Netcycler: a new kind of Craigslist.

One person's junk is another person's treasure.

Truer words have seldom been spoken. So in that spirit, please click here to be redicredted to the netcycler website.

The idea is:
1. You sign up.
2. You post of list of stuff you'd like to give away.
3. You make a wish-list of things you'd like to swap for.
4. You find said-stuff, or people find your stuff and you arrange to meet and trade stuff or send it by mail!

I especially loved this as a pre-/post-move project...which I may be doing myself so I'm looking forward to trying the website out. Any thoughts?

Showing you just how easy bread is to make.

I think the title of this post pretty much sums it up: bread it easy to make. I've had this bread recipe for a little while and I've been making it every now and then. I wanted to post about it previously but I hadn't figured out how to add any value to it before I made it again today.

By taking photos along every step of the way, I hope to visually convince you that making bread can be extremely easy. I'm going to go as far as set a goal for this post as well: to inspire at least one person to make this bread! (So please let me know if you do end up making it.)

As for why I want to convince people to make bread, I have a few reasons.
First off, I believe that making food from scratch is something that everyone can come to enjoy and the more you do it, the more adventurous you'll want to be with your recipes and the more you'll like cooking.
Secondly, connecting with food can help us connect with the environment and learn more about food in general, how it's made, and what you're actually paying a company to do for you (for example, is it something you can do yourself and actually enjoy?).
Thirdly, making your own bread saves you the (mandatory) plastic bag that comes with it.
And finally, it's a fun and relaxing way of doing something handy, without too much time or effort.

Get your recipe from the 101cookbooks website and follow along.


Mix yeast and warm water, add some runny honey and let it sit until some bubbles form.


In the meantime, measure out your flour and oats.



Mix your dry and wet ingredients.


Place them in your pan and let rise.




About 10 minutes before your bread is done rising, preheat your oven.


And for the end result, you can bet it looks as good as it tastes.

Big thanks to Heidi Swanson for adapting and posting this recipe. Once again her website is: www.101cookbooks.com. And clicking the link will take you straight to the recipe itself.

Quick tip: Use up your products before you throw them away.

I'm going to keep today's post short and sweet. I got home from Helsinki today to find that one of our tubes of cream had been cut down to size. Although this concept was not in the least new to me (I think it's a pretty standard tactic) I had never thought to do it myself. So a big thank you goes out to Juha (who has been reading No Impact Man) for giving me this idea!

So today I say: Before throwing out your empties, make sure they're actually empty.




It might seem like a small difference, but every little bit helps. So if cutting open the tube gets you an extra 2 uses, and you have ie. 50 uses in total, then for every 25 tubes, you'll save one tube. Ideally, it'd be great to eliminate tubes, but if you're not there yet (and you're not alone) then might as well make the best of what you have!

Veggie recipe: Quiche aka. salty food pie.

A few months ago, my friend Mette taught me how to make a quiche, or as we refer to it "a food pie." Tonight I made the recipe again, and made the crust from scratch. If you're just starting out though and want to see how easy it is, you can also buy frozen crust, but either way, I find this quiche looks like it requires much more effort than it actually does ;)


I initially forgot to take a picture and dug right in. Sorry about that!


What you'll need:
- 1 egg
- 300g flour (you can try different combinations, I used about 100g of spelt and 200g of regular all-purpose)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons water
- basil, pepper, and whatever other spices you'd like to use
- 150g softened butter (not completely melted but very soft nonetheless)
- 75-100g of your favourite cheese (I used feta)
- A variety of veggies: onion, broccoli, leek, zucchini or any combination of them.

Preheat your oven to 180-200C.

To make the crust:
Soften/microwave the butter and stir in the flour. Mix until consistent then add a dash of salt. Stir in the 3 tablespoons of water and ta-da! Your crust is ready!
Spread it in your pan (You can use a pie pan like I did in the picture or a square 9"x9")

To make the filling:
Chop the vegetables and grate the cheese. Break your egg, beat it a little and add your spices. Add a bit of milk, stirring it in until you can lift the fork without getting that thick egg-y texture, but rather, a slightly more liquid-y feel. Fill the baking dish with veggies, top with the egg mixture and cheese.

Cook for about 40 minutes and enjoy.

New perspectives: Speak up!

Photo credit: here.

Some days I have the motivation to run a marathon (figuratively speaking), write tons of posts and talk to enough people to keep the idea going and have them inspire me in return. But since we're all human, that feeling can't always last forever without any interruptions. There are days that get you a little down and feel a little blue about the current state of things. Of course, this is a reality we deal with every day and it's ok to feel like that, so long as you don't let that feeling distract you for too long.

I'll give you an example. A few weeks ago, I ordered some stainless steel straws from www.lifewithoutplastic.com. My mom and dad brought them over from Canada because I saw them 2 weeks ago and I was really excited to receive my order of straws (along with some really great non-plastic food storage containers) as well as see my parents! I'm not proud to say, my straws are still packaged and sitting on my table...(I'll go unwrap them now!)

Turning down the heat and staying warm.

Fall is upon us!
Or at least the leaves are turning my favourite colours and it's starting to cool down here in Tampere (& Helsinki), Finland. The wind has gotten slightly more aggressive than I remember it being, and wearing multiple layers is a must for keeping warm.

As an inhabitant of the world's second coldest country after Russia (according to some sources, and 5th according to others...tomato - tomato) and a Canadian citizen, I know a thing or two about keeping warm. Though I have to admit, I'm one of those people whose hands are always cold and rarely feel warm and toasty.

Now, I wanted to blog today about the upcoming cold weather, and how we can manage to keep our impact down. In some countries, keeping the heat off is just out of the question, and that's okay, but keeping the heat a few degrees lower is quite doable.

Regardless of where you live, take a bit of time to calculate how much a few degrees less will save you on your energy bill.

