Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

Lets Be Clear

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by Katie Kish · 11/23/06

Canada has been dealing with some rough water issues lately, and the David Suzuki Foundation is taking note of it. Since late last week residence of Vancouver have been facing mudslides over taking their resevoirs where the city gets their water. The extremely high level of turbidity has caused an advisory for Vancouver residents to boil all of their tap water.

Water contamination is something Canada has faced in the past with over 200 different contaminations. But why? One would think that after like 80 contaminations we would be looking to the causation of this. David Boyd answers this question.

Canada’s water quality guidelines are actually voluntary. There are currently no legally enforced rules to protect our water. Mr. Boyd says the Federal government should step in and establish mandatory standards that meet or exceed those of other countries.

No really?

North Americans in so many areas have been given a horribly skewed sense of security. At a young age in geography class we’re told that 70% of the earth’s surface is covered in water, that’s a lot of water. But then we have to factor into that how much is actually drinkable. Most of it, 68.9%, is trapped up in glaciers and another 30.8% is in groundwater. That leaves us with a tiny 0.3% of our fresh water resources in lakes and rivers.

It’s only going to get worse as global warming gets worse. The Great Lakes will decline greatly and most of the water that melts from glaciers is going to go into the oceans, which isn’t drinkable. Our alternative – bottled water – isn’t so awesome either.

Health Canada’s website on bottled water reports that there’s no evidence to support this. In fact, Professor Rolf Halden of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, had this to say about water in U.S. cities. “The truth is that city water is much more highly regulated and monitored for quality. Bottled water is not. It can legally contain many things we would not tolerate in municipal drinking water.”

Not to mention it’s really expensive. Rock on water shortages in Canada. But what can we do? The solution is the same for everything – educate people. We all know that “educate people” over simplifies to the point that it hurts. Luckily, David Suzuki is a bit more optimistic than I am and offers a few ways that we can all help out a little bit, and keep track of what water supplies.

Water conservation starts at home. Here are some things you can start doing at home right now to protect our water for the future.

* Low-flow shower heads can cut your water use in the shower by more than 30%. You can also reduce your water use by installing a, low-flow toilet that uses less water.
* Household cleaners are flushed away then go through treatment facilities, but trace elements become part of the water cycle. A lot of household cleaning can be accomplished with good old white vinegar and baking soda. (Really!) For ideas visit H2Ouse.
* Shower with a friend! It saves an average of 200 liters of water and it’s lots of fun. You’ll have a helping hand scrub those parts of the back you can’t reach on your own.

Learn more:

* This blog has links to find out what’s happening with the world’s water.
* Environment Canada’s Conserve water page.
* If you want to see how much water you’re using, and aren’t afraid of giving your e-mail address to the government, check out Environment Canada’s water use calculator.

Turns out, I use a lot of water…

Your daily average water usage: 478L

Your province’s daily average: 425L
Canadian national daily average: 335L

baking, bottled water, cities, cleaning, conservation, dress, drinking water, giving, Global Warming, health, Home, Lush, News, oceans, oil, reduce, resources, soda, water

Oh You Are Soooo Damn Fine: Eco-fashion in the Burg

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by Summer Rayne Oakes · 09/11/06

Please tell me you DID NOT build a totally cool eco-fashion boutique a block from my house. What are you trying to do to me? Well, this is by far the sweeeeetest shop that the Burg has to offer, but my bank account is going to be a’bruised. This joint has jam-packed so many of our favorite brands, that it is hard to decide Visa, Mastercard, or AMEX.

Some brands: Loomstate, Del Forte, Emmaluv, gina michele, Augustine, and ouvrez la porte, just to name a few.

car, Fashion, soda

You Might be an Eco Chick If….

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by Starre Vartan · 07/12/06

….it breaks your heart when you see people fill their grocery carts with pounds of cheap hamburger, Cheetos and soda and you just want to sneak your bag of organic apples into their sack when they’re not looking.

