Green Calgary's Blog

Green Calgary brings summer camps to your own backyard this summer! Green Calgary has developed a new summer program to help bridge the gap between a summer camp and online learning in the new Backyard Science Summer Program! The program has activities, guides, videos, and live sessions to give you a fun-filled week of having your very own summer camp. With hours of content each day and hands-on support from our experienced educators, your child will learn about the science of nature, while having fun outdoors! Green Calgary offers four camps in July and August. Each camp is geared towards a certain grade, though the content for each camp is different, so your child could attend multiple camps. The first camp is the Adventurer Camp for Grades 5-6 and is focused on Bees and Bugs. It runs from July 6 to 10. Find out more and register here... The second camp is the Explorer Camp for Grades 3-4 and is focused on Plants and Nature. It runs from July 20 to 24. Find out more an...

It's another Earth Week and while it's not a great time for many to celebrate, there are still some things that we are doing to mark the occasion. We wanted to share some of what Green Calgary's been working on for this Earth Week. Rain Barrel Sales - Green Calgary's annual rain barrel sale fundraiser has moved online and we're still selling rain barrels and delivering them to your door. We're pleased that for Earth Month we've dropped the cost of the barrel by $10, plus for the whole season, we're paying half the shipping! You can order yours HERE . Online Activities for Kids - Green Calgary's educators have adapted our programs into online activities to help parents and teachers deliver environmental education at home! Each week has a different theme and different activities to try - check the activity guides to find which part of the curriculum they fit into. You can find those HERE . For this Earth Week, we're also premiering our ...

Family Day is just around the corner and while we encourage everyone to get outdoors and enjoy Calgary's urban environment, it might be worth it to take a moment to reflect on the beauty of the nature in and around Calgary, and how your family is part of that ecosystem. Alberta is an incredibly beautiful place - our tourism industry reflects that - but while Albertans can enjoy and appreciate our natural spaces, those spaces also need our respect and stewardship. Not only do those green spaces provide Albertans with places to play and enjoy, they are also good for us! Research has shown that living close to green spaces and spending time outside betters our health.Those wild spaces are at risk from climate change, which itself comes with significant health risks . What does this have to do with families? Well, it's our families that live with the consequences of climate change. Children will have to live with our increasingly fragile world, while the elderly are at h...

We've talked about various holidays and how to make them green before, but we've never looked at Valentine's Day before. Many of the same gift ideas apply to Valentine's Day, such as giving experiences, choosing sustainable gifts, and spending time with the ones you care about. But here are some Valentine's Day specific thoughts for you: Sweet. Get some sustainable and ethical chocolates for your partner, friends, or even yourself! You can find these at Community Natural Foods , Calgary Co-Op , or any of the chocolatiers in Calgary! Spicy. If it's a romantic gift you're looking for, why not a lovely potted plant? It lasts longer than cut flowers and is beautiful for much longer! Savory. If you're looking for some sustainable eating-out options in Calgary, there are some great options. Shokunin Izakaya is dedicated to environmental sustainability, as is Una Pizza . There are plenty of restaurants that are trying to being more sustainable. S...

Green Calgary is happy to announce that we will once again be participating in Shaw Birdies for Kids presented by Altalink! This great initiative supports youth by matching donations up to 50%, growing the impact you can make on donations to our children and youth programs! You can donate here! Green Calgary has some great youth programs on offer this year that could use your support! In addition to mainstays, like Waste in Our World, Water for Life, and Worms Love Leftovers, our Citizen Science programs are back and expanded! Teachers can book for their classes here . We also have some surprises upcoming for our youth programs that we're not quite ready to announce yet, but trust us, they will be great! Supporting youth climate and environment education in our City is the first step in creating well-informed citizens and stewards of our urban environment. We invite you to be part of the process. For a limited time, make your donation go further.  Click here to suppo...

At the end of 2019, Green Calgary was talking with some of our frequent partners and friends in the sustainability community, and we got to talking about our wishes for 2020: what our sustainability goals were individually, and what we hoped for in general. We wanted to take this moment to share some of our wishes for 2020, and some of those that we've gathered from the community. We hope that this might inspire you for the year and help showcase some other voices in the sustainability community! First, Green Calgary's sustainability wish for the year is for more Calgarians to engage with the sustainability community - there are many great organizations and events throughout the year in Calgary, and we hope that Calgarians show their passion for the environment, our city, and the planet. Next, we have some responses from a couple of members of the community. From Joe Vipond (@jvipondmd on Twitter): You can find more of what Joe is working on at The Cana...

