Naturalized or Vandalized?

I asked my daughter what she wanted to do for the hour that my wife and son were in karate class.  Expecting to read books, play in the yard, or ride bikes, I was surprised when she said “Let’s go to the waterfront and pick-up garbage, Daddy.”

 

So that’s exactly what we did!  Armed with gardening gloves and a large (recycled plastic) garbage bag, we dropped the ‘karate kids’ off at their class and headed for Joe Fowler Park, on the shore of Lake Scugog.  Since this lovely, naturalized shoreline trail and park was established several years ago, the kids and I have spent dozens of hours enjoying nature in the heart of our bustling little community. 

One this day, however, our little oasis in Port Perry was anything but.  In fact, with the amount of garbage thoughtlessly strewn everywhere, it looked more vandalized than naturalized.  It took Elora and I exactly 34 minutes to completely fill our garbage bag to overflowing and I would estimate we didn’t have to walk more than 50 feet from our car to do it!

A rather unscientific garbage audit revealed that the vast majority of the garbage came from the three fast food restaurants within close proximity to the park — Tim Horton’s, Wendy’s, and Dairy Queen — with loads of water bottles, beer bottles (several broken), and cigarette packs thrown in for good measure. 

While I was silently appalled at the mentality of the person who would toss their refuse amidst the bushes and perennials, my 6-year old was a shade more vocal in her opinion.  “These people are slobs!” perfectly captured the essence of the moment.

This, unfortunately, is only the tip of the proverbial ‘garbage iceberg’ that is threatening to overwhelm our society.  It did get me thinking a little more about Extended Product Responsibility, the fancy term for requiring garbage-makers to be financially and/or physically responsible for the products and packaging they produce. 

If the immense and very real cost of dealing with the garbage generated were actually factored into the cost of that blizzard, take-out coffee, or cheeseburger, would consumers take an extra moment to re-think their purchasing choices?  Would producers use their immense purchasing power and invest in more sustainable, biodegradable packaging options that will ultimately benefit everyone? 

Admittedly, with trees to climb, a small “forest” to explore, and birds to watch (four male red-wing blackbirds were putting on a stunning display as they competed for the attention of a lone female), I decided solving our society’s garbage problem will have to wait for another day.

Happy Earth Day!

-Steve 

SPRING is HERE!

Woot!  Spring makes me wanna pppAArty. Brings out the ol’ college girl in me I think. Makes one lust for lazy sunny days on a patio, sunning in the backyard or strolling the shops. Port Perry is definitely bustling the past few days of sun and warmth.

We’ve propped the door at P’lovers. In wafts the customer from the street…..as well as the smoke.
BLECH.

And so sadly, with Spring comes the stink…of cigarettes.

And the butts.

Speaking of butts….there’s a certain restaurant gracing our lovely Port Perry waterfront. Whilst out for our evening walk the other night, I saw a sight that made me want to vomit. Seriously!

The ground on the other side of the patio ‘fence’ was COVERED, I mean INCHES COVERED in stanky butts. INCHES.  As though the sky had fallen and brought down a hellfire of wiggly little cigarettes worms.  It is truly repulsing…and borderline fascinating….perhaps we can make it a tourist attraction…..cause it’s definitely a sight to behold..

As the smoker tosses their butt to the ground, I IMPLORE them: SEE that you are littering.

Contrary to unfounded beliefs of the littering smoker or the marketing cig companies: cigarette filters ARE not biodegradable. It is hypothesized that it will take 12 years for a butt to break down.

So where are they going then? How are we not swimming in a sea of butts as we wade the sidewalks? (except for the exceptional ‘feast’ for the eyes outside our local watering hole)

They get swept up, they roll down the hill and into the lake. They blow in the wind to the grassy patches.

Where subsequently, my young child playing for his first summer in the park, thinks it’s something fun to either nibble upon or roll in his fingers.

Or if having landed in the lake, the fishes (what fishes are alive in our beloved lake) think it’s the edible kind of yummy worm to nibble upon.

