Green Living at GardenSuperMart.com

BMW’s New Zero-Emission Electric Vehicle

gerry — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:41:55 +0000

As part of a joint venture between Bosch and Samsung SDI, BMW has announced that they will launch an electric vehicle (using state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery technology) as a sub-brand of BMW. Let it be known that when BMW talks about sustainability, they back up their word with actions.

[ Link ]

Algreen’s Win A Composter Contest

gerry — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:59:56 +0000

If you own an Algreen rain barrel, here’s your chance to win a gorgeous new Terra composter!

[ Contest details ]

Algreen's Terra Composter

Canada and the US to Open Clean Energy Dialogue

gerry — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:32:32 +0000

Today, during Obama’s visit to Ottawa, Canada, he made it clear that he wants to move quickly, within the first year, to establish U.S. credibility on the environment. Both Obama and Harper have pledged to work together to catapult environmentally-friendly technologies into action in order to cut emissions from dirty energy sources in both countries.

Could this be the first step towards a continent-wide clean-energy policy? Hope is definitely in the air.

Source = http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/590043

Loblaws charging for plastic bags

Courtney — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:58:00 +0000

On Monday, Loblaws started charging $0.05 for the use of plastic bags in Toronto. By April 22nd (Earth Day), all the stores across Canada will be charging for plastic bags.

Personally, I think this is a great idea, and I applaud them for making the effort to do something that would reduce waste in our landfills. I already bring my own canvas bags and grocery bins. But if I didn’t already, would this encourage me to? I don’t know. I’m a little skeptical that 5¢ is going to make much of a difference. It’s the whole convenience factor – spend 5¢ or bring your own? Yes, it would add up quite quickly – imagine for a four person household how many plastic bags would be used per week for grocery shopping… but are they charging enough to make people want to change their habits?

Year in Review

Courtney — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:00:39 +0000

Did you do anything new and exciting with your garden this year? How about around your home – were there any exciting changes to make your life more green? Let us know, we’d love to hear about your accomplishments! Send any pictures of your garden or green choices, and we’ll post them on our blog!

Can Uncontrolled Consumerism Lead to the Destruction of the Environment?

gerry — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:00:43 +0000

Are we doomed to roam space in an intergalactic space cruiser, after we’ve destroyed the earth’s environment? This was actually the premise to a cartoon I watched this weekend, “Wall-E.”

Here’s the synopsis of the movie:

By the early 22nd century, the Buy N Large megacorporation took control of every economic service on Earth, causing excessive worldwide consumerism to cover the planet in un-recycled trash. A plan was implemented that would have the Earth’s population evacuate the planet into space on fully automated luxury starliners where they would spend the next five years, while an army of waste disposal robots called “WALL-E” units (Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth-Class) would be left to clean the planet. This plan failed, however, and the planet was deemed uninhabitable. For the next 700 years, humanity continued to live in space while all of the WALL-E robots on Earth eventually broke down.

Is this storyline far-fetched, or could it really happen to us?

Going Away for Holidays

Courtney — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:19:47 +0000

The holidays are fast approaching. Mid-way through next week, I’m going to be heading off to visit my parents for about a week and a half. While I’m gone, I want my apartment to be using as little electricity as possible, and to stay as green as possible. I’ve been looking into everything that I can be doing over this period of time to make it as green as possible when I’m away. I’m unplugging everything except my refrigerator (and my stove, which is staying plugged in as I cannot pull it out and get to the plug). If something is plugged in, it still draws power. Whether it’s for a clock, or because it likes to respond to remote controls, it draws power. And there’s really no sense in it doing that while no one is home.

A lot of sites that I’ve been looking into that talk about greening your home when you go away on vacation mention turning down your heating. For me, that is hard because I have no control over the heating – the whole building uses radiators that the landlord controls the settings of.

Are you going anywhere for the holidays? Are you planning on greening your home while you’re away?

One Million Acts of Green

Courtney — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:16:13 +0000

I joined a new(ish) website over the weekend – One Million Acts of Green. This website counts how much greenhouse gases you’re saving with each “act of green” that you commit. For example, packing a literless lunch saves 100 kg of greenhouse gases.

A lot of the things listed on the site I don’t have the ability to do, what with living in an apartment building – there is a good portion that is related strictly to home projects (such as hot water pipe insulation).

What I like best about this site, though, is that I can quantify what I’m doing – I like that I can put a number of greenhouse gases I’m reducing. Awesome!

Are you a member there?

Going Greener for the Holidays

Courtney — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:47:19 +0000

I love the holiday season. Positively love it – it’s my favourite time of the year, and I’ve been known to go overboard with the holiday cheer. (Yes, I may have been listening to Christmas music since mid-October.) I’ve been hearing/reading a lot of stuff in the media and on a handful of the blogs I subscribe to about making your holiday – whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or any other holiday – a “Green” holiday this year. I’ve seen everything from buying energy efficient lights to regifting gifts you’ve previously received. Some things are extreme, but some of the ideas seem very easy to put into practice.

I’ve got a few plans for myself to make things a little greener around my holiday season:

I’m a huge advocate of real Christmas cards (electronic ones seems not as personal to me). I realize that this isn’t necessarily environmentally friendly, but I make my own every year. This cuts back on packaging, and adds a bit more of a personal touch. This year, I’m sending them all out in recycled envelopes, and have cut back the number that I’m sending out.

This year I started bring my own canvas bags when shopping for Christmas gifts in order to avoid a collection of plastic ones by the end of the shopping trip. This is definitely something that is going to continue throughout the year as well.

Lastly, a number of the gifts I’m giving this year are going to be edible gifts that I’ve made. This is cutting back on the driving to the mall, cuts back on packaging that the gift is in, and it’s much more likely that this gift doesn’t have the chance of sitting around and never being used, or thrown into a landfill.

How are you making your holidays a little greener?

Winter is officially upon us

shawn — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:26:04 +0000

Seasons greetings! (Well almost) it’s nearly December already! Can you believe that? It wasn’t long ago that pond and garden supplies were flying out the door and the gardening season was in full swing. Since then, flowers have met their demise, veggie gardens have been eaten, and the ground has started to freeze. The life of the winter garden fanatic has arrived. All of us staring out at the backyard with future plans, dreaming of the day where we can toss on the radio and spend the day in the garden. The one thing I always take advantage of during winter is the deals you can scoop up! Whether it’s at your favorite garden center, online gardening store, or local shopping mall these seasonal products are great buys this time of year. Even though it’s a cold and dreary road ahead it won’t be long before winter is long forgotten and bright sunny skies are all we know!