Welcome to 2020 everyone! A new year and a new decade, and introducing some more sustainability into your life has never been easier! With 2020 starting off with some major climate-related disasters and lots of uncertainty, it can feel out of place to equate using a water bottle to fighting climate change, but we're here to remind you that tackling climate change and sustainability starts with each and every one of us making choices in our lives. Looking at climate and environment news, it's clear that the problems our planet is facing are global, so personal solutions can often feel small or insignificant, but they really do have an impact on the world we live in.  Every action we take helps shift behaviours - in us, in our social circle, and in the local economy. That means each step we take on our green journey makes a difference, even if that difference is very small, and when we add them all up, we make a huge difference. So, while it's important ...

A new year is right around the corner, and now is usually the time we start to think about what we might want to change in our lives: what we resolve to do better. Being a little more sustainable doesn't have to be difficult, it just takes a little planning, so here are 20 suggestions for New Years' Resolutions that will make you more sustainable! 1. Ride a bike to work more often 2. Upgrade all your light bulbs to LEDs 3. Get energy saving power bars for your electronics 4. Upgrade to a programmable thermostat 5. Make a meal plan every week to lower your food waste 6. Switch one of your meals to meatless each week 7. Drive less: walk, carpool, take a bike or scooter 8. Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth every time 9. Shower for a minute less each time 10. Switch to shampoo bars instead of liquid shampoo 11. Or, get your liquid soaps and shampoos from a refillery in Calgary 12. Take your own bags every time to go shopping 13. Shop for gifts at thrift s...

We all struggle to be more sustainable in our everyday lives, whether there's something that we always forget to recycle, some product that always seems to make it into our shopping cart that we don't need, or some electronics we can't seem to remember to turn off. Whatever the case may be, Green Calgary's holiday wish is for everyone to take that next step that they've been putting off to be more sustainable. We hope that this year has been kind to you and that next year will be even better. From everyone at Green Calgary, Happy Holidays! Please note that Green Calgary's offices will be closed from Wednesday, December 25th to January 1st, inclusive. The EcoStore is now closed for the season and will reopen January 7th, 2020. Thank you!

Our 2019 holiday gift guide is here! Every year when we get to the holiday season, we start looking at what to get as gifts for family, friends, co-workers, and more. We also look at how we can reduce the waste that comes from gift-giving: packaging foremost of all. Here are 10 ideas for gifts that don't come with much packaging! 1. Home made personal cleaners! You can get a DIY personal care kit from our online store HERE ! 2. Buy lightly wrapped bath goods, like soaps from local companies! 3. Buy something from a thrift store - there are lots of great gifts to find! 4. Make a donation in someone's name! You can donate to Green Calgary HERE ! 5. Buy something at a craft sale! 6. Buy experiences, like a walking tour or lessons! 7. Make your own decorations! Check out our green decoration blog HERE ! 8. Buy products with very little packaging, such as clothing or books. 9. Cook a meal for someone or take them out! 10. Make a piece of clothing by knitting,...

Green Calgary has a new Executive Director we'd love for you to meet! Nirmala Naidoo is an award winning, veteran journalist who’s worked for Canadian, British, and American television networks. In 2016, she was considering a news position in Beijing, China, when something caused her passion for the environment to soar. She was told that if she moved to Beijing, her children would have to wear masks everyday due to pollution. She immediately thought, “How can I knowingly put my children into that situation?” Then she equally thought, “How can I knowingly live on this side of the planet, and NOT do anything to protect the environment?” After leaving journalism, Nirmala went on to be a senior manager at the Alberta Climate Change Office before becoming Executive Director at Green Calgary. As Nirmala writes: My parents taught me that education is power and education is freedom. For decades, Green Calgary has done exactly that: empowering people through knowledge, to help us und...

We've discussed conscious consumerism on our blog before, such as with our 2017 article Top 10 Ways to be an Ethical Shopper , but when it comes down to it, the crux of being a conscious consumer is just thinking about your purchases before you make them. Here are the five steps to consider before you make the buy: Step 1: Do You Need It? Before anything else, you need to determine if your purchase is even necessary. Of course, we all need new things once in a while, and we don't want to totally give up on gift giving (to others and to ourselves), but sometimes our purchases are really not necessary and we all need to learn to recognize that. Step 2: Is There an Alternative? Okay, so you need something, whether that's a gift, some new clothes, or whatever else. Now, it's worth considering whether there are any alternatives to that thing that doesn't mean buying something. Can you reuse or fix something you already have? Can you borrow it from someone inste...

It's November, which means that holiday parties are just around the corner. You may have even begun planning them already! But whatever phase of planning your in, we have some ideas for you on how to plan this holiday season with sustainability in mind! 1) Conceptualize. Party planning begins way back in the concept phase. Make yourself a list of things you need to have at the party, things you want to have, and things you don't want to have. Once you have this list in front of you, you can see where your priorities lie and start shifting things around. This lets you make a master "to do" list quite easily. It's right in this phase where you can start the groundwork of making your part sustainable. 2) Research. Now that you have your master "to do" list, you can look at how each step can be handled in the most sustainable way. If you have food on your list, you can start to ask: what kind of food, where do I get it, what do I do with the lefto...

