One Life…

No, I’m not quite a vegetarian yet, but my wife and I have definitely been trying to consume in a more sustainable way.

We went to a farmer’s market that turned out to not be too far from our home and bought a whole bunch of local grown food, and we’ve had four vegetarian dinners in a row. Not as tough as I thought it’d be. I’d still be salivating for a steak if I saw one though.

Here’s a vegetarian / zucchini lasagna that I had made.

I also recently bought my first coffee maker through a friend who works at starbucks. I bought it so that I could offer free coffee from time to time for those who share our floor at our apartment. We handed out little promos with our daughter to every door.

Only a few people made it out, but got to talk to some people that I had no idea lived in such proximity to me. I even handed out coffee to our custodian and entrance guard. They were quite surprised. Next time around I think we’ll host an evening mixer floor party.

With the coffee maker I’ve also started making Frappuccino’s when we’ve had guests. Check it out.

Overall the last while has been a beautiful time just living simpler, better, and sharing the beauty of it all with others.

After watching the “Earthlings” documentary my wife and I have been taking stock of what we eat and how we live again.

I bought a Moby CD over ten years ago, that included the facts below in the liner notes. For some reason they actually mean something to me now.

FACTS THAT I’VE COLLECTED:
In the past 20 years approximately 1 million species have disappeared from the world’s tropical forests.
From 1960-1985 over 40% of the central american rainforests were destroyed to create grazing land for cattle.
The united states imports over 100,000 tons of beef from central america each year.
It takes 23 gallons of water to produce a pound of tomatoes.
It takes 5,214 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef.
One acre of land can produce 20,000 pounds of potatoes.
One acre of land can produce 165 pounds of beef.
The u.s. cattle industry produces 158 million tons of waste per year.
Livestock production is the #1 cause of water pollution in the u.s.
22 million acres of land have become unusable due to desertification.
85% of the topsoil loss in t he u.s. is the result of livestock production.
In the u.s. 33% of ALL raw material consumption is used solely in the production of meat, egg, and dairy products.
It takes 1 pound of grain to make 1 pound of bread.
It takes 20 pounds of grain to make 1 pound of beef.
75% of the grain sent to third world nations goes to livestock production.
The countries with the diets highest in animal products are also the countries with the highest rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, etc.
50 percent of men who eat meat regularly die of heart disease.
80% of usda chicken inspectors no longer eat chicken.
If the average commuter passenger load in the u.s. were increased by just 1 person per day we would save 33 million gallons of gas each day.
Americans spend over 1 billion hours stuck in traffic each year.
30% of u.s. greenhouse gas emissions come from cars.
Air is sold in mexico city for $1.15 a minute by sidewalk vendors.
What greenpeace spends in a year general motors spends in 4 hours.
million children under the age of 6 suffer from lead poisoning.
in europe 50% of the cars still use leaded gas.
2 million gallons of motor oil are dumped in american waterways each year.
over 8 million tons of oil are spilled in the world’s oceans every year.
5 billion gallons of water are flushed each day in the united states.
Sewage treatment facilities in the u.s. discharge 5.9 trillion gallons of sewage wastewater into coastal waters every year.
u.s. tuna fisherman are permitted to kill over 20,000 dolphins every year.
2 million sharks die in driftnets in the north pacific every year.
Only 1 in 10 baby chimpanzees survive the trip form the jungle to the zoo.
1 billion animals are killed each year in experiments.
17 million animals are trapped in the u.s. each year for fur.
Many traps are so painful that animals check through their own limbs to escape.
For every fur animal trapped two other animals (dogs, cats, deer, etc.) are trapped and killed.
In 1997 450,000 minks died on fur farms from heat exhaustion.
1 ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, and enough energy to heat the average home for 6 months.
Enough wood and paper is thrown away each year in america to heat 1 billion houses for a year.
Six times more jobs are created by recycling as opposed to landfill operations.
The amount of money spent on trash disposal in american schools is equal to that spent on new textbooks.
Out of every $10 that americans spend on food, $1 pays for packaging.
65% of garbage in the u.s. is packaging.
50% of all trash thrown away could be recycled into new products.
500 new dumps are built each year in the united states.
Over 1 billion trees are used to make disposable diapers every year.
Americans throw away 20 billion disposable diapers each year.
Americans dump the equivalent of 21 million shopping bags full of food into landfills every year.
billion batteries are thrown away each year by americans.
over 700,000 tons of hazardous waste is produced in the u.s. every day.
americans throw away 10 million cigarette lighters every week.
500,000 people die of cigarette related diseases in the u.s. each year.
pesticides that are banned in the u.s. (such as ddt) are regularly sold to third world countries.
90% of all food borne pesticides are found in meat and dairy products.
10% of nursing mothers who were vegetarians had ddt in their breast milk.
90% of nursing mothers who were meat eaters had ddt in their breast milk.
In 1945, before widespread pesticide use, u.s. corn growers lost 3% of their crops to insects.
Last year they lost over 12%.
74 different kinds of pesticides have been found in drinking water.
Over 100 chemical contaminants have been found in the breast milk of nursing mothers in the u.s.
of the 34 chemicals most widely used on lawns, 25% are widely believed to cause birth defects, genetic mutation, and cancer.
Americans spend 6 billion dollars on their lawns each year.
25% of u.s. nuclear reactors would not be able to contain a core breach meltdown.
A 1985 study predicted a 45% chance of core breach meltdown in the u.s. before 2005.
In 1992, 430,000 people in the world died from cancers resulting from nuclear testing radiation.
More money is spent in the u.s. on nuclear weaponry in one year than was spent on housing from 1980-1992.
To date cleaning up storage facilities for nuclear debris has cost taxpayers 200 billion dollars.
In 1989 the u.s. military used 200 billion barrels of oil, enough to keep all american public transit systems running for 22 years. 1 ton of toxic waste is produced by the u.s. every minute. (Source)

