The leaves are slowly turning color and dropping to the ground in a sea of yellow, orange and red.  With the end of fall comes the beginning of winter.  The air has a cold nip to it and people are digging out their gloves and scarves.  Why not stretch out the season a little longer with the use of a chiminea?  What's the point of saving the environment if you can't even enjoy it??  Kidding, of course.

Chimineas can allow you to spend more backyard evenings sharing laughs and good times with friends and family.  They create an intimate environment that invites people to snuggle up close to the fire.  The chimney allows the smoke to be vented up and away which creates less of a nuisance than a firepit for those trying to get in some more outdoor time.  There's a huge range of styles and designs of chimineas that will allow anyone to be able to match the decor of their backyard.  Make sure that you buy one that is good and sturdy, like the ones shown here out of cast iron.  This will make sure that the chiminea isn't knocked over in the wind and damaged.

Worried about the environmental impact of your chiminea?  Use an eco-friendly firestarted and wood log to keep it as eco-friendly as possible.  There are tons of them on the market.  Also, consider the chiminea to be a dual purpose product -- it can help keep you warm while you savor nature and you can easily cook up your dinner on it with the addition of a cooking grill!  Now you can grill those organic veggies and soy burgers outdoors in style!

Once in a while, an artist conveys an emotion so strongly that words cannot even describe it. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words but this painting by Fabian Perez speaks in volumes, not mere words. The painting is called Reflections in the Sun. Each blade of grass is illuminated by the light of the sun as a girl sits among it basking in the glow of the light. The painting uses light and texture to show the emotions of reconnecting with nature. This is surely an activity that more of us need to indulge in. It seems as though our entire existences are marked by the opposition to nature instead of the oneness with it that is experienced when we are children. We drive nearly everywhere, spend hours inside watching television or surfing the net and work insufferably long hours in the tedium of offices.

Fabian Perez's work here reflects what I am trying to teach my children a love of the environment for! I'm not trying to teach them to live sustainable lives -- recycling, thinking before consuming, choosing organic when possible, etc. -- only to have them sit inside on their butts playing video games! We need to get out there and do as the painting suggests -- reflect in the sun!

The entire body of Fabian Perez's work shows an entire range of emotions from passion to seduction to anger and fear. Many of his pieces illustrate the art of dance in it's variety of styles -- the Flamenco and the Tango especially. I recommend checking out his portfolio before you head to the great outdoors!

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There are so many kids out there that spend their lives glued to a screen of one kind (computer) or another (television).  It's so important to teach kids a love of nature so that they cherish the planet that they will inherit.  Living in a city only seems to make this problem worse because there is less of the green stuff and a lot less freedom for kids.  Kids are no longer free to roam and play outside free of supervision because of safety concerns.

It's great to teach kids about recycling, nature, the environment, and animals but what they really need is hands on experience to develop a true appreciation of it.  On my quest to "green up" my family, I've tried to discover some experiences for my kids to truly get it.

Our trip to the Calgary Corn Maze really seemed to make it click.  My kids have a huge difference in age -- one is 15 and the other is 3.  The thing is, this place really kept both of them interested and busy all day!  My teenage son loved the corn cannon which was actually shooting garlic cloves that day.  They had high pressure air "cannons" that staff loaded and let the kids shoot off into the corn fields.  If the clove landed in the bucket, they won a free t-shirt!  These suckers really did shoot too much farther than even I expected.

The maze itself kept my teenage son and his best friend busy trying to win the race through the maze against the grown ups and toddler.  We were defeated but the war has not been won yet!  I plan to avenge my defeat on our next trip through the maze.  They had different levels of mazes too with big ones for big kids and little ones for little kids.  That's probably the version that I should take!  They even had stone and string mazes for those of you with Children of the Corn issues.

There's a huge play center with swings and play houses and slides.  They've even got a pyramid built of hay bales with slides leaning down the outside for the little ones to enjoy.  There's teeter totters, picnic tables and a concession stand for those afternoon snacks that are a must when travelling with kids.

My preschool daughter especially loved the train rides though.  The train itself was made of repurposed barrels painted like cows for the kids to ride in.  The barrels are all hitched together and pulled around the area with a tractor.  Super bumpy with lots of giggles!  The whole center is exceptionally well set up and designed with the entire family in mind.  My son even gave the tricycle track a try!  They have special events where you can bring your dog or go through the maze with flashlights afterdark.  They even have a pumpkin patch and Halloween events at the maze.

The highlight of the day for both of my kids was the animals.  My daughter loved the petting zoo.  There was sheep, goats, donkeys, a pony, rabbits, chickens, a rooster, pigs, piglets, a turkey, ducks and most importantly -- baby kittens.  I actually checked her pockets on the way out to make sure that we didn't end up with a new pet when we got home!  My son and his friend loved that there were frogs everywhere and spent a ton of time trying to catch them.