Once again, it's Waste Reduction Week in Canada! From October 21-27, and each day has a theme: Oct 21: Circular Economy Circular Economy is all about planning for the entire life of the products people make and use. Rather than planning for the end of the life of a product to be the landfill, circular economy looks to reuse, re-make, or recycle every product.  Find out more here . Oct 22: Textiles Textiles, particularly clothing, make up a lot of waste that can be reduced and reused. Think about repairing clothing, buying high quality, and keeping a smaller wardrobe. You can learn about fast fashion waste here . Oct 23: Champions & Innovators You, too, can be a champion of waste reduction! Inspire your friends and family by setting green goals for yourself and showing them how it's done! Oct 24: Plastics & Packaging Plastics and packaging clog up our oceans and landfills, & creating greenhouse gases as they degrade. Find out more about how to deal with plastic ...

The success of our Hidden Gems of Calgary blog last year was incredible and we are extremely excited to bring you Part 2: Instagram Edition. For this year’s version, we wanted to focus on spots that are Instagram-worthy and will be sure to create some envy among your feed! Some of these spots are located outside of Calgary, but all are within a one-hour drive, so getting there is doable within a small time frame. Because some of these places can only be accessed by vehicle, we encourage you to invite your friends, carpool together, and make a fun trip out of it! After all, you will need someone to take pictures with! Reader Rock Garden Reader Rock Garden is a great place to take pictures, hang out with friends, and enjoy the scenery. It is filled with tons of amazing flowers, stone pathways, and even a little café! Weddings, other events, and portrait sessions are constantly being booked here. If flowers are your thing, hit this place up! Bowden Sun Maze Another location ...

It's rain barrel season for Green Calgary again, and we have so much going on at the rain barrel sites other than just rain barrels! So what can you expect from the sales dates? Bag Share: The Bag Share is back! With such a huge success of the program last year, we're repeating it this year. We'll be collecting your extra reusable bags on site at each Rain Barrel Sale and redistributing them to others! We thank everyone for their donations! Activities: At each of our Rain Barrel Sales we will have activities on site for children and youth to get involved and learn about sustainability. They can participate in Environmental Jeopardy, Spin the Enviro Wheel, and much more! Rain Barrel Repair: We will have Dirk Struck, the Barrelman himself, onsite to repair your rain barrels. Bring old barrels down with you to get repaired. It's $15 per outlet repaired and Dirk takes cash. Thanks! Partners: Each site will have some of our community partners on-hand to provid...

Much of what we write about here is how to make your home and life more sustainable - reducing the waste you generate and that you throw out is a big part of that. But does that only apply to your life at home? People spend an average of 13 years and 2 months at work over their lifetime - that's a big chunk! It's definitely worth it to try to make your workplace a bit more sustainable. Here are six steps to a Greener Workplace! 1. Reduce Energy Usage. Change lightbulbs to LEDs, turn off and unplug equipment that isn't in use, and turn down the thermostat. 2. Save Water. Install low flow toilets, check for leaks and fix promptly, and plant drought resistant plants for landscaping. 3. Reduce Waste and Increase Recycling. Host zero waste meetings, only print when necessary, and replace disposable products in the staff kitchen. 4. Reduce Emissions and Carbon Footprint. Encourage telecommuting/working from home when possible, provide a bike rack for employees...

Starting down the Zero Waste path is not easy. Most of us will find it very challenging, and many of us will have setbacks. But with some work and support, we can all start reducing our waste. Why do we want to cut down our waste? The Zero Waste philosophy is about waste management and planning - respecting the products in our lives and reducing our reliance on landfills. The benefits are many, such as reducing the plastic pollution in waterways, reducing the land use for landfills, and conserving our water and energy. “Canadians rank worst of all countries on earth for waste production per capita. Albertans produce the most waste of all the provinces and territories in Canada.” – Conference Board of Canada, 2014 How does it work? The Zero Waste philosophy is more about guiding principles than it is about hard-and-fast rules. Respect the products you use, and plan for the entire life of the product. Not all of the work can be done by people alone, and companies and ...

Last fall, I went to a volunteer recruitment event at Bow Valley College. After speaking with dozens of bright, and motivated people about the possibilities of volunteering with Green Calgary, I packed up the booth and, with my coworker Reka, headed to the elevators to take the materials back to the car. Once we had piled all our materials into the elevator car, and the doors began to close, someone called out: "Wait!" We held the doors for someone, and once she'd got onto the elevator, we discovered we were all going to the same parkade level. "What are you doing at the college?" She asked. We were clearly carrying lots of gear. "We were at the volunteer fair," Reka answered for us. The woman then noticed our name tags. "Green Calgary," she asked. We nodded. "You've heard of us?" "Yeah, you came to my daughter's elementary school a long time ago." The elevator came to a stop and we all got off. I divided...