BlogHers ACT Canada

More local eating! Farmer's markets and pick-your-own.

This week was a great week for us in terms of eating locally.  Since eating locally is our challenge this month here at BlogHers ACT Canada, we are pretty proud!  We took advantage of two awesome ways to eat locally, the farmer's market and a pick-your-own-produce farm.

The 100 Mile Diet and My "not-so-local" Breakfast

Eating locally is a real challenge, and some folks are taking it quite seriously.  Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon are the founders of the 100 Mile Diet, a movement they started back in 2005 in an effort to eat foods only found within 100 miles of their Vancouver home.  Their's is a fabulous website devoted to the concept, tailored to both American and Canadian households.

July's Challenge: Eat Locally!

This month at BlogHers ACT Canada, we’re challenging you, our fine readers, to eat locally.

What exactly does this mean?

For some, eating locally means stepping out the back door, heading to the vegetable patch in the yard and harvesting some homegrown lettuce greens for dinner.

For others, it means taking a weekly trip to the farmer’s market to select some regionally-grown produce sold by nearby farmers and baked goods prepared in nearby kitchens.

For other folks, eating locally means paying attention to the labels on the food they purchase at the grocery store in an attempt to bring home only food that was grown or produced in their own province, state or country.

Fewer trucks, fewer jobs.

It’s not a secret that the economy in the United States and Canada is suffering these days, and that the cost of fuel is on the rise.  It’s almost impossible for regular working families to afford gas or diesel for some vehicles. Vehicles like trucks. Most of the pick-up trucks in North America are manufactured in my hometown of Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. At least, they were.

New concepts in travel? The Manned Cloud

While this idea may be just for the rich folks, the concept is one of the most innovative I've read about in a long time.   

Jean-Marie Massaud of France has created the Manned Cloud - "a flying hotel, which allows its passengers to discover inaccessible areas, devoid of any infrastructure (airports, roads, hotels, etc.)"

AutoShare vs. Zipcar: Solutions for Going Carless in the City

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of visiting with a friend who lives in the city.  She made it out to the suburbs for a visit with another friend.  She didn't take the GO-train.  She didn't have to take a bus.  She didn't show some leg and hitch a ride.  And...she doesn't own a car.

How did she get here, then?

June's Challenge: Reducing the Auto Footprint!

It's not enough that as conscientious and responsible members of society, we should be focusing on reducing our carbon footprint.  Now, just as the summer vacation season gets under way, the season of road trips and weekends away, started off by hopping onto the highway to get to the cottage or camp site (not to mention extra stops to the liquor and beer store), BlogHers ACT Canada has the guts to tell you that you should also be reducing your auto footprint.  We've got some nerve, don't we?

Greener Garden Shopping

Last weekend was the first official long weekend of the summer-ish season here in Canada.  Many of our fine citizens look forward with great anticipation to the Victoria Day weekend because it usually means that it’s safe to plant annual flowers and vegetable plants outside.  It’s usually taken as the “frost free” date in Ontario, but this spring the weather has been much chillier than usual.

Although I didn’t make it out to any garden centres over the long weekend (it’s my personal policy to avoid any shopping that has the potential to become a contact sport), I wondered if the owners of nurseries and garden centres in towns and cities in Southern Ontario were left standing around, scratching their heads, wondering about the weather and whether it would keep gardeners away.

Fortunately, the long weekend weather has just been delayed to this coming weekend, as temperatures are expected to rise to seasonal levels at long last.  This means that no doubt the garden centres will be filled with anxious customers.  Wear your elbow pads!

This month at BlogHers ACT Canada, we’re focusing on greener gardening, so before you head out to buy plants that will pretty up your yard, balcony or garden for the summer, check out our handy tips for doing your garden shopping with a green focus in mind.

Composting for Beginners

Each morning you throw out a coffee filter and a handful of used coffee grinds.

Your weekend breakfast feast of bacon and eggs leaves behind a pile of broken eggshells.

The kids have an apple for a snack, but leave the core for you to pick up.

I’ve got news for you:  those coffee grinds, egg shells and apple cores are packed full of nutrients that will make awesome food for your garden if you change your habits.  Rather than throwing your kitchen scraps into the garbage, start a compost pile!

This month our focus is on greener gardening, and composting is arguably the simplest way to green up your gardening habits.

Introducing May's Challenge: Greener Gardening!

Do you have a garden or grow plants?  Do you use synthetic fertilizers or pesticides in your garden?  Do you buy lots of plants every season that are sold in plastic pots?  Do you grow food?

These are the kinds of questions we’ll be looking at this month here at BlogHers ACT Canada.  I have to admit, I’m kind of pumped!  This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. There are entire weblogs that focus on these topics entirely, and there are some I visit quite frequently, and will recommend to you.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.