Gillian Deacon - Green for Life

PENGUIN CANADA

Green for Life

Award-winning broadcaster and writer GILLIAN DEACON brings her informed and friendly style to the subject that has long been her passion. A busy working mom and host of CBC-TVs The Gill Deacon Show, she understands the challenges of trying to do it all with a smaller environmental footprint.

GREEN
FOR
LIFE

200 Simple Eco-Ideas for Every Day

Gillian Deacon

PENGUIN CANADA

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Canada Inc.)

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First published 2008

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (OPM)

Copyright Gillian Deacon, 2008

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It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.

Unknown

Introduction

We should no longer accept the counsel of those who tell us that we must fill our world with poisonous chemicals; we should look about and see what other course is open to us.

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962

It has been nearly fifty years since the publication of Silent Spring, the book that launched the environmental movement as we know it today. And while we may point to any number of developments in science and technology, marvellous inventions and important laws that have significantly changed the world since 1962, it is only recently that we have begun to heed Rachel Carsons advice and look about to see what other course is open to us.

No one said the human species was quick to change.

Green is the new black

Now, even the most gluttonous consumer and the most stubborn skeptic cant deny the growing crisis emerging in every mornings headlines, every evenings news. Pollution, global warming, freak weather patterns, increasing cancer rates, endangered species liststhese are now the stories of our everyday lives.

The environment isnt what it used to be. No longer the domain of obscure wildlife biologists and anonymous scientific researchers, environmentalism is now playing out with a star-studded cast. Al Gore is not only the star of an Oscar-winning, top-grossing documentary about climate change, he is now also a Nobel laureate. Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio lead a pack of A-list celebrities driving hybrid vehicles and beating the eco-drum. Mainstream manufacturers and retailers are scrambling to keep up with the rising demand for products that are made with environmental and social integrityor to at least look like they are.

Organic evolution

So what does it mean to be an environmentalist now, if its not just for science types and hippies anymore? I didnt study wildlife biologyheck, I only squeaked through grade nine biology; I was never chained before a bulldozer in protest at Clayoquot Sound or Temagami; I do not own a pair of Birkenstocks; I shave my under-arms regularly; I have never hugged a tree. But I have become known as something of an environmentalist. So what does that mean?

To me, it simply means I have fused the war-baby values of my waste-not-want-not parents with the soul-stirring nature scenes I was fortunate enough to experience as a child at a cottage on the Ottawa River and a summer camp near Algonquin Park.

My mother taught me to recycle long before the trucks came to the curb, because it makes sense. My father taught me that you put on a sweater when youre cold instead of turning up the heat, because it makes sense. And when I came to realize that by doing simple things, economical things, usually, I could help preserve the clean air, fresh water and wildlife that, like so many Canadians, I felt defined bywell that did it. I was sold.

When I met my husband, it was his fiery rebellion, his questioning of authoritywhich was so attractive until I realized, too late, that my children would inherit this gene and make my life difficultthat galvanized my position even further. I began to question conventional wisdom. I began to discover a whole world out there of alternative products and independent thought. And as I scratched the surface a few short years ago, I began to discover other ways to live the life I love without hurting myself or the earth in the process.

It could happen to you

So thats my story. What about you? How did you become an environmentalist? I bet you didnt know you were an environmentalist, did you? But Im telling you, you are. I can prove it. Answer true or false to the following questions:

1. I enjoy the sight of a sunset over still water.
2. Ive noticed the brown haze over the city and feel a little creeped out about how it got there and what it means for the people breathing this air every day.
3. I feel relaxed when I spend time walking through the forest.
4. I hate the smell of the stuff I use to clean my bathtub and counters, and the fumes give me a headache.
5. The sight of children playing in an open field of wild-flowers is more appealing than seeing them play on concrete.

You see where Im going with this, right? Not just for granola-heads anymore, tree hugging is a universal pleasure.

So you are an environmentalist, but you drive a car, need your microwave, cant live without imported brie and are a sucker for glossy magazines. You know what? Its okay. I drive a great car, a big, fast one too. And I drive kids to hockey practice and keep my house clean and try to keep up with fashions and trends. I renovated my kitchen, juggle freelance work to try to pay for it, and on a really good day, might even throw a dinner party.

Im not that different from you, but I have a set of habits and tricks up my sleeve that make it easy to live a busy life in a much more sustainable way.

A connection to something bigger than you

I can almost guarantee you that paying more attention to the way you shop, eat and live is going to make you feel better. It will give you a sense of connection to the world you are part ofnot in an organics are all the rage kind of way, but in an Im becoming part of the solution instead of just the problem kind of way.

Neighbours and friends who have begun to green their life tell me they feel excited and energized by doing something they know is right. The active pursuit of something you believe in can be practically spiritual. You may not be able to see a greener planet, but you sure can believe in it.