Eco-friendly Hair Care

I know this might seem like a pretty lame idea for a post and that I’m really scraping at the bottom of the barrel for things to write about, but if you’re thinking that then I to you.

For those of you that try to do your small part to help the environment by purchasing eco-friendly products you’ll know that it can be quite expensive to do so.  However you weigh the long term environmental costs against the short term monetary costs and it doesn’t seem like such a bad trade off.  To me, it’s really amazing how many products are out there for the environmentally conscious consumer.  You really have to know where to look for these sorts of things.

Previously, I have been using Down Under Naturals as my shampoo and conditioner of choice.  Then I switched over to the Whole Foods Market brand of shampoo and conditioner but since I don’t often go to Whole Foods, it’s not really worthwhile for me to use it on such a frequent basis.  If I lived closer to Whole foods, then I would consider using it on a regular basis, but that is not the case at the moment.  I’ve recently found a new line of shampoo and conditioner at Shopper’s Drug Mart.  The brand line is called Live Clean.  It features 3 different shampoos and conditioners: Green Earth (Invigorating), Clean Air (Volumizing), Fresh Water (Moisturizing).  While they may be a little pricey ($7.99 at Shopper’s Drug Mart or $6.99 at Pharmaplus/Rexall), they are great products.  I personally use the Fresh Water because my hair has a tendency to dry out.

According to the label, the company is based in Canada and the product as well is manufactured in Canada (so for those of you who are concerned about buying eco-friendly products that are made locally need not worry).  If you’d prefer to do more research on the company itself then you can contact Live Clean via email (info@live-clean.com) or through their toll free number 1.800.668.1118.  As to where you can find the product lines, so far I have only seen them at Shopper’s Drug Mart and Pharmaplus/Rexall stores.  If you have seen them anywhere else please feel free to leave a comment.

Apology to TTC Pass Holders

In an attempt to bolster good relations with the general public, the TTC, starting Monday, May 5, 2008, has opted to offer a refund to TTC Pass holders for the 2 days that the Transit’s union went on strike.

Granted this is a nice gesture on the part of the TTC, but has the damage already been done? Many people who may have found themselves far from home after midnight on Saturday April 26th, had very little recourse. Not to mention the various events that were going on that weekend, must have seen a lower than expected turn out due to the TTC outage. I personally was looking forward to going to the Green Living Show that weekend, but given the TTC outage and the sparseness of GO Transit’s trains, I had to scrap that plan. Fortunately, I was able to salvage what I could of my weekend, however I’ve heard that others (many of my friends included) were not as fortunate.

With negotiations between the union and the TTC higher-ups going back and forth, I heard many people grumbling and moaning saying that they wouldn’t support the TTC workers, because they felt that they were overpaid and that any disruption in service would be very detrimental to the city of Toronto. Needless to say, public opinion of the TTC and its workers was waning considerably. And going on strike on a weekend didn’t help matters much either.

I personally, became less than pleased when I found out the TTC decided to go on strike, especially considering that for me (like many others in the city), TTC is the only means of getting around. I like the TTC, and I’ve seen some of the shit the some of the drivers go through, but I just fear that this deal that they were able to reach is a band aid solution to the overlying problem. I just don’t want to see us in a similar situation 3 years from now. I guess for now, I’ll just enjoy my refund and worry about that when the time comes :P.

If you are a pass holder and would like to find out more information about what you will need to bring with you as well as where you can get the refund please visit the Refunds for April TTC Pass Holders webpage.

What are you doing for Earth Day?

Today is April 22nd and as such we are celebrating Earth Day. What is Earth Day and how did it start? Well if you want to learn more about how Earth Day started and what it’s all about please read this excerpt from the Toronto Climate Campaign website:

Background

In April, 1970, the environmental movement burst onto the political stage with one of the largest grassroots demonstrations ever seen. Between 20 and 25 million people, mostly in the United States, answered the call on the first Earth Day. Event organizers were shocked at the response and marveled at the crowd that drew from every constituency: students and seniors; inner cities and small towns; faith groups and hippies.

