Canada’s leading environmental action organization, Environmental Defence, has partnered up with Ontario’s most inspiring environmental influencer of the year. Meet Penelope. Penelope is an eight year old girl that lives in Toronto and has been touring the province campaigning about the upcoming provincial election. Her message is what I believe most environmental organizations have been trying to communicate for years: Vote with your child’s future in mind by considering the environment. Ask yourself, “Does the party that I’m voting for care about the cleanliness of the water we drink or the soil our vegetables come from? Does it respect Ontario’s wild plants and animals?”  Penelope advises that your decision will affect generations to come whether you like it or not.

Last Wednesday, as I was preparing to commence the day at kitestring’s Art&Copy, a little bird tweeted:

kitestring’s been watching Penelope’s campaign since the day her first video hit the Twittersphere. We think Environmental Defence and Penelope are doing an awesome job! Natually, I went to City Hall to show my support of Environmental Defence and Penelope’s message. She was the most eloquent eight year old I’ve ever met and we at kitestring wish her all the best on her campaign trail.

Welcome to Hamilton! Home to some of the coolest green festivals, projects, businesses and peeps. After reading this Spectator article it’s no wonder that something like this is happening in our city. This Wednesday, April 13, is the kick-off of Hamilton’s 4th Annual EcoScene Film & Arts Festival. This festival raises awareness of environmental issues through critically acclaimed films, as well as bringing together local photographers, visual artists and environmental experts. This “first-of-its-kind” eco-arts festival aims to educate people on global environmental concerns and inspire people to become actively involved in the solutions. Purchase your tickets to the screening of David Suzuki’s FORCE of NATURE here. So excited! See you on Wednesday!

This past Saturday evening was the 5th annual World Wildlife Fund event, Earth Hour. The largest voluntary action of energy conservation with more than 120 countries participating. This is wonderful news! But, this doesn’t mean that everyone participated. Obviously, there were many that just claimed, “I forgot about it”, “I didn’t see it advertised”  or (even worse) “It’s too much of an inconvenience”. These people (we all know them) will probably be the ones that turn every light and appliance in the house on without thinking globally of their actions. Here’s my problem with this Earth Hour thing. It’s always on a Saturday evening. Think about it. In general, people are going to be out of their homes during this time. They’ll be in places where they have no control over the energy being used (ex. a restaurant or movie theatre).  If Earth Hour really wants to make an impact and make some news do it on a busy week night. I can hear it now, “But, wait, I have to run my dishwasher, reply to emails and put my laundry in the dryer”.  The point is that yes, Earth Hour is an inconvenience if you live a lifestyle that is dictated by electricity. But think about the greater inconvenience if we lived in a community with no electricity, no modern appliances and no computers! Just imagine if Earth Hour wasn’t a voluntary action. Imagine if it was mandatory. So what did I do for Earth Hour? I invited some friends over that I haven’t seen in a long time. We had such a great time catching up that we lost track of time and our lights stayed off well past the hour.

FYI Homies,

February 17th is WWF-CANADA’s National Sweater Day! Turn down your thermostat down by 3 degrees and wear your best sweater. You know, the one granny knit you…if it still fits.

So, you wanna save the planet do ya? And, while you’re at it save your favourite oceanic creature, the rainforest and then the rest of humanity? Well, first things first. Get the word save out of your Earthy vocabulary. Saving can come after we do one important thing, and that is adapting. Now, before I fill you in on some ways to adapt (which you’ll have in the coming weeks), I wanted to share with you one of the easiest things you can do if you’re needin’ an instant gratification fixin’. So what’s the answer? Donating of course! It has never been easier to help an organization – whether it’s an international one with a big following or a small grass-roots one down the street. When I say donating I’m not saying to give away a big lump of cash per say. There are other ways you can help an organization like, being a representative at an event, donating your skills to aid a specific project, attend monthly meetings and share your ideas or become a member of an organization and help them grow. Don’t get overwhelmed here, set yourself some do-able goals. Donating to an organization that aligns with your personal values just feels good. To give you an example, this year my friends received an adoption of a Canadian animal species from WWF-Canada and a protected woodland plot from Ontario Nature’s Trees in Trust program. Last month, I ditched the act of giving a material, meaningless gift and instead chose to support charities and invest in the future of our planet on behalf of a recipient. The best part was that it was all done online!

Here are some of my personal favourites:
http://www.fsccanada.org/default.htm – Making sure that trees are harvested responsibily
http://www.treesontario.ca/ – Planting 10 million trees a year across Ontario year by 2015
http://www.ontarionature.org/ – Protecting Ontario’s wild species and spaces through conservation, education and public engagement
http://www.350.org/en – Raising awareness and educating the world about climate change
http://www.environmenthamilton.org/ – Providing Hamiltonians skills needed to protect our green spaces
http://www.peta.org/ – Educating the world about the safe, responsible treatment of animals
http://www.niagaraescarpment.org/ – Protecting Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment
http://greenventure.ca/ – Community-based workshops to lead to a sustainable lifestyle
http://rbg.ca/ – Promoting public understanding of the relationship between plants and us
http://wwf.ca/ – Conserving Canada’s wild spaces and Canadian species

I bet if I walk into your office and open your cleaning cabinet I will see a pollution party of toxins leaching out who knows what into the air you’re breathing. It’s easy for us to justify this collection of chemicals because these products have been around for decades, so we think we can trust them (or so we think).

