who will be sleeping naked?

Our book giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all who entered!

Stay tuned for the announcement of the winner - and our next contest!

give dad what he really wants

The gift of beer! Treat him to a fabulous Father's Day with a day trip to a craft brewery, preferably organic ;)

From our friends over at greenliving, here's a short list:

NOVA SCOTIA

Propeller is a Halifax-based micro-brewery offering four craft ales and two seasonal ales. They don’t use artificial preservatives to prolong the beer's shelf life or additives, the beer is unpasteurized, meaning it’s always served fresh (and terrifically tasty).

ALBERTA
At the Wild Rose micro-brewery in Calgary all beers are unpasteurized and preservative-free. The brewery also gives all “spent grains” (empty husks left over after the mashing process and malted grains are added to the brew) to a local farmer for livestock feed. The four beers on offer include a raspberry ale, brown ale, an India Pale Ale and the ever-mysterious flavour Velvet Fog.

ONTARIO
The Steam Whistle Brewery in Toronto uses only four, GMO-free ingredients in their brews: pure spring water, malted barley, hops and yeast. Its painted logo eliminates label paper, glues and dyes and the ‘spent grain’ from the brewhouse is shipped to farmers to be used for animal feed. The distinctive Steam Whistle green glass bottles are made a little sturdier for easy reuse; the same bottle can be washed, inspected and refilled up to 35 times! And it gets greener: The brewery uses clean, renewable energy, sourcing electricity from wind and low-impact hydro generators.

Mill Street produces Ontario’s first certified organic lager, and occupies a beautiful historic location in Toronto’s hip Distillery District. Winning the Canadian Brewery of the Year award for 2007 and 2008, this commercial brewery uses pesticide- and herbicide-free ingredients and employs a natural, preservative-free brewing process.

BC
Established in 1957 in Prince George, BC, next to a fresh water spring, Pacific Western Brewing is Western Canada’s largest independent Canadian-owned brewery and offers an organic lager and ale. Brewed with 100 percent organic malt, 100 percent organic Hallertau hops and pure spring water from Caribou Spring, all ingredients are certified organic and assured to be delicious.

Nelson Brewing Company is a craft brewery located in Nelson, BC, offering seven organic beers all with gloriously rich names like Black Heart, Faceplant Winter Ale, Liplock Summer Wheat Ale, Old Brewery Pale Ale, Paddywhack Indian Pale Ale and Wild Honey Authentic Ale. The organic dark-style ale is made in the image of the perfect pint: lightly hopped and brewed with imported organic dark roasted malted barley.

Located on a 10-acre farm in Sorrento, BC, Crannog Ales is Canada’s only certified organic farmhouse microbrewery. Crannog brews unfiltered, unpasteurized ales using only organic ingredients, some harvested straight from their fully sustainable farm. Their brewery provides food for the livestock, and the farm provides hops for the brewery. As Crannog only ships within BC, it’s just one more reason to be out West.

good-looking advice

During these uncertain times, we will probably all have to work harder than ever. Many of us too hard! I know for me, when my days are longer than I want them to be, I take deep breaths, try to remember what really matters and draw on some age-old wisdom— the kind of stuff my grandmother used to tell me. Here are a few tips for wellness in 2009.

~George Butterfield

fake it sunshine

Yeah, we know. The sun's rays are evil, and sunless tanners have a host of ingredients one cannot pronounce, let alone rub into their most absorbent organ (nevermind that smell).

But still, you want to at least look like you don't sit under florescent lighting and type the days away, so here are some ideas for a getting that golden glow:

1. Create a bronzing cream from cocoa! from eHow.

2. Mix up a batch of your own dihydroxyacetone from sugar beets.

3. Or buy it in a sunless tanning lotion from Green People.

4. Try tanning with tea bags, courtesy of much-loved Daily Candy.

And speaking of tea, Penny Pinching Grandma has plenty of uses for it, from protecting your teeth to dyeing gray hair!

your handmade moment could win cash

While not necessarily 'green,' handmade goods are better than those made by cheap labourers and shipped hundreds of miles to Walstore. In this spirit, Etsy, THE place for all things handmade, has announced a contest for creative/artsy types.

Basically, Etsy needs promo videos, and they've got a clever way to get 'em. They are accepting submissions for short videos promoting Etsy and the handmade movement.

The guidelines are simple: your theme must be "A Handmade Moment" and must legibly display the text "Etsy.com". The winning submissions will receive a total of $10,000! (and Etsy will use the video).

There are runner-up cash prizes as well. Check it out at Etsy.com.

one million acts of green, one act a time.

One Million Acts of Green is going International. Before it does, they're asking Canadians to give one last push for the environment.

Tomorrow - June 9th - join the movement and see how many Acts of Green we can do in one day. Every act counts! If you're already involved, you can keep adding your favourite acts or try some of the new summer acts.

Brainchild of the CBC, in partnership with Cisco, it's a pretty cool campaign that has spurned over 1.6 millions 'acts of green' and 'saved' 95,433,020 kg of greenhouse gases.

So pledge to install a programmable thermostat or clean your refrigerator coils once per year, and prove that one small act can make a big difference. Now, if we can just get those office buildings to shut off the freakin' lights...

ontario's call to action

On Wednesday, Woodstock Mayor Michael Harding challenged municipal leaders across Ontario to compete in the Count Me In! Community Challenge Day at a news conference in Toronto.

Harding’s challenge has already been accepted by 19 municipalities who have each committed to reduce their overall energy consumption between 8am and 8pm on August 14, 2009, the 6th anniversary of the North American blackout.

Ontarians can pledge their commitment and to create a personalized conservation plan (and win prizes, including energy-efficient appliances and electronics). Visit countmeinontario.ca.

fill your shopping cart with trees

Green Any Site promises to make your online shopping a little better for the environment. How does it work? Web retailers (think Amazon) pay other sites a percentage of each purchase for referrals. When you use GAS, all of that money goes to supporting green causes.

You bookmark their special link, then click it before you add something to your shopping cart. It won't cost you anything, and they’ll automatically donate a portion of your purchase to the Green cause their users chose that month. Easy peasy lemon squeesy.

Each month, they donate 100% of their income. The creator is a web developer from Israel named Tal Ater, who says this is his little contribution to the planet. Good on you, we say.

down the drain

Canadians use the second largest amount of household water in the world.

Visit goblue.org and use the One Minute Calculator to measure your personal use for year. We guarantee the shower and toilet sections will surprise you!