Urban Hippie by Jen Lahey is published every second Tuesday at OttawaMagazine.com. Follow Jen on Twitter ‏@Jen_Lahey.

Last week’s balmy weather brought a song to mind: a 1933 Irving Berlin classic, with those breezy lyrics, “we’re having a heat wave / a tropical heat wave.” And surely, there will be more heat waves to come as we trundle toward the heart of summer in Ottawa.

Luckily, there are things you can do to cool down your living quarters without spending a lot of coin, and without wasting a lot of resources in the mix. Herewith, five easy ways to stay fresh, keep the inside temp from driving you batty, and actually enjoy the heat waves of summertime.

Start with the basics: cool air in, hot air out. In the mornings, get in the habit of closing windows, and keep them covered with drapes, blinds or shutters, especially on the western and southern sides of your house. When (and if) it cools off in the evening, open those puppies up and let the fresh air in to cool things off.

I.D. hot spots: Electronics and appliances both generate a ton of heat, so shut off as many of these as possible during the day when you’re not home. (Little things like this add up when it comes to energy conservation, and when it comes to keeping your home from getting too hot.) TIP: Keep electronics plugged in to a power strip so it’s easy to shut them off with the flick of a switch when you’re set to leave for the day.

Invest in ceiling fans: And make sure these energy-savers are set to push air downwards (many fans have two settings). While you’re at it, your oscillating fans can be put to better use, too, MacGuyver style: set a bowl of ice in front of your fan and let the power of the blades blow the now-icy air blissfully throughout the room.

Attack humidity: If there’s one thing Ottawans like to talk about, it’s weather, and when we do, we talk about the humidity. Humidity makes any heat wave feel, well, muckier. Invest in a dehumidifier and see how much less sticky the air feels.

Cook Smart: Plot your cooking strategically in the warm weather. Turning on a stove to cook a meal can leave your home toasty for hours afterward. Instead, cook pasta or potatoes early in the cool of the morning to be used in cold salads at dinner time, and think about making better use of crockpots, outdoor grills and your microwave if you’re cooking later in the day when the temperature heats up.

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Urban Hippie by Jen Lahey is published every second Tuesday at OttawaMagazine.com. Follow Jen on Twitter ‏@Jen_Lahey.

Organic cotton collection by Feral Childe

The stereotype of eco-friendly clothes (the hemp-heavy, crunchy-granola kind of stuff worn by the hacky sack crowd) is something that Sarah Barr is out to change.

She’s the owner of Green Tree Eco Fashion,(358 Richmond Rd.) a boutique for those with a bent for both the environmentally friendly and the fashion-fierce.

The passionate fashionista, who has worked at Chanel and Holt Renfew, amongst other notable companies, describes the clothes at her store as “edgy, modern, current, and funky,” and one gets the sense that she wants customers to feel that way, too, when they’re done shopping at Green Tree.

Barr clearly wants women and men to look outside their pre-conceived notions. She encourages people to dress for their body type — which often results, she says, in customers having a new, more positive, perspective on how they look.

Barr, who grew up sewing, and still does the tailoring for the shop, says that fit is key when it comes to clothes. “Tailoring is very important,” she explains. “If it doesn’t fit perfectly, it’s just a piece of fabric.” She often fine-tunes items for customers so they fit just so.

Sparkle shift dress by Sugarbum

Barr even encourages customers to bring in clothing items they already own so that she can help clients see what new items will work best with they already own. “A lot of customers will bring in a piece from their place, and we’ll tweak what they have,” says Barr.

But why emphasis on environmentally friendly wares? Barr says she “want(ed) to have a store that could be sweatshop-free, fair trade, with natural fabrics, and that doesn’t leave a footprint on the earth.” In keeping with this, the store carries only natural fabrics such as bamboo, cotton, lyocell, modal, wool, and silk, and the store’s cosmetics are organic and paraben-free. Barr’s big on supporting local and Canadian designers, but also brings in items from New York, Spain, California, France, and Italy.

