Safe Trip to Eden: Ten Steps to Save Planet Earth From the Global Warming Meltdown by David Steinman

One of the pile of books I took out from the library to read is: Safe Trip to Eden by David Steinman. If you are American or you have any relatives or friends right of centre who don’t see the connection between green living and stopping climate change and our reliance on petrochemicals, I think Chapter 2, “Be a Green Patriot,” might win them over.

The book is also very well written and makes the points about the effect of chemical food spraying on humans personal and poignant as the writer talked to people who were involved in several incidents and what the health aftermath was. He also makes the link between chemicals sprayed on food and ingested and chemicals contained in personal care products (like shampoo, deodorant, etc.) and his concern for his family. It is also not a preachy book, as during it, he and his family are trying to become greener, but haven’t made it completely there yet (like most of us). The link he makes between doing something for the environment and being a good patriot (American) may seem slightly strange for non-Americans, but may be very convincing for those who are not yet convinced they need to act.

Section 4 of the book, “Put Good Products in Your Home” provides (among other things), a website that will help you determine which personal care products or cosmetics contain harmful chemicals.  I’ve listed below a report and website mentioned in the book, as well as a book and another website found on the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics website below. Please note that the Skin Deep website, which provides extremely detailed information on products and all their ingredients and a rating system from 1 to 10 on how safe they are, contains information on personal care products as well, not just cosmetics.  Even though the American websites or report or book will be of interest to more than Americans, I have added a Canadian site as well – Toxic Canada. There is a report on that site which lists families and what kind of toxic chemicals are contained in their bodies which should be of interest to all North Americans.

Report

“Not Too Pretty: Phthalates, Beauty Products & the FDA” by Jane Houlihan, Charlotte Brody, Bryony Schwan, July 8, 2002. http://www.safecosmetics.org/docUploads/NotTooPretty_r51.pdf

Website

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, http://www.safecosmetics.org/index.cfm

Website 

Skin Deep, http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com/index.php?nothanks=1

Book

Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Cosmetics Industry by Stacy Malkan

Website

Toxic Nation, http://www.environmentaldefence.ca/toxicnation/home.php

Report

Polluted Children, Toxic Nation: A Report on Pollution in Canadian Families, http://www.environmentaldefence.ca/toxicnation/report/PCTN_English%20Web.pdf

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How Healthy Is Your Home and Tips On How to “Detox” Your House

From the Spring & Summer 2007, greenliving magazine, pages 73-75, here is an article about making your home a healthier place to live:

HOME, SAFE HOME

Detoxing Your Digs

By Jennifer O’Connor

Sure, you eat organic and do Bikram yoga, but how healthy is your home? Things like cooking smoke, cleaning chemicals and common moul all hamper indoor air quality. Fortunately, there are some simple things you can do to breathe more easily.

To find out what I could do to improve my home environment, I decided to go to a specialist. When Art Robinson, president of Sick Building Solutions, and field manager Al McLaren arrived, the first thing they did was check the air’s carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide levels, as well as the temperature and humidity. The carbon dioxide level in my living room came in at 800 parts per million (500 to 800 is acceptable), which I was told is normal for three people breathing in an enclosed, relatively small space. Radiators heat my apartment, so there’s no air exchange, but it’s an old house, so there are cracks that let fresh air in. Symptoms of too much carbon dioxide include headaches and sleepiness, so it’s important to keep air flowing. Open your windows or balance the need for fresh air efficiency by using a heat-recovery ventilator, which draws new air indoors and pushes the old outside ($1,000 and up, plus installation).

Robinson and McLaren didn’t find carbon monoxide (but then, I don’t have oil or gas powered appliances, a working fireplace or any of the other monoxide-makers). However, this colourless, odourless gas can cause numerous ailments, including nausea, headaches and dizziness, so Robinson suggests getting a carbon-monoxide dectector, which costs $35 to $45 and lasts about five years. During an inspection, Robinson will also interview clients to find out if they have specific complains and concerns – he is able to test for more than 1,000 different substances.

Of course, it didn’t require an expert to find the mould in my loo. “We get calls for this,” he said, recommending I leave th ewindow open after a shower to let the moul-fostering moisture exit the building. Other household threats are radon and formaldehyde. Radon is naturally occurring radioactive gas found underground that can get into the home through cracks in concrete, dirt floors and under the furnce base and may increase your risk of lung cancer. Health Canada suggests sealing basement walls and floors with a polyurethane caulking compound. formaldehyde is released by many items in the home such as carpet cleaners, particleboard and dishwashing liquids. Exposure to too much of it can cause everything from sore throats and burning eyes to, in extreme cases, cancer of the nasal cavity. 

