BlogHers ACT Canada

The Winners!

A few more entries arrived for the Official BlogHers ACT Canada Earth Day Kids Gardening Photo Contest since last week.  I'm pleased to announce the winners!  But first, let's all take a moment to have a look at how some more kids are learning about gardening and growing food.  (The first round of entrants were posted here.)

David Suzuki's Nature Challenge for Kids

If you’ve ever taken a moment to look carefully at the sidebar here at BlogHers ACT Canada, you’ll notice we’ve prominently placed a button in the upper right-hand corner.  The button features David Suzuki, environmental scientist, activist and one of Canada’s top ten favourite Canadians.

Photo Credit: Matthew Gore, taken during David's visit to Concordia University's rooftop garden.

Earth Day Photo Contest: Extended!

We've received some great photos of kids and gardens. Because they're so terrific, we've decided to extend the Official BlogHers ACT Canada Earth Day Kids Gardening Photo Contest until April 30th! A few samples appear after the jump.

The Official BlogHers ACT Canada Earth Day Kids Gardening Photo Contest!

Happy Earth Day!

As a tie in to yesterday’s post about teaching kids to grow food, and as promised, BlogHers ACT Canada is excited to provide you with the details of our Earth Day contest.

It’s the Official BlogHers ACT Canada Earth Day Kids Gardening Photo Contest!

Ontario Pesticide Ban for '09

Happy Earth Day!

Last summer I was disappointed to find that our next-door neighbour had hired a non-organic company to take care of their lawn. Graham and I would sit out back, drinking our coffee in the morning, and then suddenly the powerful, sickening smell of the pesticide/herbicide cocktail would waft into our yard. Annoyed, disgusted, we'd head back indoors to finish our coffee.

I put a little sign in our garden in the hopes it would start a dialogue between us and our neighbour, but it didn't seem to phase them at all, which I just can't understand because he grows FOOD in their yard.

Teaching Kids about Growing Food

At the beginning of this month, as I started to plan the posts for April’s challenge, I was probably mostly excited about the third week’s post...because it’s a topic that is near and dear to my heart!

Teaching kids about gardening and growing food is something that I’m involved in on a regular basis.  I jump at literally every opportunity to show children my garden and to talk about plants and growing food with them, on an age-appropriate level.

I recently saw an episode of the television show Recreating Eden about a children’s garden, created by gardener and plant enthusiast Cassie Scott, at a school in North Richmond, California.  The garden is completely integrated into the school’s curriculum, and children take great pleasure in getting their hands dirty while learning to grow food throughout the school year.

Support Bill C-517 and the Effort to Label Genetically Engineered Food

A private member’s bill supporting mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food in Canada was selected randomly for debate in our House of Commons this month.

Bill C-517 went to second reading on April 3, and a second hour of parliamentary debate could take place in as early as two weeks, as per the House of Commons calendar.  After a second debate, the House will be called upon to vote on the bill.  If you are concerned about feeding your children genetically engineered foods, it’s important to make sure that a majority of Members of Parliament vote in favour of Bill C-517.  If the Bill passes second reading, it will be returned for a third and final reading, followed by a vote by all of Canada’s 301 Members of Parliament.

Clothesline Ban, uh...BANNED!

Yesterday was the first day this year that I’ve hauled wet laundry out to the back of my yard to hang the clothes out on the clothesline.  There’s something so wonderful about using it…I feel like I’m channeling all kinds of womanly power while I hang the clothes out.  I get all kinds of productive thinking done while I’m hanging the clothes out to dry, and I’m sure that if you came into my yard to watch me while I’m hanging the clothes, you’d see all kinds of strange expressions on my face while I’m thinking things out.

While I was out there yesterday, I thought about what a great device the clothesline is...and how we are saving on our hydro bill by avoiding use of the dryer while reducing our carbon emissions.  However, I also imagined some of our cranky neighbours complaining about having to look at our clothes all summer long.

Why Canada Rocks. Why BlogHers Act Canada Rocks. Why YOU Rock.

This week, major news outlets reported that the Government of Canada was on the verge of declaring bisphenol-A toxic, which would open the door for a country-wide ban on all products containing the chemical.

According to the International Herald Tribune:

A public announcement by Health Canada may come as early as Wednesday but could be delayed until the end of May. Canada would be the first country to make a health finding against BPA, which has been shown to disrupt the hormonal systems of animals. The department's decision was first reported in The Globe and Mail, a Toronto newspaper, on Tuesday.

(Bolding mine. Canada will be the first! WOO HOO!)

How Can Kids Spread the Green Message?

Last week when the last of the snow had melted, I went around my front and back yard, picking up snack wrappers and other litter that had accumulated over the winter.  I tried hard not to think about how the school across the street really needs some more accessible garbage cans, so that kids could remember to put the garbage from their snacks where it belongs, instead of letting the wind catch hold of it and carry it into the local yards.

I tried not to point the finger at that school across the road, because let’s face it; it isn’t the school’s fault, entirely.  Many of the trash items I picked up were simply left behind by the garbage or recycling workers throughout the wintertime.  And if a few of the kids had littered in the neighbourhood, it wasn’t that big a deal.

WAIT.  What was I thinking?  It IS a big deal.  Childhood is the time to create good habits, not to ignore bad ones.

Kid Art Auction for Earth Day

Some big-hearted and forward-thinking mommybloggers have organized the first ever Kid Art Auction for Earth Day! 

April's Challenge: Teaching Our Kids to Go Green!

Spring is a fantastic time of year, especially in Southern Ontario.  The glacier-like snow drifts and banks are finally just about all melted away, and the very first soft green shoots are starting to make their way through the earth.  Sadly, what is often discovered beneath the melting snow is a layer of trash and refuse that has been collecting all winter long.

Spring is a great time to be reminded that our actions have enormous impact on the environment around us.  This means that it’s also a wonderful time to engage children in the natural processes of the environment, including the growth of plants (and in July we’ll be talking about eating locally), the changing of the seasons, and even global warming.