It's Environment Week in Canada!

It's a chance to focus (more) on the impact we have on the environment in which we live.

[start rant about pesticides]
It's important to remember: we're not in a competition against nature! It's not about being in a battle against lawn weeds by spraying pesticides on them, so we can have a completely homogeneous green lawn. If you don't spray the weeds, and let them go to seed, you'll see common birds like sparrows and juncos eating those seeds. (Until I paid attention, I didn't know they did that!) I was really glad we hadn't sprayed the lawn or the weeds, as if we had, those poisons would have gone into the birds (and that's only one of the many problems affecting songbirds, check out the book Silence of the Songbirds: How We Are Losing the World's Songbirds and What We Can Do to Save Them for more information).

I just get upset sometimes when I see commercials for pesticide products showing electric green lawns, treating weeds like they're some sort of disease we have to eliminate, at the cost of all the life that lives in our lawns, like earthworms and birds).
[end rant] :)

On to more positive things - as I mentioned, this is Canadian Environment Week, with lots of things to do to try and reduce pollution and such. The Commuter Challenge (June 3-9) hopes to get people thinking of public transportation and other options. Next time you're driving to work, check out how many people on the road with you are driving alone in their vehicle. Chances are, there are a LOT of them. Maybe you're one of them? So maybe you could start a carpool at work - never feel that you're just one person, and you can't make a difference! Every little bit helps!

Check out the website for all the other events, and your local news for any local events!

Link: Canadian Environment Week, June 3-9, 2007