Uh oh! Looks like my time outside yesterday left me sunburnt — entirely my fault, of course, as I didn’t update my sunscreen application as the day went on. So now here I am with hideous white stripes on my back where my tank top was and bright red patches everywhere else the sun hit. I partially blame the unusually nice weather in mid September for my screw up. Shouldn’t it be Fall right now? I haven’t even broken out my sweaters yet.

Don’t have an aloe plant? Here are some other around-the-house tips for treating a sunburn without having to invest in nasty chemicals or lotions. They worked very well for me, try them out yourself!

• Use honey as a salve — put a healthy smear of it onto the burnt areas. It apparently helps ease the pain and helps to encourage the healing process.
• Liquify some potatoes. I know, sounds weird, right? But potato paste can be applied to the sunburn and when it dries, it sucks all the excess moisture (what’s keeping it hot and burning) out of your skin.

These more eco-friendly ways to treat a sunburn have the added benefit of having great odds of being in your home just when you need them. I don’t always have pain killers or burn spray in my medicine cabinet, but 99% of the time I have potatoes!

Putting pesicides on your lawn is bad because… pesticides are bad, right? I’ve known this for a long time because I remember seeing a ‘Keep off the Lawn!” pesticides warning on a neighbours lawn and asking my mother about it. All she could tell me, really, was that pesticides were poison. I remember being quite confused as to how pesticides could hurt me but not the plants/grass. Well, here’s some interesting little bit sized facts about lawn pesticides:

• Children who live in homes where lawn pesticides are used are twice as likely to develop brain cancer than children with pesticide-free yards. (via)
• People who work with pesticides (including pesticides used on lawns and in gardens) have an increased risk of fertility problems, such as an increase in spontaneous abortion and miscarriage as well as increased risk of having a baby with birth defects (such as cleft lip and palate, spina bifida, limb anomalies). (via)
• Workers exposed over a long period to pesticides have shown problems with information (ie. confusion) and have increased risk of developing Parkinson’s Disease.(via)
• In the womb and into early infancy is linked to increased risks of some cancers (particularly leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and neuroblastoma) and birth defects. (via)

So if all these terrible things are possible with pesticide use, why on earth do people use them? Is having a healthy lawn worth all the poison and risk?

Stay tuned to BambiGoesGreen for tips on how to keep your lawn healthy and happy naturally!

The votes are in! This week’s most popular post: May 25th is National Brown-Bag-It Day

It may seem like common sense to most of us, but you’d be amazed at how many people I see filling up food courts, pizza places, and McDonalds every lunch hour, buying their $10-$15 lunches and throwing away the cheap, grease covered cardboard and styrofoam containers minutes later. I’d take homemade leftover lasagna over slimey deep fried “beef” burgers any day!

I work from home so have no need to brown bag my lunch (wouldn’t that make me a weirdo though) but I do have a plethora of reusable cloth bags from a number of places like Loblaws, Loeb, Shoppers Drugmart, Topia Greenstop, Canadian Tire, and even a four-slot wine tote from the LCBO. And I use them all the time! Why would you even want to carry plastic if you can use those nice, comfortable cloth handles instead? Brilliant things.

R.B. writes:

I used to eat out all the time and I spent at least $15 a meal. I now eat at work for 2 meals a day(I work at a restaurant and eat for free) and usually go somewhere for dinner and it costs me maybe $20 including a tip. On the weekends, I eat breakfast and lunch at home and my boyfriend buys me dinner[:)] That saves me soooo much money!!

I really need to work on getting some more meals for free, myself! But until then, I’m happy to make a bit extra at supper time and stock up on the reusable food storage containers. There’s no easier way to make the guy in the cubicle next to you jealous than to pull out a homemade extra cheese lasagna, a caesar salad, and dinner rolls — no waiting in line, no carrying around cash, no putting on your coat, even! Mmmmmm environmentally friendly.