Which brings me to my next point: what kind of energy is being used to heat your home?
This has been a much-debated (if you can call it that) topic in our house since I still don't know. I know we have some sort of green energy agreement with our provider, wherein the amount we used is purchased from green sources (whatever that means, it sounds better than the mainstream) but I can't even remember if this is water, electricity or heating... so I need to get my homework on. (The language barrier makes doing my own research slightly more challenging but now that I've told all of you I'm going to do it, that'll give me the push I need.)

So apart from the supply and demand side of heat, what else can you do to keep warm?

1. Throw on a sweater.
Sounds very simple... and it is. We each have our own comfy sweaters, some that we only wear at home, that give us that warm and toasty feeling. Next time you find yourself shivering, grab your sweater instead of heading for the thermostat.

2. Make yourself a pot of coffee, tea or hot chocolate.
I remember getting home on a cold winter nights (around -25C) and feeling the cold in my bones. No matter how many layers you throw on, no sweater can seem to warm you up on the inside. On those nights, a nice cup of hot tea, coffee or hot chocolate will do the trick.

Sweater - check
Tea - check

3. Cuddle.
This doesn't have to be a romantic thing, but it can be. Pinguins do it! But you can also spend more time under the covers in your bed, or reading in your favourite armchair/on your favourite couch with a warm blanket.



In addition, I stumbled across this really insirational blog post about how Japanese people deal with the cold during winter. I had no idea... the concept is really amazing. The post itself is a guest post on the No Impact Man blog, written by Colin Beavan's friend Sean Sakamoto. Click any where on this paragraph to read it.

If you have more suggestions, I'm excited to hear them so please feel free to leave a comment!

Politics (not only about Ontario)

I've taken a little vacation to see my parents in Switzerland, from where I write this post today. My vacation slightly overlapped with a mild flu so that's why I've been MIA this past week, though traveling and leaving one's usual surroundings has a way of bringing environmental matters to mind even more alarmingly than usually.

This morning, I started my day by checking the report card of upcoming parties in the upcoming provincial election. Basically, a feisty 8 year old has been campaigning the importance of the environment in Ontario, Canada by traveling around and meeting with key environmental people (as far as I understand). Although she evidently has the support a d marketing tactics of many adults behind-the-scenes, her message is genuine and the idea is quite original. It also goes to show that even those outside the voting age and required criteria can spread a message and make a difference,

October 6th, 2011 is the next provincial election day in Ontario and the goal is to make sure environmental issues are not forgotten. Although the campaign has not supported one party, they have asked parties to answer their 10 question survey on environmental issues. No actual grades were given for their answers but voters can make their own decisions based what values and opinions they hold.

I am a strong believer in change coming from above and below. While I do believe that we need to do our part and convince politicians that environmental issues are important for the short-term, long-term and bottom line, I also think the little things we do in our daily routines matter and send these messages as well. For this reason, I think participating in elections with an informed vote is very important. The system may not be perfect but boycotting it is not, in my opinion, any kind of solution. So take a little time to read up on parties' campaigning platforms and make a choice. The sooner you start reading-up, the faster you'll be informed.

So here's Penelope's campaign video.
And the report card/questionnaire for the 4 leading parties and their stances.

You can also try different applications like the voting compass which asks you 30 questions based on key issues in order to determine which party's views you most identify with. I think it's a good starting point and a nice way to see what many of the main issues are. Try it here.

Easy switch: Ecoballs and Washing Nuts.

The above is a picture of some balls which are commonly used around our apartment. What kind of balls? you ask. They're actually called ecoballs :)

They're basically a more eco-friendly way of doing laundry without having to go through tons of plastic bottles for liquid or powder detergents. The way they work is that they're filled with these little pellets which will last you about 150 washes (though you can buy a 1000 version as well)... you basically just throw them in your washing machine, 2 at a time. After the 150th wash (we have a small piece of paper which we use to keep track) you can unscrew the balls open and fill the balls with replacement pellets and use them again.

They come in a pack of 2 in a cardboard box. There are a few replacement pellets in there in a small plastic bag, and they themselves are made of plastic but in my opinion, it's less plastic than you'd end up buying with a bottle of detergent. I'm not promoting this company, though I have enjoyed using this product, but I just wanted to point out some options in terms of washing detergents. These are made by Ecozone, as fast as I can tell, a Finnish company. I actually got mine from Stockmann (after an insane search all over Helsinki and Tampere.)

I have also heard talk and seen some "washing nuts" in eco-friendly stores. They have them in Finland at Ruohonjuuri or Punnitsee ja säästä-type stores. Here is some more information about these: on Wikipedia or on Treehugger.
I haven't tried these because I only heard of them after buying the Ecozone ones but I figure they should work. If you check out the Wikipedia link above, it seems people have been using them for hundreds of years.

Now here's the thing, while trying to find other companies with similar products which may be delivered in other areas throughout the world, I came across so many articles written about direct-marketing and other laundry-ball-related scams. Reading any of these can make you feel like an idiot for considering the idea but hear me out. I heard about this from a trusted friend who liked them and thought I might be interested. I bought them for about 20€ (not the $75 ones they're bashing all over the internet). After which I proceeded to recommended them to a friend (or actually buy them as gifts for people) and have had no complaints. If you're unsure about which ones work and which don't, I would recommend trying the laundry nuts, since they're all natural and aren't exactly associated with a brand and its efficiency, but rather, just basic nature and chemistry.

If you have more to add on the topic, including your own experiences with eco-friendly products, leave us a comment below!

Lazy Sundays: more sustainable take-out

Some days I'm bouncing around, up early to go to the market or willing to bike across town to get the food I want without any impact, whereas other days are lazy days. Yesterday was one of those day. We went to a wedding all day Saturday and came home around 4am. Though I wasn't full of energy, I do have a rather regular internal clock, so when I woke up at 9am and couldn't fall back asleep, I kind of figured it would be a slow day.

When deciding what to whip up for dinner (in the mid-afternoon), I opted for my favourite Chinese restaurant: Shanghai. Although this place has little to do with environmental benefits, I made efforts to reduce the waste resulting from my visit.

Today's tip: When getting take-out (or eating-in and taking home leftovers), bring your own containers and bags.

