UsedEverywhere Blog

Tag Archives: Environment

Top 10 Items for a Bummer Summer

Oh, Victoria. Why do you taunt us? The first half of May was lovely, the first three days of July were a delight… and then the environment seemed to sputter and cough and give up. We’ve skipped to September? But why, summer? Why?!

It’s been a bummer summer on the West Coast, and no one is pleased. All is not lost, friends! I’ve devised a list of nifty finds to salvage what remains (even if it is spent inside… or with a coat on).

1. Tent Who says you have to set it up outside? Camping inside is totally a thing, people. It’s a city-person thing, but a thing nonetheless!

2. Wellies You pretty much need them these days. At least you’ll only be cranky because it’s raining and not because it’s raining and your feet are wet. Am I right?!

3. Comics This really shouldn’t require any explanation.

4. Hoodie Heading to the beach, even though it’s 14 degrees? Yeah, you are!! Put a hoodie on though, that breezy is nippy.

5. Suitcase Useful for packing for your vacation… elsewhere. Hopefully featuring sun.

6. Movies that never end. Got a rainy day and some time to kill? Watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy! Yayyyy!!! That’s at least nine or ten consecutive hours. Maybe twelve if you watch the bonus features.

7. Kitchen Things. You’ve got some time, why not learn a new recipe? Or nine. Or if you’re like me, learn to cook things besides a frittata and that Pad Thai that comes in a box… even if your grandma isn’t like mine and doesn’t insist that you won’t ever get married until you can cook. Thanks, Meme. I’m 22.

8. Dress Up. Particularly if you or someone you know has a baby small enough to fit in a banana costume. Oh, the hilarity. Please refrain from putting babies you don’t know in banana costumes. That’s weird.

9. Bowling. Whether you use this set or hit your local alley, so much fun!

10. A Pool. Because when summer does arrive… you’ll be ready to show it who’s boss.

A barrel of laughs, er, rain

Our rain barrel is one of the best purchases we ever made around our house. It’s about ten years old and it’s still going strong.

We bought it at Arbour, a cute eco-friendly store in the Glebe. In its former life our barrel was a commercial-grade olive container. With a capacity of about 200 litres, I truly can’t imagine how many olives floated around in that thing once upon a time. Arbour still carries them, but I’ve noticed there are a bunch of them on Used Ottawa too.

It is very simple.

  1. Rain falls on the roof of our home
  2. It makes its way to one of the downspouts and into the rainbarrel
  3. That’s it.

The water is there, ready to be used during the next dry spell. A screw on lid with a mesh covering prevents children, mosquitoes and other critters from getting in there, a spigot at the bottom allows me to easily prop a watering can underneath, and a hose near the top prevents overflow.

There’s enough water for me to keep my containers in good shape if there’s a dry spell.

Not only am I making a small dent in my water bill (ok, a very small one), but it makes me deeply happy to know that I’m doing my part to conserve water and giving my garden a long cool drink of the good stuff.

Also, drawing water from it requires a bit of patience. The flow is a little slower than you’d get with a hose, so I am forced to stand there and wait for an extra minute or two. I spend this time gazing around the garden, sometimes I pick a few weeds, but you know… I would argue that waiting is not necessarily a bad thing.

If you’re interested, heed my advice and pick one up quick. They’ll be in short supply around Ottawa, especially with water bans in the south end of the city.

Do you have a rainbarrel or two? Has it made a difference in your life? Do you love it, or do you love it?

Earth Hour Top 7!

We’re a month shy of Earth Day (April 22nd – no forgetting!), but while you’re getting organized for that you can have fun with Earth Hour on March 26th at 8:30pm.

What is it? Glad you asked! It started in Sydney, Australia as a way to show support for the planet and take a stand against climate change. All you have to do is turn the lights off for one hour at 8:30pm on Saturday, March 26th. Easy, right? Besides the energy savings of the lights being off, Earth Hour helps make people more mindful of their energy consumption –  a hot topic these days.

creative commons image courtesy of Muffet

So here, in honour of Earth Hour, are the Top 7 thing to do while the lights are out (well, the Top 7 PG things anyway)!

