It was a holiday here in Canada yesterday - Canada Day - and as I sat around enjoying the weather, it made me think about how lucky I am to live in such a great country! So I went to the park to appreciate some green beauty. While I was there I saw some kids playing and thought that kids should play outside more often. Get them off their computers and cell phones and ipods and get them into the parks, like when we were kids! They don’t know what they’re missing. Not a bad idea for us adults to get out there too!

Did you know that even when cell phones and chargers are turned off they still use energy?? I just found out! I always leave my charger plugged into the outlet until the next time I charge my cell phone, but it’s actually using energy. Same thing with microwaves - the clock on it that beams brightly at night uses energy! Take a walk around your home to check out what items are sucking energy without you really noticing - electric alarm clocks, computers, TVs, DVD players, stereos, ipods… Check out David Suzuki’s Small Steps for more info on reducing your footprint one step at a time http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Small_Steps/

So, I went to get a take-out coffee at my favorite coffee shop this morning and wondered what people are doing these days with their plastic and paper cups, especially when they’re on their way somewhere…? In this city, they used to have recycling bins every few blocks, but I’ve noticed their disappearance as of late. So, now I try to remember that if I throw my cup in a public garbage can, that cup is on its way to a landfill somewhere to decompose slowly over the next 100 years… or I could make sure that I take it home and throw it in my recycling bin!

Remember this year, when you’re planting your gardens, flowers, grass, whatever, not to use pesticides! You can go to this link on the David Suzuki Foundation website to check out tips and stories about gardening pesticide free:

 http://www.naturechallenge.org/dmg09/