Katie Kish · Eco-Chick

Browsing all posts by Katie Kish

Katie Kish is an undergraduate student at the University of Guelph and the multimedia director for the Center of Inquiry, Ontario.

http://liberal-debutante.com

This author has contributed 34 posts.

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Green on the Move

4 Comments

09/05/09

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I just moved into a new apartment with a beautiful view (see above…oolala) of North Toronto. My fiance and I are both environmental science students and live pretty eco-friendly (as much as we can). So as if moving isn’t stressful enough… add in being environmental? It becomes a mini nightmare. This wasn’t the first time I’ve moved. In fact I counted and I’ve lived in 13 different houses and/or apartments since the age of 16. That’s 13 different places in 7 years. But this was my first BIG move. I wasn’t just moving to British Columbia with a backpack on, or into university residence with my suitcase of clothes and a laptop. No, this was the big one. The big empty apartment that needed desks, beds, shelves, rugs, art, plates, cups… etc.

The first issue was that we had stuff all over. We needed to drive a UHaul to Guelph and back to Toronto to get my stuff and from South East Toronto to North West Toronto (twice!) to get all of his stuff. Stuff Stuff Stuff. Stuff that we don’t even really need, but we couldn’t just leave at our other places. Next was packing. Bubble wrap? … How eco-friendly can those tiny little plastic bubbles really be? Well, we used a lot of it. And what about furnishings? Buying all new chairs, tables and beds didn’t really seem like the right thing to do either. So, here’s a few tips I wish I would have though about before this move:

Home, Recycling, Shopping

Digital Music is Greener

No Comments

09/04/09

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For more information about green music, green music news, green musicians and everything else eco-friendly-music-like visit Green Music Alliance!

It goes without saying that downloading music is more eco-friendly than buying CDs with all their packaging, papering and plastics. Even after factoring in electricity used by your computer and internet provider and your computer its self buying digital versions of CDs is still way more environmental. This has been shown in a recent study.

Music

People Won't Change for the Environment (on my campus)

2 Comments

09/03/09

A recent article outlines a pretty simplistic poll conducted in London about people’s willingness to change their behaviour for the good of the planet.

A straw poll of 15 British men and 15 British women between the ages of 25-75 in central London, showed all were willing to make small changes for the environment, such as recycling, but few would commit to more fundamental changes to behavior.

The outcome was pretty surprising. People will “try” to drive less, and others take a shot at proper recycling. But no one is ready for a change in their lifestyle. This inspired me. I was sure I could find better numbers and results here in Toronto, Canada. We are supposed to be eco-friendly up here, right?

bags, book, books, business, car, clothes, clothing, consumption, eating, Eco-Chick, electronics, Energy, Food, fur, Home, local, London, meat, News, plastic, plastic bags, plastics, Recycling, reduce, skin, style, Vote, women

The Nano: 14 Million New Cars on India's Streets

5 Comments

03/29/09

Image courtesy of Flickr user B. Balaji

If you drive a car, or even have to take a bus in any sort of major city you know that traffic is a terrible thing. When I went to India I was shocked to see that the streets there are at least three times as packed as the streets of Toronto, not to mention they’re usually smaller streets too. People get into grid locks that are near to impossible to break out of. The last thing that needs to be on the street is more cars. It’s bad enough that somehow the Western countries have been convinced that “hybrids” and environmentally friendly cars are a smart choice. The dumbest bike is still smarter than the smartest car.

Yet still for some reason people are praising the new car that is to be released this July in India. Boasted as the “people’s car” The Nano is said to bring new opportunities for families in the lower income bracket of India. Costing only $2000/USD or apx 1 000 000 rupees because of its lack of airbags, radio, electric windows and other luxuries it is definitely something feasible for these families. Currently the only options for them are bicycles, scooters and walking. With this new “cheap” car nearly anyone will be able to afford a motorized vehicle. And people will buy it. Economists have speculated that this new car will boost India’s car sales by 65%.

cars, India, transporation

Dose of Reality: Engagements

3 Comments

01/22/09

engagement

To produce that single ounce, miners have to quarry hundreds of tons of rock, which are then doused in a liquid cyanide solution to separate the gold. Payal Sampat, the campaign director for Earthworks, the mining watchdog, told The Independent: “Gold mining is arguably the world’s dirtiest and most polluting industry.”

My boyfriend proposed not too long ago (so I guess he’s not my boyfriend anymore) and he said the hardest thing wasn’t worrying about if I’d say yes or no…or getting the mood right…or doing it at the right time…or any of those small things. He said the hardest part, by far, was finding a ring that wouldn’t make me go into a rant about mining and health or cry because of child soldiers.

Recently National Geographic put up a slide show about gold – its effects on people and the environment.
dirtygold

A wedding ring which costs around $2000 (CND) which is about 1 ounce of gold creates up to 30 tons of toxic waste. This toxic waste effects us all here in North America as our lakes are not only threatened to be turned into dump sites, but already are in some cases.

CBC News has learned that 16 Canadian lakes are slated to be officially but quietly “reclassified” as toxic dump sites for mines. The lakes include prime wilderness fishing lakes from B.C. to Newfoundland.
Environmentalists say the process amounts to a “hidden subsidy” to mining companies, allowing them to get around laws against the destruction of fish habitat.

And really…The real cost of gold is a dirty one that could be with us for centuries as shown be previous studies.

Environmental Fate of Mercury
* “Hot spots” at mine sites
* Contaminated sediments
* Transport to downstream areas
* Bioaccumulation and biomagnification in food chain
Risks to Human Health
* Consumption of contaminated fish
* Improper handling of contaminated sediments
* Inhalation of mercury vapors
* Low risk in municipal drinking water
* Some mine waters unsafe for consumption

And although there are attempts to make it cleaner, you can do your part to make sure your bling is ethical. My engagement ring is from Brilliant earth, which was his final choice after checking out blue nile, polar bear diamonds and greenKarat.