Second-hand stores – For some, they are the place to go for old designer duds and other great vintage finds and for others, an inexpensive way to pick-up “new” clothes. But as 20 billion pounds of used clothing and textile are ending up in landfills each year, they are increasingly becoming the poster children of ethical consumerism, battling overproduction and industrial waste one recycled t-shirt at a time.

Founded as Savers in 1954, Value Village (www.valuevillage.com) is one of Canada’s biggest chains, second-hand and non-second-hand combined. Big, bright and crammed wall-to-wall with everything needed to fill your home or closet, a trip to your local outlet can easily turn into a daylong outing. But hidden amongst the racks of clothing and shelves of books is the little-known fact that Value Village has contributed over $115 million dollars to non-profits and has prevented 280 million pounds of unsold merchandise from being dumped in landfills.

While most are aware of the charitable-nature and social consciousness behind Goodwill and Salvation Army stores, Value Village’s goodwill, if you will, remains undiscovered by many. They have more than 120 “non-profit alliances” in Canada, the U.S. and Australia, including Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Canadian Diabetes Association here at home. Items donated to these organizations (via pick-ups or designated drop-off boxes) are then sold to Value Village.

What follows is what Value Village calls its “Saver’s Cycle”:

- Customers get great value
- Natural resources are conserved, thanks to decreased energy and raw material consumption
- Excess waste is eliminated

In addition, unsold clothes are shipped to individuals in developing countries so that they may open their own markets, creating jobs, giving their customers great value, conserving natural resources, and so the cycle goes on…

No matter whether you are looking for that rare find, shopping on a budget, saving the planet, or simply marching to the beat of your own drummer… There is no wrong reason for buying second-hand, but there are a million right ones.

If you would like to donate, drop anything except TVs and monitors at any store.

It seems like everywhere you look, there’s plastic. Plastic bottles, plastic toys, plastic bags – there’s even a garbage patch of plastic bottles twice the size of Texas floating in the north Pacific Ocean (if that’s not a sign that we suck, I don’t know what is). It lines the shelves of all of our grocery stores, pharmacies, and big box operations. We seem to be obsessed with it, which strikes me as odd in a world trying to go green. I see many companies claiming to be eco-friendly or environmental with plastic packaging. This claim is a little hard to swallow. How does something that sits in a landfill for eons get an eco-friendly label?

• Plastic is a huge health concern. It leeches into products and exposes our bodies to hormone-disrupting chemicals like bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates, which may lead to breast cancer, prostate cancer and sexual development issues in babies.
• Contrary to popular belief and the “feel goods” we get when we throw a plastic bottle in the ol’ blue box, plastic does not get recycled – it gets downcycled, meaning it gets turned into a different product such as fabric or flooring. The demand for these secondary products is lower than our use of plastics so the majority (76%) of these bottles end up in the landfill after all – for hundreds to thousands of years.
• Plastic comes from petroleum, a dwindling non-renewable resource that has caused enormous amounts of conflict and environmental degradation all over the world.
• Plastic is polluting our oceans and destroying marine life by choking and trapping them. It is estimated that 100 million marine mammals and turtles in the north Pacific Ocean are killed every year by plastic – not to mention the plastic bottle island from hell.
• Plastic pollutes in every way imaginable, from depleting the ozone layer to changing DNA structure in cows. It’s evil.

The bottom line is that plastic is NOT eco-friendly – in fact it’s the opposite, it’s an eco-enemy (I just made that word up). Beware of greenwashers and the plastic industry convincing you otherwise. Do what you can to avoid it by toting reusable shopping bags, choosing products packaged in glass, drinking from stainless steel containers, and buying wooden toys (they look way better in your house anyway).  Also, if you catch anyone drinking bottled water, you should beat them.

Resources: sierraclub.org, greenpeace.org, ecologycenter.org, earth911.com

Jessica Burman is the owner of Canadian organic skin care company, Cocoon Apothecary (www.cocoonapothecary.com). She is an animal-loving, tree-hugging flower sniffer. She rants about the beauty industry in her blog Beauty Revolution (www.beautyrevolution.wordpress.com).

There are a multitude of reasons for you and your family to start eating organic foods. Organic farming and food is better for health, can prevent the onset of future disease and illness and reduces exposure to toxic elements in our environment. But… that’s not all. Read on to find out why you and your family should go organic!