If sealing your basement or replacing your cabinets isn’t high on your to-do list, never fear. Here are some tips for getting your quick detox fix.

1. Take off your shoes when you come in. There can be substances in soil you don’t want to track through the house.
2. Ditch household hazardous waste such as old paint and batteries (contact your municipality for a safe disposal site near you).
3. Use eco-friendly cleaners such as baking soda and vinegar, and replace abrasive cleansers with steel wool.
4. Keep your house smoke-free. That includes not just from cigaretts but from anything you burn indoors, such as candles.
5. Fight the good fight against dust, which can absorb and distribute toxic particles through the air. That means limiting rugs and curtains; they attract dust and are difficult to clean.
6. Take The Lung Association’s virtual tour of air quality hot-spots in your home at www.yourhealthyhome.ca.
7. Consider consulting a pro. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), 1-800-668-2642, or your provincial lung association, 1-888-566-5864, can provide referrals. Or check the Yellow Pages under “indoor air consultant” or “building consultant.” Ensure whoever you hire is CMHC trained and expect to pay anywhere from $250 to $700.

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Somalia: War and Humanitarian Aid

From the Tuesday, September 18, 2007, Toronto Star, World & Comment section, pages AA-AA4, an article about the displacement and misery of thousands of people in Somalia.

As Oxfam is one of the humanitarian organizations mentioned in the article, here is the web address of the Take Action page at Oxfam, which includes 10 actions you can take, including an online petition and a unique fundraising program involving used postage stamps: http://www.oxfam.ca/what-you-can-do/take-action.

World Looks Elsewhere as Somalia Misery Grows

Relief official says aid programs overstretched, underfunded as thousands displaced by war

Olivia Ward

Foreign Affairs Reporter

The bleeding in Somalia goes on, with thousands dead, more than 300,000 displaced and the survivors of the conflict threatened with rape, starvation and disease.

Yet, humanitarian agencies say, Somalia is becoming Africa’s forgotten crisis, as the catastrophic conflict in Darfur captures the headlines, and wars in other parts of the world dominate the news.

Degan Ali, executive director of Somalia-based Horn Relief, was in Toronto yesterday to remind Canadians of the dire situation and aid workers’ struggle to bring relief to people who have been caught in decades of wars.

“The conditions for people who have fled their homes are horrific,” said the Somali-born American, who took over the project from her mother, Fatima Jibrell. “In some regions they’re being charged ‘rent’ by local people just for sheltering under a tree.”

Water, food and sanitation are poor to non-existent.

In the capital of Mogadishu, meanwhile, daily gunfire and explosions confine people to their homes, and only the poorest – or the fighters’ families – stay on.

Inter-clan fighting has caused near-anarchy in Somalia since the outster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, igniting a power struggle of warlords, clans and splinter groups. After a brief takeover by an Islamist movement that was driven out of power last year, fighting flared again when an Ethiopian-backed transitional government tried to recapture the capital.

Yesterday gun battles spread through villages south of Mogadishu, as Somali leaders meeting in Saudi Arabia said they want to replace foreign forces backing the interim government with Arab and African troops under United Nations command.

Humanitarian groups have fled Somalia after attacks and fillings. But, Ali says, in spite of the danger, aid programs continue, though overstretched and underfunded.

One that has met with surprising success is Horn Relief’s cash handout program that gives $60 a month to destitute people to buy food, shelter, medicine or other badly needed goods.

“It gives people freedom to get what they need most. For some it’s help with moving, others access to credit or a pair of children’s shoes,” she says.

Working with its partner, Oxfam, Horn Relief is also planning a more ambitious infrastructure project rebuilding a once-bustling port at Laas Qoray, in the Gulf of Aden in northern Somalia. The $8 million project is expected to produce crucial revenues from trade and shipping.

For now, Ali says, what Somalis need most is security and an end to war, somethign countries like Canada should promote in the international forum. According to Human Rights Watch, civilians are under attack by Ethiopian, Somali and insurgent forces, but the abuses have met “a shameful silence … on the part of key foreign governments and international institutions.”

Yesterday in Riyadh, three leaders of Somalia’s interim government and parliament signed a statement saying they would seek reconciliation. But earlier, Islamists attending a rival meeting in Eritrea boycotted the conference and refused to join peace talks.

