Author Archive

Charlie’s Angels Pose

What does the term “eco-friendly” mean to you? To Alicia Sokowski, it means running a business dedicated to maintaining the highest of standards for its natural cleaning products. “We don’t cut corners”, she explained to me during our meeting last week. Unlike other regular cleaning products and even those that claim to be “green”, AspenClean discloses all product ingredients and does not add any synthetic fragrances.

As President of AspenClean, Alicia is navigating new territory, with a recently opened Calgary location for this Vancouver-based business. Not only is it a great city of entrepreneurs, Calgary is also a growing green market for the environmentally concious. “More and more people are becoming interested in how to take an increased role in their health. Whether this means looking at what they eat or the chemicals they are exposed to on a regular basis.”

But what impressed me most was Alicia’s pride in her business. There are indications of this all over their office. In the kitchen and main hangout area, there is a suggestion box for all staff to share ideas to help grow the company. They even run a contest to see who comes up with the best suggestion each month. AspenClean is also committed to giving back to the community and supporting other green causes, such as their sponorship contributions to Green Calgary.

To learn more about this great business and how you can make your home more eco-friendly, check out the AspenClean website at https://www.aspenclean.com/

The list below shows what is included and what’s not included in AspenClean products.

Included:

Natural ingredients derived from plants and minerals
Pure essential oils
100% Vegan
Biodegradable (test OCDE 301 D or E)
ECOCERT Standards France 32600
High tech, effective additions, like microfiber cloths
Post-consumer material in all packaging
Reusing and Recycling
Social and environmental responsibility

Not Included:

Petroleum
Phosphates
Colors
Parabens
Ethoxylates and Sulphates (SLS/SLES)
Carcinogenic Ingredients (not listed on IARC categories 1, 2A, 2B)
Animal ingredients
Testing on animals
Synthetic fragrances
Disposable products

 It’s a common theme among the water cooler conversations. “I’m so busy!” or “I’ve got this, this, this and this…..” It’s an aspect of the holiday season that can evoke as much stress as the excitement brought on by all the merriment.

But one thing in Calgary that I pencil into my calendar and put little stars around it (which means it’s something  fun and not terrifying like an impending deadline) is an evening at the Calgary Zoolights.

I get asked “But aren’t you too old for that?”, to which I respond “Hell no!”. The Calgary Zoolights is one of those rare family-friendly events to which individuals of all ages can have fun while interacting with each other. There aren’t adults huddling together in a coral overflowing with booze, or children stuck in one corner with clowns that remind me of my earlier childhood nightmares.

The Calgary Zoo does an excellent job of taking that little part of us that never really grows up and translates into a wonderland of innocent fun and photo ops. It’s an evening where you’re allowed to be a kid again, enjoy the slight cheesiness of Christmas decorations (which we all secretly love), or perhaps enjoy an effortless date night. I don’t know a single person who goes and doesn’t get their photo taken in the love tunnel!

Want to do some good while having fun? Bring a non-perishable donation for the Calgary Food Bank and you’ll receive a 2 for 1 admission for a future visit to The Calgary Zoo.

Set aside an evening to partake in one of Calgary’s signature holidays traditions!

Alex Bruton and Jeff Couillard of Givyup

Alex Bruton and Jeff Couillard are advocating for less stuff and more awesome in Calgary. They’re the founders of Givyup, a new social business that’s being launched in early December 2012, to coincide with the upcoming holiday season. Givyup challenges the conventional definition of gift giving and the material accumulation associated with it.

“This is a new initiative in our city and it’s never been done before.” Alex and Jeff told me when I met with them last week.  Individuals will be able to register a profile through the Givyup website and share it with their friends and family, asking for donations to a charity in lieu of gifts.

Teaming up with local charities Calgary Reads and the Boys & Girls Club of Cochrane, Alex and Jeff are running a pilot of the website and business model before rolling it out to the broader community. “There are so many small and medium sized nonprofits that need fundraising and communications help. We believe that this will be a way to offer these smaller organizations the kind of scale normally associated with a much larger charity, while also bringing down the cost of fundraising. We wanted to test it at a smaller scale, in order to gather feedback and make sure we’re offering a system that works for everyone.”