1. Reduce your intake of harmful herbicides and pesticides
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 60% of all herbicides (weed killers), 90% of all fungicides (mold killers), and 30% of all insecticides (insect killers) are potentially cancer causing. Unfortunately, the usage of herbicides and pesticides is on the rapid rise in our food sources. According to testing carried out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are:

·    Three to more than four times more likely on average to contain residues than organic produce;
·    Eight to 11 times more likely to contain multiple pesticide residues than organic samples;
·    Shown to contain residues at levels three to 10 times higher, on average, than corresponding residues in organic samples.

2. Protect our children – Children are at higher risk to the effects of herbicides and pesticides due to their smaller body size and faster metabolism. In recent years, there has been a rise in childhood illnesses that have been linked to the increase use of herbicides and pesticides such as asthma and cancer. According to the Environmental Working Group, “More than 1 million children between the ages of 1 and 5 ingest at least 15 pesticides every day from fruits and vegetables. More than 600,000 of these children eat a dose of organophosphate insecticides that the federal government considers unsafe, and 61,000 eat doses that exceed benchmark levels by a factor of 10 or more.”

3. Protection against the onset of future illness or disease
There are over 7,000 different herbicide and pesticide products currently available in Canada. Many of these were approved prior to 1960 when their long term effects were unknown. Creating a causal link between the increase of various diseases and herbicide/pesticide usage is quite difficult due to the complexities involved such as age of person, combination of chemicals and genetic pre-disposition. However, there is a strong body of evidence linking various cancers (i.e. non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma), asthma and neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s to the increase in usage of herbicides and pesticides. In addition, childhood cancers are also on the rise.

4. The quality of nutrition is improved
According to a review of 41 studies designed to compare the nutritional value of conventional vs. organically grown fruits, vegetables and grains, organic produce was nutritionally superior. Specifically, organic crops contained 27% more vitamin C, 21.1% more iron, 29.3% more magnesium and 13% more phosphorus. This improvement in nutritional quality is largely due to the health and richness of the soil.

In another study, disease fighting chemicals called flavonoids found in fruits and vegetables were significantly higher in organic berries and corn. Flavonoids offer powerful protection against various cancers and allergies.

5. The taste is better!
When biting into an organic fruit or vegetable, you can instantly taste the difference. Whether it is an organic banana or sweet potato, organic food bursts with flavor. To accurately measure the improvement in taste, a study was conducted by Washington State University in Pullman, measuring the taste of organic food vs. conventionally grown crops. The results confirmed that organic produce was sweeter, firmer and more intact after 6 months of storage.

6. Reduces the amount of antibiotic residue found in your meat
The usage of antibiotics in cattle and livestock has now become a commonplace practice to prevent illness and disease from occurring. Organic livestock are provided with an environment that promotes good health and the ethical treatment of animals which eliminates the need for medications. According to the Organic Trade Association, “Organic practices prohibit the use of hormones, antibiotics or other animal drugs in animal feed for the purpose of stimulating the growth or production of livestock. If an antibiotic is used to restore an animal to health, that animal cannot be used for organic production or be sold, labeled or represented as organic. Thus, organic practices avoid the abuse of antibiotics that could have profound consequences for treatment of disease in humans, including the serious dangers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”

7. Decreases soil erosion
Organic farmers act responsibly to protect the soil from future damage and depletion. In order to receive the designation of certified organic, the soil must be free of all herbicides and pesticides for a minimum of 3 years. In addition, organic farmers use various techniques to maintain the integrity of the soil such as crop rotation, composting and the elimination of any prohibited fertilizers.

8. Organic certification is strictly monitored
Organic food handlers, processors and retailers are held to the strictest of standards to maintain the quality assurances necessary to be labeled certified organic. Organic farmers are also audited 2-3 times yearly by the organic review board to ensure they are upholding the high standards.

9. Protection of our waters
Current conventional farming practices cause dangerous “spill offs” due to the usage of synthetic fertilizers. These fertilizers can cause an overabundance of nitrogen in the ground and have been linked to the development of various cancers. In contrast, organic agriculture uses natural materials in the soil that protects drinking water supplies and safeguards against water contamination.

10. Protects the environment
According to Health Canada, “Organic agriculture is a holistic system of production with a principle goal to develop productive enterprises that are sustainable and harmonious with the environment”.  In a nutshell, organic farming is much healthier for the planet by significantly reducing toxic exposure in our soil, water, air and for the prevention of illness and disease in future generations.

Dr. Joel Shulman is head nutritionist at Sweetpea Baby Food, and one of Canada’s foremost authorities on nutrition and wellness.  Reprinted with permission from Sweetpea Baby Food.

