LUNCH buy locally and organically, and stand apart from the competition by selling fresh products every day. The first priority is food and their mandate does not settle for sub-par products.

When you have lunch with LUNCH:
•    The shop is fully Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified
•    Filtered water taps are available for customers to refill water bottles
•    Food is local and organic whenever possible
•    Fairly-traded organic coffee is available
•    All packaging supplies are recycled and recyclable

Timothy Van Dyke and David Tugwell opened LUNCH on April 16, 2008. Tim and David identify their generation as one “where environmentally-sound practices are ingrained, and it seemed this would be a great opportunity for us, in LUNCH’s infancy, to employ the best practices showing bigger corporations how easy it is to be eco-friendly.

The phone will be available in Europe by the end of this year. North American launch dates have yet to be released.

The solar cell phone is a surefire success, as long as the price is right, and LG is continuing to explore applications of solar power and the implementation of green business tactics—all part of their environmental initiative, “Life’s Good When It’s Green.”

Consultants were assembled to measure the amount of carbon dioxide produced by all facets of the production process. Many changes have been put in place, both large and small, and the series went carbon neutral Monday, March 2.
Changes:

* 20% biodiesel fuel is now used in all trucks and generators
* Motion monitors installed in bathrooms and kitchens
* Purchase green energy to be reinserted in the grid
* Buy carbon offsets for unavoidable plot builders (i.e., explosions)
* Cast, crew and contractors use hybrid vehicles
* Cast and crew share scripts electronically

“24,” a self-proclaimed “worst possible offender” in the race against CO2 emissions is now the leader, hopefully spawning the latest trend in Hollywood productions.

Acartians pledged a number of acts, but as a team we chose to count only unique ones. Since this isn’t a contest but rather a consciousness-raising exercise, we felt it was more important to promote the acts that we, collectively, added to our lives, than just boasting the big numbers of individual acts we undertook.

Here’s our list of completed acts of green so far:

Install ENERGY STAR Windows•Caulk, Seal or Weatherstrip Drafty Areas and Windows•Open the Curtains on Winter Days and Close Them at Night•Set Your Thermostat to 18C (65F) or Less in the Winter•Install A Ceiling Fan•Set the Air Conditioner to 26C (79F) in the Summer (programmed, even though it’s not on yet!)•Fix Leaky Faucets•Install Low Flow Shower Heads•Do Laundry In Cold Water•Turn Lights Off When Not In Use•Replace an Incandescent Light Bulb With a Compact Fluorescent Bulb•Install Motion Detectors Or Timers On Outdoor Lights•Replace and Recycle an old TV, VCR or DVD Player with an ENERGY STAR Product•Only Run The Dishwasher When It’s Full•Turn Off The Computer When You Aren’t Using It•Run The Clothes Washer On Its Shortest Cycle For A Week•Walk or Bike to Work (thanks to the transit strike, this one was easy!)•Check Your Tire Inflation•Switch From Battery Powered Products To Windup Products, Such As Radios And Flashlights (we even did this on a TV commercial)•Use A Stainless Steel Water Bottle•Get Your Friends To Sign Up For One Million Acts Of Green•Write a Politician•Use A Refillable Coffee Cup•Use Non Toxic Cleaning Products At Home•Replace Plastic Bags With Reusable Bags•Purchase Locally Grown Produce•Eat a Vegetarian Meal This Week•Carpool Instead of Driving Alone•Use Recycled Paper•Travel by Rail Instead of Air•Pick up Garbage•Recycling at Home•Composting at Home•Turn the Tap Off When Brushing Your Teeth•Donate Clothes and Other Used Goods•Print on Both Sides of the Paper

We were able to get great internal participation on this by running an internal campaign showing how easy it is to get started with photos of Acart staff and families getting involved. See if you can recognize anyone in these pics.

As of this note’s writing, Canadians have committed 1,217,361 Acts of Green, and reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 70,410,268 kg.

Grassroots (grassrootsstore.com) is an environmental product retailer with two Toronto locations and an online shop. Coming across the site, I was taken aback by the comprehensive selection of eco-friendly products; everything from cosmetics and natural cleaners to home décor and office supplies.

Established in 1994, Grassroots brought a previously unavailable commodity to its community—environmentally sound products. Every item for purchase has been researched and selected according to Grassroots’ environment, fair trade, fair labour and human rights practice standards, so every time you buy, you are supporting eco-friendly companies that keep planet earth and its inhabitants’ wellbeing at the forefront of what they do.

If that isn’t enough, the last Friday of every month Grassroots donates 10% of their net sales to local or national environmental organizations. Both retail stores are Bullfrog Powered, a 100% green electricity retailer. And online shipments are packed with reused or recyclable packing materials, and carbon offsets are purchased for all shipped products.

Companies like Grassroots are setting the standard for fellow retailers to strive towards, a brighter, happier and healthier tomorrow—for everyone.

Shade-grown coffee trees on the island of Réunion. This is the traditional and most environmentally-friendly method.

(Photo by user Anne97432, Wikimedia)

Let’s not forget Canada’s boozy contribution to the dessert course.

(Photo by user Chensiyuan, Wikimedia)

The most important thing to remember, when you by Ontario wines, is to always look for the VQA or Vintners Quality Alliance certification. You’d be amazed how many “Ontario” wines actually carry the fine print “cellared in Ontario from domestic and imported wines”. That’s right, they’re not local. And in my opinion they don’t taste that great either!

Finally, there are spirits. Canada will always have its classic,rye, but we also produce some interesting vodka and other specialty drinks that are worth checking out.

And that’s the whole point. We may not make the best of everything in the world, but we do have some high-end products that we can be proud of. Keep Canadian drinks on the consideration list, and at least your hangover will be a patriotic one.

I´ve heard the stories. We all have. In addition to walking ten miles to school in a blizzard (uphill both ways) to get to and from school, and having to chop their own firewood, and make their own clothes out of bark… or something… our grandparents and great-grandparents had to endure winters of soft apples, stinky sauerkraut, and gnarly carrots left buried under the snow. And if they were good, they got a mealy orange in their Christmas stocking,

The modern world may have brought us lots of problems, but I regard my ability to get a steady supply of fresh fruit throughout the year as real progress. Just today, I had an orange from Florida, a Banana from Ecuador, and some grapes from Chile. Life is good.

So, where does buying local figure into the produce aisle in the dead of winter? Not 100%, at least in my household. But that will change in a few months.

The good old Market (copyright expired).

Women in Belize sorting bananas. Photo by Paul Stokstad, from Wikimedia Commons.

But there are some things we can do to try to do more good than harm. One is to buy organic, to ensure we aren’t just exporting our dependence on pesticides, even as we ban them around our own homes. I am somewhat suspicious of tough organic standards when it comes to local meat, but for international trade it creates a demand for growers and importers to do the right thing in an industry known for exploitation.

Another way to help is to look for fruits that are Fair Trade. But we’ll talk much more about that when we get into the chocolate and coffee in our next installment.