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Online Non-Violent Protests

With the “new” technology, comes new ways of protest, as mentioned in this column by the Kielburger brothers in the Monday, October 1, 2007, Toronto Star, page AA2:

NON-VIOLENT PROTEST HAS GONE ONLINE

Craig and Marc Kielburger 

Global Voices

Their weapons were no match for the frail man draped in a simple white cloth.

Often facing the barrel of British guns, it was the soft-spoken voice of Mahatma Gandhi that repeatedly encouraged Indian protesters to remain calm and, above all, to remain peaceful.

With defiant acts of civil disobedience, he led his nation out of the shackles of colonial rule and became a worldwide symbol of what can happen when people come together to march, armed with their convictions instead of weapons.

So it is very fitting that the UN has designated tomorrow – Gandhi’s birthday – as the first-ever International Day of Non-Violence.

Few philosophers have had a greater impact on social change than non-violence. Under great leaders like Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and many more, entire generations have embraced peaceful protest and resistance – even in the face of hatred.

And while the movement has been around for thousands of years, its prominence and success peaked in the 20th century.

Inspired by Gandhi, millions of men and women have joined forces to win rights for the brutally oppressed, end wars, defeat communism and topple empires.

But the movement is changing. Technology has begun putting non-violence at our fingertips.

With a few mouse clicks, citizens can find out about human rights abuses around the world, connect with others to sign online petitions, write blogs and contact their local politicians.

That’s made the movement more personal, convenient and accessible.

“People today would rather spend half an hour a day working on causes on the Internet than going out onto the streets,” says Jonathon White, a sociology professor at Bridgewater State College in Maine and an expert on non-violence.

Technology has altered the act of protest, largely for the good but with some consequences.

Non-violence traditionally succeeds when it stirs the masses with very public acts of defiance. They create powerful images – millions marching on Capitol Hill, innocent protesters being attacked by water cannons and police dogs – driving people to rise up against injustice.

But protesting online reduces reasons for people to physically come together, making it harder to find stirring images of solidarity.

You can’t have a non-violent movement solely on the Internet,” White says. “There has to be something to ignite people to work for change.

He believes on reason Iraq War protests have had less impact than those in the Vietnam era is because they aren’t regularly organized or centralized, making online protesters’ voices seem less unified to politicians, the media and even each other.

But White believes the movement is evolving, not in danger.

“Young people will rediscover the power of non-violence and combine it with their new tools,” he says, “I think this will happen soon.”

In fact, in some places it’s already begun. Last April, Nepal’s King Gyanendra ordered cellphone service cut after pro-democracy advocates used text messages to assemble massive street protests.

With developments like this, non-violence is finding its place in the 21st century, and its influence is only getting stronger.

The Mahatma would be proud.

Craig and Marc Kielburger are children’s rights activists and co-founded Free The Children, which is active in the developing world. Online: Craig and Marc Kielburger discuss global issues every Monday in the World & Comment section. Take part in the discussion online at thestar.com/globalvoices.

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Green Laundry – Clotheslines

I have one friend who puts her laundry out on a clothesline and another one who would except her municipality does not permit it.

I have a backyard with a shared driveway, unfenced, tiny, with no direct access into the backyard from the basement laundry. But I am all for letting those who can and want to save energy and the environment and are in a situation to do so, to do it. Why?  Apparently from this article in the Wednesday, November 14, 2007, Toronto Star, page A10, “Clothes dryer use in Ontario produces 700,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year.”

BRINGING BACK THE CLOTHESLINE

Michele Henry

Staff Reporter

They’re hoping the province won’t hang them out to dry.

A week after Premier Dalton McGuinty said he’d consider the issue, local environmentalists are eagerly awaiting a decision about whether Ontarians, no matter where they live, will be permitted to fly clotheslines in their backyards and hang their pants, shirts, towels and unmentionables outside.

Peter Love, Ontario’s chief conservation officer, recommended last week that the province designate clotheslines as energy-efficient, which would allow everyone to use them – if they so desire.

Declaring them such would override any codes or regulations that may exist in housing developments or communities that prohibit residents from freeing their sheets.

In recent years clotheslines have shed the stigma of being associated with poverty, becoming instead a sign of eco-awareness.

“I’m not sure what they’re waiting for,” says Phyllis Morris, clothesline activist and mayor of Aurora.

