Zero Waste Information Session

A group of Durham Region citizens have organized an information event planned for Thursday, November 27 in Courtice. The garbage / incinerator issue is one that impacts everyone and this session will definitely be worth your while.

-Steve

“INTRODUCING ZERO WASTE” INFORMATION SESSION

Thursday, November 27th, 2008, 7pm
Faith United Church
1778 Nash Rd, Courtice (east of Courtice Road)

Durham and York Regions are trying to solve our garbage challenges with plans to build a waste incinerator in Clarington. We are a group of residents advocating for a healthier, more sustainable and financially prudent approach.

We invite you to an information session where we will introduce you to the Zero Waste concept and update you about the proposed incinerator. Zero Waste is gaining recognition around the world and close to home. The Ontario Minister of the Environment has recently released the discussion paper “Toward A Zero Waste Future: Review Of Ontario’s Waste Diversion Act, 2002″. The Town of Markham is actively working to implement this vision. Our session will include a panel of speakers to address the move toward Zero Waste, as well as the health, environmental and financial implications of incineration.

Keynote Speakers:

Erin Shapero, Markham Ward 2 Councillor, and Claudia Marsales, Manager Waste Management, Town of Markham
“Zero Waste in Action: Markham Walks the Talk”

Dr. Sean Godfrey, Chief of Pediatrics, Lakeridge Health, Oshawa
“Incineration and Health Concerns …where there’s smoke, there’s always fire!”

Time will be set aside for questions and comments from the audience. The goal of this evening is to provide information and to encourage community involvement.

www.ZeroWaste4ZeroBurning.ca

The Season of Giving

This time of year truly is the season of giving. Christmas shopping has been going on in earnest for over a month now and is really kicking into gear. Every day we see our customers lining up with their selection of gifts for the loved ones in their lives. I’m thrilled to see the time people take and the joy they obviously get when selecting that perfect gift.

This is my sixth Christmas operating P’lovers in Port Perry and, every year, I am amazed at how peaceful our customers are when they browse our store. Perhaps it is the P’lovers ambiance. Perhaps it is the downtown Port Perry Christmas festivities – beautiful lights, colourful displays, horse & buggy rides, small stores, unique products. Perhaps it is simply the fact that they are not crammed into “the mall” with the rest of humanity that puts smiles on their faces.

Every year at P’lovers, we get into the Christmas spirit as well with little gifts for our customers to thank them for their patronage throughout the year. This year, we are having a regular draw to win bottles of wine from Port Perry’s own Ocala Winery.

With every purchase, you can drop your name into our draw and each Monday until Christmas we will be giving away a bottle or two. This is our little gift to you — keep it, give it away — it’s up to you. Personally, I’d vote for keeping it — it’s good stuff!!

-Steve

Beans4Bags Supports Durham Sustain Ability

My how attitudes change in a few short years!

Since P’lovers opened in 2002, we have been asking each of our customers the same question — “Do you need a bag?” While the majority of our eco-friendly patrons understood the question and responded accordingly, there were many who answered with something just short of indignation. “Well, of course I need a bag” was either the spoken or inferred message.

Fast forward to 2008. Our question remains the same, however, the typical response is so different. The occasional indignant response now infers exactly the opposite — “Of course I don’t need a bag.”

At P’lovers, we are delighted that this public perception has shifted so dramatically. We are happy to forgo the “corporate branding” benefit that the shopping bag offers retailers if we can save that same bag from the landfill. We are an environmental store, after all.

Earlier this year, we decided to take our bag-less message one step further and launched the Beans4Bags program. Originally conceived at P’lovers in Halifax, the concept is very simple. For every bag we do NOT give away, we drop a bean in a jar on our counter. Each bean represents 5 cents we donate to an environmental organization or local charity.

