Join us at TELUS World of Science for Our Second Installment of TOXIC BODIES: A Lecture Series on the Science of Environmental Health

“Safe Drinking Water—What Should We Fear?“

by Dr. Steve Hrudey

Jan. 25, 2012, doors open 6:30PM

fee by donation

refreshments and cash bar available 

 Water is essential to human health, but is it safe to drink? Like many environmental health issues, conflicting information abounds, and sometimes it’s the scientists doing the misinforming. What is worse, the proliferation of bad information can undermine our very efforts to ensure safe, clean drinking water for all. Edmonton’s Dr. Steve Hrudey answers your questions on what we should fear about the water we drink.

Canada’s Rogue Nation Position on Asbestos, presented by Dr. Colin Soskolne in the Toxic Bodies Series of the Environmental Research & Studies Centre

Tuesday November 22, 2011

Doors: 6:30pm

Admission by donation.

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

4 Dramatic Action Pathways

You shut the lights off when you leave the room, waste not a drop of water while brushing your teeth, and bundle every last scrap of recyclable material into blue bags. You’re the epitome of ‘environmental citizen’ and yet somehow these daily eco actions sometimes seem insignificant. Become an eco hero this season with four renovation strategies that will dramatically reduce the impact your home has on your family and the planet.

When it comes to renovating, the choices we make weigh heavily on the scales of sustainability. With conscious choices about what you put inside your home, you’ll be blown away by the difference it makes.

Detoxify

You’ve checked the label of your favourite lotion so you’re in touch with only the most nourishing and benign ingredients. Next up is to take a close look at what you put on the skin of your home – its walls. Conventional paints can contaminate your home’s air with chemicals that take a toll on your family’s health over time. Even paints marketed as ‘low VOC’ may not be as green as they claim to be especially after colorant is added. A VOC is a volatile organic compound, a substance released into the air that can have an impact on your health. Continue Reading →

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.

Continue Reading →

I am psyched and revved up! In the Raising Spaces office, green products make us so happy that we literally jump up and down.  Yesterday we had an amazing Product Knowledge session with BioShield.  What is BioShield you ask?  Well, let me tell you, it is one of the safest paints on the planet.  Clay paint is their patented mixture.  BioShield invented clay paint.

The Raising Spaces team painted the office with Gingko (a warming, dark green) and Polar white (the creamiest of ivories).  While painting we were so absolutely impressed with the smell, which was actually no smell at all.  When we put our noses up to it, all we could smell was… well… Clay!  Our fantastic tall helper, (Thanks Marc!) kept saying “I wish I’d used this stuff to paint my house”!  The coverage was great (2 coats).

We were quite proud of our work!  One thing that we really loved about the Clay Paint was the soft texture it revealed.  So warm and inviting for our lovely customers.  We couldn’t be happier walking into the store in the morning.

Not only does Clay Paint look great, it has many other qualities that other paints just simply cannot match.  Because of the properties of clay itself, the paint controls static electricity, regulates moisture, and removes odor.  I guess you can say that it is the olympic athlete of all paints!

The Solvent-free paint that BioShield offers is their answer to the “paint problem” of the world. Continue Reading →

Oh, curse the green product tradeoff! Case in point: Polystyrene insulation is oh so effective at keeping the heat in…or out. Pity about the toxic benzene required to manufacture it and the nasty toxic and bioaccumulating HBCD (hexabromocyclododecane) it contains.

Saving Energy = Good, but Toxic Chems = Bad. And what’s the solution? Perhaps it’s time to make friends with thicker walls insulated with less toxic but slightly less effective materials. Check out the original article at BuildingGreen.com

Part 2 of 3 in a series about bees.

by Cherry Dodd, Edmonton-based Native Plant Guru, author of ‘Go Wild with easy to grow prairie wildflowers and grasses’, and lead coordinator of the Edmonton Naturalization Group

Honey bee numbers have fallen 15-30% in the last two years in the US, Europe and elsewhere. Honeybees are vital insect pollinators, responsible for the healthy development of many of the world’s major food crops.

Honey bees are not native, but there are no statistics on native bees, so no one knows if their numbers are declining as well. We may feel helpless in the face of this tragedy, but there is plenty that we can do as gardeners to support all species of bees. We can provide the flowers that bees love, and the shelter that native bees need, and we can garden organically.
Continue Reading →

Yes, I do realize that cleaning isn’t something you do only in Spring. And, although I’m a little behind in my chores these days, I actually do clean year-round. At least before company comes anyway!

Fact: A good vigorous top to bottom house clean each Spring can help us evict our clutter and our sub-furniture dwelling bunny colonies.

But sometimes, the substances we enlist to exterminate germs go rogue, attacking our lungs, skin and eyes. Once down the drain, these toxic cleaners continue to unleash their fury on waterways and aquatic life. Continue Reading →