Or all of the toxins that the smoker made the conscious decision to introduce into their body, as the hopefully informed adult they are: letches into the ground, into the water…affecting the rest of us, who have made the educated and conscious decision to not include cigarettes in our lives and family.

Smoke responsibly, take control of your litter.

-Colleen 

Some resources:

ButtsOut Canada

CigaretteLitter.org

 

green’wash’,-wôsh’

Green-wash (green’wash’, -wôsh’) – verb: the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.

Simply that..that’s ALL I gotta say. Reflect on that for a bit.

“Six Sins of Greenwashing” A Study of Environmental Marketing in North American Markets (TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, November 2007)

-Colleen

Editor’s Note: Definitely take a few moments to read the TerraChoice study – it will be time well spent.  Then let us know what you think.  Is this even an issue?  Are there examples of greenwashing that drive you crazy?  What do you think of, say, Hybrid SUVs?  Ethanol gas?  Wal-Mart’s “we are so green” commercials?  We’d love to hear from you!

The Truth is Only Skin Deep

Personal Reflection
Ever see that Young and the Restless storyline featuring a scandel with poisonness dangerous chemicals in a face cream being sold from Jabbot Cosmetics? And someone died and was horribly disfigured etc etc.

Perhaps this isn’t too far from the truth in real life!

I came across a fantastic resource a few months ago: The Cosmetics Database c/o Skin Deep. I think its worth a gander. Skin Deep provides the skinny on MANY, MANY products and their ingredients. I’ve shared below the press release signaling Skin Deep’s re-launch.

A comprehensive resource in listing ingredients that are often hard to find on purpose, for many of our once beloved products. It’s getting harder and harder these days to tell what’s what and manufacturers are hinging on that.

-Colleen

The Cycle of my Shampoo

-Image Care of the Mirriam Webster Visual Dictionary

Travel with me today.

I am making a change in life.

I am picking out a new shampoo and conditioner.

Currently I am using a generic brand shampoo, picked from the grocery store as the only one touting biodegrable-ness. I bought a massive bottle of it. The ingredients list was long and it was highly scented. Mass produced in some far off land..I knew it wasn’t the most ethical choice, but it certainly was the least offensive with what I was faced with at the grocery store.

So today is the day. I washed my hair with it one last time, and noticed that the only conditioner I have left is a groddy kind that smells like nasty.

Before purchasing my shampoo and conditioner today, I’ll reflect on my values and ethics (see my last blog) And I ask myself, how can I ensure my personal values/ethics are upheld in the simplicity of my shampoo purchase.

I know I seek a solution that has the following values:

• biodegradable to leave the smallest footprint in our local water: I figure Lake Scugog can take all the chemical breaks it CAN..especially our fishie friends
• recycled/recycle-able packing, minimal packaging
• small business, Canadian business, family business. That there was sincere Intention behind launching the product
• something reasonably healthy, not filled with synthetic fragrances/artificial colors, Sodium lauryl and laureth sulfates, Formaldehyde donors (e.g., diazolidinyl urea), Known carcinogens, mutagens and teratogens, parabens (all the things generic shampoos have)  So that I feel safe to use it on my Baby: therefore eliminating my feeling of need of mutiple products within the shower. A product that won’t throw my skin and bodies balance off i.e. my pH, etc etc.

Now vanity does play a role here, I like a scented shampoo. Not from Port Perry originally and only here of recent, I am notorious for complaining that I smell Port water on EVERYTHING. I need something that smells pretty to help mask the alleged stink that is Port Water.

So I am left examining my choices from the P’lovers Inventory.

My contenders are: Green Beaver, Earth Safe, Burts Bees, Avalon Organics, Desert Essense

Conclusions:
Reflecting on my above criteria, CLEARLY my first choices are Earth Safe and Green Beaver. They both pass all of my preferences with FLYING colors. Now to select my scent….

I DO have strong suspicion I will be going home with the Earth Safe hair products today…

-Colleen