  1. Make an Earth Hour Lantern! You can do that right here, and maybe make a real one for the event, too!
  2. Earth Hour Party! Invite some friends over to hang out by candle light or flash light, make some snacks and have fun! Sitting in the dark is way more fun with your buds.
  3. S’mores! A little indoor or outdoor fire (safety first everyone!), a little marshmallow, graham cracker, chocolate? Cuddle up in some blankets and tell campfire stories. A guaranteed success.
  4. Movie time! The lights are going to be out anyway – why not make some popcorn and curl up with a movie?
  5. Pitch-black art projects. Canvases? Finger-painting? Kick it like it’s 1994 (or whatever year it was when you were 5) and get some crazy art happening. You never know, it could turn out to be really cool! Just be sure to lay down some newspaper first and stay away from those scissors!
  6. Marco Polo/Hide and Go Seek. Maybe move pointy or potentially dangerous out of the way first.
  7. Sleep! Why not call it an early night and catch up on some Zzzz’s? Especially if you had a late night Friday…

Happy Earth Hour!

Update: Can’t believe I forgot to mention this (it’s been a long week): Our site will be dark during Earth Hour! We did it last year, we’re doing it again!

It's a Green Initiative!

Holy water-bottle/light-bulbs, Batman!

Check out this incredible idea from an ingenious engineer in Brazil! Use a 2 L bottle in the place of a 50 Watt light bulb!

The Big Lead Bag Debacle

We all know plastic bags are bad. Very, very bad. They take about 4 trillion years (roughly) to decompose in landfills and they fall apart when you bring home heavy groceries and they pile up in your kitchen and make you want to explode. Or something like that.

But seriously, reusable bags are an awesome way to take care of the environment, plain and simple. Plus there are lots of really cool ones on the market right now. You may have heard that there are a lot of reusable bags being recalled at the moment because of concerns over lead content. Everyone from Lululemon to Whole Foods to Sears Canada are calling into question the safety of their reusable bags.

Some have said that the quantity of lead is tiny, and that the bags are not likely to cause harm to humans. When we’re dealing with lead however, I think it’s better to be safe than sorry. Having said that, I’m happy to say that UsedEverywhere’s (very popular, very stylish) bags are lead-free! The bags we have right now are from a company called smartbag.ca and they are non-woven polypropelene with ZERO lead in them. Yes!

Eden showing off our UsedPEI.com and UsedVictoria.com bags!

Putting a spring in my step

I don’t LOVE shoes, I just like them a lot. Ok, maybe I like shoes a tiny bit more than the next person.

Here’s a question for you: do you or do you not think shoes are a personality barometer? What do your shoes say about you? Are you scuffed and dusty? Tired and worn? Neat and tidy? Shiny and purple? Or maybe somewhere in between?

Awhile back an acquaintance on Twitter mentioned that she had a pair of Fluevogs in my size to give away. (If you’ve never heard of Fluevogs check out the official website here. They are a very unique shoe, and have a cult following that borders on crazytown.)

I’ve never worn secondhand shoes. Although I’ve bought and worn a LOT of secondhand clothing, the idea of wearing someone else’s shoes was teetering on a line that I wasn’t sure I was ready to cross. But then I read that tweet, promising a pair of red Fluevogs to the first person who answered. This, my friends, was a very special kind of dilemma.

I have always wanted a pair fo Fluevogs but never had a few hundred dollars to spare in order to buy them. And so, I jumped. My friend sent them to me via another friend here in Ottawa, and suddenly I had my very own pair.

They required some minor repair work so I ordered special heel caps (heart-shaped! Eep!) from a local shoe store and brought the whole thing to the neighborhood cobbler. 

All told, I got myself a lovely pair of Fluevogs for less than $50.

While waiting to pay the shoe guy I had a few moments to scan the rows of shoes that were waiting to be picked up by other customers. All kinds of footwear lined the counter: work boots, high heels, sneakers, and even some cheapie little flats … the kind you’d pick up for a song and discard after a season of wearing.

And that’s when the lightbulb went off. I’ve kind of always known this, because I do consider myself to be an environmentally-friendly person, but as a society we really shouldn’t be buying cheap shoes and throwing them out when they fall apart. We should be spending more on better shoes, buying fewer of them, and getting them fixed when they need a little help. It’s better for all of us, especially in the long run, isn’t it?  

I was oddly proud to see all those shoes lined up, ready to be given a second chance.

