It’s weird…most people have never heard of Julia Butterfly Hill, yet once you know who she is, she’s hard to forget.

Hill spent over two years in one of Earth’s Elders: the Redwoods. The tree in which Hill resided is named Luna, primariliy because of the wonderful view she provides of the moon and sky.

“Enough is Enough” are the words of Hill, written in her compassionate book titled, The Legacy of Luna. The meaning behind the phrase refers to Hill’s attitude toward the human treatment (clear cutting) that our Elders have faced over the years. Consequently, Hill took her own initiative to protect Luna and those around her in the magnificant California Redwood Forest. She decided to occupy the tree without once touching the ground until her quest to protect Luna was complete.

Now, this was no easy ambition as you can imagine: Hill lived through both El Nino and El Nina - at the top of a massively tall Redwood!

In her book, she explains the rush of emotions she felt in the first year, and how she was expecting death each time a storm came (which was quite frequent). Not only was she emotionally distraught for fear of her life, but she was also frantic at the notion of losing Luna. At first, Hill aimed to resist the storms, yet as her relationship with Luna grew, she began to learn from her.

Hill began to observe the ways in which trees could withstand such strong storms, and then realized that they simply “let go”. Instead of holding on for dear life, Hill began to bend and flow; essentially “let go”, just as Luna did. Not only did this method assist Hill in her surivial physically, but also emotionally. Hill began to see her goal as something she had to do, yet need not worry about the weight in which people put on her because in the end, it was between Hill and Luna.

Granted, The Legacy of Luna is a little biased concerning the happenings that occurred during Hill’s stay in Luna, yet her written journey is nonetheless remarkable. Hill resisted countless attempts by Pacific Lumber to bring her down, including intimidation as well as the prevention of supplies; essentially they aimed to starve her out! Luckily, Hill had some enviro-supporters who provided distractions and thus aiding Hill’s survival. Finally, Pacific Lumber announced that they could simply “outlast her”. They thought wrong. Hill discussed her determination to save Luna and believe me, she was determined!

Her determination led to a media frenzy, with celebrites like Woody Harrelson, Joan Baez and Mickey Hart making visits to her. Soon, Pacific Lumber felt pressured to finally communicate (peacefully) with Hill.

The Legacy of Luna is one of those books where you feel like you need to do something after completing this easy-read. Julia Butterfly Hill is a special and passionate human being who preaches that there is no “us” and “them”, and that love (and hate) resides in all living beings. In her battle to protect the Redwoods, she never once lashed out against Pacific Lumber and gave up; she maintained her conviction that all entities have the right to live and be protected.

In the end, one must learn to respect all living things, especially your Elders.

Catherine

I eat a lot.

Okay, for those of you who know me, this is hardly news. For those who don’t, this is hardly interesting — so let me get succinctly to the point.

When I first saw the stainless steel, two-tier food container that we have at P’lovers, I thought “What a great design. Too bad it’s so freakin’ small.”

And then I tried it.

Yesterday, I prepared a picnic lunch for my two little adventurers, and I packed mine in the food carrier. Bottom compartment (15cm diameter, 6.5cm deep): two sandwiches; top compartment (13cm diameter, 5.5cm deep): 1 apple, a bunch of carrot sticks, strawberries, peas, and cheese (with lots of room left over).

Also consider the bonus stainless steel plate separating the two compartments was lovely to have since I forgot to pack plates. AND, believe it or not, the 1/2 sandwich I didn’t eat at lunch was still fresh 5 hours later!

Now, I’m really impressed!

-Steve

Finding that elusive balance between personal, family, and professional priorities is an ongoing challenge for me; especially at this time of year - summer time!

For the next 9 weeks my two high-energy eco-kids are out of school and will be looking for lots of fun things to pass the time.

When I opened P’lovers in 2002, both kids were quite young and have grown up knowing that Daddy works from home, sometimes rather long and unusual hours.

