The UN states that in 2002, 42 per cent of households had no toilets, and one in six people had no access to safe water. Over 90 per cent of deaths from diarrheal diseases due to unsafe water and sanitation in the developing world occur in children below 5 years old. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that 1.8 million people die every year from diarrheal diseases – diseases transmitted through contaminated water and poor hygiene practices. The sad reality is that children are the most vulnerable and common victims – every day more than 4,500 children die from a diarrheal...

Less Garbage To The Landfill Depending on the day, our household averages a gallon of compostable waste per day.  An added bonus – less odour in your kitchen garbage container. Perfect Soil Conditioner  Plants rob the soil of nutrients. Compost replaces lost nutrients, improves drainage and soil texture (i.e. sandy, powdery, hard). All Natural and Basically Free Fertilizer Ideal ‘Renewable’ Resource  Not only does peat not add nutrient value to your dirt, it takes bogs and wetlands years to recover from being mined for peat. What can be composted? Greens – grass clippings, weeds,...

Proof the World will be Okay

Catharine Freeman Jack, Guest Blogger Recently I was asked by a woman, “Do you work?” I could end the blog here and you could probably fill in the blanks as to how I handled this question, but seeing as how I “don’t work”, I have the time to let you know exactly how it went down. I was grocery shopping in the middle of the week, in the middle of the day with both girls in tow. One screaming that she wanted to walk and not be in the cart, the other “helping” me shop by loading the cart with all the “healthy” food she could find. It wasn’t really...

The Pressure to be Pretty

Knowledge may be power – but choose your sources wisely. “We speak worlds into existence.” That was the last quote I read in my ‘Monday Morning Memo’ this morning. Then, I absentmindedly continued to click on links with news headlines like Comparisons to the Great Depression keep popping up and Doomsday: How BP Disaster may have triggered a ‘world killing’ event. Why would I do that? You’d be justified to ask…  Those news stories were links posted by someone I follow on Twitter, an internet aquaintance named @ChrisLaBossiere, listed...

BFOs and AFGOs – It’s a Big One BFO = Blinding Flash of the Obvious AFGO = Another F*cking Growth Opportunity* It turns out, as a mother, I’m a meddler.  When my teenage daughter and I started counselling together several months ago, I made an agreement with my daughter, in the presence of our therapist, that I would no longer attempt to solve her problems for her. I agreed to new boundaries.  I agreed that I would no longer attempt to comfort, console and prevent or ‘fix’ her problems – including nursing her low self esteem, refereeing her relationship...

The Gift Of An Ordinary Day from Katrina Kenison on Vimeo.

An Always Evolving List of the Things I Love Make your own. It’s a way of staying connected to the good stuff, a gratitude list of sorts. When I discover something new, or remember something I’ve always adored, I’ll add it to another Love List post. Be sure to comment and share your own loves below. Apples Pink Lady, Gala, Honey Crisp are among my favourites. Sweet and tart, vitamin drenched and sun-kissed. With cheese. With sea salt. (Don’t knock it til you tried it. I know the original was with seasoning salt and I don’t remember where I learned it.) An apple...

A long time ago, every farm in England had a small brewery attached to house. In the brewery common herbs such as dandelion leaf, nettles, meadowsweet and yarrow, were mashed, boiled and fermented. The end product was called Ale. Each farmer had his own special recipe. One day, a farmer wondered what would happen if he added hops (Humulus lupus) to his ale. Several months later, to the farmer’s surprise, the ale with the hops had not turned sour. It was as good as the day it was bottled. On that day, bitters was born. Hops continues to a common ingredient in many bitter beers. The more hops...