You may have a few objections, so allow me to explain:
- The walk to the restaurant is a welcome stroll on the lazy day. Fresh air never did anyone any harm, nor did a leisurely stroll (unless your doctor has put you on bed rest and forbidden all types of movement) so take advantage of this.
- Some days you don't want to sit at the restaurant so you can bring your own containers and take the food home with you. This can be especially handy if you're dining-in as well, because the portions at some places (like this one) will last you 3 days anyway.

I'm still working on perfecting this... sometimes my containers are too small and I end up with a box of styrofoam (out of two), which breaks my heart so that motivates me to bring the right sizes in the future or specify exactly what I want. Yesterday, I brought a plastic bag I had at home only to end up with my plastic bag and another one (apparently they thought mine was too small) holding the other container. Next time, I'll make sure to come prepared and not to be shy about specifying why I'm going out of my way to bring my containers over there.

In any case, what about you guys? Where does your motivation lie? Is it in using natural products, eating organic, reducing emissions or packaging waste? How have you (or are you/will you) made changes to your regular habits (big or small) to incorporate your values?

Shopping habits: one way to avoid packaging.

If you've gone to the grocery store in an attempt to find foods with minimal, sustainable or recyclable packaging, you are not alone. Although everything needs to be packaged to some extent, or at least shipped somehow, waste can be cut down on by bringing your own reuasable 'packaging' to the store.

Eliminate plastic and other forms of packaging waste by shopping at stores where you can choose your product, choose whatever quantity you like and pay by its weight.

These stores usually offer you plastic or paper bags to bring your stuff home in but they actually have a good thing going. You can bring your own bags (I've been reusing some small plastic/paper bags I already have) for now until I get some cloth ones. Some people have or make their own bags for these purposes... some examples of which you can find if you search "food storage" on sites like www.etsy.com... which I did for you right here. Although I'm a bit clueless with the sewing machine, you could also try to make your own bags!

If you're really in a bind, try bringing your own containers and asking them to weigh them (or weigh them at home if you can) before you fill them. To be honest, I've had some weird looks regarding this (perfectly acceptable) request after which the cashier insisted I should use a bag (and then transfer my purchases into the container). Needless to say, I'd rather shop at the place which gives me a discount for bringing my own bags (like Runsaudensarvi on Kauppakatu 4 in Tampere) but now I know to bring bags instead of containers to that specific store.

So keep an eye out for these stores. I know about Bulk Barn in Canada and Punnitsee ja Säästä (weigh and save) in Finland but those are just the chain... there are some great independently owned ones out there too (and those are usually owned by people who are more interested in their customers values!

Veggie recipe: Club sandwiches

I've procrastinated enough! Now's the time to unleash the first of many vegetarian recipes... I've only been waiting for the day when I made something that looked beautiful enough to take pictures of (because what's a recipe without a picture?) or the day I didn't forget to take a picture of something delicious before I ate it.

So you're already probably wondering how club sandwiches can be veggie... they definitely can! But really the name is because it's a spin-off of a club sandwich recipe we started making ages ago (with chicken and bacon) that slowly morphed into the veggie deliciousness you'll witness today.

So here's what you'll need to make this for 2 people:
- ciabatta or focaccia bread (from your local bakery, grocery store or made from scratch, see the bottom for more info about this)
- 1 big/medium tomatoes
- 1/2 cucumber (sliced)
- 1/2 red onion (white is great too, I just prefer red)
- 1 avocado (I buy mine a few days beforehand to give it time to ripen)
- some feta cheese
- your favourite mustard
- your favourite ketchup
Feel free to play around with some of your favourites, change the textures, or pick up whatever you have in the fridge. You'll be surprised how something so simple can taste so good.

How to whip it up:
1. Prepare your bread (make it from scratch if you want, put it in the oven if it needs to be cooked post-purchase or just slice it if it's fresh)

2. Cut your tomatoes, cucumber, feta cheese, avocado and onions into thin slices.

Not a Heinz commercial.

3. Put the ketchup and mustard on the bread (or not, it's up to you!)
4. Carefully place the ingredients in the sandwich, being attentive to texture (crunchy vs. soggy) and taste. Also, these usually get pretty big so realize that you'll have to consolidate the 2 slices before you eat it.

5. Consolidate aka. put the two slices together and don't let go of them until you've finished eating...

6. And I guess by now you're already enjoying the best sandwich you've ever had!

Some details...
The first few times we made this, we bought ciabatta from the grocery store (wrapped in a rather thick plastic). It was ready-made but needed to be warmed up in the oven. A few weeks ago we got a similar bread to ciabatta fresh from the bakery in our grocery store (this was a little better and came in a paper/plastic bag). Most recently though, my friend Lauren came over and we made focaccia from scratch (thank you!). I had never made bread before but today was my second time making this recipe with home-made foccacia and it's by far the best. When you're feeling adventurous, try it out with your own bread. We used the following recipe.
The only adjustment made was the addition of fresh basil instead of Parmesan.

In addition to being delicious, I've managed to cut down the plastic waste of this recipe to almost 0. The only thing that still contains plastic from the above ingredients is the feta cheese and the ketchup (which was already in our fridge). Otherwise, it feels pretty good to make such a great meal with such a small trade-off.

Finally, don't expect to get something this good at most restaurants; I am constantly disappointed when I order similar things. Either the bread or the ingredients are not as fresh, or as well-selected.

Now it's your turn, how did the recipe turn out? What did you change? And did you take any pictures?

Quick tip: A piece of garbage a day.

Does this ever happen to you? Someone tells you something that you think is a great idea and then completely forget about until a few days/weeks/months (why not years?) later and then suddenly, after all that time has passed, everything falls into place and you remember it for good and it makes most sense to you? Maybe not, but this happened to me yesterday.

I had just arrived in Tampere from Helsinki and was walking home from the train station. My thoughts wandered aimlessly as I walked by piles of garbage in a ditch that runs along the railroad tracks.
"I could clean this all up, but come next week, this place would look the same."
I had some circular thoughts for awhile, until my thoughts came around to the masses:
what if everyone picked up one piece of garbage a day?