In fact, there are currently 477 registered non-profits on the Volunteer Calgary website, the majority  of which are quite small. “Often the problem is that they don’t have the benefit of scale to efficiently raise funds and mobilize their community to support their operations.”

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Each paper doll represents a child living in poverty in Alberta. 73,000 paper dolls.

On November 20th, members of the Child Well-Being Initiative are heading to the Alberta Legislature to advocate for the end of child poverty in Alberta. These committed individuals have been diligently preparing and collecting paper dolls to demonstrate to Legislature, the seriousness of this issue. Individuals of all ages and backgrounds have gotten involved to support this cause.

I was introduced to Carolyn Pogue, local author and part of the Child Well-Being Initiative. When asked what the group hopes to accomplish through the project, she responded with the following statement.

“We want school lunch and breakfast programs for any hungry child. We want a higher minimum wage (Alberta’s is lowest in Canada.) We want more accessible day care and more affordable housing. How can people manage if they are couch surfing, sleeping in church basements or in cars? We want our government to implement a poverty elimination strategy. We want our government to understand that charity is not enough.”

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This is one way that I enjoy getting into the holiday spirit of giving back to the community. There are many organizations and opportunities available in town. It’s one of the awesome things about Calgary!

So, what could you do with that empty shoe box? In university, I used them as makeshift storage space to keep my closet organized. Wrapping paper made them look a bit nicer and labels saved me from having to memorize each of its contents. In today’s Pinterest standards, my past efforts seem pretty amateur now.

But in the past few years, I have found an even better use for my empty shoe boxes. Operation Christmas Child. With one empty shoe box and a few goodies, I can brighten up the day of one child in need. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has distributed over 94 million gift boxes to children all over the world. Having volunteered at the distribution warehouse a few times, it’s great to see the incredible generousity of Calgarians. I’m constantly reminded of the genuine character of our city.

Not only does it feel good to give back, but it’s also fun preparing the gift boxes. I make an evening out of it with my family. After raiding a few dollar stores, we grab take-out and turn the kitchen into a mini workshop. We refrain from listening to Christmas music. We can only handle so much Christmas music.

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The East Village is the future home for the New Central Library and the Simmons Building was the perfect venue to hold its public engagement open house. Saturday, October 27th was a busy day in the East Village as the open house, Feast in the East and BassBus simultaneously took over the area. It was fun retreat for another cold weekend in Calgary. I suffer from a mild case of winter-a-phobia. I’m always on the lookout for great indoor activities to partake in during the colder months.

With my butter chicken nachos (bless you, Naaco Truck for creating this!) in one hand and a hot chocolate in the other, I was introduced to Rosemary Griebel, Special Project Projects Librarian at the Calgary Public Library. “We want to build a library for the people. A place that that you would enjoy visiting and a cultural institution in Calgary.” she explained as we began the tour.

Over 12,000 Calgarians participated in a survey regarding the new facility as part of the first stage of the public engagement process, which began in June 2012. These results were then broken down into four major themes. “These themes are related to the function and role the library has in the community.” Strong visuals accompanied information panels and assisted in envisioning the many possibilities. I even recognized images presented at the 2012 makeCalgary: Culture Spaces event from a few weeks ago.

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Shashi Behl of Twisted Goods and Inder Bedi of Matt & Nat

Inder Bedi, Creative Director and Founder of Matt & Nat was completing a Bachelors degree in Marketing when he started his business. “I was given an assignment to create a business”. Inspired by his vegetarian lifestyle, he consulted with local craftsmen in Montreal to create a line of stylish and cruelty-free bags. His focus on materials and nature also inspired the brand’s name. He shortened the words and ended up with Matt & Nat.

