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I started this post with the intention of talking about differences in Chinese life and Canadian life. More of a complaint about why Canadian life is so much more convenient than Chinese life. But as I was typing it, I realized how silly it was and how silly I was. Of course, it’s nice to have things at my fingertips but I have been spoon-fed everything. I can have out-of-season fruit sent from half-way around the world, all for the low cost of unnecessary carbon emissions. I can drive to the corner store or to work in the heart of downtown every day at the low, low cost of a tank of fossil fuels. I can wear winter clothes indoors during the peak of summer for the cost of oh-so-familiar smog-warning days. I can go watch the basketball game and have friends eat the wings of 40 chickens in the span of two hours. We don’t stop to think about these things because Toronto life is so busy and these are things we just do. At least that’s what it felt to me.

Living in China for two years has been the best thing I could have done. My eyes have been opened and my life has changed in so many ways. Even before I came to China, I was already trying to do the gung-ho save-the-world by being the change you want to see in the world deal. Then I came to realize that they still do that in the rest of the world. My grocery store here doesn’t get out-of-season fruits and vegetables. If the farmers here grow them, they sell them. It’s as simple as that. They don’t import from half-way around the world. They sell local, at least more local than, say, Loblaws (aka Canadian Safeway). I love mandarin orange season. It’s probably the sole reason why I don’t get sick here. If my 中百 (Zhōngbǎi) supermarket doesn’t have mangoes, I don’t eat mangoes. What my 中百 has, I buy. But they did bring in a box of Sunkist oranges at one point but I refused to buy them and bought the local ones.

Depending on who you talk to, the population of Wuhan is eight to 12 million people. That’s a lot of people. There’s a lot of cars in Wuhan but you also haven’t seen how many buses we have here. They’re finally starting construction on the subway system, too. I’ve always heard how our subway system is crappy and small, I even thought Montreal had it better than us. But Shanghai’s subway system is huge and they stop at major tourist locations. Hong Kong’s subway system is pretty awesome, too. But Hong Kong, in general, is teeny tiny in comparison to Wuhan. I remember walking on the streets two Octobers ago with a girl friend and walking way too far because we kept looking at the map thinking it was bigger than it actually was. We missed our turn to the jazz club where we met some interesting German characters staying at the Shangri-La.

China isn’t all for saving the environment either, though. When I arrived in Shanghai, my impression was how much waste was being produced by everyone. Take-out containers from street-food vendors. Individual plastic bags, not 4-cup cardboard cup holders, for your drinks from McDonald’s. We have so far to go as a global community to stop our destructive behaviours.

I’m tired. Time for bed.

Take the Toronto Hydro 10/10 Summer Challenge. Use 10% less electricity over July and August and you pay 10% less on your fall bill. Register before July 17th (double check that date because I heard it on 680 News).

Let’s face it, 99.9999% of us don’t use a product until the end of it’s life. Cellphones, laptops, desktops, furniture, you name it. You hear about those appliance- or electronics-recycling businesses but did you ever go to look up where they actually are? City of Toronto offers a list of non-profit agencies that collect some of these materials, as part of its ReUseIt Solid Waste Management campaign. Some of the most unlikely things can be donated to these places, like:

• batteries, rechargeable or non-rechargeable
• bedding
• bikes
• broken watches (more…)

I gave up on the shoe hunt and just bought myself a couple pairs of Crocs, entirely vegan. Unfortunately, may not be as Earth-friendly as advertised. But what’s bought is bought.

Everyone at school wears them, so I’m just jumping on the band wagon 10 months late at the school and 4 years late in the world. I bought a full-back version of the Malindi and an Audrey. I don’t like the bow on the Audrey much but I was there and I was buying one anyways and they were going to be indoor shoes so it didn’t really matter that much. I like the Olivia but the huge faux-gem kind of irked me so I put it back on the shelf. I spent 428 CNY for both, which according to the website and today’s exchange rate and taking into account Ontario taxes, I’m paying the same price. They’re kind of comfy. I’m just not fond of the plastic-on-skin noises if I’m not wearing socks. Some of their styles are cute but others are really tacky. You win some, you lose some.

You gotta love sleepless blog posts.

It’s not all about Summerlicious in the summer. There’s lots to do in Toronto during the summer months that involve yummy food. A Bread & Honey Festival this weekend, Toronto Drinks Show the following weekend (June 12-13), Toronto Taste (June 14), The Cooking Fire Theatre Festival (June 17-21), Taste of Little Italty (June 19-21), Father’s Day Brunch Cruise (June 21), Toronto Ribfest (June 26 – July 1), Strawberry Festival (June 28)

Fresh Wednesdays
Date: Every Wednesday (July 15 to August 26)
Time: 8 A.M. to 2 P.M.
Location: Nathan Phillips Square

Starting on July 15 until the last Wednesday of August, you can shop for fresh fruits and vegetables at the Farmers’ Market at Nathan Phillips Square and enjoy some live music. The Farmers’ Market at Nathan Phillips square will run until October 14–there’s just no live music.