Perhaps I’ll buy myself a pair of new Fluevogs after all. I wonder if I can find some in purple?

Turn It Off

If you work in an office and use a computer, give the environment a break and Turn it Off this weekend.

Source: Nigel Upchurch

Pin It For The Planet!

Dust of your spokes and bust out your running shoes Canada. On Monday, May 31st, you’re not allowed to drive to work. It’s our national bike to work week, but you knew that already. What you didn’t know is that it’s also the World Wildlife Foundation’s inaugural Pin It For The Planet. The WWF is hosting a growing community on their website that lets people like you and me track the time we don’t spend driving “that selfish and thoughtless machine” and the effect it has on our environment (you can even set a cute panda or racoon as your avatar). Bike, walk, run, scooter, roller blade, skateboard, long board, kayak, paraglide, Segway, whatever, as long as you don’t drive. Then, show your commitment by pining your car key to your shirt.

Click here to take the Pin It For The Planet 7 day challenge!

How To: Make The Most Of Earth Day

Earth Day is nigh! It was started in 1970 to inspire appreciation for the lovely trees, forest dwellers, ocean critters, and everything else that lives on the third rock from the sun. So naturally, this Thursday (April 22) we will be celebrating life with everyone else in the Northern Hemisphere, you in?

Whether you fancy yourself in the bright green camp and think technology will help us save the world, or are more in line with the dark green perspective and think we need radical political and technological change to reverse the problems we’ve created, there’s likely to be something you can get involved with. Ultimately, we’re all after the same end-goal: ecological sustainability.
Click on your province below and you’ll be taken to a list of Earth Day events in your community!

Michael & Nick’s Top Ten Things To Turn Off and Unplug


To officially opt in to Earth Hour, all you have to do is turn off your lights. Easy enough, but what about the other 364 days and 23 hours of the year? As important as it is to show your support for Earth Hour, there’s more you can do to save the world. Here’s a list of 10 household items that all environmental stewards should keep an eye on:
10) Your Television
The last thing you want is to negate the valiant effort you made to turn off the lights by watching your television at full brightness. When you’re not watching the tele, make sure to turn off the power. Most new TVs do a pretty good job of conserving power when they’re off, and only use a negligible amount when they’re plugged in to save your settings. You might want to scan your basement for any “instant-on” televisions though. Their ability to turn on in an instant really means that they’re sucking almost as much power when they’re off as when they’re on.
9) Your Computer Set-up
Computers are notoriously left on and forgotten about. They’re energy suckers! Shut them down every night for the environment (and you will be rewarded with an extended computer life span) and ensure that you’re power saver settings are environmentally friendly.
8) Your Toaster Oven
Here’s a myth buster for you: toasters, blenders, panini makers, and other appliances do not use energy when they’re plugged in unless they have some sort of digital display (if they keep track of time, for example). It only takes a second to unplug your unusables, but you might as well leave them be if they’re energy friendly.
7) Your Lights and Lamps
6) Your Space Heater

Depending on where you are, giving up heat is the ultimate sacrifice. Get out your winter jackets and blankets and unplug any heaters you have around the house.

5) Your Vibrating Bed

Are you going to bed before 9:30? If not, you’re not going to be using it anyway, why not set it and forget it, until bedtime that is.

4) Your Stereo System

If you’re an audiophile, then this is a tough one to do. Make sure that you’ve got your iPod fully charged for the hour, so that you don’t loose tunage during the outage. Or, if you have records laying around the house, you could always make you’re own record player.

3) Your Train Set

With the TV, and the Stereo and the computer unplugged, unplugging the train set will be a sad moment. What would you do? I guess it’s time to pull out some books.

2) Your Cellphone Charger

Cellphone chargers are nasty energy culprits. They use almost as much energy when they’re sitting idle on your counter as when they’re pumping your phone full of juice. With a little foresight, you may not even give this a second though. But if you’re charging your phone, pull it from the wall, and hope you don’t drop below 10% battery.

1) Your Basement Clock

It’s probably plugged in the corner of the deepest darkest recesses of your house. It might not just be in the basement, other places include the garage, or a storage room, or the laundry room.

Don’t worry about the Electric Fence… it’s solar
We’re unplugging the website for Earth Hour. Join us in turning off your top ten electricity bugs on Saturday from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

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