What does it mean to grow vegetables organically? Scott Meyer, editor of Organic Gardening magazine shows how to plant and nurture an organic vegetable garden.

If you’re in the Ottawa area, be sure to check out some of the organic gardening supplies (seeds, etc.) at Topia Greenstop (1621 Woodward at Clyde)!

I wonder, does Kermit struggle with recycling too?

So, as most of you already know, I spent most of the day at Topia Greenstop yesterday and got a chance to watch the goings-on. There were lots of regular customers and, despite my previous misconceptions, a lot of them were people just like me — aware that eco-friendly alternatives exist to many mainstream products but aren’t necessarily ‘dark green’ or even know what that means — but they’re exploring their options. Many of them, though regulars, still had plenty of questions about various products and I was glad to hear that the staff was really knowledgeable and super helpful. I learned a lot by just listening to the interactions with the customers. Maybe next time I’ll have some questions of my own. The fact that no questions came to mind made me realize something — don’t feel like I know enough to even formulate a proper question. The whole thing reminds me of high school math, you know? When math teachers ask “well if you didn’t understand, why didn’t you ask more questions?” My answer now is the same as it was then: I didn’t know the answer, but I definitely didn’t even know the question.

Are there any of you out there that are like me? Does talk of organics, biodegradables, composts, natural foods, recycling, etc. make your head spin? Tell me about it. Let’s figure out what kind of information you’d like to see on the site. I’m all ears!

Here in Canada, we’re celebrating Victoria Day and how do we do that? Why, the way she would have wanted us to: A beer, a BBQ, and some good friends! Well, alright. So that’s how I’m celebrating it. You celebrate you way, I’m quite enjoying mine. Hey, maybe this is exactly how she would have celebrated her own birthday, right?

What better on a beautiful day like this than a BBQ?

Above is a helpful guide from Brighter Living on how to make your BBQ environmentally friendly!

In my pursuit for green knowledge, I found some helpful hints to making your car a little more green friendly — and saving some money at the same time! Great bonus and a wonderful motivator.

Here are a few helpful tips:

1. Remove all bike racks, roof racks and roof boxes.
The wind resistance is wasting fuel and costing you money. Remove them now!

2. Lighten the load.
What’s in the trunk of your car — a set of golf clubs? A four man tent? Why waste fuel using your car as a shed? Get them out and save more money. Hey, maybe you’ll remember why they’re in there in the first place and use them! Just remember to take them out when you’re done. Those things are heavy and a big factor in your gas consumption.

3. Check your tire pressure.
Reduce the rolling resistance of your tires. It really does save you money on gas! Don’t know how to check your tire pressure? Check out this helpful video link.

4. Share your car.
Cut your fuel bill in half by ride sharing/car pooling. Plus, wouldn’t it be nice to have someone else do the driving once in a while?

Now that the beautiful weather is here, why not walk or bike? Think about it. Is it entirely impossible? Even though I don’t drive, myself (I bus quite often), I’m considering walking more often simply to enjoy being outdoors more — get some fresh air!

Green Suzuki

Time to go green, folks!

It’s Monday. I promised myself, and all of you, that I would really start this project today and I’m ready – and actually a bit excited – to give it a go!

What comes first? Well, I was thinking that doing some research. I’d like to start by learning a bit about the efforts being made around the world right now would help me feel motivated. Motivation is a real factor here, for me;  how can I — just me – make a difference? Reading about others who have made a difference will drive me to keep going.

Who are your Green heroes? Do you know of any?

If you’re anything like me, the first thing that popped into your head was Green Lantern. I can assure you, Green Lantern never turned off his faucet when brushing his teeth or planted a tree to help create some green space. Also, wasn’t he afraid of wood? I digress…

I don’t think I can name any one but David Suzuki… so I’m going to start there and see where my learning takes me.

I’m going to do some research on some places to start in my effort to go green and I’ll let you know of all of the interesting tips, tricks, and motivating stories that I find.  Stay tuned!