Registration is now open for Take Me Outside Week in Nova Scotia from September 20 to 26 at www.takemeoutsideweek.ca (available in both French and English). Take Me Outside Week is coordinated by Recreation Nova Scotia to support a growing "back to nature" movement as they invite more children and youth and their families out into the great outdoors.
Families and small groups can register the activities they plan to do during the event week. There are lots of ideas for activities on the website available here - good ideas that will no doubt be useful even if your family cannot participate in this week's activities. As well, there are lots of organized events to take part in across the province - check out the full list here.
By registering you qualify to win one of many great prizes, such as an annual family pass to Kejimkujik, an annual family pass to the Museum of Natural History, a $50 gift certificate to one of HRM's Adventure Earth Centre programs, plus lots more!
Organizations can also register their activities and events during the event week and access lots of ideas and resources on the website.
Follow Take Me Outside Week developments on: Facebook and Twitter.
Following-up from her guest post on Earth Hour, Stacey McCarthy, Communications Specialist from WWF-Canada is back with some ideas for us on Earth Day! Thanks again Stacey! And if you are looking for Earth Day events, check out yesterday's blog post for some suggestions.
Ever wish your feet were smaller? It’s a fairly common complaint I hear from my girlfriends – my feet are too big, I wish I had small feet like you (they are size 6 ½). My response is usually a smug smile and a shrug of my shoulders. I hate to boast but I do like my smaller shoe size – it has been quite beneficial at shoes sales, and boy do I love a good shoe sale!
You are probably thinking it fairly odd for someone who spends her days thinking about ways to communicate the need to protect our planet to start off this blog talking about foot size and great shoe sales. Well, it’s because today is Earth Day, and it got me thinking about the concept of lowering our carbon footprint and how to put it into terms people would understand. It also made me wonder if my footprint is as small as it could be, or could I do something to make it smaller? Which brought me to shoes – one of the things I know I can spend hours talking about!
Forty years ago, Earth Day was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. Today international celebrations and activities are held on this day, demonstrating the world’s commitment to its ongoing protection. Despite the public support for Earth Day the environment is still in crisis.
Four years ago, WWF Australia invited the city of Sydney to spend an hour in the dark on March 27th as a call for action specifically on climate change - the first Earth Hour. For the past three years, over a billion people have participated internationally in this lights out event. This year, 51 percent of Canadians showed that they were ready to be part of the climate solution by turning out their lights during Earth Hour.
Why start paying attention to all the talk of climate change and its damaging affects now if we have been unsuccessful in making changes in 40 years? Why bother participating in activities on days like Earth Day and Earth Hour? Why try to reduce our own carbon footprints? Well – it’s pretty simple actually. There is scientific proof that climate change could result in the extinction of more than a million species living on land within the next 50 years, and in our oceans, the damage being caused by unusually warm ocean temperatures is affecting essential habitat for marine life, and no fish means no livelihood for millions of people around the world. If we don’t start making changes in our own lives now – our children will be directly affected.
Reducing our carbon footprint can be done by making simple lifestyle changes at home and at work. Considering what is at stake, it is not only our global responsibility, it's in all our best interests.
So here are a few simple things you can do:
Switch to green electricity provided by companies like Bullfrog Power (offering power in BC, AB, ON, NS, NB and PEI).
Visit the farmers market to buy local produce and meat. A new daily market will be opening on the Halifax Waterfront this summer as well, providing more opportunities to buy fresh, local food.
Switch to compact florescent lights. They last longer than regular light bulbs so it means less trips up and down the ladder to change them.
Wash your clothes in cold water. I was a reluctant convert on this one but your whites still get as white and your clothes really are just as clean!
Take a walk, or dig out your bike instead of using your car for that short trip to the store or for your next play date. It’s great way to work off that extra baby weight and you can even get child seats that attach to your bike. Or if you are back at work, take the bus instead of driving. You’ll save monthly parking fees (and parking meters may be going up by $.50 downtown).
There are numerous other simple actions that you can take, and WWF-Canada has a great program called the Living Planet Community where Canadians can connect and get other footprint-reducing ideas and share their actions with others. It’s amazing to see how our actions add up when we work together.
So whether it’s Earth Hour on March 27th or Earth Day on April 22nd is irrelevant. Those are just particular dates chosen to raise awareness for the problem – to see the bigger picture - a starting point to begin lowering your own carbon footprint. Then the next time you are thinking about the size your footprint makes in the sand, you can take comfort in the knowing that even though you may not be able to take advantage of that great demo sale of designer shoes in tiny sizes, you have scored by having the smallest carbon footprint. Just think – the cost savings in your gas and power bills alone will enable you to buy those great shoes in YOUR size!
Today's guest blog post is from Heather Doepner, local mom and a children's librarian at Spring Garden Road Library. Heather has some great ideas for eco-books to share with your kids. I admit I had no idea that Nancy Drew had green-themed books - I am definitely out of touch! Thank-you Heather!
Did you know that Earth Day is 40 on April 22nd? I celebrated it for the first time in the late ‘80s with a beach clean-up near my rural home. Now, I outfit my family with trash bags and we do a spring clean up around my urban neighbourhood. My son is still a little young to participate in this year’s activity: at 19 months he still tries to drink from icky abandoned juice boxes he finds at the playground. However, he is learning green habits along with his first words.
