Are you up to the nature challenge?

It could be the most important team you ever join—Team Suzuki—and here’s why: Each year, the average Canadian household is responsible for the production of 20,705 kilograms of greenhouse gases, 634 kg of air pollution and 1,430 grams of water pollution.The good news about this environmentally unfriendly trend is that it’s reversible. Researchers at the David Suzuki Foundation say our decisions about transportation, food, and homes are the most environmentally significant choices we make on a daily basis.
Team Suzuki’s Nature Challenge offers a 10-step personal action plan to help preserve nature. “By taking these simple steps, we can make a huge difference together,” says Dr. Suzuki.
Close to 60,000 people have already signed up for the team, including celebrities such as singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado, author Margaret Atwood, and Hockey Night in Canada commentator Ron MacLean. Be a team player at davidsuzuki.org.

Take Team Suzuki’s Nature Challenge

1. Reduce home energy use by 10 per cent.
2. Choose energy-efficient homes and appliances.
3. Replace dangerous pesticides with alternatives.
4. Eat meat-free meals one day a week.
5. Buy locally grown and produced food.
6. Choose a fuel-efficient vehicle.
7. Walk, bike, carpool, or take transit.
8. Choose a home close to work or school.
9. Support car-free alternatives.
10. Learn more and share with family and friends.

Threat to Canada’s boreal forest

Canada’s irreplaceable boreal forest, which is 10,000 years old and stretches from the Yukon to Labrador, is paying too high a price to keep us in toilet paper, office supplies, and paper products, environmental groups say.

Up to 80 per cent of the world’s original forests have been destroyed or degraded by logging, leaving Canada with one of the largest in existence, roughly the size of 21 United Kingdoms. Boreal forests house wildlife, hold about 40 per cent of the earth’s carbon stocks (vital to slowing climate change), and contain 80 per cent of the world’s unfrozen fresh water.

Despite its importance, almost 500,000 hectares of our boreal forest is cut down annually, 90 per cent by clear-cut. Most of this is Crown land where logging rights have been sold for commerce.

To protect our precious land, one practical thing consumers can do is purchase eco-friendly alternatives to tissue products because Canadians use about 700,000 tonnes of tissue paper annually. Look for 100-percent recycled brands.