So what are the trends in eco-fashion for this season? According to Barr, it’s all about colour. “If you’re not wearing bright colours, you may as well be living under a rock,” she laughs. “Bright, beautiful, vibrant colours, and that’s going to continue right into the fall.” Think corals, teals, cobalt blue, and even hot pink. Also de rigour? Maxi-dresses, which Barr says make everyone look long and lean, and are scandalously comfortable.

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Local tulips. Photography by Becca Wallace.

Urban Hippie by Jen Lahey is published every second Tuesday at OttawaMagazine.com. Follow Jen on Twitter ‏@Jen_Lahey.

Spring, we think we can safely say, has sprung. And for a lot of Ottawans, that means getting our hands dirty prepping our lawns and gardens for the sunny season to come. Indeed, it’s prime time to get the gardens up and running again — but now that Ontario has banned the use of pesticides, what’s an Urban Hippie to do to keep his greenery healthy and productive?

For the answers, the UH turned a man who knows of such things: Peter Rofner is the president and owner of The Richmond Nursery, Ottawa’s one-stop for everything-under-the-sun gardening, and he knows a thing or two (or a thousand) about the ways of the garden. He says there are three things you should be thinking about to keep your garden happy and healthy, sans chemical help.

Prevention, prevention, prevention. Getting ahead of the game is key to preventing your green space from becoming overrun with pests — once you’ve got them, there’s far less you can do. Take fungus, for example: Rofner advises preventing it altogether by ensuring that you’ve got good airflow amongst your plants by spacing them out. (If you do run into a problem with said fungi, he notes that there are biofungicides, comprised of bacteria, on the market that will take care of the problem, and are better than conventional remedies because they don’t become resistant.)

Read the darned directions, then follow them to a tee.  With conventional gardening products, say chemical fertilizers, you could apply them pretty much whenever you wanted and they’d spring into action. Green products (such as nematodes, a microscopic organism applied to banish grubs, the bane of many an Ottawa gardener in search of a consistent, lush, green lawn) often have very specific application instructions (how, and what time of day) that can affect how well they work. Follow these directions or you risk less than ideal results, says Rofner. (With the nematodes, for example, the little critters need water to do their work, and are harmed by UV light, so it’s best to apply them on an overcast day when it’s going to rain.)

Plant yoga. Okay, Rofner didn’t actually say anything about yoga, but he did note that keeping your plants stress-free is a great way to keep them healthy. Your garden (or house plants) can be humming along just dandily, until you forget to water for a few days. That extra stress can lead to trouble, just the same as lack of care stresses human bodies out. Keep everything consistently watered, and keep your plants fed, something that Rofner says is often overlooked and underutilized by gardeners. Good sources of food for your garden include manure and compost. And a layer of mulch will help keep things moist, a little extra protection in case you do forget to water, or the temperature spikes.

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The Urban Hippie finds three fine ways to celebrate Earth Day in the capital

Urban Hippie by Jen Lahey is published every second Tuesday at OttawaMagazine.com. Follow Jen on Twitter ‏@Jen_Lahey.

We like to think of April as the festive time of year for Urban Hippies. Why? Not just because the sun is finally starting to put in some real face time, and the advent of farmer’s markets is tantalizingly close, but also because April 22 marks the annual worldwide Earth Day, the celebration of all things eco. To help you fete in style, we tracked down three of Ottawa’s best ways to mark the green holiday season.

The Ottawa Living Green Expo. This event promises to be a blow-out of epic proportions, with more than 125 green exhibitors peddling their wares and services. There will also be presentations from green experts, eco-fashion shows, a learning lounge, kids’ activities, and more. Admission is by donation (funds collected will be donated to Ecology Ottawa and the local chapter of Canadian Organic Growers). April 27 and 28. Ottawa Convention Centre, 55 Colonel By Dr..