So instead of raising awareness one event at a time (like our very successful garbage pick-up event which has made me super aware of the issue), we'd be working towards a cleaner city bit-by-bit everyday. Then no one would feel like they were the only ones worried about it, and you could relax knowing that you'd made a small difference (and would continue to do so.)

I thought for a bit about where this idea had come from, and I give the credit entirely to my friend's son Moo, who had this idea a few years ago and was so passionate about it, that he emailed it to George W. Bush (who was still president at the time). So it's my hope that Moo's idea can get passed around to more people in Tampere and in every other city around the world!



A list to convince you further:
- you can choose what to pick up (especially if it's near a garbage already),
- if people are looking at you while you do this it's because they're just curious and happily surprised,
- if people see you doing this, they are more likely to do it too,
- people who litter will encounter an increasing number of people who will say something to them when they do,
- there will be one less piece of garbage being blow around by the wind,
- you'll feel really great on a day when you'll be looking for that one piece and you won't see any.

Check out: http://www.roskapaivassa.net/littermovement.htm (as recommended by Anne)

Changing perspectives: Food.

What do you think of when you hear the word vegetarian? How about vegan?

Depending on your relationship to food, or animals, people will have a wide variety of answers to that question. The question can also be posed this way:

What do you think of when you hear the word carnivore?

I can't answer those questions for everyone, but I can tell you what I think:
- There are less-than-ideal conditions in some slaughter houses,
- Cruelty to animals is a reality (either through living conditions or slaughtering practices),
- You can't know about cruelty/slaughtering practices from looking at the meat, so it's difficult to know what you're supporting through your purchases,
- Animals which are used to produce dairy, even if not slaughtered for their meat, can also lead horrible lives,
- and finally, raising animals for meat-production for the growing global population is not sustainable and produces huge amounts of greenhouse gases.

There are other reasons but from those listed above, it's not hard to see why people are opting to be vegetarian or vegan these days.



Yet I found myself wrestling with this choice... (this is going to sound really lame) but I love bacon and salami. I could sacrifice steak no problem, I'd pretty much given up chicken in 2005 (though that was more of a phobia) and I never actually purchased meat to cook at home because I didn't really know how to cook it (though I did buy it frozen or processed somehow). But the fact of that matter was, I was still in no way vegetarian. And then I saw this video...

Graham Hill: Why I'm a weekday vegetarian | Video on TED.com

The idea is very simple: meat used to be part of a diet consisting of many other things, but over the course of the past few decades, it's become the main event. As the earth's population continues to grow, this rising trend is not sustainable. So instead of giving up meat forever, a choice which is not desirable for some, nor imaginable for others, people can decide to consume less meat. In this case, it means eating a vegetarian diet from Monday to Friday, and consuming meat only on weekends.



I've been doing this for over a year now and I can say, it's working out really well. I first started off exactly as Graham described in the video, eating vegetarian food from Monday to Friday and having some meat on the weekends. Then some weekends, I wouldn't have meat at all (because I learned I could easily live without it), while some weekdays I opted for some meat... it has since become a flexible guideline rather than a rule. I am still too ashamed to call myself a vegetarian because I know I am not one, but something should be said for people making conscious choices towards more sustainable living as well.

So give it some thought. Whether it's trying out weekday veg., having one vegetarian meal a day or a week to start out, there are an endless number of possibilities which you can tailor for yourself. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas!

Bike time!

I've been meaning to post about this all summer but every time I sat down, I had another random idea and posted that instead. So today:

Get a bike, get on it and go somewhere!

As a kid, my parents drove me to school every morning, and later, I drove myself. There were no school buses going to my school so we drove the 20km to school, while other friends walked (from a much closer distance). It sounded crazy to me that anyone would ride their bike to school. (Though I knew it'd be possible if I lived closer too.) If someone had asked me what a good distance to bike to school would've been, I wouldn't have been able to say, because I had no concept of the distances vs. speed vs. effort ratios of riding a bike. I had also gotten into the bad habit of driving absolutely everywhere...



Fast-forward a few years and a move to Finland later, subtract the car and money to buy a car but add a shiny yellow bike, and here I am.
This summer I decided to challenge myself. My work place is 7km away (by car) and about 7.5km along a bike path. It sounded like a crazy distance to me at first but I tried it out anyway. It turned out it wasn't the distance that was challenging on this route, but the incline. One morning, after crawling out of bed and procrastinating as much as I could before leaving the house, I biked to work. Even better, I biked back too. It felt really rewarding walking into the office (admittedly a little sweaty, but you can bring a change of clothes too) having already done half an hour of exercise that day. I only took the bus once or twice more after that (on days I thought would be rainy after already biking during the rainy ones - again: change of clothes are key!) but I much preferred my bike. I also have to say, that I have a one speed Jopo (somewhat of a favourite in Finland, pictured above) and I need a fair bit of effort to make my way up hills. As a result, I have people zooming past me every morning as I make my way slowly towards my destination. But I've had a lot of time to think during those trips, and it's quite nice to slow down and take the world in.

In any case, if I can do it, you can do it too!
I have to admit that Finnish bike paths are far more prominent than Toronto ones but short trips to the grocery store are a great way to start, and are especially easy with a basket.

Quick tip: Reusable bottles.

Quick Tip: Carry a reusable water bottle around instead of using disposable cups or plastic bottles (especially PET ones).

You have many options and, much like the cloth bag, I highly recommend you get a bottle you really love and want to carry around.

There are 4 different options (or if you want to think of them as such, schools of thought):

1. Reusable plastic bottles: many people believe that regardless of the type of plastic, some of it may still leach into your water and consequently, your body. There are different types of plastic and this option is better than one-time use bottles but as far as production and disposal goes, they're still produced from fossil fuels and can only be downcycled.