My daughter, in particular, being the younger of the two, has spent a lot of time with me in the business. She spent very little time in daycare, instead joining me in the store, on visits to suppliers, the lawyer, accountant, and has made many trips to the bank.

Both kids are quite used to my schedule and understand when I have to take a phone call in the middle of lunch or run to the computer to send a quick email before heading out the door or that late in the evening “dash to the store”. They have learned to be patient with me and are not what I would call high-maintenance children.

There are many pay-offs for all of us. During the school year, we walk to school everyday and I pick them up afterwards. I rarely miss a school assembly or special event and am one of the few (usually only) fathers to volunteer in the classroom and have done so with both kids since kindergarten.

And then there is summer vacation - the most fun, yet the biggest juggling act of all!

Every morning starts shortly after 5:00, with me, coffee in hand, heading to work in my home office. It’s a wonderfully quiet and incredibly productive time before the kiddies wake up to handle administration, ordering new products, writing this blog, queuing up projects for staff, digging in the garden, anything that needs to be done.

After 9:00, the rest of my day (until my wife gets home at 5:00), for the most part, belongs to the kids. Swimming at Birdeye pool, trips to every park in town, riding bikes around the neighbourhood, digging in the garden, hanging out with the grandparents in Oshawa, day trips to Toronto Zoo - these are just a few of the ways they will keep me busy this summer.

The final piece of my juggling act is the sensational staff at P’lovers who, in my absence, make sure the store looks great and the focus continues to the stay on our customers. Without Catherine, Jude, Lisa, Natalie, and Susan, the summer months would be WAY more stressful!

-Steve

Have I told you about my Tim Horton’s boycott?

Like many Canadians, this (American) institution has been part of my life for years. Many a road trip has been kicked off by a large double - double and a walnut crunch. Heck, 13 years ago when I got married, my wife and I lived in different cities. At 4:30 a.m. every Monday morning, it was always “Tim” who rode shotgun on the 3+ hour drive on the 401 to get me home to Toronto.

No more, I’m afraid.

Thanks to my friends at the Creemore Coffee Company and a new Cuisinart coffeemaker (from Tweed & Hickory, in Port Perry), I make fabulous fair-trade, organic coffee every morning at home. Great home brewed coffee plus my (Roughrider Green) Planetary Designs travel mug and I’m ready to hit the road.

Then there is the garbage issue and this really gets me.

With the hundreds of millions of dollars that pour into Tim Horton’s every year, why can’t they make even a token effort to reduce waste?

When I bring my travel mug into the restaurant, they prepare my coffee in a throwaway paper cup (using a plastic stir-stick or straw) before they pour it into my stainless steel mug. THEN they try and give me another clean paper cup so I can “roll up the rim”. When I refuse the paper cup, they either try to push it on me or look at me as if I’m a freak.

The ecological footprint of this one single transaction is massive. Multiple that by tens of thousands like it every day.

Imagine if Canada’s largest coffee chain made a real commitment to a greener planet. Imagine organic, fair-trade coffee and tea on the menu. Imagine aggressively promoting the reduction of waste and encouraging customers to “lug-a-mug”. Imagine replacing all the paper cups with compostable cups, and using only ancient forest-friendly napkins and paper products. Imagine sourcing products and materials through local suppliers.

What a difference that would make.

Interestingly enough, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of fabulous, independent coffee shops across the country that satisfy many, if not all, of these criteria.

Two such shops right here in Port Perry are working hard to provide a greener alternative — Queen Beans Coffee House (next to P’lovers in Queen Street Commons) and For the Love of Jo. (BTW, around the corner from P’lovers in Halifax, there is a great coffee shop called “Steve-erinos”. I felt at home!!)

Catch ya’ later, Tim!

-Steve

My family and I are moving to a new home very soon! And with every new home, comes decorating and all that jazz. New hopes, new excitements, newly renewed goals and what have you.