Earth Month at terra20. Ottawa’s repository for all things green decided to forgo celebrating a single day, and go all-out with a month-long celebration of the earth. Each week in April, the eco-department store will be celebrating a theme and offering solutions around that theme, including cloth and alternative diapering, litterless lunch solutions, waste diversion, and the store’s own ‘ecobar,’ which offers enviro-friendly cleaning products. Catch in-store demos by some of the store’s vendors, plus tons of info. A nice way to get in-the-know about lifestyle solutions, and hey, if you happen to find some environmentally friendly treats for yourself while you’re there, well, it IS the festive season. Ongoing. 2685 Iris St.

Drumming Ceremony. Feel like really getting in touch with your inner Urban Hippie? Celebrate Mother Earth out loud with a drumming ceremony and potluck feast. Organizers are inviting participants to bring something tasty to share, along with your own chair and non-disposable dish, cutlery and water bottle. Drumming starts at 1 p.m. with the chow to follow. April 22. Victoria Island @ the Chaudiere Bridge. earth.mothers@yahoo.ca for more info.

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Urban Hippie by Jen Lahey is published every second Tuesday at OttawaMagazine.com. Follow Jen on Twitter ‏@Jen_Lahey.

This week, the City of Ottawa is finally doing something that environmentalists have been pushing it to do for awhile: it’s taking the first step toward addressing its out of date policy on climate change. The city’s Air Quality and Climate Change Management Plan (AQCCMP), which expired at the end of 2012, will finally get the attention of politicians at a Greenhouse Gas Roundtable on March 23.

The AQCCMP was developed in 2004 and set out targets for reducing the city’s greenhouse gas emissions.  So far, the city has made some progress, but hasn’t met its greenhouse gas reduction targets in any of the set out areas, not by a long shot.

A report by Ecology Ottawa, an environmental non-profit in Ottawa, points out that “[i]n 2012, [City] Council received the 2004 and 2008 Greenhouse Gas Inventories, which showed progress at the ‘corporate’ level (against a 30% target, a 12.5% greenhouse gas reduction was achieved, principally by capture and utilization of landfill gas) but not much progress at all at the ‘community’ level (community emissions representing 95% of all local emissions increased 0.9%).”

So what does a group like Ecology Ottawa hope to see happen at this weekend’s Roundtable? According to Trevor Haché, the group’s policy coordinator, two things would make the event a huge win.

First, he wants to see the city actually commit to developing Ottawa’s “next generation climate change action plan, which necessarily includes a focus on community [greenhouse gas] reduction targets consistent with national best practices.”

A second sign of success? Haché says the city needs to put its money where its mouth is and actually commit to a plan, and a timeline for executing that plan, with a goal of completing it within the year 2013.

According to Ecology Ottawa, the city would do well to focus its attention on the following areas to get the biggest bang for its environmental buck: transportation, the building sector, alternative energy and community energy planning /conservation programs, and sustainable land use planning and community greening.

Haché says his group is impressed with the city for even organizing the Roundtable, and that “the leadership being displayed by the Mayor’s office is particularly encouraging.”

Ottawans who want to take part in the Roundtable in person are apparently out of luck: the city has been sending out “we have reached maximum capacity” auto-replies to those members of the public who attempted to RSVP to the event.

Tech savvy Urban Hippies should have no fear, however: Ecology Ottawa will be livetweeting the event using the hashtag #otghg.

The post URBAN HIPPIE: Previewing the city’s Greenhouse Gas Roundtable on March 23 appeared first on Ottawa Magazine.

Urban Hippie by Jen Lahey is published every second Tuesday atOttawaMagazine.com. Follow Jen on Twitter ‏@Jen_Lahey.

Eating organically grown produce and products is all the rage these days, and the UH got wondering: what exactly does ‘organic’ mean in Canada? When you bite into that delicious apple, or seek out a piece of local, organic chicken, what kind of work has gone into growing it in order for it to have earned the almighty label of ‘organic’?