2. Aluminum: is light and quite cheap. I have an aluminum bottle but I'm not in love with it. I do, however, still carry it around everywhere. It's lighter than glass, which is convenient but I'm not sure how long it'll last me. The problem with aluminium is that mold tends to grow in the bottles eventually (though this can be cleaned), so to prevent this, I empty mine and leave it to dry every night.

Not the most beautiful bottle (Asaklitt) but for 5 euros from Clas Ohlson, it's treated me well this summer.

3. Stainless steel: has all the perks (light weight) of an aluminium bottle with the added advantage of higher quality (for which you pay the higher price). If you're looking for an entirely plastic-free stainless steel water bottle, Kleen Kanteen has launched one. (Featured on myplasticfreelife.com) Or check out the product on their website here.

4. Glass: There are some really nice glass bottles you can get, for example, this glass one with a bamboo sleeve from the Canadian site Life without plastic. The bottles are a bit heavier but also very versatile. One of the best suggestions I've read for reusable drinking options is made of glass: a mason jar. Since glass is really easy to clean, you can use it for more than just water (coffee, tea, hot chocolate, juice, soup...anything!) I've actually been having some issues finding mason jars in Finland but since it's packing season now at the end of summer, you may have luck checking out what the bigger grocery stores have in stock.

Quick facts about water bottles here. (I don't completely agree with the 'solution' part of that link but the problem and impact sections are without bias.)

If you want more information on this stuff, do a Google search to see which choice is best for you and what products are offered in your area (or if you're within shipping distance of some of these online stores.)

If you have more thoughts on the subject, feel free to comment and start a discussion.

N.B. After posting this, I found this from a trusted website:
"Plastic may leach chemicals into the water and aluminum bottles are lined with an epoxy resin, some of which has also found to leach into water depending on the brand. Why take a chance? Read [Beth Terry's] posts about bottled water for more information:" http://myplasticfreelife.com/category/issues/issues-bottled-water/

New habits: Start shopping at your local farmers' market.

I couldn't sleep in today, so I decided to wake up and start my day early. The farmers' market a few blocks away is open until 2pm on Saturdays (and every weekday morning) but I like having time to browse so I hopped on my bike and headed there. I've been shopping there for about a month and I only just realized that, although I'm cooking different things, I use more or less the same ingredients every time. I started by walking up and down the isles and looking at all the produce and prices, making mental notes as I go.

What to bring:
+ Bike and bike basket (it speeds up the whole process)
+ Cloth bags to hold everything while walking around
+ Containers (like the Tupperware I already own) or other bags for messier items which need packaging ie. berries
+ an egg carton, if you're planning on buying eggs.

What to look for:
- check the prices.
- check how the items are packaged. wrapped in plastic? put in boxes?
- where do the products come from? I noticed this summer that people were selling cherries from Portugal, for example. Or lettuce and cucumbers wrapped in plastic from the same source as the grocery store (Here I failed to see the point of buying from those stalls.) Talk to the sellers about their products and origins.
- After doing a good warm-up walk around, you'll notice many of the same products on the tables. The products you see most often are those which are in season. In season products are a more sustainable choice than those which require extra resources to produce. I'm still learning "what grows when" but the visual aspects of it at the market makes it easy to understand :)



So now that you know what to look for and what to bring, you just need to find your local market and go there! I love coming home and admiring all the freshness, and I get a thrill out of knowing the stuff is local and not covered in plastic!

Realization: Dishwashing practice makes perfect...

It just so happened that the plastic awareness challenge coincided with me running out of dish washing machine tablets/powder for the first time. Since I've been using up the products I already had before being aware of the harm they were doing, my plan is to switch to eco-friendly products (meaning what I deem to be eco-friendly, not just because it says so on the box) gradually, as I run out.

Yesterday I headed over to the local "green" store, called Ruohonjuuri, in search of something to clean the full dishwasher that was waiting for me at home. I expected, however naively, to find the perfect product there... that wasn't the case. But I did instantly want to blog about the experience because I think it reflects many choices we have to make in our everyday lives when it comes to making greener choices.

This is what I found...
(By the way, I don't know everything about toxins in these types of products but my rule was: if they don't hurt the wildlife, that's usually a good sign AND I kept an eye out for packaging because that's a big concern for me. Also, I didn't have ALL the info you see below but I got it off the company websites for you :) !)


Product #1 - Ecover

Quantity: 25 tablets
Price: 9.20€
Country of origin: Belgium
Website: www.ecover.com
Pros:
+ Cardboard box, made of 95% recycled materials
+ plant based ingredients, not based on petrochemical ingredients
+ no chemical residue left on your dishes
+ GMO enzyme free
+ no artificial fragrance
+ no phosphates nor chlorine bleach
+ optimum level of biodegradability - far exceeds legislative requirements
+ safe for all river and marine life
+ no animal testing
+ safe for septic tanks
Cons:
- Each tablet is individually wrapped in plastic (it's recyclable but you can't recycle plastic in Finland... actually I should look into this...)
- Price

Product #2 - Attitude

Quantity: 26 and 40 tablets
Price: around 12,30€ and 16,38€ (Though only $8 and $11 in Canada!)
Country of origin: Canada (to be more specific, Quebec)
Website: www.labonneattitude.com
Pros:
+ individual sachets dissolve
+ Certified EcoLogo, an Environment Canada program
+ CO2 neutral: no contribution to climate change
+ Vegetable-based / Natural / Biodegradable
+ Free of phosphate and chlorine
+ Free of color dyes and artificial fragrances
+ Pure essential oils
+ Non-carcinogenic (selected ingredients not listed on the IARC Categories 1, 2A or 2B)
+ Vegan product
Cons:
- The 26 pack comes in a thick plastic bag (to protect from moisture)
- The 40 pack came in a hard plastic box
- Price

Product #3 - Alma Win

Quantity: 25 tablets
Price: around 11€ (I don't remember!)
Country of origin: Germany
Website: http://almawin-usa.com/cms/
Pros:
+ Comes in a cardboard box
+ FREE from phosphate, chlorine and GMO
+ Excellent water softening properties
+ Sodium citrate prevents lime deposits on dishes
+ Biodegradable, natural occurring poly aspartic acid aids even dispersion
+ Environmentally-compatible mild oxygen based bleaching agents improve degradation
+ Fragranced with certified organic essential lemon oil
+ Naturally and effectively remove persistent food particles, starch and protein with proteases, not enzymes
+ Suitable for vegans
+ Not tested on animals
Cons:
- Individually plastic wrapped tablets
- More expensive than Ecover (which is packaged the same)

My decision:
I may have to shop around, so I picked Ecover (the cheaper and less-plastic-y of the bunch). In case it doesn't clean my dishes and work my way up (price-wise), I figured it was smarter to start with the cheaper option.

