Attacking the Plastic Waste Epidemic Head On

We were very pleased to discover this organization called the Plastic Bank. 

It’s predicated on the idea that waste plastic, which is one of the world’s most daunting environmental challenges, possesses what they believe to be an “abundance of opportunity”.

Their site, www.plasticbank.org, lays out the argument in very lucid terms and you come away feeling that you are looking at a very well meaning and more importantly, well structured organization.  

We don’t have to tell you just how much plastic wastes is created in the world every single day. But it’s easily in the millions of tons. It’s something that concerns everyone and should. But the vision of this group is to create plastic exchanges all over the world and be able to sort and funnel this waste plastic to wherever it can be most easily re-purposed.

This is an admirable mission. And probably something that would be of great interest to a number of different types of recycling organizations.

The world is changing and it’s big ideas like this that helping that change be a change for the better.

Skyline Farms…A Green Initiative Worth Supporting

Jacqueline Spicer of The Ink Tank® in Toronto is a good friend. Her son Jake and his business partner have recently launched a new ‘green’ project called Skyline Farms. Like any new project, Skyline Farms was started on a shoestring, but it’s a great idea that deserves support.

Skyline Farms is an environmentally and socially innovative urban farm model that is taking off like gangbusters, with lots of media and political attention–including Premier Kathleen Wynne. They are holding a launch event to celebrate the success of the pilot farm and to raise funds to grow Skyline Farms. 

Skyline Farms Release: 

Skyline Farms is proud to partner with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), Toronto Education Workers (TEW) and Launch 180 in supporting Canada’s First Vertical Aeroponic Tower Garden Urban Farm and its growth to nourish schools and communities across the GTA.

On Thursday, October 10, 2013, we are celebrating the success of Skyline Farms’ successful pilot farm and a revolution in food culture that is changing the way youth connect to their food and their community.

The goal of the event is to raise funds to enable the pilot farm to achieve its full capacity: a full greenhouse with 30 Towers that will nourish not only the home school, but also other schools, restaurants and residents in the community. The year-round farms will serve as a state-of-the-art experiential learning facility for high school students aged 13-18, inspiring healthy food choices, introducing new sustainable technologies and preparing them for jobs in this growing sector. The larger goal is to establish Skyline Farms’ unique urban agriculture model at schools across the GTA.

I am writing you to help us grow this socially and sustainably innovative young company and our joint initiative to truly make a difference. Please support us by making either a monetary and/or product donation for our silent auction or to help us manage the event and make this a reality for our schools and communities. All monetary donations will go to the Toronto Foundation for Student Success (TFSS) for the Skyline Farms initiative and will receive a charitable receipt.

The pilot farm launched this spring at Thistletown Collegiate Institute (TCI) under an umbrella program called My Food My Way (MFMY), with a mandate to positively change the food culture in Toronto high schools, homes and communities through healthy food choices within educational institutions. Skyline Farms provides the culinary program at TCI with fresh, hyper-local, high nutrient natural produce and mentors students with hands-on experience on the farm.

Skyline Farms is a Toronto-based urban agriculture company that is “redefining locally grown”. Founded by two young entrepreneurs, graduates of Humber College’s Sustainable Energy and Green Building Program, it is committed to addresses the bigger sustainability picture: environmental, health, community and economic by changing our connections to food and to each other.

Join Skyline Farms, our partners, MFMY ambassadors, sustainability advocates, chefs, farmers, industry professionals, politicians, sponsors, student interns, locavores and supporters at The Great Hall. And please join me in supporting this unique initiative in whatever way you can. Help grow the 10 block diet and grow with us.

Toronto Green Tweets- Commons Sense Tweets

Our Green Directory follows almost 2000 green organizations on Twitter. The vast majority of them are in the US, and so a lot of the information and insight they have to offer is relevant primarily to Americans.  But there are several notable Canadian organizations and twitter sites that tweet out good stuff on a regular basis. Over the next few posts I will highlight some of them and provide you with links to their twitter pages and or web sites. Because you can never really have too much green knowledge.

This first one is called Green Tweets TO and it contains a number of really practical tips for living a more eco-friendly, energy conscious lifestyle. It also does a really good job of promoting other green tweeters through Follow Fridays and Eco Mondays.

There is no web site listed, so I can’t really tell you who sponsors the tweets. But there’s a lot of good info here as well as links to good articles. If you’re a tweeter, you might want to follow these people. If you’re not a tweeter (and I really don’t know anyone who isn’t), you may want to get started. It’s not just a way of keeping in touch with your friends. It’s a great way to keep in touch with the world.

Green Tweets TO link:  http://twitter.com/#!/TO_GreenTweets

It’s Called Blowing Where The Wind Is

If you believe that a big part of our sustainable future lies in harnessing the power of the wind, you’re not alone.  In fact, just recently, a company called Deepwater Wind Energy has made a very interesting proposal to the US government.