As I go room by room, preparing for a larger home, there is a lot of items I NEED to get. And as we are hitting that stage in our lives, I am trying to make healthier investments in our home.

I have a few rooms that need work and thus have a long shopping list.

Of course, I sit on my stool here at the store, crunching the numbers associated with many of our products here at P’lovers.

Would you like a gander at my shopping list for inspiration for your own home?

The amount of research I have done is borderline ridiculous.

So lets take a look at the bathroom and baby’s bedroom and after months of research the choices I have made.

Bathroom

Hemp Shower Curtain:

I have been shocked to discover that along with matresses, our shower curtains are one of the WORST offenders of emitting toxins into our home. And not those ‘theoritical’ toxins. BIG TIME. The Canadian government is ACTUALLY exploring a ban on PVC vinyl shower curtains. Ikea phased them out 11 years ago and Japan well on the way in their process to ban ready use of PVC.

This has frugal me shaking in my boots. I can’t rationalize myself to keep within my extremely meager budget on this one. Its honestly frightening. I have spent many a minute now recalling all the times I opened a new vinyl shower curtain with its funky pattern and the ensuing dizziness, headache and annoying smell. HELLLOOOOOOOO…earth to self: THAT WAS IT POISONING ME!!! SERIOUSLY! Again, the price tag on the BEAUTIFUL hemp curtain  we have on inventory is certainly looking sweeter and sweeter the more I plug along looking for a different options. To me, its looking like the only option I am willing to select, considering the accessible market choices.

Bath Mat

One of the first things I purchased once we committed to the new home! Mmmm….an OhsoSoft Bamboo bathmat in Straw. LOVELY. Easy to wash and maintain and insanely soft.

Noting beyond my small bathroom shopping list, P’lovers carries a WHOLE selection of bathroom textiles, soaps etc.

Childs Bedroom

Yikes. Don’t get me started. This is a terrible terribly difficult shopping list for me. I have spent countless hours on this one alone, prior to the baby being born all the way to him now approaching two years old.

Mattress Options

Sigh. Besides our shower curtains, our mattresses are the most toxic offenders to our health. Honestly,  we spend SO much time in our beds, and here they are quite literally poisoning us..this upsets me tremendously. Especially now that we are transitioning our son from being a baby to being a kid and moving him into his own room.

Looking at the healthy mattress choices on the market…unfortunately, as much as I want to give myself over, I can’t feasibly find a mattress within our budget within the current market selection available to us in the Region.

So I am left improvising and creating the healthiest bed for my son.

We decided a barrier is what we needed. A good quality barrier between his skin, airways and the toxic chemicals added to standard mattress fibres. (notably the fire retardant material)

I have put on special order, a twin sized wool pile Snugsleep mattress overlay.

It is carded wool that has been shorn from the sheep and rewoven into a mesh. Its machine washable and provides wicking, a soft surface and a natural fibre barrier. Wool is also a natural flame retardant and acceptable within Canadian product laws as an alternative to the terrible chemicals proven to poison us.

I do believe the child will have to wrestle ME out of HIS bed. I can hardly wait till it arrives.

Bedding

Next I have eyed the Snugsleep Wool Duvet. Available in all sizes including a twin, I believe this will be our ethical and safe choice for a blanket for him. Not too hot for warmer months and just warm enough for cold days. Although….we have just begun carrying bamboo filled duvets which has me wrestling with my choices.

Paired with a Bamboo Duvet cover, he’ll have a nice cozy healthy within budget that will allow me to sleep without nightmares.

Neglecting of course to mention all of the adult bedroom options including kapok and buckwheat pillows.

So thankfully, two rooms in which a lot of time is spent; two rooms which could be the most toxic in our home are safely under control and within my budget.

Note: for more in depth exploration of a Healthy Home, please be sure to take a look at the P’lovers extensive collection of books that cover all aspects of this topic.