Afterthoughts:
Ironically, I went to a bigger grocery store after and found the same Ecover box for only €6.50. I know stores like Prisma definitely benefit from economies of scale and most of their products are not sustainable but 2.70€/box is a pretty hefty price increase. I went back to Ruohonjuuri today and apologized to the super nice sales person. They still have products you can't find elsewhere though and I plan to support them that way.
Again more irony, I realized I could've tried making the dishwashing powder myself, but I'll have to give that a try later (and post about some dishwashing- vs. dishwasher-related debates). Baby steps.

Do you have any products you'd like to recommend? Have you tried making your own dishwashing powder? Feel free to post about your experiences!

Quick tip: How to make sure everything you can recycle is recycled.

Our apartment is 46m². For those of you who think in feet, that's 495.13 feet². (Apparently... that sounds like a big number to me.) But the point is, the apartment is small. In this space, we have a kitchen garbage, a kitchen bio-waste, an 'office-looking' garbage can in the living room, a garbage in the bathroom and some recycling for paper, cans and bottles, which we keep in the hall closet.

It takes about 3 seconds to get to any of these from where ever you'd be standing, yet I still notice that we throw bits of paper in the living room garbage, and tissues in the bathroom garbage. I know from experience, this only gets worse when you live in a house and are too lazy to go all the way downstairs to properly dispose of paper, tissues, etc.

The solution?
Have recycling and composting options readily available throughout the house.



In the bathroom:
- you can add a folded newspaper to use for composting, or a biodegradable bag (newspapers are better but we only rarely get them)
- Write a little note in the garbage bin (not the bio one) that bio waste doesn't go in there. I did this mostly to remind myself but also for guests!
In the living room:
- we use our garbage for plastic packaging or other non-recyclable waste, cut-up credit cards, etc.

Although it's an easy change, I find it so worthwhile to see every tiny piece of paper or tissue being diverted from the landfill. Especially since it's much easier to make recycled paper than it is to make it from pulp.

Last note: Here's a video and the same step-by-step instructions in a PDF from the City of Ottawa on how to fold a newspaper to use for composting! I was also really impressed with this video for a different shape. I haven't tried them yet (have to get newspaper from somewhere) but I wanna hear about your experiences if you do!

Quick tip: Switch off the lights.

I'll be the first to admit, I never understood the point of occasions such as Earth hour. For those of you who are not familiar with Earth Hour (now I'm second guessing myself and wondering if that's what it was really called): earth hour was an hour once a year when everyone around the world turned off their lights for a full 60 minutes. This usually coincided with Earth Day on April 23d, which is meant to remind us about environment issues.

As you may have guessed, today's quick tip is about conserving energy in the form of lighting. (I'll keep it simple and keep heating out of this until the fall and winter months are upon us.)
Quick tip: Only turn on the lights you need, and only keep them on for however long you need them.




Remember how much fun you would have as a kid during power outages? (I was scared of the dark for a long time but power outages were always fun!) How about spending time at a cottage without electricity and lighting candles once the sun went down?
Here's a short list of things that are fun to do by candlelight or in the dark:
- Playing board games or cards
- Eating dinner
- Having friends over for wine!
- Sleeping
- Romance
- Listening to music

Last words: I recently found out that beeswax candles are the best option. This is because they contain "no paraffin, benzene, acrolyn, lead, stearic acid, or any other chemicals. As a result no toxic petrochemical by-products are released during the burning of beeswax candles." Source. For this reason, I'm burning whatever candles I have now and will make the switch once I burn through my current toxic candles.

This week's challenge: Plastic awareness.

I was going to post about something else tonight but in the last few hours, I’ve gotten excessively antsy about plastic. You may have noticed that my blog lacks the usual abundant and frightening amount of statistics that comes with most environmentally-related information.
The usual tactic: scare and then encourage (change).
My approach is rather: awareness (which you do yourself) and then change. I’m not going to fill this post up with scary statistics about plastic and waste, I’ll limit myself to one fact okay, two facts, and a challenge. So here goes…

Plastic facts:
1. Plastic cannot be recycled, it can only be downcycled. [Want to know more about downcylcing? Click here.] So all the plastic that is produced will eventually end up in landfills.
2. Just like the tobacco and alcohol industry, the plastic industry has lawyers and individuals who lobby the government in order to ensure themselves a profitable future. [This to say that we can’t rely on the government to pass laws. We need to start changing our habits and asking governments to change these laws.]

This mid-week’s challenge:
Observe, or if you’re motivated enough keep a list, of all the plastic in your life. Look around your home, the grocery store (warning: that’s the scariest part), at work, at school, at restaurants and where ever else.

My own on-going exploration with awareness brought me to realize that the products I use in my bathroom need improvement…


I look forward to your comments, realizations and even pictures!

2 easy tips for buying less clothes (while still keeping things interesting.)

This weekend has been pretty eventful, due in large part to the fact that I got to attend my first wedding as an adult! (The other 3 occurred while I was between the ages of 2 and 13 so my memories escape me a little.)

I had a dress all picked out and I'd aimlessly left it lying on the bed. When Juha walked into the bedroom, he asked "What's this?" to which I replied that that's what I'd be wearing to his cousin's wedding on Saturday. "But the invitation says 'smart casual.'"

"Oh."

I didn't end up buying anything new though, so here's how I did it.