It's great to feed your kids organic foods and get them involved in home recycling but what is most important is teaching them why these things are truly important.  Going green is for the planet.  It's not a fad or a trend.  It's a genuine love of nature and everything in it.  This is something that I think we're born with but society kind of beats out of you with technology and boredom.  The Calgary Corn Maze is only 8 km out of the city but you can truly experience a return to nature by spending the day out in it.  If you're not living in Calgary or the surrounding area, try to locate a corn maze near you or a farm that lets kids go and play and truly be kids.  It will be a great day for all and maybe change your kids minds about the way they view nature.

Adele Wechsler is a Canadian designer who makes wedding dresses "for the bride who cares about the world in which she lives".  This shorter style strapless gown hits all the right style points for the modern bride.  The puckered ribbon belt and tiered layers on the hem maintain a classical elegance while at the same time create a more manageable dress than the more traditional gown with a train.  Perhaps you could even take the most environmentally friendly transportation to the ceremony by riding a bike like the bride in the photograph!  The best part, in my humble opinion, is that it is made of a certified organic hemp and silk blend.

This gown does have a train for brides with a more traditional dress in mind.  This flirty and romantic dress has the ultimate combination of classic tailoring with modern lines for the bride who wants a bit of everything.  It is also made of certified organic hemp and silk blend fabric with a satin ribbon to emphasize the waist.
Adele Wechsler has created three eco-couture collections of wedding gowns for eco-chic brides.  Her dresses sell throughout Canada and the United States in the $2,000 to $3,000 range, depending on the style and bridal salon chosen.  With green living becoming more and more popular, Adele has found a niche market that will only continue to grow in the future.  People are always looking for ways to live a little bit greener, to become a little bit more conscious of how their decisions effect the planet around them.  These dresses give those people a step in the right direction on the biggest day of their lives.

These two bridal gowns take green-living one step further by using stem, leaf and blossom designs.  The model lying down is wearing the dress called "Fern".  The asymmetrical styling of this gown is emphasized by vines with hand made leaves and stems sprouting from it.  The model in the front is wearing the "Blossom" dress from Adele's Eco-Couture I collection.  The name comes from the leaves and blossoms dotting the skirt of this dress.  Both of these dresses are made from vegetable dyed silk.
The designer says on her website:

There is a wonderful African philosophical concept with a universal idea called Ubuntu.  Ubuntu represents the idea that no person is an island.  Every endeavor is collaborative.  Every decision is effected, at least partly, by the community in which it is made and the communities in which a person has previously lived.  Every single action relies on the actions of others.  And every action and decision is oriented toward enriching the community in which it occurred.  Through fashion, we are able to dream and live our dreams, express our realities, to share our experience with others.  Fashion has brought us together.  Through fashion we have transformed our worlds and journeyed into others have, similarly, journeyed into ours.

Adele Wechsler's designs use sustainable fabrics, vegetable dyes and fair trade labor while creating gorgeous dresses that emphasize style and romance.  Going green on your wedding day doesn't mean that you have sacrifice your fashion sense.  Instead, eco-friendly designs can be used to enhance your style.  Having a "green" wedding doesn't stop at the dress either.  Check out ten tips for having a green wedding on the Adele Wechsler website.  There's some great ideas there that I would have never thought of such as carved wood wedding rings!

I've found that writing is one of my favorite pastimes through the years.  With the advent of blogging, it seemed like only a natural choice for me to start up a blog of my own.  I focused on environmental issues as a main topic for blogging because I try to make as many green choices that are feasible for myself and my family.  This means everything from choosing to buy used when the option is available, choosing sustainable resources when possible and using chemical free cleaning supplies throughout our home.  When and where there are eco-friendly options available, that is what I try to choose.

Web hosting too can be rated on a scale of "green-ness".  Many web hosters claim to be green-hosts.  However, you really need to look into a company's policies to see where they lie in the scale of light green to dark green.  Some companies may be going towards using alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power instead of electricity to power their equipment.  Others may simply have some green initiatives in terms of office waste recycling and buying recycled paper.  It is important not to get sucked into a company's green washing attempts as environmental responsibility becomes chic.

Many companies and products tend to hype their green policies as an attempt to gain more customers.  It's important to know what kind of a company you are buying into whether you're buying clothes, food or web hosting services.  There's lots of resources online that will help you determine just how green a company really is.  Web hosting rating.com can help you decide what the best website hosting company is for you.

There are hundreds of web hosts listed with user ratings, awards in several different categories, a venue for rating different hosts and a ton of articles on every imaginable topic.  They even have an article on the environmental aspects of web hosts called What Color is Your Web Host?  This is definitely worth a quick read for bloggers who are interested in going green.  Two green thumbs up!

