(NC)—If everyone in Canada wrapped just three gifts in reused paper or gift bags, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 hockey rinks.* That’s a lot of paper! When wrapping your gifts this holiday season, consider making your own recycled or reusable wrapping paper.

“From old scarves to baskets, there are many common items around the house that make great wrapping for your gifts, all it takes is a little imagination ,” says Mary Desjardins, Executive Director, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation. “Not only will Mother Nature thank you, but your loved ones will appreciate the originality and your effort.”

TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (TD FEF) offers the following ideas for making your own gift wrapping this year:

• Recycle artwork—Save your child’s colourful paintings and drawings throughout the year and turn them into holiday gift wrap for grandparents and other family members.

• Photos—Make your presents picture perfect by pasting photos of family and friends on old shoe boxes or reusable bags.

• Wallpaper & newspaper—Leftover wallpaper is easy to work with, is durable and adds a pop to presents. Add some ribbon or beads for a finished look. Do you have a friend or relative who is always telling jokes? Use the comics section of your newspaper for wrapping.

• Fabric—Pick some of your most colourful scarves, festive tea towels or old clothing and get to work. Perfect for wine, any boxed item or clothing, fabric creates a beautiful and simple way to wrap presents. Secure ends with a safety pin, button or knot, and top with a bow or sprig of holly or pine for a seasonal touch. Your fabric wrapping can either be part of your gift (like a tea towel) or be used to wrap presents year after year.

www.newscanada.com

You may have noticed that things look a little different around here! The Raising Spaces team has been itching to update our online look and is pleased to roll out our new site.

We apologize if you’ve been searching for something during the transition. Please bear with us as we continue to make the updates and changes necessary to raise our new site. In the meantime, here are some quick links.

To find our Green Building Professionals Directory ‘Green Pros’ go to http://greenpros.ca

For our online store, see http://shop.raisingspaces.com

This weekend marks the NetZero Home tour.  Last year a couple friends and I went on an exciting bike tour to see the different styles and design elements of each gorgeous home.  This weekend, Raising Spaces will be showcasing some fantastic products and materials at 7615 111 st.  The Belgravia Homes, as seen in the Raising Spaces “Building the Ultimate Green Effect Homes” will also be a part of the tour, so if you missed the construction tour, now’s the chance to check out sustainable home building at its finest.  Click Here for details on tour information.

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There’s more to the 3Rs than Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  It’s time to go a step further and really embark on a new phase of the environmental Industrial Revolution.  With Spring around the corner, it may be time to start thinking of household upgrades and renovations.  The times, they are a changing… for the better!  This year, don’t settle for the basics, go for quality products that will extend the life of your home and tell a story of environmental triumph.

There are many myths about environmental products.  Truth is, these products have come a long way, and many have been around for decades, hiding in the shadows of products that have been devastating our ecosystems, adding to the ever-flowing landfills, and making us sick.  Waste from renovations accounts for as much as one third of the 20 million tonnes of Canadian landfill waste.

Flooring is a very expensive piece of renovation.  Flooring can provide many different functions, especially when it comes to natural materials.

Linoleum was first developed in 1860.  It is made completely of renewable resources (jute, rosin, wood flour, cork flour, limestone and linseed oil).  My absolute favorite feature of linoleum, is that the linseed oil in the material has anti-microbial features!  This means that it has the ability to kill bacteria!  Amazing performance for floors!  The brand we sell in the store is called “Marmoleum”.  If you’re looking for flooring that lasts, this is the stuff.  While shopping for linoleum, avoid the PVC (poly-vinyl chloride) poser.

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Eco-Chic Home: Rethink, Reuse & Remake Your Way to Sustainable Style by Emily Anderson (2010). Seattle, WA: Skipstone.

When you look at some of the objects around your home or some of the items you have bought on impulse, even the packaging that contained something useful, do you see it as junk or as something useful? Emily Anderson tends to see these items as useful, making magazine filing boxes from cereal boxes, covering an ugly two drawer filing cabinet with cloth to make a sweet end table, transforming CD jewel cases into a lamp, or even sewing pillowcases into a dry cleaning bag that you can ask your dry cleaner to use rather than giving you more plastic drape.

Eco-Chic Home moves from room to room within the home, repurposing and restyling. Each of the projects includes simple, crafty instructions and most, except maybe for drying time on some of them, would take a weekend to accomplish. Continue Reading →

A featured product last week on the Facebook company page for Raising Spaces was the Jade Yoga Mat. I have one and I like it, but I need a way to carry it and protect it from my cat that has clawed her way through two other yoga mats.

The easiest way to carry a yoga mat is to wrap a yoga belt around both ends of the rolled up tube of the mat as a shoulder strap. The Hemp Yoga Strap, which is also available at Raising Spaces, will work but not all yoga practitioners use a strap, which depends on their flexibility or the version of yoga that they practice.

Depending on how crafty you are or the type of craft you are into, you can make your own yoga bag. Continue Reading →

Raising Spaces Last Minute Green Holiday Guide

Feel like you’re destined to be a last-minute Christmas elf again this year? “Luckily, there’s still a swath of options for you to give sustainably and party consciously,” says Andrea Jones, co-owner of newly opened eco-retailer Raising Spaces.

“It’s an overwhelming time of year, especially if you’re the kind of person whose calendar takes you by surprise.” jokes Jones. City street light and mall décor appears seconds after Halloween, staff Christmas parties kick in early-November, and before you know it, the two-weeks till Christmas countdown is upon you. It’s no shocker that holiday-stress levels have you reaching for the spiked nog a little too often!

So what can you do if it’s December 12 and you’re woefully behind the seasonal times? Jones shares the goods on eco friendly gift giving options, festive planet-friendly decorating tips, and low-impact holiday hosting/party-hopping ideas, all to save you time and simplify your holiday experience.

Last-minute Thoughtful Gifts Are Possible

Eco Store Offerings – A visit to three local eco shops can take care of your entire gift list! Between Raising Spaces Retail Store & Green Design Loft, Earth’s General Store & Carbon Environmental Boutique, you’ll have no shortage of health and planet friendly gift choices. Jones’ picks are below:

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Send your kids back to class this year with eco sense! With the guidance of this instructable, you and your youngster can create a one of a kind lunchbag. Be creative and incorporate other durable and unique materials like fair trade foil coffee bags and other packaging from your recycling bin! While you’re at it, bone up on money and Earth-saving tips and tricks for packing garbage-free lunches!

(NC)—Installing a new patio this year? A driveway or walkway? Now is the time to consider how this can be an upgrade and an environmentally sound improvement. One pavement that meets both requirements is permeable interlocking concrete pavements (PICPs). They look like popular concrete paving stones but work in a different manner. PICPs have a small space between the pavers. This space is filled with small stones that allow runoff to filter down between the pavers. The water filters down further to stone layers beneath that store the water. Finally the water will filter into the soil, reducing stormwater runoff and pollution.

Every Canadian homeowner can have a positive impact on the home environment through improvements that lower pollution. PICPs offer an environmentally-friendly solution and they are aesthetically pleasing. They are available in many shapes, sizes, textures and colours. Homeowners can even select a lighter more reflective colour and reduce the heat island effect created by existing asphalt pavements. Continue Reading →