Tasty Thursdays
Date: Every Thursday (July 16 to August 27)
Time: 11 A.M. to 2 P.M.
Location: Nathan Phillips Square

Starting on July 16 until the last Thursday of August, you can taste foods from some Toronto restaurants. Samosas, mango salads, vegetable spring rolls, and vegetarian sushi. All for $5 or less! This year they are starting to serve their food in eco-friendly containers.

Mariposa Cruises’ Fireworks Dinner Cruise
Date: Sat, June 27; Wed, July 1; Sat July 4
Time: 7:00 P.M. to 11:30 P.M.
Location: Toronto Harbour

Cruise around the Toronto Harbour on Captain Matthew Flinders for four hours while you enjoy the fireworks and a buffet-style dinner.

The 43rd Annual CHIN International Picnic
Date: July 1, 4, 5
Time: Noon to 11 P.M.
Location: Canadian National Exhibition

A music festival, picnic, sporting events, Mr. and Mrs. CHIN International Bikini Contests, petting zoo, K-9 Dog Challenge, and a 100,000 square foot bazaar at the C.N.E.It’s a great excuse for the family to go out and enjoy the sun.

Taste of Lawrence
Date: July 3-5
Time: 8 A.M. to 11 P.M. (Fri), 11 A.M. to 11 P.M. (Sat), 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. (Sun)
Location: Lawrence Avenue East (Warden Avenue to Pharmacy)

Enjoy Lawrence Avenue East without the smelly traffic and replace it with great food and lots of things for the kids to do.

Mariposa Cruises’ Fiesta Friday Dinner
Date: July 10
Time: 6:30 P.M. to 10:00 P.M.
Location: Toronto Harbour

Sail around the Toronto Harbour on the Mariposa Belle for three hours. Enjoy a Mexican buffet-style dinner with DJ, dancing and a cash bar.

Live Green Toronto Festival
Date: July 25-26
Time: Unknown
Location: Yonge Street (Dundas to Queen)

This festival will showcase hundreds of green products for work, home and play. Browse around and taste some local foods and listen to some live music. You can even get information on how to organize a project that will turn your neighbourhood green.

Irie Music Festival
Date: July 30 to August 3
Time: See Schedule
Location: Nathan Phillips Square and Queen’s Park

There are a whole list of events for the festival. The main events of the festival are reggae and world music performances but you’ll find lots of other things to do as well, including art vendors, Caribbean dance showcase and food.

Toronto Festival of Beer
Date: August 6-8
Time: 4 P.M. to 10 P.M. (Thu, Fri), 1 P.M. to 7 P.M. (Sat)
Location: Exhibition Place

Beer, BBQ, beer, live performances, beer, grilling demos, and more beer.

KRINOS Taste of the Danforth
Date: August 7-9, 2009
Time: 6 P.M. to 11 P.M. (Fri), Noon to 11 P.M. (Sat), Noon to 8 P.M. (Sun)
Location: Greektown; Danforth Avenue (Broadview Subway Station to Jones Avenue)

The ever populaire Taste of the Danforth takes place in the heart of Greektown. Enjoy music and food in the world’s largest Greek festival outside of Greece!

I saw a Greenbook Facebook application on Alysia’s profile page and thought I would check out what all the fuss was about. It’s an application that claims to purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) with money generated from sponsorship. Its past sponsors were TeeCrush, TerraPass and The Experience Project. Looking over its past purchases it started a year ago but no purchases of RECs were made for the past two months, so it looks like it’s no longer active. (more…)

Did you know that 2.5 million bottles are thrown away every hour in the United States? That’s a lot of bottles. How many bottles did you contribute to the pile? Watch The 11th Hour Press Conference with Leonardo DiCaprio on YouTube, they stray into the topic when one of them starts talking about personal action. I’m not a big fan of water, they all taste different to me–some good, some bad–but when I did drink water, it was usually out of a bottle. I’m also guilty of using plastic soda bottles, plastic juice bottles and glass juice bottles. It’s something I definitely have to change. In fact, I just bought myself a new Bisphenol-A-free (BPA-free) Nalgene bottle. There are some Nalgene bottles in the storage room but I’m pretty sure they were bought before we learnt that BPA is toxic. (more…)