-Colleen

Okay, there’s no easy way to say it - P’lovers in Port Perry is for sale. There. I’ve said it. Perhaps you’ve heard already through the grapevine? We’ve been discussing it quietly for a little while now, but have yet to make an official announcement. Here it is.

After six fantastic years as “Head P’lover” in Port Perry, I need to change direction. Sadly, it’s that simple. The decision was not an easy one, I assure you. P’lovers as a business has never been stronger; eco-awareness amongst the general population has never been higher; I worked through the most difficult early years; all that trial and (lots of) error is in the past; there is incredible growth potential. When valuating the decision to leave, there are lots of things in the “You’re an idiot for selling” column.

What can I say? It’s a family thing. A matter of priorities, you know?

Of course every cloud has a silver lining and all that jazz. Since I’m stepping out of the picture, it means there’s a wonderful opportunity for another high energy, environmentally-minded entrepreneur to step forward and make P’lovers even bigger, better, more relevant — raise the bar even further.

Is that YOU?

It’s a great business. It’s a fun business. It’s a rewarding business. You really do get to make a real difference in people’s lives every single day. That’s the thing I definitely like best about P’lovers — connecting with people. Lots and lots of really wonderful people. Whether it is our longtime customers; the eco-junkies who can always teach me a thing or two about green living or the newly initiated with their wonder and enthusiasm, rarely a day goes by when my day isn’t brightened with these encounters.

Perhaps you are looking for a good retirement business. Or a good family venture. Or it is time to put a little more meaning into your career. Or you have a few good eco-conscious buddies who are all hankering for a new challenge. P’lovers definitely fits any and all of these scenarios.

It is definitely worth a click to get a little more information, don’t you think? This is how I started P’lovers in Port Perry six years ago - with a desire to make a career change, a google search, a click of the mouse, and a series of emails with Liz Crocker, “P’lover extraordinaire” and co-founder of the franchise.

Seems like yesterday. Time flies, doesn’t it?

-Steve

* P’lovers Business Listing

We, here at P’lovers, have started a new venture. We all feel it is important to buy locally, to keep our money close to home. There is a bakery (Hank’s Pastries) and a butcher (Herrington’s) on the main street that we frequent and now we can happily tell you we are purchasing our produce from local farmers. And guess what? They deliver!

There are a total of 7 families here at Queen Street Commons taking part in this exciting community supported agriculture (CSA) project.  For 20 weeks throughout the summer and fall, Coopers Farm in Uxbridge delivers us our farm fresh produce every Thursday morning.

We are in week number 2 and so far we have been enjoying an abundance of lettuces, spinach, strawberries, rhubarb, green onions and garlic and are looking forward to much more. The bushel baskets arrive smelling and tasting like the great outdoors and all we have to do is cart it to our homes and refrigerate.

To arrive home after a full day and throw a salad together that we know has come from our community farmers just makes it taste better.

The baskets are filled with whatever produce is plentiful at that time of the season. We are happy to know we are getting the season’s best, freshest goodies.

-Jude

• Find an Ontario CSA near you.

I love a good idea — particularly when it involves improving life here at P’lovers AND it doesn’t come from me. So when Jude came to me recently and said that P’lovers needs a lending library, I said “Cool.  Keep talking.”

She said, why not share our love of reading with the customers at P’lovers? We have a huge range of great books in our collection and it is often difficult for our customers to choose - particularly when the are buying books as gifts.  We are all avid readers and have enjoyed many of them.  While we recommend titles as best we can, it would be even better if our customers could “try before they buy.”

I was sold and the P’lovers Lending Library was born.

Here’s how it works (and it is really simple):

• Create a Profile with us by leaving your name, phone number and email
• Ask at the counter to see the available books
• Select your title and staff will register the book to your ‘account’
• Enjoy the book and return it to P’lovers within two weeks.

It was initially difficult to choose the books to lend as there are so many that we absolutely LOVE.  Here is the list we have available so far.

