GUSTO ONLINE FEATURE:Sustainable Cereal Boxes are Keeping our Forests Alive!

Trees in Hesquiat Peninsula Provincial, Park, Clayoquot Sound, BC

By Miranda Black

This New Year’s Resolution: No More Christmas Trees.  Living in rural communities over the years I have seen firsthand the necessity of our forests. In the current state of the world, trees, forests, birds, wolves, cougar, bear and all of our forest friends, are in need of protection. 

It’s hard to fully understand the cost of logging, especially when we live in urban environments where our connection with nature doesn’t seem as important. Almost every moment in our lives has to do with paper nowadays. When I buy something I receive a paper receipt; I buy everything in boxes; I write and I print articles; I use toilet paper. I can’t get away from using paper in this world, but I do have the choice on what paper products I buy.

Today I picked up a box of Puffins, a natural cereal made by Barbara’s Organics in Petaluma, CA, and I was impressed with the information on the label of their box. By using Green Choice 100 paper products by Strathcona Paper in Ontario, they state that they were able to save 5,499 trees, 111,854,709 litres of water and reduce 933,773 kgs of landfill waste. It’s a simple feat for Barbara’s Organics. Like any other company, they sourced their product, designed their label, had boxes shipped to their factory, and they distribute their product, just like any other business would do. Plus, Barbara’s Organics has just increased the value of their product by practicing corporate social responsibility (CSR). The more difficult feat is to get companies on-board of the sustainability, resiliency movement. NGO Forest Ethics has been working since 2000 to protect Endangered Forests, wildlife and human well-being, by getting companies & corporations to offer sustainable solutions. 

Former Forest Ethic’s Campaign Director and current CEO of Green Peace International, Tzeporah Berman, explained at the 2006 Bioneer’s conference, that Forest Ethics team members started their work by following BC logging trucks to factories & superstores nation-wide. They watched as trucks pulled into the warehouses of Staples Business Depot and Home Hardware. 

Afterward Tzeporah or another ForestEthics representative would show up in the offices of these major corporations, aiming to educate their CEOs in sustainable forest products. (Many of these stories are epic and can be found in Tzeporah’s biography, This Crazy Time, released in 2011.) Through the work done by Forest Ethics, and other similar initiatives, Forest Stewardship Council of Canada Certified (FSC Certified), products are now available through both Staples and Home Hardware. They say that with knowledge comes responsibility and I agree.

 Our regular-everyday products, like Kleenex boxes, paper towels, toilet paper, office supplies, kitchen cabinets, etc., don’t come with a carbon footprint report. By purchasing products that are FSC Certified, you ensure that our Canadian forests continue to provide clean water, purify the air, maintain biodiversity & provide habitat for species. With only 8% old growth forest left in Canada, and 22% world-wide, it’s detrimental to our health as a species to make sustainable choices in paper products. 

Miranda Black is an artist, activist and advocate for social change. She is currently working on numerous projects ranging from cooperative business development, yoga & movement instruction, and alternative education for children & youth. 

Check out her art at mirandala.wordpress.com

GUSTO ONLINE FEATURE: You Can Do Anything!

By Life Coach, Amanda Martin

As the new year is upon us, so is the daunting feeling for many that we need to make some resolutions to start the year off right.  Whether that means a lifestyle change through nutrition and exercise or a change in your career or at home, or perhaps something as simple as remembering to floss your teeth every day, whatever your desire for self-improvement, it is inspiring to want to live your best life. 

Oxford  Dictionaries defines a resolution as a firm decision to do or not to do something.  So you have decided to “make a firm decision to do or not to do something”, now what?  Making the decision is only the first step.  

Your success or failure to accomplish your goal will hinge on your ability to plan for it.  A quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery comes to mind, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

A plan is necessary to put in place so that when your motivation inevitably starts to lag after a few months, or for some a few days, you will know exactly what you need to do to keep on track for success.  

Something I have found helpful in taking off the burden or the weight of accomplishing a goal, because let’s face it, goals can be daunting whether we want to achieve them or not, is to visualize.  Before making your plan, take a moment to visualize yourself achieving your goal.  What does it feel like?  Where do you see yourself?  What are people saying about your success?  What does accomplishing what you set out to do look like?  The feeling is likely a good one, one of contentment, happiness, or satisfaction.  Who wouldn’t want to plan for that?

The key to getting to that place of satisfaction is ensuring that your plan includes specific actions you will take, for example, if you are trying to eat healthier, you may decide an action toward this is to keep the junk food out of the house.  One step further might be to shop only around the outside of the grocery store to avoid processed foods or unhealthier food options.   Break it down into easy and manageable steps that will allow you to have success along the path to your end goal.  This way, the positive momentum will keep your wavering motivation in tact along the path to your target.

So simple, right?  But wait.  Let’s be realistic.  We all know how life gets in the way of letting us do the things we have the best intentions of doing.  That donut that calls our name and beckons ‘Eat me! Eat me!  or that extra hit on the snooze button that makes us miss our workout.  That is why it is imperative to plan for the obstacles as well.  

Figuring out what could get in the way of your success is just as important as planning for your success.  Using the same example of eating healthier, let’s assume you’re at work and having a lunch meeting where the food is being provided.  You don’t have control over the food choices in this situation.  Not everyone chooses to eat healthy.  

Perhaps in this circumstance you could either plan ahead to bring your own lunch or if that feels uncomfortable to you, your solution may simply boil down to portion control.  Either way, you will know what to do when that obstacle arises.

Lastly, be kind to yourself.  We will likely slip at some point and time and it is possible we may make a mistake.  We are human after all.  This doesn’t mean we have failed; it means we made a temporary pit stop along the way and need to gas up, clean off the windshield, and once again hit the road and move forward.  Remember your vision and return to your plan.  

Align your actions with your intentions.  To quote wise moms everywhere, “you CAN do ANYTHING you set your mind to!”

Amanda Martin – Life Coach

Certified Coach Practioner

www.beinspiredbyamanda.com