Today is Earth Day.
Apparently, it's been around for a long time (38 years), but before I moved to Toronto, I didn't know that. Somehow I'm not surprised; Singapore may pride itself as the 'Garden City' but it isn't terribly environmentally aware. Myself, I'm learning, and I would like to make a difference. Of course, it is very heartening to be more environmentally conscious when I'm living in a place that encourages habits such as recycling. For people who wonder why they should bother with all this environmental action/sacrifice when it feels like throwing starfish back into the sea, Michael Pollan wrote a very good article.
What follows are some random, possibly incoherent thoughts from some of the stuff I read today.
A bit of practical advice: given that organic food is usually more expensive, and coupled with the recent increases in food prices, it's helpful to strategize food expenses. A study of 43 fruits and vegetables found that some of the produce that contains the highest amounts of pesticides (either they retain a lot naturally or they require more during growing) include peaches, apples, bell peppers and celery, while the bottom of the list include produce such as onions, avocado and mango.
On another note, I'm much more pleased with my efforts to mix my own soap. The switch from castile soap to another brand (Au Naturel) was good; the soap now feels much better. A good ratio is equal amounts of soap and glycerin; it's not too drying or heavy. Plus, it smells much better now. The trick is to include a citrus top-note as well, even though the idea of adding a fresh citrusy scent to heavier oils such as lavender or ylang ylang or sandalwood seems very strange. I am now moving onto shampoo recipes; one organic toiletry project at a time, hurrah.
While it is good to see more companies 'greening', sometimes I'm dubious. Sometimes, it just seems as if green is the new hip, but while people think they're doing something for the Earth by buying organic stuff, it all just the same song and dance because people are still as consumeristic as ever and nothing fundamental has really changed.
And a more sobering, fact from today's Star article: even though Canada ractified the Kyoto Protocol, its greenhouse gas emissions has actually increased 25% from 1990 to 2005. Moreoever, Canadians still rank as some of the highest producers of greenhouse gases; while Canada has about 0.5% of the world's population, it contributes about 2% of total global emissions. Each Canadian produces about 23 tonnes of emissions in 2005, comparable to the average of 24.4 tonnes in the US and 27.7 in Australia. These figures are all almost double other industrialized countries such as Germany, the UK, France and Japan. If Canada wishes to achieve the planned 20% reduction in emissions from 2006 levels by 2020, they've quite a way to go.
Lastly, calculating carbon footprint. Using this site and doing a very, very rough calculations, we apparently have a decent footprint right now because we have no vehicle and we walk or cycle almost everywhere (about 3.3 tonnes; average Canadian 20 tonnes, average industrialized nation person 11 tonnes, global average 4 tonnes). But if I reset it to our habits in Singapore, and once I factor in our motorbikes (and the fact that we had quite a lot of mileage on them), it jumps to 5.4 tonnes.
Apparently, it's been around for a long time (38 years), but before I moved to Toronto, I didn't know that. Somehow I'm not surprised; Singapore may pride itself as the 'Garden City' but it isn't terribly environmentally aware. Myself, I'm learning, and I would like to make a difference. Of course, it is very heartening to be more environmentally conscious when I'm living in a place that encourages habits such as recycling. For people who wonder why they should bother with all this environmental action/sacrifice when it feels like throwing starfish back into the sea, Michael Pollan wrote a very good article.
What follows are some random, possibly incoherent thoughts from some of the stuff I read today.
A bit of practical advice: given that organic food is usually more expensive, and coupled with the recent increases in food prices, it's helpful to strategize food expenses. A study of 43 fruits and vegetables found that some of the produce that contains the highest amounts of pesticides (either they retain a lot naturally or they require more during growing) include peaches, apples, bell peppers and celery, while the bottom of the list include produce such as onions, avocado and mango.
On another note, I'm much more pleased with my efforts to mix my own soap. The switch from castile soap to another brand (Au Naturel) was good; the soap now feels much better. A good ratio is equal amounts of soap and glycerin; it's not too drying or heavy. Plus, it smells much better now. The trick is to include a citrus top-note as well, even though the idea of adding a fresh citrusy scent to heavier oils such as lavender or ylang ylang or sandalwood seems very strange. I am now moving onto shampoo recipes; one organic toiletry project at a time, hurrah.
While it is good to see more companies 'greening', sometimes I'm dubious. Sometimes, it just seems as if green is the new hip, but while people think they're doing something for the Earth by buying organic stuff, it all just the same song and dance because people are still as consumeristic as ever and nothing fundamental has really changed.
And a more sobering, fact from today's Star article: even though Canada ractified the Kyoto Protocol, its greenhouse gas emissions has actually increased 25% from 1990 to 2005. Moreoever, Canadians still rank as some of the highest producers of greenhouse gases; while Canada has about 0.5% of the world's population, it contributes about 2% of total global emissions. Each Canadian produces about 23 tonnes of emissions in 2005, comparable to the average of 24.4 tonnes in the US and 27.7 in Australia. These figures are all almost double other industrialized countries such as Germany, the UK, France and Japan. If Canada wishes to achieve the planned 20% reduction in emissions from 2006 levels by 2020, they've quite a way to go.
Lastly, calculating carbon footprint. Using this site and doing a very, very rough calculations, we apparently have a decent footprint right now because we have no vehicle and we walk or cycle almost everywhere (about 3.3 tonnes; average Canadian 20 tonnes, average industrialized nation person 11 tonnes, global average 4 tonnes). But if I reset it to our habits in Singapore, and once I factor in our motorbikes (and the fact that we had quite a lot of mileage on them), it jumps to 5.4 tonnes.
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