Stellar makes no excuses for herself.

Just because she’s a baby and doesn’t know how to crawl, doesn’t mean she can’t try to stand on her own. You go girl.

Stellar’s favorite thing to touch… is anything just out of her reach.

What is it in the human spirit that longs to for something more? …that is not satisfied with simply being handed things? …that is willing to stretch out in faith for what could be?

A better question might be, why do we so often stop?

For almost five years now my wife and I have set course for moving to Ottawa (Canada’s national capital) in the summer of 2008.

It appears that after five years a city can really grow on you. It’s been tough having our heads in two places the last few years, and we’ve finally decided to change course and further lay foundations in the beautiful city of Toronto.

Let me tell you a bit about this city of mine

- Population > 5.1 million people - fifth largest city in North America
- Ranked by the United Nations as one of the best cities in the world to live in
- Richard Florida who wrote “Rise of the Creative Class” describes Toronto as being one of the most creative cities and is on set to be “a world leader in innovation and prosperity”
- Yet 550,000 people live below the poverty line
- The most diverse city in the world - Over 100 different ethnic communities
- Fast Company classifies Toronto as a Global Village - one of the ‘fastest’ 30 cities in the world
- 49% of the population have immigrated to Toronto in the past 10 years
- On track with a ten year plan to becoming a Global Cultural / Creative capital
- Over a thousand various festivals a year, with some of the largest in the world including Caribana, Pride week, and the international film festival
- and of course one of the Facebook capitals of the world

Life’s been pretty sweet with our whole family at home this summer.

I finally got around to learning to play risk last week. My brother-in-law bought the Star Wars: Original Trilogy Edition, where you can play an even more complex and strategic version of the game as well.

Here’s a shot of the board as three different factions (the empire, the rebels, and the hutt) pursue galactic domination.  I feel like such a geek playing it.

Here’s my wife’s two-time undefeated hutt army