Personally, I don’t think you can ever get enough wind power. And this one will be the largest renewable energy project ever proposed for the North East US.

http://www.earthtechling.com/2010/12/giant-offshore-wind-proposal-in-atlantic/

Thanks Earth Techling for the story.

http://www.earthtechling.com

It Pays To Be Leeding The Way

Building Green.com is one of the best web sites I have come across on the subject of Leeds building.

Leeds building has quietly crept into the psyche of builders and developers all over the world. And just recently a study was done demonstrating just how worthwhile the Leeds Building investment can be.

This is the lead paragraph from a very interesting article on Leeds building that Building Green.com buildinggreen.com has one their blog site. If you’re interested in Leed standards or even just mildly curious. this is a good site to bookmark and visit.

“Dutch economist Nils Kok has published the most comprehensive statistical analysis to date on the relative value of green and conventional buildings. The results show that U.S. buildings labeled under the LEED or Energy Star programs charge 3% higher rent, have greater occupancy rates, and sell for 13% more than comparable properties. “Labeled buildings have effective rents [rent multiplied by occupancy rate] that are almost 8% higher than those of otherwise identical nearby non-rated buildings,” the study reports…”

http://bit.ly/cf0i3o

Long Term Strategies Re The Gulf Oil Spill, Wall Street Stupidity Not Withstanding

The Gulf Oil spill is pretty much yesterday’s news now. Unfortunately the devastating effects of this ludicrous corporate blunder (BP, in case you forgot), will be with us for some time to come, as the people of the Gulf region try to put their lives back together.

I understand that there is a fund set up to compensate these people for the hardship that they are enduring. And that always seems to get a lot of play. BP runs corporate messages telling everybody who cares to listen that they will be there till every last drop of oil is cleaned and that’s all well and good too.

But the simple fact remains that the entire Gulf Region including the Mississippi Delta has been almost completely destroyed, along with the livlihoods off a great many of the people who live there.

The article linked here will help shed a great deal of light on what’s really needed in the Gulf region right now.

The first three paragraphs, are a little disturbing in that they very succinctly point out the abject ignorance of the certain members of the American financial establishment regarding some pretty basic environmental economics. But the rest of this article The Nature Conservancy’s blog, Cool Green Science, makes a hell of a lot of sense.

http://blog.nature.org/2010/11/gulf-mexico-conservation-economics-jobs/

National Geographic. The Gold Standard In Conservation Information

National Geographic is one of those institutions that seems to have been around forever. And regardless of their original motives, they have grown into  one of the most powerful pro-conservationist organizations in the world.

They tell amazing stories of the people and creatures that populate our planet and they have done more to inform the world of the fragility of the ecosystem that connects us all to each other and the earth.

Through their highly rated TV specials, IMAX movies, video sales and to a lesser extent, their monthly magazines, they are able to reach millions and millions of people around the world with what is a very positive message. They are truly an important part of the solution.

Their web site, like everything else they do, is strictly first class. Simple, elegant and straightforward and one of the sites I actually enjoy visiting on a regular basis. Because it makes me feel more connected to the world at large.

For anyone who wants to stay informed about the world and all the truly important things that are going on it it, this site is a weekly must-visit.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com

All The (Green) News That’s Fit to Print (Post)

One of my principal sources for ideas for this blog come from twitter. I have three twitters that I keep going. These include:
http://twitter.com/OurGreenDirctry
http://twitter.com/BuyGreenTO

These two are for tweets related directed to Our Green Directory.

But I have another personal Twitter account (http://twitter.com/JMsJournal) that for some reason also manages to attract fair number of green organizations. Not sure why because most of the tweets I do from this location have to do with sports and entertainment.

Anyway, one of the most interesting green sites on personal twitter is called Green Energy News.

This  site is kind of, but not exclusively geared towards people who are interested in investing in green technology or products and covers off a number of popular areas of the green business world.

I’d encourage you to check out the site and follow them on Twitter. You can find them at:

http://www.renewable-energy-news.info

Designer Creates Fake Rocks That Help Save Water

The whole thing about being green, someone once told me, is bring able to make substantial environmental changes with out making drastic changes in behaviour. Knowing that behavioural changes are always difficult, I always tend to gravitate to the simple things.

That’s why this idea, which I saw at Treehugger.com appeals to me. It’s simple and effective and something everybody can do. Well everybody who takes baths regularly. For shower people, well that’s a whole other matter.

I encourage you to check out this article and bookmark the Treehugger site.
http://bit.ly/a2R9dm

One Of The Best Re-Use Ideas Ever

My wife put this article on my desk that was written by Mr Chris Spence who is the Director of Education at the Toronto District Board of Education.

In the article he outlines on the the most ingenious and practical ideas I have heard of in quite some time.

While there is always a certain amount of enlightened self interest at work here, this idea is basically quite sound and could definitely work to the betterment of the community in a very green way through the re-use of existing facilities  (ie schools).

I’d encourage everyone in the community to read this article and do whatever you can to get behind this idea and make it happen.

Because, let’s face it, great ideas don’t come along every day.

This article is posted on the Star web site at http://tinyurl.com/26ngwje