Tip 1: When dressing up for an occasion, invite a few friends over (1 or 2 days ahead of time) and ask them to rummage through your closet and dress you.
Maybe this is more of a tip for women, but regardless, it would work for men too. (Ask your girlfriend, sister, mom, friend, etc.)

Because seriously, when are you ever gonna wear this again? Credit here.

What ended up happening is that Juha's mom and sister were also wondering what to wear. They invited me over and since I had been with my friends that afternoon, we stopped by to give a trifecta of opinions! When a belt or scarf would have completed the outfit, one of us was likely to own it if the other didn't.

After this exercise, we headed to my place where I proceeded to empty out my closet, gather all my shoes and open up my jewelry box! Not only did I end up with a great outfit that I would've struggled to put together on my own, but I wore a few items which had been sitting in my closet with the tags still on, and the whole thing lasted about 10 minutes. Best of all, the total cost of the entire operation was $0.

This brings me to tip 2: Give your clothes away, swap them when they don't fit and borrow when you need something for an occasion.

A friend of mine did this a few months ago. She invited people over for an evening, and it just so happened she had emptied out her closet that day. She had a big pile of clothes on her bed and they were all up for grabs. Whatever we didn't want, she'd try to sell or give away.

This doesn't only apply to clothes but also shoes that never quite fit you but you love (you'll still see them around but on your friend instead) or other pieces which you've tried to incorporate into your wardrobe but it just hasn't worked (after trying out Tip 1). Whatever is left that none of your friends want, you can give away to second hand stores or recycling pickups. Of course there are still some things you'll need to buy new (underwear, socks, comfortable shoes, etc.) but try this method before heading to the store.


Isla Fisher in the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic, photo credit here.

What's in it for you?
- It's fun.
- You save a lot of money.
- You reuse and enjoy clothes (as they pass from hand to hand) instead of throwing them away.
- You discover different combinations, freshen up your style and keep boredom at bay.
- Your friends can do the same when they want to get rid of something and you'll be on the receiving end.

Related posts:

Easy adjustment: Only buy things you really like.

Why sustainability is shedding its hippie image.

In North America, sustainability, environmentalism or eco-friendliness are often falsely associated with hippies, poor hygiene and a love of peace. It’s only recently that it’s dawned on me, as I tried to defend my recent interests, that this does not apply all over the world. People in different countries and of different cultures do not associate the environment and its preservation with a skewed stereotype that is meant to put the majority of people off the idea entirely. So how is it that those things were associated to begin with? And why should we change this perception?


If you're not familiar with 'said perception' of a hippie and/or are looking for photo credit click here.

hip•pie
[hip-ee] noun
a person, especially of the late 1960s, who rejected established institutions and values and sought spontaneity, direct personal relations expressing love, and expanded consciousness, often expressed externally in the wearing of casual, folksy clothing and of beads, headbands, used garments, etc.
Thank you, dictionary.com.

They may not all wear bellbottoms, experiment with hallucinogenics, refuse to wash their hair and rally in protest of the government but the baby boomers from the 60s and 70s are, for the most part, still around.
I have to pause here and reflect on this image… and how American it is, because to some, it seems like a global phenomenon. My parents, and all those related to me who were alive in the 1960s and 1970s were largely cut off from this phenomenon due to the fact that they were born behind the iron curtain. For this reason, I myself have never quite been able to understand, nor romanticize the notion of hippiness.. or hippihood?
Their purpose was the pleasure of living without the hardships of those who lived through the two World Wars and the Great Depression had to suffer through and maybe today isn't all they had imagined but its definitely different than yesterday.

Okay, so what does that have to do with the environment?

I wanted to bring up that idea of the original hippie, not to wake the one within you, but rather to contrast it with the incorrect stereotype of today. When I bring up the environment in conversation or vegetarianism or pollution or over-consumption, I notice a change in people’s perceptions. Like this whole time they had thought I was someone ‘normal’ and suddenly they’ve discovered I’m one of ‘those people’ who has lost the joy of riding in a car or eating steak: the tree-huggers.


These crazy kids came from here.

The more you disassociate the two, the hippie and the environmentalist, the more likely you are to realize that we're all in the same boat. I simply think that these perceptions are instilled in us for a reason: money and fear (and denial.) Okay 3 reasons, but denial and fear go hand-in-hand.
To put it simply, whenever there have been times of change, there have been those to resist it. The future is unknown to us and so we fear it. The present is frightening with scientists crunching numbers for when we'll destroy the planet and generations to come will suffer and yet we don't know what to do about it. Yet, there are some very powerful people who want to continue profiting from the way we are currently living. There's nothing wrong with profit (most of you know I went/go to business school) when all the externalities have to be accounted for (which right now is not the case.)

So where does that leave us?

Well that’s really up to you. Hippies and those conscientious about the environment do have something in common, and it’s not pants, hair nor drugs. It’s a revolution. But while one set of people took to the streets, protesting the system and arguing against war, the other set is going about it much more silently. Changing habits little-by-little, talking to family and friends, coming up with solutions to help one-another, getting the government involved, revolutions can come in many forms. So although there are similarities, there are also stark differences. Habits and years of them stand between where we are now and where we’d like to be (in terms of consumption, pollution, conservation, sustainability and other big scary issues that need tackling) but we need to start somewhere…

And that’s where this blog comes in.
(And the infinite resources of the internet. But “And that’s where this blog comes in” sounded catchier.)

Life motto: Be the change you want to see in the world.

Do you ever happen upon a really dirty area in your neighbourhood? Is there a bench in a park you love that always seems to pile up a lot of garbage?

I've been spending a lot of time wondering about this lately and asking myself how people can care so little for their surroundings. It just so happens that I think many people care, but sometimes they're waiting for someone to come along and ask them to help. This is why today, I want to talk about a motto that a friend of mine cites as her inspiration.

Life motto: Be the change you want to see in the world.