“If we can’t solve a simple thing like hanging two hooks in the backyard, what chance to we have of solving our bigger energy crisis?”

Morris, who has been fighting for the province to make clotheslines legal everywhere, is thrilled that Love included them in the 12 recommendations he made to the province last week in this third annual report.

Love says clotheslines remain low on his bigger list of priorities, but still vital. He’s interested to hear what the province has to say about the issue, hoping there will soon be a resolution.

“We’re asking people to adopt a culture of conservation in everything they do,” he says. “This is small but important. I’m not requiring everyone to use them. But at least let people have that right.”

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Socially Responsible Investments

From the July 2007 issue of Benefits Canada, page 9, is an article about American pension plan sponsors and socially responsible investments:

TURNING GREEN

American plan sponsors are aware of the need for Socially Responsible Investing (SRI), and the popularity of offering an SRI option in defined contribution (DC) plans is growing, according to a survey by Mercer Investment Consulting Commissioned by the Social Investment Forum.

Currently, 19% of the DC plans surveyed offer one or more SRI mutual funds, and an additional 41% plan to do so within just the next three years. This means that 60% of DC plans in the U.S. will offer an SRI option to their participants by 2010. “The main forces behind this include the desire to align retirement plan offerings with the mission of the employer, typically a focus on social responsibility as well as internal staff recommendations and employee participant requests for SRI options,” says Craig Metrick, a consultant with Mercer Investment Consulting in New York.

It’s good to know that demand for SRI options in DC plans is growing, but it’s even more important to give plan administrators the information they need to add these options, cautions Paul Hilton, interim director social investment strategy at asset manager Calvert in Bethesda, Md.

He believes that more needs to be done in terms of educating the retirement plan industry about SRI because the survey also showed that respondents have a general lack of knowledge of SRI fund options and the variety of products available.

One plan sponsor that has given employees an SRI choice in their retirement plan is Santa Clara, Calif. – based Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer.

“I really think it comes down to providing choices and if you want to be providing choices and if you want to be a socially responsible company,” says Dave Stangis, the company’s director of corporate responsibility.

“You can see it every day on the front page of every paper, people worried about the environment, concerned about what they can do personally to make a difference, and this is a great solution.”

– Craig Sebastiano 

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10 Ways To Be Environmentally Responsible

These suggestions about being environmentally responsible are from an Earth Day Canada brochure for Earth Day 2007.  When you make green changes, mention the changes to your relatives, friends and co-workers.  People may not make changes the first time they hear you are making a change, but you will be surprised in the long run the kind of influence you can have among people that you know.

Take Action!

1.  Reduce home energy use – and save money – in a few simple steps. Visit ecoactionteam.ca for more information. 

2.  Choose locally grown and organically produced food. Ask your school to incorporate a healthy salad bar as part of its lunch program – visit foodshare.net to find out how.

3.  Donate your time and money to an environmental charity or initiative of your choice.

4.  Choose public transit or the most fuel-efficient vehicle possible and commit to driving less – get healthy with active transportation such as walking or biking.

5.  Plant native species of trees, shrubs and plants to reduce your lawn cover and enhance the carbon absorbing capacity of the Earth.

6.  Consider the environment when making purchases. Many consumer products – including cars and appliances – have an Energuide rating to help in making this decision.

7.  Try eating meat-free one day a week – the production and processing of grains requires far less water and land than that of livestock.

8.  Consider the environment when making work-related decisions. You may be the catalyst in enhancing your company’s environmental commitment – while saving them money in the process.

9.  Replace toxic chemical cleaners and pesticides with natural, non-toxic alternatives.

10. Subscribe to renewable energy utilities, which promote the use of wind, solar and small scale hydro-electricity generation.

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Summary of Climate Change Report

From the StopGlobalWarming.org website,  http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_read.asp?id=6385211172007 , here is a brief summary of the “Synthesis Report” from the International Panel on Climate Change’s  Climate Change 2007 report.  It is a scary prophecy of what we can expect if we do nothing. So we all need to start doing our bit — now.

The three other sections of the report are available online to read at the IPCC website, http://www.ipcc.ch/ , or if you are a scientist or independently wealthy from Amazon.com, etc.; (1) The Physical Science Basis;  (2) Impacts, Adaptation & Vulnerability; (3) Mitigation of Climate Change. I imagine copies will also find their way into libraries around the world, as they are available in many languages.

