Get Vegucated

We recently showed the movie Earthlings in our teacher training. It's a heavy duty documentary about animal abuse (factory farming, scientific testing, etc). They showed it to us in the Jivamukti training, and it had such a huge impact I thought it was important to pass it on. Although it is a hard movie to watch, the trainees proudly made it through it. After the screening, most of the trainees felt sad, angry, and frustrated. They wanted to share the information with their family and friends, but weren't sure if everyone would be up to watching it... 

This week I downloaded (on iTunes) another documentary called Vegucated. It focuses on vegetarianism, with 3 meat-eaters taking a 6 week vegan challenge. I highly recommend it! It's less harsh than Earthlings, but still informative.

Rent or buy Vegucated on iTunes (super easy!)

Watch Earthlings free online

Montreal Mock Meat

I have lots of vegetarian and non-vegetarian friends who love mock meat (simulated chicken, fish, etc. usually made with soy). Although Chu Chai is a great Montreal mock meat restaurant, there are also several places you can buy it to bring home and cook yourself. Two of Jason's favorites are: Tiende Santé Végétarienne on Duluth (mock ginger chicken) and Yuan on St Denis (it's a restaurant and grocery store). It makes a nice side dish, and is a good option if you're making the transition to vegetarian.

Tiende Santé Végétarienne on Duluth

Thinking of bringing a Tofurky for the family gatherings this Christmas... If you have a good one to recommend, let me know (it's gotta be good, otherwise I'll never hear the end of it!).

Apple Enlightenment

I love autumn. One of my favorite parts is the yearly apple party my friend Anick hosts at her organic apple orchard. A group of women get together, peel and cut apples, make applesauce, apple crumble, and this year, apple muffins! The atmosphere is so wholesome and grounding I always walk away feeling enlightened.

Levi's first apple party

making applesauce

yummy apple/carrot muffins

Le Verger de Hudson

839 Main, Hudson Quebec

450.458.0163

Compost Bins & Rain Savers for the City Yard

I emptied out my compost bin a couple of weeks ago and was happy to discover tons of fresh, nutrient rich compost! You can pick up a bin at your local Eco Quartier or hardware store (they come in lots of different shapes and sizes)

 my garden work-station with FULL compost bin

enough compost to fill all my pots & garden

we keep all our food scraps in this stainless steel pail before emptying it into the bin

super excited about our new rain barrel!

Tap Water is a Luxury!
We use tap water for many purposes that do not require treated
drinking water. Less than 1% of household tap water
is used for human consumption.

It is a mistake to believe that wasting water does not cost us anything.
Tap water has been purified and will be cleaned before
being released in the St. Lawrence River. These treatments are not
free. It costs $800 000 a day to treat and distribute water
on the Island of Montreal.

Saving tap water, even in small quantities, decreases the costs
of water treatment. Every drop counts!

In many municipalities, it is forbidden to water the lawn with city
water between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. or if it is raining.
Check your local by-laws.

Thanks for making smart use of our water !

www.monjardinvert.ca

Conscious Cycling

Got my bike fixed up last week, and am happy to say I biked to work all week long! Rain or no rain, all it takes is a little perseverance and a pretty heavy outfit.

An increase in levels of bicycle use in Canadian cities would entail a number of benefits:

• Environmental benefits, through reduced emissions of toxic pollutant and greenhouse gases;
• Health benefits related to higher levels of physical activity, including improved cardiovascular health and lower risk of obesity;
• Health benefits related to the reduction of airborne pollutants, including lower incidence of respiratory diseases;
• Economic benefits, such as reduced household expenditures on transportation, reduced work hours lost in traffic jams, and reduced healthcare costs thanks to the effects of regular exercise and reduced pollution.

Transport Canada
www.tc.gc.ca