Books & Music...

The city of Toronto has a program called "Live Green Toronto" that is offering citizens grants for ideas that would reduce their carbon footprint. It may take a while before any U.S. cities follow suit, but this great idea will help promote both awareness and action that should serve as a blueprint for other municipalities.

In the meantime, us non-Torontoans will settle for the ideas in Johanna Yarrow's book How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint: 365 Simple Ways to Save Energy, Resources, and Money.

The book looks at a number of different areas, some that are easy to do and some that are only accessible to those with deep pockets. Here are a few anyone can do from the section on "Buying Less":

"Eat before you shop for food. Studies show that this helps trim the amount you buy.

Think long term. Investing in high-quality durable goods is cheaper in the long run, and less wasteful than buying cheap, throwaway versions.

Buy services instead of products—such as leasing services for office equipment, so manufacturers will produce durable, updatable products, rather than ones that are obsolete in a few years.

Avoid disposables, which invariably have a high carbon impact. For example: cover food with a dish, plate or lid instead of foil or plastic wrap; use hand towels and dish towels instead of paper towels; and buy sturdy, reusable utensils and dishes for barbecues and picnics, instead of flimsy disposables."