According to the website of Centre for Systems Integration (CSI), one of Ottawa’s organic certifying bodies, “organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain, and enhance ecological harmony.”

In order to be certified as ‘organic’, a grower or food producer has to follow a set of guidelines outlined in a Canadian regulation that came into effect on June 24, 2009.  According to CSI’s site, getting certified against the regulations involves “annual on-site inspections of farm fields and processing facilities, detailed record keeping, and periodic testing of soil and water to ensure that growers and handlers are meeting the standards.”

The regulations themselves are quite detailed (as would be expected), but the UH decided to delve into it a bit and see what kind of things it takes to qualify as ‘organic.’ Here’s just a few notes from the regulations:

• To begin with, producers have to follow the stipulations for at least 12 months prior to the first harvest of products in order to be certified organic.

• When it comes to soil fertility, organic producers rely on techniques such as crop rotation, and incorporating plant and animal matter that is also organic.

• What about weeds and pests, which conventional farmers blast away with pesticides and other organic no-no’s? According to the regulations, “[p]est, disease and weed control shall be centred on organic management practices aimed at enhancing crop health and reducing losses caused by weeds, disease and pests. Organic management practices include cultural practices (e.g. rotations, establishment of a balanced ecosystem, and use of resistant varieties) and mechanical techniques (e.g. sanitation measures, cultivation, traps, mulches and grazing).” But what about when that’s not enough? The regulations have an answer for that: in those cases, a “biological or botanical substance” can be applied, along with other approved substances.

• What about livestock? For starters, chickens considered organic have to originate from stock that have been given no medications, except for vaccines. Animals used for milk production have to have been “under continuous organic management for at least one year,” while animal used for meat “shall have been under continuous organic management from the beginning of the last third of the gestation period.”
• As far as what the animals are fed, the organic producer is not allowed to give livestock any of the following: “feed medications or veterinary drugs, including hormones and prophylactic antibiotics, to promote growth; approved feed supplements or additives used in amounts above those required for adequate nutrition and health maintenance for the species at its specific stage of life,” (my read: no feeding to promote faster growth than is natural, a norm in conventional animal farming), “feed that contains mammalian or avian slaughter by-products, feed that contains synthetic preservation agents; feed that contains synthetic appetite-enhancers or synthetic flavour-enhancers; feed that includes formulas containing manure or other animal waste or synthetic colouring-agents. Animals must have fresh water available,” and force feeding ducks and geese (the standard way of producing foie gras) is prohibited. Sounds good to us!

• When it comes to how animals are housed, the living conditions are much, much sunnier for organically raised animals than for conventional ones. The regulation stipulates, amongst many other things, that animals must have “access to the outdoors, shade, shelter, rotational pasture, exercise areas, fresh air and natural daylight suitable to the species, its stage of production, the climate and the environment; access to fresh water and high-quality feed in accordance with the needs of the animal; sufficient space and freedom to lie down in full lateral recumbency, stand up, stretch their limbs and turn freely, and express normal patterns of behaviour.”

• That last bit about being able to move around and express normal patterns of behavior is pretty significant considering the conditions that the vast majority of conventional animals are raised in (hint: nothing close to the ones described above.) Minimum space allotments for each animal are outlined as well, and they’re much, much roomier than those allotted for conventional animals raised for food. (As an example, a source at the Chicken Farmers of Canada said that chickens raised for meat, or ‘broilers’ are required to have a certain amount of space, which is 31 kilos per square metre, or about 14 birds per square metre. Organically raised chickens allows only 21 kilos of birds in that 1 square metre of space, or about 9 birds, if the organic birds are as large as the conventional ones, which they may not be, given the feeding standards.)

Of course, these are just a few highlights. For the full text of the regulation, check out the Public Works and Government Services site.

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Urban Hippie by Jen Lahey is published every second Tuesday atOttawaMagazine.com. Follow Jen on Twitter ‏@Jen_Lahey.

