Week 31: Oxfam Unwrapped

Oxfam is not really unique with this programme, but I like the organization, and believe in the work they do.  The premise is the same for most of these programmes.  Instead of buying a traditional gift for someone, you go online, pick out something on their list, and that gift goes to benefit someone who could use the assistance. Oxfam Unwrapped is a great example of the model.

Admittedly, I’m not sure these gifts would go over well with everyone, but my sister asked for no real gifts this birthday, so instead I gave her an Oxfam Unwrapped gift.  Last Christmas I did the same thing with her, that time I went through the David Suzuki Foundation, and did there Where will Santa Live campaign.   It’s a great way to donate money, do something good, and feel like you are still giving a gift, because she really did enjoy it, and she posted the card from Oxfam and put it up on her bulletin board at home.  I’m always a fan of these programmes.   I encourage people to really look into the organization before supporting them.  There are certainly organizations whose work I would not support through this kind of project, but certainly there are lots of great ones out there.  Let the gifting begin! 

Week 30: Switch to Bar Soap

 

Ok, if you’ve read some of my previous postings, you’ve likely noticed that I’m trying to make a concerted effort to cut down on the amount of plastic I use.  It’s not my biggest passion, but it has turned out to be an easier thing to make a tangible difference with shear commitment rather than money.  Switching from body wash to bar soap is another step in cutting down on plastic.  I’ve been working at this for awhile now.  The biggest hurdle is that I honestly do find that bar soap dries out my skin more.  I am optimistic that eventually I will find a product that I love . . .  but I’m not there quite yet.  I’ve tried a few that I really didn’t like, a few that were good – but maybe a little expensive for my liking, and some fair ones.  I’m still looking.  I have found that when I feel my skin is dry that occasionally using the body butter I often get from Lush (also plastic free) helps out.  I still have body wash in the shower, and occasionally I use it, but rarely.

From my limited reading on the subject, I believe the bar soaps are also better for the environment because the shipping uses less fuel.  In that vein, at least one of the soaps I experimented with was bought locally, which is a bonus in that vein.  In the end, I’m committed to bar soap now.  This month especially I missed my recyclable pick up day, so my pile of plastic packaging

is ever present in my apartment as a constant reminder of the amount of plastic that I use in a month, and this is a manageable chance in my life.

Week 29: Shop at The Hunger Site

This week instead of buying something at a traditional store I shopped at www.thehungersite.com.  I wanted to buy a luggage tag with some character, but truthfully, once I started looking around, I ended up with a necklace too.  If you’re going to shop online, there is no better place to do it than a site that selects items that are ethical, and funds projects directed at addressing hunger.  Upon checking out I got a message that my purchase funded 50 cups of food!  Not to mention both of my purchases were hand made by women in Africa.

Week 28: Buy Responsible Packaging

 

So a lot of these posts are about cutting back on the amount of plastic that I use.  In that vein, I was pretty excited when I found this new laundry detergent which uses recycled cardboard as the container.  I’ve been using it for a few weeks now and I like the product, and the packaging has worked like a charm. There is still a plastic pouch inside (kind of like the way boxed wine works).  The plastic pouch is #4 plastic, so it can be recycled as well.  They say this cuts down on the amount of plastic used by 66%.  It’s also quite concentrated, so it goes further than a lot of similarly sized laundry detergents. I’m not sure the ingredients are as environmentally friendly as I would like, but it’s hard to get everything you want in one product.

It was available at my local Canadian Tire, in case anyone is wondering where to buy.

Week 27: Double-Sided Printed

This one is pretty simple.  Whenever possible, print double-sided.  I find that I still can’t print everything this way, but making an effort to do it whenever possible is cutting back on a lot of the paper I use at work. 

Week 26: Volunteer for an NGO

This is not a new idea for me, or for anyone.  I have done a fair amount of volunteer work over the years, but I was looking for a new organization to get involved with.  I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to come up that I was really interested in.  So I’ve joined the board of directors for a women’s issues organization, and I know this is going to be a lot of work, but so far it’s going well.  It allows me to give back to issues I really care about by giving my time and expertise to women’s issues.

 

Week 25: Donate Old Glasses

Lions Club International has a program where they recycle old glasses.  You can

read

more about the program on the Lions Club website.  They say that they are able to recycle glasses and provide them to someone in need at a cost of $0.08US per set.  The Lions Club has collection boxes a

round

 various locations to collect them.  I happened to learn about the Lions Club

progra

m because I noticed the box when I was shopping for new glasses one day.  It’s a pretty easy way to change someone’s life in a small but important way.  So I donated two pair of old glas

ses to the program

me.

Week 24: Lunch at a Fundraiser

 

This week’s topic is not that exciting; it’s just a simple thing.  Buy lunch at a community fundraiser.  This week some of the people at my office were trying to raise money for the Children’s Wish Foundati

on and decided to sell lunch for $10.  So I supported the cause.  The point of this blog is not really about j

u

s

t

spending money to make a difference.  This is a little different though because if you are going to spend money on buying lunch occasionally (as I do), you should support a charity at the same time, whenever possible.

 

Week 23: Commit to Fair Trade Coffee

Ok, fair trade coffee.  This is not an easy subject.  I’ve been in favour of supporting fair trade coffee for a long time.  But, I’m aware that there has been a great deal of controversy and discussion around fair trade.  Great questions have been asked about it: What does it really mean to be “fair trade”?  How much more is actually getting to the farmers?  How much money is going into the labeling process? This post is not meant to get into this complicated discussion.  There is no question that making trade fair is an important aspect of global poverty reduction (see Oxfam’s Making Trade Fair Campaign).   I also recently read Unfair Trade: The Truth Behind Big Business, Politics and Fair Trade (which is an interesting read, but not provide a comprehensive overview or analysis on the subject).  The reality is fair trade is complicated.  There are a lot of great products which treat farmers fairly, but have decided not to get into the labeling scheme; but quite simply, I don’t have time to research every single item I buy, and the labeling process assists with that.

My take on it has been similar to other issues, such as corporate social responsibility projects: it’s not perfect, the structure could be improved, but in the end – I think there is value in supporting projects that are intended to provide a more ethical product.  My hope of course is that the fa
So, I’ve long been buying fair trade coffee for my house.   Now I’m committing to only buy coffee to go from shops where I can get fair trade.  This has been hard for me, because I love a great latte, but I’m committed now to only buying them from places where they have fair trade coffee beans as the base. rmers are treated fairly, but I know “fair trade” labeled products is not a perfect solution.

For more information on Fair Trade labelled products see: Fair Trade Canada or Fair Trade International

Week 22: Compostable Garbage Bags

I have been following my community’s rules for garbage, compost, and recycling for a long time now.  Recently I ran out of garbage bags for waste, and in a pinch pulled out a compost bag for the garbage can.  The compost bags are different than my regular garbage bags because they actually break down, and are compostable themselves.  It turns out they actually work quite well in the garbage bin, because it is mostly filled with unrecyclable packaging and plastic products.  After doing it once in a pinch, I’ve realized that it makes sense to use the compostable bags for the garbage all the time, so that I’m not contributing to any more plastic that’s not going to break down. So now I’ve now permanently switched to compostable bags for the garbage can.