Itchy, itchy, scratchy, scratchy

 
It’s been a rough start to our greener lifestyle.
I was going to write about how we were trying to reduce the amount of wrapping paper we used over the holidays, and how we hit some library used-book sales to stock up on reading material for our kids, who adore to read.
But it all came to [...]

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Kicking the garbage habit – one day at a time

In Saturday’s Montreal Gazette, as part of a series of year-end vignettes by reporters, I wrote this piece:
Monique Beaudin
The wind whipped snow around our backyard, turning snowflakes into skin-stinging pellets. Bundled up against another winter storm, I trudged through thigh-high drifts to our compost bin.
The habits learned during a week of cutting our family’s [...]

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Trudging through the snow

When we decided to try to go greener for 2008, one of the things I knew we’d have to keep doing was composting during the winter. This is the first winter we’ve tried to keep the compost bin in use. Usually by the time there is this much snow on the ground, I throw in [...]

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Passing the Puck

I’m taking a tip from former US Vice President Al Gore and looking to the future. While chastizing his own country’s (and Canada’s) position at the Bali climate-change conference last week, he told the rest of the world to press on with serious steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Referring to hockey players Bobby Hull and [...]

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I go on Mat Leave and look what happens

Two years ago, with wicked morning sickness, I covered the United Nations Conference on Climate Change. Then-environment Minister Stéphane Dion was the chair, Montreal was the host city, and Canada was the belle of the ball. Prime Minister Paul Martin swooped in and gave the Americans a talking-to about what many at the conference considered [...]

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The end of the long Timmy’s drive thru line?

Am I the only one who turns off their car engine when they’re stuck in a long line up at a Tim Horton’s drive thru? On a winter’s day, you can really see how much exhaust is spewing out while coffee lovers wait for their fix. With small kids to bundle in and out of [...]

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Something fishy

When I was a teenager growing up in Eastern Ontario, people used to rave about the Lancaster perch, a freshwater fish locals caught in the nearby St. Lawrence River. It was a speciality at local greasy spoons, and a treat at community events. But it always seemed a risky idea to me to eat it, [...]

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