For the July to October 2008 time frame, we chose Durham Sustain Ability (DSA) as our first Beans4Bags program recipient. DSA is a not-for-profit organization located in Brougham (south of Scugog Township) that actively promotes sustainability programs within the community. I first learned about DSA a number of years ago from one of our regular customers. They are a perfect fit for Beans4Bags.

Our customers, as I expected, have reacted quite enthusiastically to this program. We’ve learned and shared a little more about DSA and their mandate with our customers. Beans4Bags has stimulated many lively discussions about the importance of a more sustainable lifestyle. Quite often, customers are moved to toss change into the jar to accompany their beans.

Just as importantly, we are able to see real, quantifiable results of our collective positive actions. For the first 4 months of Beans4Bags, we diverted just over 1,000 bags from our garbage stream! Now THAT is something to celebrate!

-Steve

Editor’s Note: At P’lovers we love to share and we would love to share this idea especially! Our customers should encourage their other favourite retailers, small or large, to adopt this program. They can do it our way or do it their own way. Use our name or pick their own. Select their own recipient. We don’t even care if we get any credit for the idea — just lose the bags!!

Let’s Get Green!

Today my eyes were opened yet again. I am always pleased at the prospect of learning as I go and today on the job I was chatting with a lovely woman as I rang through her purchases, and as usual I offered her one of our compostable, biodegradable BioBags mentioning that she could use it in her green bin. She replied, that no she could not because she doesn’t have one, neither does she have blue boxes. I was dumbfounded, is this not a normal everyday part of life? To use a blue box, to sort your recyclables on a regular basis and put them out at the curb bi weekly?

Obviously not? I proceeded to question her, and when she told me she lived here in our lovely town in the apartments at Water and Casimir Streets I was doubly surprised. I have spoken with others here at the store who are in the same situation, they have come from another area of Durham Region, leaving me with an air of superiority when I explain that here in Port Perry, and Prince Albert, we are all green bin-ners and blue boxers extraordinaire.

Imagine my dismay when I realized she is just around the corner and did not have access to these services. We, here at Queen Street Commons, are frantic recyclers and put our green bin filled with compostables out on the curb regularly! And I was under the impression that the residential areas of the town are all under the green spell.

Come on Port Perry, get with the program! All apartment owners should be encouraged to bring the blue box and green bin plans to their residents. It is one easy step we can take to ensure we leave this world a little tidier then we found it.

I am off to put a bee in the bonnet of the public works department of Scugog. Wish me luck!

-Jude

Christmas Crawl

…Can’t wait till Christmas comes to Port Perry, it will arrive on the 20th of November with the Christmas Crawl, Twilight On Queen! There will be live music in the street, carriage rides and, of course, loads of in-store specials! We have been planning for this event for weeks now and have some good surprises up our fur lined sleeves.

All of your senses will be awakened, your eyes will take in all the products and decorations, as well as the staff in all of our finery! Your sense of smell will be piqued by the wonderful, natural soaps and candles, and teased by the Queen of Beans, as she expertly whips up lattes and cappuccinos. You will also be invited to enjoy some of her well loved tasty treats, savour the new taste sensations. Your hearing will be gently touched by the talents of a local musician, Mark Kett, as he plays guitar for us. Finally, we invite you to wander the store and touch our bamboo clothing, towels and sheets, we are sure you will fall in love with the soft, smooth textures.

You can look forward to great specials in P’lovers, with each purchase we will offer a wee gift to show our thanks to you, our loyal customers. With a purchase of Soap Works you will partake in a special promotion and receive a bar of soap free. Also, with every purchase your name will be entered in a draw to win a bottle of local wine or a beautiful basket of products to be enjoyed over this season of peace and joy.

We are looking forward to starting the holiday season off with a bang and are anticipating welcoming you into our warm, friendly eco-environment as you begin your shopping. As was stated in a previous blog, I love every little thing about the Christmas season, so this really is exciting for me to invite you to celebrate with us.

There will be something for everyone throughout the weekend so make it a point to visit Port Perry and Queen Street Commons.

-Jude