Now that caring for the environment is a cool thing to do, every company wants to get on board, but the key to becoming truly green is education. This may seem like a lot to ask but think about how much educating you do for yourself already. You educate yourself when purchasing a new computer, you educate yourself when purchasing an appliance for your house, you even educate yourself when choosing a new pet. Learning is what we do – we’re humans!

Companies know that we have busy lives and don’t necessarily have the extra time to learn about the better choices available. There are so many different products that claim to be green just because they have a pretty blue sky on the label, come in a recycled plastic bottle or (the worst) have the word, biodegradable, bolded in big letters on the package. Yep, this is green washing alright, tricking us into believing that we’re actually bettering our environment by purchasing this product. It’s not fair to lie to us and that is why I personally don’t support the companies that make these products.

Thankfully, there are a number of stores (Goodness Me! Natural Food Market, Grassroots Environmental Products), websites (Earth Day Canada, David Suzuki Foundation, The Story of Stuff Project, PETA, Green Living) and resource centres (RBG Nature Interpretive Centre, GreenVenture EcoHouse) that are helping us understand the ingredients that we have been spraying, scrubbing and soaking in the spaces we spend our days and nights. The key to green cleaning is to limit the products you’re using. You’ll be amazed at how much you can clean with baking soda, vinegar, lemons, essential oils and castile soap. The great thing about these everyday products is that they are reasonably priced and they are commonly available.

You wouldn’t announce to the world how wealthy you are or how built your body is. This is something that other people can sense without saying it. So, don’t just talk about how green you are, actually BE GREEN and set a positive example for others.

The latest addition to the kitestring team is probably the most colourful of the bunch! We’d like you to meet Choy, our Betta Fish. Now before you say, “Choy…like Bok Choy?” I’d like to clarify that he was named after the Chinese New Year expression, “Kung hei fat choi”. Maybe that’s his full name?! Choy is visiting us from a local kindergarten class and has adjusted well to life at our creative marketing studio. He fills his days with swimming ’round in circles, swimming up, swimming down, eating delicious “Betta Bits” pellets (which include garlic powder, riboflavin, rosemary extract, beet powder etc.) and lastly putting in his two bubbles when a good idea floats around. Next time you stop by make sure you say hello!

In between all of the glass shattering, car stomping, fire lighting and other animal behaviours found in Toronto’s core this weekend there was one collaborative group that used their brains before their fists. WWF (World Wild Life Fund) Canada, Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec and Équiterre put their noggins together to raise awareness (it’s amazing that we still need to do this) about climate change. Their idea? Think BIG…and a bit chilly. These three organizations worked with British artist Mark Coreth, Duncan and Jamie Hamilton from London, England, and Inuit brothers Peter Boy and Juanasie Jack from Puvirnituq to bring a giant polar bear life from a 10 tonne block of ice. As the polar bear melted in the warm temperature, Toronto citizens were encouraged to touch the polar bear and share an experience, but with every touch from a warm hand the polar bear would melt away a little faster. 1,729,458 individuals signed up on an online petition asking the G8/G20 leaders to provide a whopping chunk of money to help out less developed countries adapt to life in a changing climate, up the investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency. This petition was presented to our Prime Minister this week. What an eye-opening concept! The best part? No one had to lose an eye!

kitestring wants you to grab your hat, trowel, watering can and boots because we’d like to introduce you to our newest pro-bono brand, Sprout Summer Growing Camp. This down-to-earth day camp will get the kids in our community back to nature with lots of exciting activities. Everyone knows that the easiest way for us to learn is through hands-on fun and that’s exactly what kids will get when they attend Sprout. Campers will spend lots of time outside making eco-conscious crafts, playing educational games, getting their hands dirty in organic teaching gardens, going on green culinary adventures, learning about the big “sustainability” word and lots more! Sprout Camp sessions run from the beginning of July to mid-August for kids ages 4 to 13 years old. To register a camper visit www.sproutcamp.ca or send Sprout leader Kelly an email at getgrowing@sproutcamp.ca. Have a buggy, muddy and veggie filled summer at Sprout Summer Growing Camp!

Today, the kitestring team carpooled into Burlington to visit our friend Rob at Battlefield Graphics Inc. Rob re-introduced us to the world of offset printing and some printing options that can help reduce our impact on the environment. Chris, Jenn, Meg and myself got to see, touch and smell all sorts of beautiful paper and varnish samples. We talked about responsible forest management and what to look for when choosing the best paper and ink for your project. For those who who haven’t heard, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an external certification that indicates that a product (paper or wood) has been managed in a responsible way – from forest, to mill, to merchant, to the printer and then to us (the end-user). Battlefield Graphics Inc. is a FSC certified printing partner of kitestring’s and also happens to use vegetable-based inks for offset printing (which is pretty awesome). We’re looking forward to sharing more of these eco-friendly options with you soon!