Shashi Behl is another successful Canadian entrepreneur that takes inspiration from personal lifestyle. As owner of Calgary-based Twisted Goods, her team handpicks items that are stylish, functional and eclectic. “My team lives and breathes the brand. We’re proud of our products and enjoy working teacher as a team.”

I had the opportunity to speak with Inder and Shashi at the Matt & Nat and Twisted Goods event on Wednesday, October 24th. Twisted Goods has carried the Matt & Nat line since 2004 and is one of the many Canadian brands it carries. The rapport between these two business owners seemed that of a friendship between good friends. Both are personable and down to earth. They mingled with everyone in the room, getting their photos taken at request and encouraged all to try the delicious vegan cookies. I wasn’t surprised when they agreed that interacting with customers was the best part of their business.

“The sense of accomplishment after reaching a goal is amazing.” Shashi said as Inder nodded in agreement. He then went on to describe that great feeling when looking at a final product, after all the brainstorming, sketches and samples. Dedicated to premium materials and custom hardware, Matt & Nat strives for product innovation. Each item is inscribed inside with “This lining is made with 100% recycled plastic bottles” and in 2013, a product line made of bicycle tire inner tubes will be unveiled.

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In case you haven’t heard, Calgary was designated a Cultural Capital for Canada in 2012.

Amidst the various celebrations, this prestigious title put a spotlight on Calgary’s definition of culture and the state of its cultural institutions. On Friday, October 12th, the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary and The City of Calgary teamed up to present makeCalgary: Culture Space.

A reoccurring theme in the discussions was the importance of culture at street level. “It’s about what happens on the street,” said Rollin Stanley, Calgary’s new chief planner. As a street festival and open market junkie, this message resonated with me. It’s not just about innovative design or interesting art, but the people that visit.

To position itself as an attractive gathering place, cultural institutions must look beyond its four walls and official operating hours. As stated by John Patkau of Patkau Architects, “cultural institutions can’t be isolated islands”. They need to be accessible, engage the public and provide space for culture makers to hone their craft. He spoke about a recent project, the Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal, Quebec. The library was designed to provide commercial space at street level for cafes and ironically, used book stores. This strategic move created a bustling literary hub. I couldn’t help but think about the new Central Public Library.

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One of the great things about living in an inner city neighbourhood is the abundance of things that can catch your attention and spark your curiousity. They’re the eclectic shops, eateries and office doors of local businesses that line the streets and reflect Calgary’s entrepreneurial spirit.

According to the Calgary Chamber, “small businesses currently account for 95 percent of all business activity in the province.” A small business can vary in size but typically have less than 50 employees in total and are privately owned. In 1979, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) “organized a week of activities for entrepreneurs” which has evolved years later into Small Business Week.

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Learning how to compost. Photo courtesy of Green Calgary.

Show Green Calgary your support by attending their annual Fall Festival on Saturday, October 27th!

Held at the Calgary Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Centre, this event is to celebrate Green Calgary’s various projects which aim to encourage environmental education and awareness.

We have a pair of tickets to giveaway! Listed below are the ways to enter the contest and win:

a) “Like” our Facebook Page and post on our wall that you would like to win tickets to the event.

b) Follow us at @ciawesome on Twitter and tweet “I want to win tickets to the Fall Festival! @ciawesome @greencalgary #yyc”

c) Do both and enter twice!

We’ll pick the winners by October 17th. Good luck!

Founded in 1975, a group of dedicated and environmentally conscious Calgarians came together to organize the Clean Calgary Committee, that would eventually be renamed Green Calgary. Modeled after the Keep America Beautiful Program, their mandate was to address all forms of pollution. By 1982, the group had become a registered society and obtained charitable organization status.

Great projects include Healthy Homes Calgary, an in-home consultation with families to examine ways to improve their own sustainable practices. A healthy homes advisor will address topics such as waste reduction, water conservation, energy efficiency, sustainable food options and the effect of using toxic cleaning products. Green Calgary also runs workshops, school programs and green presentations for organizations to discuss environmental issues and highlight action-oriented solutions and ideas for sustainability.

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