Lending Library Titles:
100 Ways to Keep your Soul Alive (Brussat)
Artist’s Way (Cameron)
Complaint Free World (Bowen)
Crunch Time (Monck / Hanley)
Everyday Activist (Norton)
Fast Food Nation (Schlosser)
Green Living - the E Magazine Handbook
The Ten Trusts (Goodall / Bekoff)
The Four Agreements (Ruiz)
We are the Weather Makers (Flannery)
Writing Down the Bones (Goldberg)

So, to all you reading junkies, please come on in and check out our rapidly growing Eco-Bookshelf.  If something strikes your fancy (and it will), but you are not quite sure, ask if it has been added to our Lending Library.

-Steve

Don’t you just love British accents? I know I do! But that’s not the only reason why I completely fell in love with the BBC series titled, Planet Earth and Blue Planet. Yes, the narrator’s voice is dreamy, but once the amazing images of our Earth are viewed in the most technically advanced angles we have ever seen, one seems to omit David Attenborough. Not only do viewers see the incredible biodiversity that our earth has to offer, but we also get a chance to catch glimpses of the Earth that people have never seen in their lifetime.

One of my favourite discs is that of the Blue Planet: The Deep. I’ve learned that humans have only investigated 1% of the entire ocean floor, and that every ten days a new species is discovered; talk about an awesome job!

Another great disc is titled, Planet Earth: Seasonal Forests, which examines the oldest and tallest trees known to our planet. The imagery that Planet Earth has produced is simply astounding; it is as if you were actually there. It almost seems impossible that the camera-men (and women) were able to achieve such angles. Yet, not surprisingly, Planet Earth was considerate enough to provide the “how to” at the end of each disc – simply astonishing!

In this specific disc, the camera man rose to the sky in a specially designed hot air balloon in order to reach the sky-scraping trees of Chile and California. In Planet Earth: Caves, a few of the Planet Earth employees had to live in a cave for weeks at a time surrounded by bats and walls covered in the largest population of cockroaches in the world! Eek!!

However, Planet Earth is not all fun and games; it also examines the harsh affects that humans have created for our planet and the creature residing within. In the disc titled, Planet Earth: From Pole to Pole, the narrator and images describe the harmful affects of the sun heating up our planet more and more each year. This has caused mass amounts of icebergs to melt, causing a decreased livelihood for various species living there, especially polar bears. In this disc, it is hard not to cry as it doesn’t cover up anything; you can see the suffering in these animals.

Consequently, I definitely appreciate the fact the Planet Earth not only acknowledges that yes, our planet is gorgeous, yet there are still many faults that we must change before Earth can suffer any greater than it already has.

In any case, I was extremely impressed with the final project that Planet Earth produced; if you haven’t got a chance to see them, get on it! It’s about time people have a simple method of seeing and appreciating our planet for all its beauty and surprises.

-Catherine

With access to several hundred artists, crafts-people, and small eco-suppliers at my fingertips, I really don’t need to look far to source unique and interesting products for P’lovers. Yet it is always nice when new people approach me about a product that they feel would be a perfect fit for our planet-friendly mission. Even better, is when it just happens to be something just a little bit different.

Such is the case recently when a woman called me about a project she discovered working with families in Cambodia.

In this program, fabulous bags and jewelry are made by poor families in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Parents of former street children receive a sewing machine, learn sewing skills and work from their homes while they take care of their youngest family members. This employment provides families with 4 to 5 times more income than they earned before. These funds enable their children to go to school instead of the streets, and they also receive health insurance and other social benefits.

The families in this program use local, recycled and easily sourced low-cost materials such as recycled newspapers and magazines. The designs of the totes, bracelets and bags are creative and original. Each item is uniquely hand-crafted or made using simple equipment and much of the individual ingenuity of the producer is reflected in the final product.

This is definitely a win-win scenario and the products they make are guaranteed to make you smile.

-Steve