Key Findings of United Nations’

Scientific Report

by: Associated Press    17 November 2007
The following are some key findings in a report issued Saturday by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:

• Global warming is “unequivocal.” Temperatures have risen 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 100 years. Eleven of the last 12 years are among the warmest since 1850. Sea levels have gone up by an average seven-hundredths of an inch per year since 1961.

• About 20 percent to 30 percent of all plant and animal species face the risk of extinction if temperatures increase by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. If the thermometer rises by 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit, between 40 to 70 percent of species could disappear.

• Human activity is largely responsible for warming. Global emissions of greenhouse gases grew 70 percent from 1970 to 2004. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is far higher than the natural range over the last 650,000 years.

• Climate change will affect poor countries most, but will be felt everywhere. By 2020, 75 million to 250 million people in Africa will suffer water shortages, residents of Asia’s large cities will be at great risk of river and coastal flooding, Europeans can expect extensive species loss, and North Americans will experience longer and hotter heat waves and greater competition for water.

• Extreme weather conditions will be more common. Tropical storms will be more frequent and intense. Heat waves and heavy rains will affect some areas, raising the risk of wildfires and the spread of diseases. Elsewhere, drought will degrade cropland and spoil the quality of water sources. Rising sea levels will increase flooding and salination of fresh water and threaten coastal cities.

• Even if greenhouse gases are stabilized, the Earth will keep warming and sea levels rising. More pollution could bring “abrupt and irreversible” changes, such as the loss of ice sheets in the poles, and a corresponding rise in sea levels by several yards.

• A wide array of tools exist, or will soon be available, to adapt to climate change and reduce its potential effects. One is to put a price on carbon emissions.
• By 2050, stabilizing emissions would slow the average annual global economic growth by less than 0.12 percent. The longer action is delayed, the more it will cost.

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Synthetic Chemicals In Our Bodies: Buyers Beware

Here is an article from the Daily Green, November 9, 2007, about a study done finding synthetic chemicals in our bodies (http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/body-burden-47110904).

Although this was a U.S. study, similar Canadian studies have shown that we are also contaminated.  Until the U.S. and Canadian governments (and others who haven’t acted already) stop harmful synthetic products showing up in our personal care products, food “products”, and other manufactured products, we are going to have to look out for ourselves  as consumers and also lobby government for tougher regulations.

STUDIES FIND CHEMICALS IN HUMAN BODY
Chemicals have been linked to hormonal disruption

by Dan Shapley

bisphenol-A, PBDEs and phthalates – Oh my!
They’re chemicals, potentially toxic or unhealthy, and they are in you, and me, and every one of us – or so it seems, based on new studies written about in today’s Newsday.

PBDEs are polybrominated diphenyl ethers, used as flame retardants. Bisphenol-A and phthalates are ingredients in plastics, among other products.

Studies found the compounds in the blood and urine of people nationwide. What that means for our health is an open question, but animal studies have turned up some worrying information about these polysyllabic chemicals, primarily that even at low levels they may tongue-tie the body’s instant messenger, the hormonal system.

[Here is the article referred to from the Friday, November 9, 2007, Newsday (New York), News section, page A36. If you want a Canadian version of the study, see http://www.toxiccanada.ca/.]
CHEMICALS TRACED IN BODY
Study finds evidence of compounds in blood, urine that can interfere with the function of natural hormones

