And by local I don't mean the closest grocery store. I mean purchasing food that is grown locally. It will save on transportation costs/emissions and it helps out your local farmers. So where can you get local produce and meat?

Farmers markets - you are buying direct from the farmers. Over time you can also build relationships with them and you will have confidence that the food is being grown in a manner that is important to you (organic for example).

On the farm - I see alot of signs for berries and corn around this time of year. Alot of farms in our area sell their produce and meat on their own property. Most farmers who are selling their meat will sell it to you in a variety of packages. This means less trips for you to get your meat.

Local stores - not the large grocery stores but one's that only sell local food. This is a good way to get all your food in once place rather than having to go to a few local farmers to get everything.

Food Co-ops - you pay to be part of the co-op and as part of it you help grow the fruits and vegetables and then get to split the food as it grows.

Food Baskets - we have this great service in town where you sign up for a plan and every week a local basket of food is delivered to a drop point for you (usually at a local store). You pick it up and get to enjoy whatever is in it (including meat, fruit, veggies, jams, honey etc etc).

Local butchers - some raise their own cattle, others purchase the meat from local farmers. Either way it is a great way to get all of your meat.

Grow your own - maybe not your own meat, but try growing your own fruits and vegetables. Then you have 100% control over how they are grown and you can be sure that they are meeting your standards.

Grocery store - when in a grocery store look for the produce that is grown locally. Here in Ontario they will have a sticker that says it was grown here. But that doesn't always mean it is local, but then again it is better than buying the same produce that has been shipped in from half way around the world.

Monopoly is a classic board game. I remember playing it as a child. I would try and collect all the one dollar bills. I have no idea why but I think it made me feel like I had more money because my stack was huge. I also always had to buy the purple and green properties. Daggers would fly if I didn't get these.

Now it looks like Monopoly is hopping on the Green bandwagon and has changed their board to be more eco-friendly. No that doesn't mean that it is made from recycled products or that the pieces are bio-degradable. It just means that they have switched their Water Works and Electric Company "squares" for Wind Energy and Solar Energy.

Sounds like a good start and an easy way to educate people about alternative energy methods. If they even notice the change. I know that I barely paid attention to the Utilities....because they cost me my precious one dollar bills.

I remember years ago reading out how companies in the US could trade emission credits between their factories in different states. I remember thinking that it sounded good in theory but overall how on earth did it hold anyone accountable for their local actions? In the end I came to the conclusion that it was a good way for a company to "buy time" until they could make process improvements to a plant that had a higher emission levels.

Then I came across the Offsetters website. How does it work? Well let's say you determine that your actions emit 20,000 kg of carbon dioxide a year. If you were to turn around and invest in a project that would pull 20,000 kg of carbon dioxide out of the atomosphere then you would be offsetting your inital emissions. Basically zeroing your impact out.

It's an interesting concept, both on a personal and professional level. 

What I learned:

* If I book a Westjet flight through this website a portion of my ticket cost will go towards an Offsetters project.

* A Canadian company is not only putting money into projects in Canada but also looking outside of our cold icy border walls and putting offsetter dollars into international projects

* We should start tracking our amount of emissions produced on an annual basis. It would be an interesting exercise. I have done it for work for years so it should be pretty easy to do for our family.

Have you ever realized how much crap you get in the mail? I know alot of it we can't really do too much about (seriously Rogers I don't want your Home phone - stop sending me 5 kajillion flyers a week), but some of it we can. I started collecting all the envelopes and "stuffers" from our bills this week. We will see how much paper I collect in the week.

We have the option to use epost for most of our bills. This would mean no more extra paper in the recycling bin from all the envelopes and stuffers. It would also cut back on all the processing of these bills (printing etc) and the transportation of the bills to us.
Seems like a pretty easy thing to do that could make an overall positive impact.

This week's Eco-Challenge will be to see how much paper our bills produce and to figure out which bills we can get by epost.

See the Results here. 

I saw this on someone else's blog and it caught my attention. I make lists all the time and for some reason I just never feel like I am getting anything done. Maybe I don't give myself enough time or maybe I am trying to do too much. *shrugs*

So I am doing the 101 in 1001. Basically the point of it is to list 101 things you want to accomplish in 1001 days. They have to be attainable, simple and easy to track.

* learn how to make bread
* learn to cook a good curry
* make own wine

Go Green
* start composting - completed 09.10.08
* find/use eco-cleaners - 08.01.10 (Reviews)
* plant 1 tree/year - 06.08, 06.10 (our 2009 tree), 08.10
* create a veggie garden - done and sucessful! 05.24.10
* create a herb garden - done! Gift from parents. 12.20.10
* shop at farmers market 4 times in 3 months (August, September)
* get an outdoor clothesline
* go 1 month without printing anything - done! December 2010

Household
* pave driveway - done July 09

* restain stairs
* decorate family room
* decorate front hall - done 12.20.09

* decorate living room
* decorate master bedroom
* decorate office
* clean daily for 3 months - done March 10

* create photowall with black frames - most photos hung

Organization
* organize pantry - cleaned and list of organizational tools needed has been made
* redo filing system - organized and sorted
* organize digital photos - burn CD's and label, backup storage purchased (11.01.09), uploading to Flickr
* organize equipment/product guides into binders - completed 06.14.09
* finish wedding photobook
* finish honeymoon photobook
* create annual photobooks
* update Aeroplan number - completed 12.01.08
* clean wedding dress

Personal Growth
* finish MBA
* read 10 books (Notes on a Refrigerator Door, Starter Wife, High Heels and Homicide, High Heels and Holidays, Memory Keepers Daughter, Shopaholic and Baby, Love the One You're With, Conscious Kids)
* become educated on gardening - completed
* learn to deal with conflict - completed 02.24.11
* take a photography course
* learn to knit from mom

Professional
* get CRSP - paperwork received
* get/retain staff of professionals
* look into teaching opportunities
* private - BPC
* become more involved in RT's website - started blogging again Oct 09
* private - computer - completed 05.16.09
* private - gg
* reconnect with 1 professor - completed 09.25.08

Random
* cut time on the internet by 50% - completed 06.28.09
* watch all the godfather movies
* 100% finish Mario Bros video game
* make bed every day for 1 month - completed 02.01.11
* go 1 month without biting nails - completed 10.27.10
* get into the local paper - completed 09.27.08, and it was a national paper. SWEET!!!!


Social
* host a dinner party
* visit/meet 1 online friend - done and done 04.10.10
* talk to JJ at least monthly - completed
* talk to HV at least monthly
* get to know neighbours better
* send more thankyou notes

Looking to get a hold of us to tell us how awesome we are? Got a beef, suggestion or a question on green living? Do you know the winning lottery numbers for this week?

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Welcome to my little corner of the interwebz. Take some time and look around. Might I suggest checking out the following posts to see what we are all about (or aboot).

My name is Jen and I am just a simple gal who loves living in Canada and is trying to reduce our families impact on the environment. My husband is Joe and he occasionally blogs here mostly in rebuttal to something I have blogged about. He is on board with the majority of ideas I come up with but sometimes he does roll his eyes at me. YOU WANT ME TO GO A  WHOLE WEEK WITHOUT TSN/SPORTSNET/ESPN???

We have a toddler (B) who keeps us busy but also makes us think harder about the choices we are making.

I would describe myself as a realistic environmentalist. There are things that we would love to do (like living off the grid) but they just are not economically viable at this time. I think that your personal economics always has to be considered when making any environmental decision. We aren't perfect but we are at least trying to do what we can.