Ottawa artist Choleena DiTullio has been making with the art since she was a teenager. After her guidance councilor noticed she needed an art class to graduate, she took the plunge. Until then, she has been on the fast track to becoming a scientist, focusing on the hard sciences and math. Unbeknownst to her, after that fateful class, her art teacher met with her guidance councilor and the two went into cahoots to convince her to go into art as a career. She went on to complete a fine arts degree at Mount Allison University, and doesn’t seem to have taken a rest since. Some twenty-odd years later, her career is flourishing, and her artistic journey has taken on a decidedly eco-bent.

Oh, and she has three shows on this month (details at the bottom of this article).

Below, check out what went down when The Urban Hippie convinced her to submit to a quick and dirty Q and A.

Adirondack Fish integrates every piece of an old Adirondack lawn chair. Even the fish’s teeth are nails. DiTullio says it's thrilling to find ways to recycle large objects into paintings but it allows me to show my respect for the environment in my art.

What media do you work in, and what is it about that media that attracts you?
Well, I started out a mixed media artist. I used acrylic on canvas as my base and would find ways to adhere recycled materials and found objects to that painting. The great thing about stretched canvas is that it comes on wooden stretcher bars. That means that I can nail or screw things to it.

The most exciting artwork that I produced with this method was Adirondack Fish, which completely integrated every piece of an old Adirondack lawn chair. Even the fish’s teeth are nails. Not only is it thrilling to find ways to recycle large objects into paintings but it allows me to show my respect for the environment in my art. I’m an avid recycler and I attempt to live ‘green’ so you can imagine my excitement to be able to add this extra step of keeping objects out of the landfill. And when people buy my art, they’re doing the same. The enthusiasm spreads.

What do you do when you’re not creating art?
Ha! Sleep. Eat. I literally make art all the time. I just can’t seem to stop.

What do you hope people derive from your work?
I want to focus on art as a daily part of one’s life. Whether you’re in your bathroom, your office, or at the bus stop, I feel that we should be surrounded by colour and creativity. Art should be pervasive; in every part of every day. I want people to be inspired by my rich and bright colour palette and my playful themes. I hope that they feel so uplifted that they will crave having art in as many moments of their day as possible. It changes your mental state and perspective on life.

Using different papers, many with vegetable dyes, the DiTullio is currently creating works with a tile-mosaic effect.

What’s inspiring you right now?
Recently, my attention has been captured by the beauty and vibrancy of tile-mosaic. I’ve developed a process using different papers, many with vegetable dyes and recycled content, to create the appearance of classic tile mosaic.

Unlike traditional tile mosaic, this form is light and durable, making it easy to hang and transport. You wouldn’t believe it’s paper.

My most dramatic piece is a 5-foot-tall British Telephone Booth, which was recently bought by a local company for their offices. This is exactly what I was talking about before: people buying art to add visual richness to areas of their life outside the home or a museum.

So, what have you got going on right now, and what have you got coming up?
I’m currently in a three-month solo show that the Ottawa School of Art (OSA) arranged with the Canadian Tire on Coventry Road. The manager of that store loves art and has created a gallery space in the Exit Lobby. OSA partners with a number of businesses in town to reach their goal of getting art out to the public in unexpected places. You wouldn’t believe the traffic that space gets. 1000-plus people per day. It’s been excellent for me, that’s for sure. The show runs until March 5^th.

I’m also in the juried group show called Mosaics, the name is very appropriate for the work I am doing now, at Trinity Gallery in the Shenkman Arts Centre from February 13^th to March 19^th. That show is put on by ArtEast. I have a number of other shows and events booked but one of the most exciting things that I have happening is this autumn. The City of Ottawa has awarded me a free studio at Britannia Beach. I’m really looking forward to expanding my practice into that space and evolving my mosaic art into works that are suitable for public spaces.

You can also catch Choleena’s work in a one night group show, Wonder Geeks Activate!, at Zaphod’s on February 25.