What to consider
When your baby is newborn and is on one continuous cycle of eat, sleep, wake, diaper change, eat, sleep…..you don’t have to worry too much about changing up your daytime diapering routine. The nights aren’t that much different. It’s when your baby begins to sleep longer and you abide by the golden rule “do NOT wake a sleeping baby” that you may need to make some changes.

Things to think about:

• Longer sleeping = your diaper needs to absorb MORE pee (typically babies do not poop in the night).
• Different positions for sleeping require different strategies.
• Boys anatomy is different from girls and you may need different strategies for each.
• If you have a “trickler” versus a “waterfall” type pee-er, you also may need to strategize differently.

That being said, generally more material = more absorbency. This is why you may add a doubler to your day diapers to transform them into a night diaper. Or this is why you may add an extra insert to your pocket diapers for naps and nights. Your night diaper may be bulkier than your day diaper. This is okay, mobility isn’t a huge need at night.

If you have a girl, think about a middle wetter. If you have a boy, the wet goes in the front. Until they start tummy sleeping… then it all changes. My daughter sleeps on her tummy all night so all her pee goes to the front of her diaper. So I make sure there is extra padding up there. When she was little and back sleeping, her pee went to the back of her diaper.

Some parents swear by pocket diapers for night for the stay dry feature and the great absorbency of microfiber. I find that generally they work well but sometimes, I think my daughter must do the “Niagara falls” routine. So after a night like that, the next night she gets a fitted diaper (hemp or bamboo) with a fleece liner and a cover (Bummis Super Whisper Wrap or an Arisotcrats) and voila, the waterfall is dammed (so to speak!). I like hemp or bamboo for night because they absorb more than cotton so they are generally less bulky than a night diaper made from cotton.

So what are good night solutions?

1. Pocket diaper with extra insert (microfiber or hemp)
2. Hemp or bamboo fitted diaper with a fleece liner (for stay dry effect) and a cover (Bummis Super Whisper Wrap or Wool)
3. Prefold with hemp doubler and cover

How do you find what works for you? See how things are going during the day. Add absorbency to your day time diaper (more than you think you need) and then see what the diaper is like in the morning. If its not soaked then you can possibly cut back on the amount of absorbency. It’s better to start with too much than too little. And remember, cloth diapers will feel wet in the morning. It’s okay – it’s meant to be like that.

Karen Randall owns New & Green Baby Co, which specializes in earth-friendly, Canadian-made diapering products.

Sustainability - a household word these days, but what exactly does it mean? These days many organizations have sustainability initiatives, a very good sign in this world of human-induced climate change and a rate of extinction unsurpassed since the demise of the dinosaurs 100’s of millions of years ago. The devil is in the details however – every individual has a different definition of the word “sustainable” - often called “green”. Have you ever received an advertising brochure in the mail claiming that the use of 30% recycled paper saved 245 trees? What about the 500 that were lost to make the same brochure?

Try the following exercise – take a look into the eyes of your kids or grandchildren if you are lucky enough to have them. Then ask yourself what you would like the world to look like 40 or so years from now. Would there be wars over land, oil or water? Would the society be made up of rich and poor, or mostly “middle-class”? How many human beings would exist? Would species still be going extinct at 10’s of thousands of times the natural rate? How much of the land would be in pristine condition? Would the recently lost 90% of large fish in the sea have returned? When you have this picture in your mind, work backwards – what steps does this mean we need to be taking, and what role do you need to play?

Today I went to a food court in a public place I often enjoy with my 3-year old child, one that prides itself on environmental education for youth. As usual, when I ordered my food I passed them a dish that I brought from home and asked that they serve my food on this versus disposable plates. The cashier said “that’s nice to see that you are trying to save the environment” and promptly gave me a discount on my food. 5 minutes later they called my number there was my food - on a disposable plate! It seems the people in the kitchen were not used to people with “strange” requests like mine. You see - sometimes I lose and sometimes I win, but it does not help to cry about it – much better to learn to play the game. I’ll never give up – because I know what kind of world I want. Do you?

I’d like to invite you to come and learn more about the way the world works, and diverse global issues such as population, wealth, consumption, pollution, climate change, natural resources, species extinction, and even war are interrelated. More importantly, you will learn what we must do as individuals and as a society to build a truly sustainable future, which includes the way we vote!

To register: Go to https://pbregister.vancouver.ca/safari_activitybrowse.htm

·         On the right-hand side, enter  44777.101KT for the activity number and select “go”

·         Or register by phone at (604) 257-6976

All proceeds will be donated to WWF-Canada

Russel Horwitz

Russel Horwitz is principal at Kwela Leadership and Talent Management.