The success of Earth Day shook the Nixon White House and, over the next year, Nixon spearheaded a series of environmental reforms: creating the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); regulating fuel efficiency and emission controls in automobiles; enacting laws protecting endangered species and habitats; signing the Clean Water Act; and more. No government before or since has equaled that environmental record and it was the fear of a rising movement that forced Nixon to act.

The Canadian government also reacted to the pressure from below for environmental action by forming a new federal Ministry of the Environment (Environment Canada) in 1971, pulling together various aspects of environmental policy that had previously been under the jurisdiction of a number of disparate ministries. This was followed by the development of environmental laws governing national parks, land use, wildlife and water.

Over the years, corporations began to fund and sponsor Earth Day events, some out of sincere interest, more out of desire to buy “green” credentials. This shifted the emphasis from public rallying to put pressure on politicians and policy makers, to predominantly innocuous and symbolic events. Large scale, interconnected mobilizations were out. Decentralized photo-ops were in. The unfortunate result was, most activists began to ignore Earth Day.

source: http://www.torontoclimatecampaign.org/

So what are you going to be doing for Earth Day? Well you don’t have to make some grand gesture to celebrate Earth Day. Doing small things like being sure to recycle, walking/biking/taking public transit to work, brown bagging your lunch are just a few of the small ways you can celebrate Earth Day. If however you would like to make a much larger gesture you can always gather a small group in your community to help beautify your neighbourhood or local park. Or ,you can take part in the Rally, U-Turn Parade, and Street Festival taking place in downtown Toronto today. Here is more information, if you would like to learn about Reclaiming Earth Day. Whatever you decide to do, make it green and make mother nature proud

Happy Earth Day!

A New Challenger Approaches - Flickr Adds Video

In a rather bold move Flickr, best known for its massive photo sharing community has added the ability for its users to upload video.  Now joining the ranks of YouTube, Dailymotion, Photobucket, and Metacafe, just to name a few, Flickr sure is joining some elite company.

Currently this feature is only available to Pro Members and the video length is limited to 90 secs.  Some people argue that this 90 s limit is not enough, while others argue that a 90 s limit will force people to be more creative with what they decide to shoot. I guess we will see what wins out.  While I myself am a member of Flickr, the majority of my photos lack any sort of creative spark (probably because any sort of creative spark was crushed in years of being institutionalized in conformist factories LOL).  But hopefully the addition of video will help to get those creative juices flowing again, which will inevitably lead to more creative photo taking.

It should be noted that while the uploading of videos is for Pro Members only, both Pro & Free members are able to view and comment on videos.

Check out the article on lifehacker.com regarding Flickr adding video.  And be sure to read the comments section as well.  Sometimes reading user comments will provide you with a perspective that you may not have thought of before.

If you’re a Flickr member you can check out the Flickr Video Group or the Video on Flickr Blog Post.  For those of you that are [Pro] Members of Flickr, how will you be using the service?  Will you be using it at all?  Do you think Flickr has made a good move by adding the ability to upload video?

Secret Candy Codes

Ever bitten into a candy bar or piece of candy and thought that it tasted stale.  Well now you can tell if a candy bar is stale before you plop down your $1 (or so) to stave off that craving for something sweet.

Lifehacker posted an article from theconsumerist.com regarding the codes on candy that will help you decipher whether or not it has gone stale.  Click here to read the article on theconsumerist.com.  If you work in retail, then you may already know this information, but for those of you who are consumers and are just curious, or would like to be a little more well informed before paying for some candy, this might be useful.  This information would also be useful around Halloween time.  Now you can make sure you know who is giving you stale candy :P.

What’s In The Box?

On April 10th something will be unveiled at Dundas Square in Toronto. What it is, is anyone’s guess. What I do know (or at least what I was told), is that there will be “cool bands” playing at Dundas Square at the time the box is opened.

So if you’d like to check it out, be sure to be at Dundas Square this Thursday (April 10th 200 at 12:00pm. Hopefully the weather will be nice enough. For more information check out What’s In The Box?