The post URBAN HIPPIE: Flourishing artist Choleena DiTullio (three shows this month!) on how environmentalism has shaped her work appeared first on Ottawa Magazine.

Urban Hippie by Jen Lahey is published every second Tuesday at OttawaMagazine.com. Follow Jen on Twitter ‏@Jen_Lahey.

With the chillier temps outside come more days spent bundled up in the cozy confines of our homes. But sometimes, those cozy confines become a little too, well, close, and our icy climate means opening windows is a no-no.

We say, why wait for spring to freshen your environs? Mid-winter’s a fine time to frisk through the house and get everything smelling like a breath of fresh air. But conventional cleaners tend to harbour all manner of questionable chemicals that we think have no place in our home, where they, of course, eventually find their way into our bodies.

Here are a few quick ways to freshen up your home without too much elbow grease, using easy-on-you-and-the-kids-and-pets items, most of which you probably already have around the house (hint: baking soda’s the star). Easy? Check. Green? Check.

Clean Green Idea 1: The classic that your grandmother probably used, because it works: a box of baking soda in the fridge or freezer, opened, will suck out lingering smells and leave each food item tasting the way it’s supposed to. But don’t stop there: that little box has a place in musty closets, too, and a sprinkle of the stuff goes well in the bottom of diaper pails, garbage cans, and litter boxes, too (a hefty sprinkle will do well in that litter box, natch!).

Clean Green Idea 2: Cooking up a storm tonight? Bravo to you for what is no doubt a delightfully healthy meal. Post-meal, put lingering odors to rest with a shallow saucer of vinegar (or two) left out on the counter to suck up odors.

Clean Green Idea 3: Good old baking soda subs in for harsh abrasive cleansers in both bathroom and kitchen when sprinkled on a damp sponge. Scrub away, then wipe clean. Ta-da!

Clean Green Idea 4: Nobody likes cleaning the toilet. Ease the job (and replace that weird blue goo cleaner) by adding half a cup to a cup of baking soda to the bowl, leaving it for an hour, where it will absorb odors, then give it a scrub and flush.

Clean Green Idea 5: Whip up a batch of the UH’s own Homemade Lavender Around-The-House Cleaner recipe, useful for most kitchen and bathroom tidy-ups. Take a standard 750ml (or larger) spray bottle (BPA-free if you please), add half to three-quarters of a cup of vinegar, fill the rest of the way with water, and add 10 drops (or more) of lavender essential oil. Seal the lid, shake, and hunt for a mess to gleefully take down, green style. (Feel free to use in conjunction with Clean Green Idea 3 for the grubbiest of, say, bathtubs.)

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Lace up! On average, the Canal has 18,000 visits per day when it's open. Photo by National Capital Commission (NCC).

The deep chill of January is upon us, dear UHs, and for Ottawans, at least this year, that means one thing: the Rideau Canal is open for skating. Currently, just a small stretch is open, but soon the full length will ready for those of us hearty enough to take advantage. And what could be more environmentally friendly (and downright Canadian) than commuting to work under your own steam atop two steely blades as they glide across (hopefully) smooth swathes of ice? Below, six stealth tips for getting to work via the world’s largest skating rink.

1. Know thyself: Do a test run (or two) on a weekend before you actually do your first commute. This will let you see how your body reacts to your route: just how hot and sweaty are you really going to be by the time you get to work? Do you need to carry a complete change of clothes with you, or will a quick sink wash-up do the trick?

2. Plan ahead: If you do need to change clothes once at work, consider leaving your dress shirts at work at the beginning of the week (ditto for extra undies…just sayin’). That way you won’t need to scramble every single morning to get organized. Leave your work shoes under your desk instead of hauling them back and forth.

3. Take it easy, Brian Boitano: Consider commuting on skates only a few days a week at the beginning to get used to your new lifestyle. Enjoyment and lessened environmental impact are the goals here, and if persistent sore muscles at the start are enough to put you off for good, you’re no further ahead.

