The lure of quick money, easy opportunity and playing in the mountains draws many an adventurous soul to Calgary, Alberta. But many of us don't plan to stay for the long-term. This fundamentally affects the way we interact and engage in our community.
Green Calgary's challenge to all of you this month is to: live like you plan to stay! Start by making more purchases using a local currency such as Calgary Dollars or set up a compost bin at your current residence. Try booking a Healthy Homes visit to conserve water & energy, or spend some time getting to know your local food producers at farmers' markets. You could even contribute time or money to a local social or environmental organization. What would your life look like if Calgary is where you planned to stay?
Locally United Towards Helping
Calgarians Live More Fulfilling,
Sustainable Lives July 19,2010
Green Calgary’s Healthy Homes program aims to improve personal health, build community resilience, and reduce pressure on the natural environment.
“We help create meaningful change,” said Ashley Lubyk, Program Manager of Healthy Homes Calgary, “by working with families in the home, we provide resources and tools to help them make positive and lasting choices to live a more fulfilling and sustainable life.”
With Healthy Homes’ emphasis on making connections between actions taken in the home and how they impact the larger community of life, like-minded Community Natural Foods hopes to inspire Calgarians to know what’s in their food and where it comes from. By helping Calgarians eat a more wholesome, local, and organic diet, Community Natural Foods supports the health and vitality of this beautiful earth we all share.
Community Natural Foods is Calgary’s original natural and organic market. They are committed to providing Calgarians with unrefined organic foods, natural nutritional supplements and sustainable lifestyle products dedicated to encouraging our community to live a healthier, more natural life, conscious of our planet’s well being.
As a major sponsor of the Healthy Homes Calgary program, Community Natural Foods is excited to embark on a collaborative journey with Green Calgary to support interested Calgarians in making real, meaningful lifestyle changes.
Healthy Homes Sustainability Series Starts this Month!
Green Calgary in partnership with Verge Permaculture would like to announce a practical, thought-provoking and action-oriented speaker series starting this summer. The events will be held in the evening on the last Tuesday of each month.
The upcoming sessions are listed below and are subject to change.
July 27 –Creating Productive Places: the North American lawn devours more resources than the entire agriculture industry, yet we don’t get a drop of sustenance from these resource hungry places. Learn how to convert your unproductive lawn into a beautiful, productive, food-producing space that will nourish your body and soul.
This session with be presented by: Rob Avis of Verge Permaculture and will begin at 7pm at the Hillhurst United Church in their Heritage Room - 1227 Kensington Close N.W. This session will run 90 minutes and is by donation.
August 24 – Extending the Growing Season: let’s face it; growing food in Calgary can be tough. But with a few low-tech tools we can extend Calgary’s growing season significantly, increasing yields and producing more food than you ever though possible. Learn some simple, yet effective strategies for getting a boost on your harvest.
Thanks to the amazing skills, creativity, and dedication of ten local artists during our Rain Barrels as Canvas event, we now have a dozen beautiful painted rain barrels to auction off as a fundraiser for Green Calgary. Barrels will be on display for auction at the EcoStore booth at this year’s Calgary Folk Music Festival. Come visit us from Thursday July 22nd to Sunday July 25th on Prince’s IslandPark to bid on a barrel!
Not only will these barrels conserve water and look great in your yard, but your purchase will support a local family business and raise money for environmental initiatives here in Calgary!
A great big thanks to all the artists who participated: Eva Olechowski, Daniel J. Kirk, Ivan Ostapenko, Kai Boettcher, Julia Tam, Danny Brissette, Ben Bullock, Jessica King, Sharon and Erin McLaughlin, and Helen Jull.
Take the Pledge to Do Nothing to Save Water
This summer The City of Calgary is asking citizens to pledge to “Do Nothing to Save Water”.
When you pledge to Do Nothing to Save Water you don’t need to water your lawn when:
- It’s raining, has recently rained or is forecast to rain
- It’s the hottest time of the day (between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.)
- It’s windy.
Calgary’s water usage during the summer months can increase by 50 per cent. By taking the pledge you will join your fellow Calgarians to conserve water and reduce the strain on our rivers and water treatment plants.
“Most people don’t know that a healthy lawn only needs one inch of water per week and that includes rainfall”, says Stuart Peters, Residential Programming with The City of Calgary’s Water Services. “Too much water can be bad for your lawn – resulting in shallow root growth and making it prone to disease. By taking the pledge to Doing Nothing to Save Water, you can avoid watering when your lawn doesn’t need it.”
Peters also notes watering during the hottest time of the day or windy periods results in a lot of water being evaporated into the air instead of getting to the grass roots where it’s needed.
The City of Calgary is on track to reduce our water consumption by 30 per cent in 30 years. City operations are doing their part by checking and fixing leaks, upgrading treatment facilities to use less water and expanding water wise technology in parks.
To take the pledge and learn more ways you can Do Nothing to Save Water visitcalgary.ca/rethinkwater.
Ask Ashley: Choosing Truly Green Cleaners
Q:
I have decided to make the shift to healthier cleaners but I am perplexed by all the different products which claim to be green. Do you have any tips for selecting the best of the natural cleaning products?