BY DELTHIA RICKS. delthia.ricks@newsday.com“>delthia.ricks@newsday.com

Compounds used in a vast array of everyday products that range from plastic microwaveable containers, toys and medical devices were found in the blood and urine of participants in a nationwide monitoring program sponsored by a coalition of environmental health groups. Even though there were only 35 volunteers, and the research did not rise to the level usually required of scientists who report findings in peer-reviewed journals, results were strikingly similar to those in a much larger, ongoing study overseen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Results from the project were released in Albany, as well as in several other states where groups sponsored the study. Participants, who ranged from 12 years old to people in their 50s, volunteered from around the country. All were found to have evidence of the substances in their bodies. The upshot of the analysis was to find whether compounds known as bisphenol-A, polybrominated diphenyl ethers – PBDEs – and phthalates (pronounced: THA-lates) are permanently in the tissues and blood of children, teens and adults. Volunteer John Sferazo of Huntington Station said chemicals from each of the categories was found in tests he submitted to the project. He believes information from the biomonitoring project can help consumers choose household products wisely. “People should learn from other people’s problems,” said Sferazo, who founded Unsung Heroes Helping Heroes, an organization that aids workers who volunteered at Ground Zero after the World Trade Center attacks. “They should be astute and take care of their health now, based on the personal information I am willing to give out on what my body carries,” said Sferazo, who worked at the site after the collapse. Bisphenol-A has been used in plastic baby bottles, food containers and other household items and has been known to leach into foods when the containers are heated. When word spread earlier this year that bisphenol-A was leaching from infants’ bottles, parents nationwide abandoned the bottles and turned to glass. Phthalates are have been used in cosmetics but are also the key chemical softener in polyvinyl chloride, which makes up a range of products from garden hoses and plastic shower curtains to plastics used in the medical industry. PBDEs are flame retardants, used in products such as televisions and sofas. Together, the compounds are known as endocrine disrupters because they can act as estrogens in the body and block the function of natural hormones. Sheldon Krimsky, a science policy expert at Tufts University in Boston, said studies have demonstrated that endocrine disrupters cause sex changes in fish and amphibians. He added, however, that a growing body of evidence suggests human harm. “Analyses like the one reported today are body-burden studies,” Krimsky said of the biomonitoring project. “This is a genre of studies that give us information about the accumulation of chemicals in our bodies and therefore gives us some idea about exposure. “There’s no question that people are being exposed,” he said, adding that we now have to find out what it means. An estimated 6 billion pounds of bisphenol-A are produced annually in the United States, according to data from the CDC, which reported last month in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, that 92.2 percent of Americans carry traces of the compound in their tissues. CDC scientists found that the compound is excreted in urine. Agency spokeswoman Dagny Olivares, said the CDC could not comment on the environmental report released yesterday. She added that the CDC’s biomonitoring program is not looking for adverse health effects but is examining people nationwide in an attempt to determine the prevalence of bisphenol-A, as well as a host of other chemicals. “Our baseline numbers will allow other researchers to explore what they mean,” Olivares said yesterday. Biomonitoring at CDC began in the 1970s. In laboratory studies, bisphenol-A has been shown to alter human egg development, and phthalates caused so-called phthalate syndrome in male lab rodents, characterized by lowered testosterone levels and a shortened distance between the anus and scrotum. The animals also had reduced sperm counts. PBDEs also are associated with underdeveloped male reproductive organs.

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Greening Schools

Five Steps to Go Green At School 

If you’ve got kids in school, you have an ideal place to combat climate change and the harsh effects it has on the developing world.

According to Statistics Canada, nearly 5.3 million children spend a good chunk of each weekday in public schools across Canada. Imagine the positive environmental impact if students and staff decided to go as green as possible in their schools.

Climate change has a disastrous effect on poor families around the world. For example, children and their parents in Africa who can least afford to cope with natural disasters are facing increased flooding and droughts. And scientists predict that this will only worsen unless steps are taken to stop global warming.

Fortunately, many Canadian schools are embracing the challenge to go green, knowing that the future of children here and around the world depends on it. The British Columbia Ministry of Education, for example, now offers guidelines and resources to help schools become eco-friendly.

Here are some simple ways to go green at your school. (These suggestions can also be used in community centres, arenas or any public gathering place.)

1. Start or join a committee comprised of students, parents and teachers. Begin by contacting your school board or checking its website for information. Think of ways you can motivate the entire student body to join in. Kids embrace causes-especially ones where they can see their immediate impact.
    
2. Contact a community service club that has conservation as its goal. Ontario, for example, has the Ontario Environmental Network that lists 500 environmental organizations across the province. When starting a movement at your school, you can benefit a great deal from an established organization’s know-how.
    
3. Try to go “carbon neutral.” This simply involves estimating the green-house-gas emissions the school is responsible for (check out DavidSuzuki.org for online carbon calculators) and finding ways to compensate through projects like wind farms or reforestation projects. Organizing fundraisers will help you invest in these green projects.
    
4. Ban idling. Walk through any school parking lot and you will likely find an idling vehicle. According to Friends of the Earth, Canadians idle away $1.3 million in greenhouse-gas-producing fuel each year. Create a policy that urges parents, school-bus drivers and anyone else who visits your school to turn their vehicles off while waiting.
    
5. Do what you already know. Many steps that energy-efficient families use in their homes can translate into a school setting. Something as simple as switching off computer monitors when they are not in use can have a significant impact. The average desktop computer is estimated to consume 420 kilowatts of power each year. When you are talking about more than 1 million computers being used in Canadian schools, the energy savings add up.

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