#BEDM: Go Green

Since I've become a teacher (almost ten years now), the environment has been a topic close to my heart.  Perhaps it always was, but I didn't really realize it until I started teaching science units about ecology, and talking to my classes about humans' impact on the planet, and simple everyday things we can do to be kinder to our planet.

I can find trying to be green frustrating sometimes: I simply can't afford to take every sustainable action out there, especially when it comes to food.  And, I do enjoy consumerism far too much.  I buy too many things that's for sure.  I find sometimes that I can be hyper-critical of my lifestyle, but then I step back and remind myself about what I tell my students: that small actions to add up, after all, the ocean is made of drops of water, which in themselves are made from billions of tiny water molecules.

Even though I'm far from perfect, here are some the actions I take every day to be greener, kinder, and more sustainable.

1) I stop every morning at work for coffee at Tim Horton's using my favourite reusable Starbucks tumbler.  (They don't mind me crossing companies like I do.)  That adds up to 190 fewer paper cups being used a year.  (And I save $19!)

2) I take transit.  People complain far too much about the TTC.  I've taken it to work for nearly eight solid years and been late only once due to transit.  (I do live on a good route though.)  I'm at the point in my life where I could afford a car, and I'm less terrified of driving in Toronto, but I stick to transit mainly for environmental reasons.

Ironically, I'm writing this from a Starbucks right now because I was on my way home from work, and my train was turned back because of smoke at Davisville station.  Instead of standing on the platform waiting and grumbling, I've decided to chill here and I'll walk home (it's about 25 mins from here).  I find being relaxed and willing to find a Plan B is key when relying on transit, because delays do happen.

3) I've been using re-usable grocery bags for years, even before it became common-place.

4) I've started eating less processed foods for health reasons, but eating whole foods and things you've cooked myself is kind to the planet as well as to my body.  It takes a lot of energy to make, transport, and package those foods laced with sugar, fat, salt and other chemicals, and I'm glad that I stay away from them.

5) I try to buy local, and/or organic where feasible, practical, and affordable.  In addition, I try to buy fair trade items when I can (chocolate, coffee & tea) because I also really believe in the importance of paying people a fair wage.  In addition, companies who are fair trade tend to be more environmentally responsible too.

6) I drink only tap water.  I loathe bottled water with every fibre of my being.  All that unnecessary plastic.  All that energy needed to transport something around that you can get out of your trap for free.  Ugh.  Bottled water is the worst.  It also puts a price on something that's a basic human right.

7) I recycle, of course.

8) I educate.  I moderate my school's environmental club.  I teach environmental science.  I weave the environment into every course I teach.  And students do respond (moreso than adults a lot of the time).  It warms my heart when I have a student tell me that she's taken her family to a farmers' market to buy local food, or starts using a reusable water canteen, or shows me an email she's sent to PM Harper about her concern over rising levels of GHGs in our atmosphere, and the list goes on.  (This is probably my most important environmental action.)

9) I vote with the environment as one of my priorities when choosing a candidate.