put Quebec on your plate

The Ministère de l'Agriculture/des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec has launched a bilingual ad campaign to encourage consumption of local foods.

The TV spot features an animated map of Quebec showing where different products such as lobster, lamb, cheese and wine come from as a voiceover informs viewers that "Quebec is teeming with delicious food proudly grown or processed here. Ask for them. Taste them."

The spot ends with the voiceover and tag line, "Mettez le Québec dans votre assiette," (Put Quebec on your plate) which appears under a dinner plate featuring a provincial map.

Read more at Marketing Magazine>>

the amazing dryer ball

Cleverly rebranded with a throwback package to match, the Amazing Dryer Balls of TV infomercial fame are now Nellie's Dryerballs.

Made by a North Vancouver company - Batten Industries - and priced at around $20, the dryer balls soften and separate clothes to reduce drying time, and unlike traditional fabric softeners, the balls don't leave a petroleum-based coating on clothes.

Nellie's also sells laundry soda, touted as a biodegradable, non-toxic, hypoallergenic alternative to regular laundry detergent.

We're ordering some today and will let you know how amazing these balls actually turn out to be ;)

bio-plates still trash, in the trash

Have you switched to biodegradable options for disposable plate ware and utensils? Great move, but make sure your composting them at the end - most stuff doesn't decompose easily in landfills.

Why not? And how long is trash, trash anyway? Get answers to these questions and more at our new favourite site Ideal Bite

end the greenwashing

From the publishers of PR News, the "Going Green" guidebook includes strategies for greening your business. The 200+ page book includes profiles of blue chip companies, small organizations, and start–ups that have reconfigured their businesses to be more eco-responsible.

Written for marketing and senior execs looking for a blueprint to communicate existing green efforts or to get new initiatives off the ground, companies profiled include GE, Nickelodeon, HP, BASF, Travelocity, Dow Chemical, and National Geographic.

Order at prnewsonline.com

more products we love

These diapers put waste where it belongs - in the toilet and not the landfill.

gDiapers contain no latex, elemental chlorine, plastic, or perfumes, and the pants are made of cotton and spandex, which are breathable and comfortable for your little one.

Each pair comes with two snap-in liners, which are easily washable and made out of viscose rayon, a natural and renewable polymer that comes from trees.

The diapers themselves are made from a biodegradable fiber (fluffed wood pulp) to absorb wetness and keep those little bums dry. And flushable means an end to smelly diaper pails!

Available from Grassroots

bye bye polystyrene recycling, hello EPIC

Yesterday, the Environment and Plastics Industry Council (EPIC) reported that the City of Toronto has backed off its promise to collect polystyrene in blue bins, which could "effectively destroy the program for all of Ontario."

Polystyrene - which makes up the bulk of our food and protective packaging - can be remanufactured into products like picture frames as well as fire-proofing materials, and EPIC says 20,000 tonnes of the material will now end up in landfills.

EPIC's news release does not cover the reasons why Toronto is re-thinking the program...but then the agency is simply an arm of the plastics industry.

They even have a "Polystyrene Myths and Facts" PDF available on their site, with tidbits like:

Myth: Polystyrene does not biodegrade.

Fact: Polystyrene has been designed specifically to be an inert material that does not break down in a landfill and release harmful substances, such as greenhouse gases.

Sorry, then how it that a myth?

So, while it would be fabulous to be able to recycle our current heap of packaging, shouldn't EPIC be looking at ways to reduce and/or eliminate it? But that would put an end to their council...