….you secretly laugh at the huge SUV drivers when you’re filling up at the gas station. Then feel guilty because you too are filling up at the gas station.

….you listen for the recycling truck on pick up day and then watch to make sure they put all your various sorted bags in the right sections of the truck.

bags, car, gas, Organic, Recycling, soda

…next to goddessness

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by Starre Vartan · 05/15/06

I’m not going to go into why using chemical- and toxin-laden products to clean your home is an oxymoron, but if you need some background you can find it here. These days even the EPA is pushing alternatives to conventional cleaning products.

Anything that has the number of poison control on the back doesn’t belong in my house. If it kills you in large doses, it’ll kill you slowly is smaller ones. Not to mention the damage it does to the environment after you’ve washed it down the drain.

Even among Eco Chicks, one of the biggest complaints about ecofriendly products is that they don’t work as well as conventional ones. Clean freaks have become addicted to all the goops, unguents, degreasers, sprays and other heavily advertised products and have grown up with them. For some of us, the smell of clean IS the smell of bleach. 

It’s time for a new smell. Here are a few that I’ve found work as well– or better than– conventional products. Your body, which has to clean out all the toxins you throw at it, and the ducks in the pond will thank you for making the change.

Nothing beats baking soda for scrubbing kitchen and bathroom sinks (in fact nothing gets my kitchen sink as shiny). It’s also good for enhancing laundry soap’s cleaning power, deodorizing cat litter boxes and fridges, and for throwing in the trash can when you don’t feel like cleaning the questionable stuff collecting in the bottom.

I use Seventh Generation’s automatic dishwasher liquid because I’ve tried a bunch of them and it works the best. It’s a little more expensive, but it’s worth it to me not to have to pre-rinse. With this detergent, I just throw the dirty dishes in and fire up the dishwasher.

I use Citra-Solv (I buy it super-concentrated) diluted with a bunch of water to clean my floors and cabinets, and throw a bunch in a spray bottle (also very diluted) to use for general cleaning of the stovetop, countertops, etc. It smells citrusy and clean.

ABC Carpet and Home’s spray cleaner smells like fresh grapefruit, and is a splurge at $12 for one bottle, but it’s like aromatherapy, and I will reuse the bottle (it has a very nifty spray device), so I bought it and use it sparingly.

I love Heather’s products, because they really, really work. And their packaging is ridiculously cute. Not pictured here (because I used it all) is a scrubbing powder that works BETTER than Comet– I use it in my bathroom tub. Their window cleaner is as good as (but smells better than) Windex.

Ecover makes the strongest dishwashing soap (not for dishwashers). It cuts grease, and works just like Palmolive does on pots and pans.

Happy (and healthy!) Spring Cleaning!

baking, bath, car, cleaning, cleaning products, ducks, ecofriendly, epa, fruit, health, Home, rape, reuse, soap, soda, spa, spring, Toxins, trash, water

Move Over McMansion

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by Jennifer Cross · 04/13/06

Here’s a home that is built with no non-recyclable residue or plastics, utilizes solar energy (not only to heat the water but to produce energy as well) and looks incredibly fabulous. Sound like a fantasy of the eco-chick’s distant future? Not so – it exists today thanks to Germany’s WeberHaus.

According to Ann M. Requa, the WeberHaus Representative of Catalonia, Spain, “Germans demand good wood” and good wood they got. All the wood used in the WeberHaus construction comes from the Black Forest, which is replanted and within 100 years will grow 2-3 times its original amount. The wood is then fabricated to include insulation of mineral wool, recycled glass, soda and sand. This creates a wall so strong a VW Beetle was hung from one of their showroom walls for months.They are even fire-resistant. More »

Eco-Chick, Energy, fabric, garden, Germany, Home, model, models, Nau, plastic, plastics, produce, recycle, recycled, reuse, soda, solutions, spa, style, water, wood