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Kitchen cupboards make a huge impact on the style and design of the room.  With some creativity and elbow grease, they can be given a make over on a small budget.  Cupboards can be refinished to change the look.

Remove all of the doors from the cupboards and take off the knobs and hinges.  Sand the doors and cupboard boxes down a little bit so that the new finish will stick well.  Choose a paint that is recycled or low VOC to reduce the environmental impact.  Once everything is completely dry, remount the doors and change the handles.

Now you will have a "new" kitchen to enjoy without the cost to your wallet or to the environment that buying new cabinets would require!  Reusing what you already have is the best way to reduce your impact on the planet.  When you cannot re-make something to fulfill your needs, consider buying used or pre-owned goods.  The earth and your bank account will both thank you!

A Toronto painting shows how a contractor can be another way to be a little greener.  They have a disposal company that disposes of paint thinner and left over paint in an environmentally responsible way.  Not only that, they guarantee their work for a full 3 years!  This means that you don't need to waste resources, money and time having the same job done over and over.  They use high quality materials to ensure that their work lives up to their 3 year guarantee.  This company also works to give back to the community by supporting various local fundraisers, charities and kids programs.  One campaign that they are heavily involved with is the "Can for a Can" food drive where they donate one can of food to the local Food Bank for every can of paint that they use.

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Check out nothingamsterdam.com to see how they made their offices out of little more than cardboard and a box cutter.  While this may not be a practical solution for everyone's office needs, they have definitely stretched people's imaginations of what is possible and how to make something out of nothing.  That's their whole philosophy really -- they've got kind of a cool website running for an ad agency.

The offices have no glue or adhesives of any kind so if and when they are no longer usable, they can be disassembled and recycled.  They had an artist come in and decorate the walls to give it more style and have art everywhere without adding anything tangible.  There's no need to chessy framed motivational pictures everywhere if you have an artist come in and draw all over your walls for you!

The drawings themselves are cartoonish yet edgy somehow.  They definitely catch the eye and liven up the literally completely blank canvas.  Projects like this really help environmentalists in that people can see exactly how you could repurpose this material.  They've literally taken cardboard out of the recycling bin and made it into something that is used every single day.  Definitely a statement worth making.  I tip my hat to you nothing!

We all know that it's best for the environment (and the people in it!) to recycle things instead of sending them off to the dump with the garbage.  Some items seem next to impossible to recycle though.  I'm going to run through a bunch of these seemingly impossible to recycle items to see if I can come up with some solutions.  First, the broken umbrella.

What would you even do with a broken umbrella?  It's not like they're very fixable.  Once they're broken, that's pretty much it.  The wind will rip it even further when you try to use it after its been broken.  I found someone who will take the umbrellas and reuse them.  She actually turns the broken pieces of fabric into something very functionable and chic.

Check out Recycling Zychal on Etsy.  She's trying to collect old umbrellas to make super cute, weather resistant dog coats out of.  Message her to get her shipping information to send your umbrellas to and she'll reimburse your shipping costs!  Not only does she use broken umbrellas to make the adorable coats, she uses eco-felt or vintage fabrics to line the coats with.  You can be sure your pooch will look cute and be promoting a greener planet at the same time!

The recession has lead to so many people losing their jobs.  I've just never seen anything like it before -- long unemployment lines, thousands of people applying for minimum wage jobs, homes being foreclosed upon, middle class families ending up on the streets, etc.  The only thing that can really stop all of this is for people to be able to find and hold onto a job. Many of the top layers of huge companies have been cut in an effort to save money.  The competition in the marketplace is extremely fierce right now.

Try checking out LIGHTSHIP RESEARCH.  They may be just the tool that you need to be able to find a job.  They can help you to find companies that fit your career and education path instead of just finding a job that will temporarily pay the bills.  One of their testimonials from an actual customer who ended up with a great job in an incredibly short time period really says it all:

"I highly recommend Lightship Research http://www.lightshipresearch.com I was the CTO of a division of a Fortune 500 company and got laid off when the division was sold to another company. I had not looked for a job in 15 years and I didn’t even have a resume. I signed up and in 4 days I had a resume and a target list of companies that we were going to attack. Even though these guys knew how to market me and take care of all the technical aspects of the search, the biggest value to me was guiding me through the process and giving me support all along the way. I got a job in 5 weeks. I think they were glad to get rid of me, I hounded them with questions every day and they were always there to answer them, even on weekends."

T. Klineman, NY

More and more jobs are opening up in the "green sector" -- sustainable energy jobs, car manufacturer's looking at alternative fuel sources and making more eco-friendly vehicles, outside of the box jobs in the recycling sector as more and more people begin to recycle and educational consultants teaching companies how to "green up" their workplaces.  I'd highly recommend work in the environmental field in one aspect or another.  It's important to work for a company that has the same sorts of ideals that you do and to feel like you're really making a difference in the world.  Get out there and green the world!

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