Brummet's Conscious Blog

Did you know it is National Ozone Day tomorrow Sept 16?  Apparently, tomorrow - September 16th - was set aside by request of the United Nations as an annual day to celebrate steps that have been taken to preserve and repair the atmosphere, from air quality to the ozone layer.  It is a good time to reflect about our own behaviours, actions, day-to-day choices and purchases. Did you know that I once wrote a column on this topic back in 2000-2007 that was published in several countries around the world? Some publications would use it as a monthly column, others bi-weekly, and it reached all around the world and won several awards. around 2007 I decided to compile all the articles and create a database in book format for people interested in saving money while having a positive impact on the environment. The first edition of the Trash Talk book was a success and got noticed by the Recycling council of BC who gave us an award for our work. I can't tell you how exciting that wa...

Sustainable Gardens   Only a few generations ago every little valley, every little hillside had its own plant varieties. When people migrated they often took their family's seeds with them. Today, when our elders move into retirement homes or discontinue gardening due to physical restraints, much of their plantings are allowed to die out. Without realizing it we are losing varieties on a regular basis. These unique seeds are becoming rare and will eventually face extinction if we fail to keep them alive and growing. Two surveys between 1900 and 1981 revealed that 7,000 fewer apple varieties were grown within that time period in North America. Yet even now, after losing so much diversity there are estimated to be around 2,000 varieties of beans and 6,000 kinds of tomatoes. Every single one has a particular history, a particular DNA sequence, and a particular set of nutrients, colour, shape, size and texture. For example, tomatoes variants offer red, pink, yellow, orange, ...

Conscious Events Fraser Valley Bald Eagle Festival  When: Nov. 17 - 18, 2018 About: Celebrate the beauty and biodiversity of the Fraser River Valley by honouring the majestic bald eagle and the cycle of the salmon.  Info: http://fraservalleybaldeaglefestival.ca/ Where: Fraser Valley, BC - Canada ~~ Annual Gathering of Ecological Seed Growers When:  Friday, November 23, 2018 Where: Camp Papillon; Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez (Lanaudière), QC (Canada) About:  The annual gathering of ecological seed growers in Quebec will be taking place in partnership with the Rendez-Vous Automnal de la CAPÉ, at the Camp Papillon in Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez (Lanaudière). Registrations will be open on the Coopérative pour l’agriculture de proximité écologique website in 2 weeks ! ~~ ACORN Conference When:  November 26 - 28, 2018    Where:  Delta Hotel - Charlottetown, PE - Canada About:  The conference is a fun, three-day eve...

-- Recommended Resources --  Let's start today with a link to a large public-interest non-profit organization that focuses on health, justice and sustainability in agriculture. You'll find plenty of campaigns you can join, projects you can support, networking, community events and volunteer/ gardening connections. http://www.organicconsumers.org/ Next: Here is a humorous and informative discussion by Michael Pollan – about how plants manipulate their environment to their benefit, and looking at the plant’s point of view when it comes to agriculture. In this talk he gives the example of Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm ( www.PolyFaceFarms.com ) where on just 100 acres he is able to produce 40000 lbs of beef, 000 lbs of rabbit, 30000 lbs of pork, 25,0000 eggs and hay, with an additional 450 acres of sustainably managed forest. This talk touches on all the terms we hear about in the industry – biodynamic, biodiversity, sustainable,...

-- What We Eat & Drink -- We eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with perhaps a few snacks in between and several drinks throughout the day. Each time we put something in our mouth we have the opportunity to vote on the direction we want to see society take in the future: - Looking at how the food was grown – whether it was done sustainably, fairly, ethically, and environmentally sound. - We can learn more about the products by reading the labels and visiting the websites… choosing producers have more of a positive impact on the environment, that ship the product fewer miles, those that support causes we believe in, and those that use green energy. - We can simply choose to make meals based not only on what is on sale, but what is in season locally, produced locally… and save a great deal of money. - We can choose to eat less meat; simply put less meat on the plate, or less meat than recipes call for. - Take a look at how much packaging is associated wit...