As a children’s librarian, I am happy that book borrowing is a great green way to add variety to your home story times. Halifax Public Libraries also has plenty of information books on all sorts of eco-themed topics from global warming to green living. Here are some titles to check out, loosely grouped by age. Most of these books are owned by Halifax Public Libraries.
Thanks so much to Stacey McCarthy, Communications Specialist at WWF-Canada, for this guest blog post! We are hoping to make it to the Grand Parade event on Saturday, but if not, it'll be lights out for us! Stacey has included some great ideas for celebrating Earth Hour at home with the kids - thanks Stacey!
Earth Hour is just a few days away, and Canadians in 273 cities (and counting) have pledged their support with the one billion people in 6000 cities across the world to fight climate change.
For those who aren’t familiar with Earth Hour, Earth Hour is an international lights out event created by WWF in 2007 to demonstrate support for action on climate change. Turning off our lights during Earth Hour is a simple, symbolic action that will show that Canadians want to be part of the climate solution. It also demonstrates how all of our individual efforts add up to make a big difference.
In Halifax, the weather is projected to be clear and cool on Saturday night - perfect for star gazing and listening to some award winning East Coast musicians in Grand Parade in front of City Hall. Dave Gunning will be joined by the Sons of Maxwell for a free concert in the dark, Astronomy NS will be there with their telescopes, and Tim Hortons will be giving out free hot beverages, so please remember to bring your reusable mug! Complete event information can be found online here.
If you can't make it down to our event in Grand Parade, then here are some suggestions for what you can do with your friends and family before and during Earth Hour:
Spend the hour talking about how much electricity your family uses and brainstorm about ways you can reduce it in your own home
Talk to your kids about climate change and how it is affecting the habitat of species like polar bears
Host a candle-lit dinner party, or if 8:30pm is too late for dinner, how about a candle-lit dessert party
Tell ghost stories in front of the fireplace
Play Pictionary with glow in the dark markers
Have your own acoustic jam session
Get out your sleeping bags and camp out on the living room floor
Play flash light tag
Meet your neighbours for a street or block party
Put a glow stick on your dog's collar or leash and go for a walk
Or just get outside and look at the stars
After Earth Hour is over, why not look for ways to keep the momentum going by making every hour Earth Hour. WWF-Canada has a great program called the Living Planet Community online at wwf.ca where people can get tips for energy saving efforts and actually calculate the greenhouse gas savings their environmentally friendly actions are already having.
These include:
Switching to compact florescent lights
Washing in cold water
Turning down the heat or A/c by two degrees
Taking transit or walking
Using power bars for outlets with many plugs so you can turn them off when not in use
Switching to energy efficient appliances
And finally, as part of our Earth Hour campaign, supporters across Canada are also encouraged to take out their cell phones or BlackBerrys and text "EARTH "to 45678 to donate $5 to WWF and support the fight against climate change. Donors will see a one-time charge of $5 to their wireless bill and Telus subscribers will have their text message charge waived for their donation.
March 27th 8:30pm – 9:30pm. Lights out. Don’t forget!
Here's an ambitious and impressive looking project from Carolyn Clegg - good for older kids to make, or younger kids to enjoy after it's made! Thanks Carolyn!
If your family is going to have some time on their hands in the near future – say, over the March Break – then plan to gather up some old newspapers and make a fun newspaper hut.
What you’ll need:
A stack of newspapers A pen or pencil Some tape A stapler A large bed sheet
Step #1 – Grab your newspapers. Lay 4 sheets of newspaper on top of each other. Place the pencil on a 45° in the corner and roll the 4 sheets diagonally to make a tube.
Step #2 – Tape the middle of the finished tube and let the pen/pencil slide out. Repeat 25 times.
Step #3 – All 25 tubes should be close to the same length. Trim the length if needed.
Step #4 – Use 3 of the tubes to make a triangle and staple at each corner. Repeat until you have 5 triangles.
Step #5 – Lay the 5 triangles out on the floor in a row. Staple bottom corners together.
Step #6 – Connect the tops of the triangles using some of the individual tubes and staple in place.
Step #7 – Make sure you have at least two pairs of hands for this step! Stand the connected triangles up and staple the two ends together (making a circle). Add a tube to the last top spot and staple in place.
**if my circle of triangles looks a little unstable in this photo, it’s because it was – I didn’t follow the instructions properly at this point and missed the part about stapling the bottoms together!*
Step #8 - Use the 5 remaining tubes to make a star. Staple in the middle. This is going to be your roof.
Step #9 - Staple the roof in place so it makes a sturdy dome shape.
Step #10 – Cover your hut with a large bed sheet. Enjoy!!
and 
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Registration is now open for Take Me Outside Week in Nova Scotia from September 20 to 26 at www.takemeoutsideweek.ca (available in both French and English). Take Me Outside Week is coordinated by Recreation Nova Scotia to support a growing "back to nature" movement as they invite more children and youth and their families out into the great outdoors. 
Did you know that Earth Day is 40 on April 22nd? I celebrated it for the first time in the late ‘80s with a beach clean-up near my rural home. Now, I outfit my family with trash bags and we do a spring clean up around my urban neighbourhood. My son is still a little young to participate in this year’s activity: at 19 months he still tries to drink from icky abandoned juice boxes he finds at the playground. However, he is learning green habits along with his first words. 
Earth Hour is just a few days away, and Canadians in 273 cities (and counting) have pledged their support with the one billion people in 6000 cities across the world to fight climate change. 
