It isn’t easy reviewing green cleaners – especially when it’s still not mandatory for cleaning companies to disclose their ingredients. The good news is that while too many brands aren’t listing their ingredients on the bottles, more and more are coming clean, so to speak, on their websites, at least. Even Vim ProPower Naturals, who… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Summertime and I’m totally behind on blogging! Just wanted to catch you guys up before I head out of town again for a couple days….Here’s a column I did post-Toronto floods, including my own reflections on being holed up without power and water on the 15th floor with my father (who now depends on a… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

You’ll spot the word ‘organic’ so often in garden centres you’d think you’d died and gone to Whole Foods. Alas, the word organic means something totally different in the gardening context. It basically means “organic matter” – typically anything composted/decaying like manure. Sounds benign enough – except when you stop to think ‘ugh, wait, do… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

How’d you get your eggs cooked this morning…or your shower nice and hot? Natural gas has always gotten a lot more respect on the green-front than other fossil fuels. We hear again and again that it burns cleaner, choking out less smoggy pollutants than say coal or conventional oil, so when we use it in… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Hand me a top hat and cane and I’ll sing about palm as a supercalafragalistic  plant-based petrochemical replacement. Gee willikers, you can add it to everything from lip balm to bathroom cleaner – amazing! But the song and dance come to a screeching halt when you start probing palm’s rainforest record. You know how headlines… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Don’t look now but we’re surrounded. Just peak around the room you’re sitting in right now and start counting the plastic stuff that’s infiltrated your life – your computer (casing/cables/mouse), the foam stuffed furniture under your hiney, your wallpaper/wall paint, telephone, pen, windows, synthetic carpet underfoot are all made of some form of petrol-based plastic… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

I’m a little suspicious of my plates. The scrapes and scratches on these Kengington Market imports have me wondering whether they’re leaching something dodgy. And yet, I never bothered to buy a lead test until two readers contacted me recently wondering about their ceramics. Then I got to reading. Here’s what Health Canada has to… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

So after our big Lousy Labels: Home Edition episode on CBC Marketplace I’ve been getting a lot of emails and questions from readers asking me if bamboo is really, well, full of bologna. Truth is, it’s complicated. The short answer is solid bamboo wood (the kind used in flooring) is perfectly fine, for the most part,… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Hey gang, Lots of exciting stuff going on this week! I’ll be on the season premiere of CBC Marketplace Friday calling out the top 10 greenwashed products in your home with the fabulous Erica Johnson. I can’t divulge who gets the smack down just yet (you’ll have to tune in for that) but I can tell… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Another day another sizzler. As we melt into little pools of sweat at our own feet, I can’t help but think of those old 80s ads, you know, with the frying pan and the egg and the “this is your brain on drugs” message. This, honey, is your planet on climate change. While farms go… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Living in the east of Toronto , I’ve always wondered what’s in my soil.  Not just the nutrient balance but the really dirty stuff too, like lead. Until I get a proper lead test done and/or build raised beds in my latest apartment, I’ve refrained from planting root veggies, as much as I’ve craved pulling… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Oh pitcher filter. Why did you have to disappoint us, so? Yes, in this week’s Ecoholic column I talk about the short comings of Canada’s favourite water filter, Brita, as well as other pitcher filters. Seems they do reduce heavy metals like mercury and used to meet lead reduction standards, and then the standards improved… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

  So you’ve given up the Comet and are huffing away at your tub and counters with vinegar. High fives! But the question on many minds is, does it actually kill stuff? It’s true that most green cleaners on the market talk up their general earth-friendliness (biodegradability, plant-based ingredients, that kind of thing) but rarely… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

A certain amount of mythology is woven into every nation’s identity. Canadians, for instance, tend to believe that our fresh water sources are vast and infinite and that we ourselves are decent water conservers, thank you very much. It’s a shame that we’re totally out to lunch on both counts. True, the Great Lakes hold… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Q: How do I go about seeding plants from scratch organically? A: It could be miserably grey and 30 below out there and serious gardeners would still have a spring in their step and a glint in their eye right about now. Why? Because hope is sprouting in their hearts thanks to the recent start of… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Q: I need new patio furniture. Are there more eco-friendly choices around these days? A: Let me guess. Your old plastic patio furniture has collapsed on you, has it? Now, I hate to say I told you so, but that cheap vinyl stuff is not only toxic to produce, but lasts about as long as… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