4. DIY: A facecloth moistened at home, sprinkled with a few drops of tea tree oil and packed in a re-sealable plastic bag makes a delightful and refreshing homemade (and re-usable!) wet-wipe for you to use when you duck into the washroom at work to get cleaned up. (And leave a stick of deodorant in your desk for a quick touch up your coworkers will appreciate.)

5. Stash a snack: Pack a few almonds or other protein-rich, post-commute fuel, plus a filled, re-usable water bottle so you can re-charge once you get to work. You want to be clear-headed and topped-up to take on your day.

6. Click before you skate: Hit up the National Capital Commission’s website to check the ice conditions before you head out the door to see what you’re contending with. A wise UH is always prepared. (What, you didn’t think it was just the Boy Scouts, did you?)

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Urban Hippie by Jen Lahey is published every second Tuesday at OttawaMagazine.com. Follow Jen on Twitter ‏@Jen_Lahey.

Ah, January: back to work and routine for all, and if past experience tells us anything, lots of us are probably distracting ourselves by playing around with newly acquired electronics left by good ol’ Santa. And with new e-readers, computers, and phones comes the obviouys: old electronics relegated to the sidelines. Some of you may have passed these still-good gems on to friends or family, but some of them may now officially be under the category of something called e-waste. Herewith, a primer on e-waste, why you should care about it, and top tips for dealing with your newly old electronics.

What it is:

Electronic waste, or e-waste, refers to discarded electronic products, including mobile phones, laptop computers, monitors, TVs, VCRs, phones and cell phones, e-readers, printers, fax machines, photocopiers, and MP3 players, computers, televisions and audio equipment.

According to the United Nations, 20-50 million tonnes of e-waste are generated globally each year, and it’s estimated that we Canucks generate 200,000 tonnes of e-waste per year, although that number may actually be much higher.  The City of Ottawa says that here in the capital we generate 3,000 tonnes of the stuff, or 300 trucks full.

More than 1,000 materials are used to make electronic products and their components, including chlorinated solvents, brominated flame retardents, PVC, heavy metals, plastics, and various gases. The big deal is that these toxicants are released at every step of the production and in the use of electronics, with the heaviest impact coming at the end-of-life stage, when electronics are disposed of…in landfills, where it all seeps into the ecosystem.

Electronics production is also a kicker when it comes to resource use. A United Nations study found that the manufacture of one computer and its monitor — just one — uses 22 kg of chemicals and 1.5 tonnes water. Nearly 300 kg of fossil fuels are used.

Electronics production is also dependent on the depletion of already scarce minerals, and the extraction and mining of those minerals can have serious environmental impacts.

It’s also worth pointing out that more than per cent of a desktop computer’s energy use is in making the product, not in using it.

One last area to round out the primer, and it’s a biggie: human rights. To stop (richer) developed countries from exporting potentially toxic e-waste to (poorer) developing nations where environmental regulations, workers’ rights, and strength of governance may be weak (a more cost–effective but socially and environmentally irresponsible means of dealing with e-waste), the Basel Convention was developed. Canada ratified this convention in 1994. Despite this Convention, violations of the Convention by member countries continue to be documented.

So what are we supposed to do about it? Top tips:

Demand products that are more durable and don’t have to be replaced as often;

Support companies that are making greener products and using greener materials and technology;

Maximize use by postponing replacement of electronics, or by giving (gifting!) the item to a second user;

Participate in local e-waste diversion and recycling programs;*

Return products to the manufacturer when you’re done with them; 

Seek out organizations that specialize in e-waste recycling and reuse services.

*Here in Ottawa, e-waste is not picked up curbside. The city runs one-day e-waste drop-off days, which it lists on the city’s website . Some retailers in the Ottawa also take back electronics for safe disposal, so when you buy your new toys, ask if they’ll take your old ones back for recycling.

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