Last night, I got home late and noticed that outside a neighbour's balcony, the ground was covered in cigarette butts. I found this repulsive last night, and woke up this morning with the urge to go clean it up. I toyed with the idea of leaving it there for a bit so the negligent neighbour could see the harm he'd done but I worried that the wind would blow everything around. So instead, I wrote the person a letter, asking him to use an ashtray next time. Then, I went outside and picked up 207 cigarette butts off the street. (Yes, you read that right.) I used a thicker plastic bag I had as a glove and a little bread bag to hold the garbage. I've also decided that when I deliver my letter, I'll also return the bag to its rightful owner.

Before:

After:

All 207 of them, plus a few packets of snuff, a ball of paper towel and 2-3 empty packs of cigarettes.

To be honest, I noticed people staring at me this morning while I was doing this and that made me happy (though I also felt slightly awkward!) I don't think it looked like I'd been out partying the night before so I hope they didn't think that was my mess. But if you see someone doing a clean-up like that, you're more likely to go out and do one yourself. Which is actually how I ended up out there in the first place...

I've been having a lot of ideas lately. Some of them are good, like this blog (I hope!) and some of them not so much. I'm sure I'm not the only person with ideas and that's why I think when you have a good one, you should go with it. Try it out, see if it can work, and when it takes off, you'll be all the more grateful for trying.

For example, my friend Donna has been taking the bus to and from the city for the past 2 years. Through the changing seasons, she's noticed that the bus stops can sometimes be really filthy places. To remedy this, she spoke to a friend about going out there and cleaning them up herself (even though there's a company who owns them and therefore should look after them properly.) The friend she spoke with offered to help and said she's sure other people would come help too!

So here we are, a few weeks later, organizing an event to gather the community together and show people we can make a difference. Tampere has been getting increasingly dirtier, especially during the weekends after long nights of partying (and sadly, littering). Over 60 people are expected to come help out and the local newspaper Aamulehti will be there to take pictures, talk to people and write about the event so more people can hear about it.

It hasn't been all smooth sailing though. It can be quite discouraging to walk around and see lots of trash sitting there or blowing in the wind, but we have to believe that people didn't realize what harm they were causing when they threw that trash there. Some people don't see a point in picking it up, while others think it's a great idea and are bringing the kids to teach them about it too. But what I take away from this, is that many ideas can turn into something really positive and that even making a small difference, for example, in terms of garbage picked up, can end up inspiring people to do the same, or at least, think twice about throwing garbage on the ground.

I'll post more about the event on Sunday, after it takes place!

Update: I just went over to the building and spoke with the guy who had the party. I rang his bell, handed him the note (no mailbox) and gave him the bag of butts. I really don't feel any anger and he seemed like a nice guy, just embarrassed. I think that keeping an open mind and being friendly always goes a long way too.

Still a long way to go!

In the interest of self-disclosure, I just bought some new flats that have nothing to do with the environment. I pondered about whether or not I should post this but decided I didn't want to come off as someone who does everything right without any effort, because that wouldn't be true. So instead, shoes go on my eco-friendly wishlist for next purchase!



I had seen them weeks, if not months, ago but at 96€ full price, there was no way I was gonna gamble on another pair of flats. Since they went on sale though, and I knew I really loved them, I went back and got them today.
[See my previous post on only buying stuff you love.]

I'd been trying to decide which items get my focus when it comes to sustainable-living and I've decided that I'm of the opinion that shoes should be made for the individual and not bought second-hand. Though I suppose if they're heels or party shoes and you wear them rarely then the fact that they're not shaped to your foot is not a huge problem. Otherwise, I have some issues with the hygiene of it all but you could make sure they're properly sterilized too.
The irony was that when I was trying them on, I looked up at some other shoes. They were really colourful and, I have to admit, pretty ugly, but they were 100% recycled. The guilt hit me a little but the style was so far from what I'd wear that I couldn't even consider wearing them, let alone ever paying money for them. It seemed to me there are lots of options for eco-friendly shoes which are comfortable but they are restricted to more casual styles... that was before I came home and Googled a little and found this article: Top 10 Eco Friendly, Socially Conscious and Vegan Shoes. Okay so it's not the perfect article because those shoes aren't 100% perfect either, but each of them has something sustainable, whether production methods, content or labour. I was thinking more along the lines of Simple shoes or another shoe company which I cannot find right now, despite the last half an hour I just spent Googling...

What can I say? I have a long way to go. I hope they last me forever. My next purchase will be sustainable! I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Making tough choices? Figure out your priorities.

I met my friend Donna today because I'm helping her organize a community garbage pick-up event this coming Sunday and we had some running around to do. One of the spots we ran through was Tampere's central square, which is host to a variety of festivals and different vendors throughout the summer. This is one big reason that the center has tons of garbage flying around it but there are also nice things available there. This week, the theme is French Cuisine and products!

The bakery has a line running through the square (it's run out of a truck) and other vendors are selling candy, fresh nuts or even soaps! I noticed a huge stand of French natural soaps from Marseilles and couldn't resist. I promised myself that I'd stop buying liquid soaps, in an effort to reduce waste. In addition, I've been buying only soaps without any waste at all (no packaging, no bags, etc.) They usually tend to run about 5-8euros/bar but I get such joy out of using them that I don't mind paying a few euros extra, and they last long too.

Today in the square, the soaps cost 5 euros each or 5 for 20 euros. I got so excited but there were a few things to consider:
+ no waste
+ natural soaps
+ great price
- driven in a truck from France
- production impact unknown
= how do you calculate that?

In the end, I came home with 5 bars of them and had a photo shoot! It's sometimes hard to make decisions like that but those decisions are part of every day life. I'm trying to make lots of choices at the same time, and all my intentions are good: I don't want to have a negative impact on my surroundings. But this takes some getting used to and should be done step-by-step (especially since this is in the sub-title of this blog.)

So the moral of this story, and the lesson for this post is: Figure out your priorities.

If energy and water are more important for you, focus on those. If emissions are on your mind, reduce those first. If waste is your most pressing concern, start with that. I could keep going but you get the point. So long as you're aware and you start somewhere, you're heading in the right direction.

And now for the photo shoot... (these should last me about a year!)