Saw a really interesting / scary episode of ‘Doc Zone’ a few weeks ago about how chemicals in our every day products affect more than we think. Here is a synopsis from the CBC site:

The Disappearing Male is about one of the most important, and least publicized, issues facing the human species: the toxic threat to the male reproductive system. The last few decades have seen steady and dramatic increases in the incidence of boys and young men suffering from genital deformities, low sperm count, sperm abnormalities and testicular cancer.

At the same time, boys are now far more at risk of suffering from ADHD, autism, Tourette’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, and dyslexia.

The Disappearing Male takes a close and disturbing look at what many doctors and researchers now suspect are responsible for many of these problems: a class of common chemicals that are ubiquitous in our world.

Found in everything from shampoo, sunglasses, meat and dairy products, carpet, cosmetics and baby bottles, they are called “hormone mimicking” or “endocrine disrupting” chemicals and they may be starting to damage the most basic building blocks of human development.

To read more, click here. You’ll also find a link to watch the full 45 minute episode on the home page.

If you saw the Oscars, you would have seen The Cove. win ‘Best Documentary’. It follows an  team of activists, filmmakers and freedivers as they embark on a mission to penetrate a hidden cove in Taiji, Japan, shining a light on a dark secret. Utilizing hidden microphones and cameras in fake rocks, the team uncovers how this small seaside village serves as a horrifying microcosm of massive ecological crimes happening worldwide. The result is a provocative mix of investigative journalism, eco-adventure and arresting imagery, adding up to an unforgettable story that has inspired audiences worldwide to action.

It left us really sad and definitely more aware of the Aquariums we’ll choose to visit with Ben.

I’ve been a bit wishy-washy about making the eco-friendly cloth diaper switch for 2 common reasons: The cost and the perceived extra messy work. I’ve been using g-diapers on and off, but Ben seems to get a little fussier (in his oh-so-cute way) with them on (I think because they are a little bulkier and awkward in the waist for him). So a few weeks ago, I decided to take the hit and buy a few trial Bum Genius One Size 3.0 diapers. At a cost of CAD$25, each diaper comes with everything you need.

After a week, my verdict is…They’re awesome! Apart from being easy to use and clean, I can’t believe how how dry the diaper touching Ben’s bum bum  remains, while the actual microfiber cloth insert holds so much fluid! It comes with a second cloth ‘doubler’ if you want to be extra safe, but I haven’t had to use it yet. It’s even managed to withstand a few major Ben poo-poos.

The tricky part really is being able to tell if the diaper is full or not (which requires actually slipping your finger inside to feel the insert).

David Suzuki has a really neat Copenhagen Climate Summit campaign calling for Canadians to contact (email / phone) Stephen Harper. Go to: http://beta.davidsuzuki.org/share/call-the-pm to let him know how you feel.  Perhaps you can think of something creative like this:

In all my big shot going-green talk, it dawned on me that I had never really visited David Suzuki’s website. So I decided to subscribe this past week, and I am pretty astounded that even though I feel I am doing my part to lessen my carbon footprint, there is still so much more to learn out there!

Today, I came across changethemargins.com. It talks about the huge impact simply reducing the margins of your word documents can make. Even more suprising is the fact there is actually quite a huge movement towards making this change. The following comes from the site:

According to a study done by the Penn State Green Destiny Council, reducing margins on your microsoft word document printouts to .75” on all sides results in a total reduction of paper by 4.75%. This means that using these Efficient Margins on a ton of paper saves 19 reams of paper, which saves 1.14 trees.

So, you ask, what’s the big deal? 1.14 trees don’t seem like much of a tree-savings for a whole ton of paper. Check these numbers out - they add up fast: In 2003, the U.S. consumed approx. 5.4 million tons of office paper. If everyone used Efficient Margins, every year we would save 6,156,000 trees.

And by reducing the amount of extra paper we’d have to create, we’d save a lot in energy costs and waste products, too…

-Total energy: 9,840,368 million British thermal units (Btus), which is enough to provide power to 108,136 homes

-Greenhouse gas emissions: 1,459,535,366 pounds, which is the equivalent of CO2 emissions from 132,528 cars

-Solid waste: 584,396,539 lbs, which is the equivalent of 20,871 fully loaded garbage trucks

-Wastewater: 4.8 billion gallons, which is enough to fill 7,408 Olympic-sized swimming pools

Suddenly, one little margin change feels like it has a lot more impact!

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.

Remember to spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember, to say, “I love you” to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

I have a big head. No literally, my head is large. My mom believes that my head was its current size when I came out of her womb. Needless to say, as a child, I was top heavy always managing to trip and fall noggin-first just like butter toast always lands face down. One of the biggest challenges for my melon throughout my life has been to find a head band / alice band that will fit and stay put during the course of a few hours, because not only is my head big, it is also a unique shape. So today while perusing the hair accessory aisle of Zellers (because I’m always interested to see what things they are coming out with that will not work for my head), I came across a row of Goody ‘Stayput’ headbands and hairbands that have a ‘tread’ to keep it on your head while you are ‘active’.

On these products is an interesting campaign on the packaging. It’s called ‘Girls on the Run International‘ - have you heard of it?

“Girls on the Run is a non-profit prevention program that encourages preteen girls to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running. Our curricula address all aspects of girls’ development - their physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual well-being.”

I don’t know too much about how successful they are as an operation, but doesn’t that sound like such a great idea? When I think about how much I always tried to get out of P.E. as a kid because my teacher had her favourites, and how she made the non-athletic kids (including myself) always feel less important, a campaign like this would have done wonders for our self-esteem!

Hmm, I suppose I do have some hidden childhood demons after all - heh. BUT my point is, this sounds like a wonderful campaign!

For my final post of 2007, I feel like I should be giving an introspective voice-over monologue, just like at the end of Grey’s Anatomy, filled with a montage of images from my life over the past year. I’ve deleted and re-written this line dozens of times, contemplating whether ‘online’ is really the best therapy for me right now. So I decided to pour a glass of wine, play some Coldplay from my iTunes library… and still talk about something regarding change and a promising future, but perhaps little less close to the heart.

When you have already done the other things you neglected for the last 4 months, there are those extra days where you can do the other ‘pointless’ things like make graphs and redesign your website. I decided that it would be interesting to know whether we have really managed to decrease our carbon footprint over the last year.

From the graphs, it would appear that our biggest impact was with our Hydro bill (electricity mostly) by doing the little things like using CFL lights and remembering to turn off lights and computers when not in use. Sadly, it doesn’t look we have made much change with our Terasen (heating) over the past 3 years despite changing our windows etc. or using a programmed thermostat. I suppose this is a bit of an ‘apples to oranges’ case given that the weather does vary from year to year, but still does not mean that there isn’t room for improvement. Perhaps a new furnace would do the trick…but at $3000+ a pop, it really does feel more like a moral feel-good rather than a financial one. Sigh.

So as I finish the last sip of wine and Fix You begins to play from the X&Y album, I try once again to digest the fact that a seemingly endless void created by the people that left this world faces me, but I am also reminded that I am still surrounded by wonderful people who care for and love me…and that every little step we take today will make the world of difference for tomorrow.