Check out our July newsletter! We have a good deal on mattresses, some baby news, a $5 coupon, a story about gratitude, a highlight on our stainless steel products,  as well as our thoughts on the new HST.

In addition, if you or anyone you know would like to work with us here at “The Planet” please check out the details on our website or on Craigslist.

Stainless Steel

Wow!  Record breaking temperatures in Victoria this week!  A heatwave right across Canada!

Here are three products in our stainless steel collection to help you keep your cool, save you money, and keep you both hydrated and healthy.

(By the way, did you stop by and take our Greater Victoria Water Watch Coalition taste test last week? Good old Victoria tap water beat out bottled by a wide margin!)

Shiri is holding two of the great variety of stainless steel water bottles to be found in-store at The Good Planet Company.  Alain is showing off our brand new stainless steel popsicle molds and Brianna is displaying the same kind of indestructible stainless steel ice cube tray that grandma used to use.

We also have a great range of stainless steel containers, lunch kits, straws, compost buckets and more to choose from on-line and in-store.

Why Is Stainless Steel So Eco Friendly?

What do these great Good Planet Company products have in common?  They’re made of 100% high grade stainless steel. Completely safe for you and your family to drink from (No BPA or phthalates, they last forever, but are completely recyclable if you get tired of them after 1oo0 years!

Why Is Stainless Steel So Eco Friendly?

Happy Earth Day from The Good Planet Company! Forty years after the very first Earth Day, our planet is under increasing stress from the demands of its resident 6.8 billion human beings.

Our customers frequently ask us exactly how does one “save the planet?” It’s so easy to become overwhelmed by the challenges we face from climate change, air and water pollution, habitat destruction and species losses. These issues, coupled with the baffling political processes in place to fix them, can make even the most optimistic of us wring our hands in frustration.

We think the best solution is to start out by saving ourselves, our families and our communities. Continue to reduce, reuse and recycle, to respect the cycle of nature, to live consciously, to act mindfully,  to support grassroots organizations and to live well with less.

People power is strong! Let your friends and neighbours know that a Green life is a good life. As Mother Theresa once said, “Do not wait for leaders. Do it alone, person to person”

Happy Earth Day! Enjoy!

It was Earth Hour last night, and the organizers estimated that 126 countries and territories, 4,000 municipalities and 100’s of millions of people across the globe took part.   Even the most hardened cynic would have to admit that each of us in our small way can help create a better planet and a better living environment for our fragile species.

Here at The Good Planet Company, we opened our February electricity bill yesterday… always something we do with trepidation … and were happy to see that our own efforts at saving energy are paying off.   By removing some light fixtures, reducing our heating and cooling, keeping our computers and other business equipment turned off when not in use, we have cut  electricity usage by 38% compared with February 2009!

Our challenge for 2010 is to gradually begin replacing our CFL light fixtures with LED’s and to find a dozen other ways to move our business through carbon neutral, and towards carbon negative!

Kudo’s to The Good Planet Company’s staff for always doing their part to ensure that EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY and EVERY HOUR IS EARTH HOUR!

This week marks a new section in our blog postings: The Good Planet Company Perspective. Staff will be taking the opportunity to lend their voices to all things sustainable, local, and green. Christie will be taking the lead with her initial posting about local produce in Victoria.

The farms around Victoria have fresh produce all year round!

Last week I took orders from my friends and headed out on a circle route starting at Madrona Farm on Blenkinsop Road.  Madrona has been a family farm for generations. They have fresh produce all winter, and this week I got braising and spicy salad greens, kale, carrots, parsnips and two kinds of cabbage  (The Land Conservancy is raising funds to keep Madrona Farm as farmland forever).

I continued up the peninsula to Michell Bros. Farm at the corner of the Pat Bay and Island View Road. Here I was able to find sweet baby cabbage greens to add to my salads, as well as easy to store local beets, onions, potatoes, cabbage and squash.

I stopped at Mar Farms on Veyaness near Keating Cross Rd, because I have heard that they sometimes have cauliflower. Not this week, but their carrots have always been the sweetest and best keepers.

I could have picked up eggs at a number of places along the way, but wanted to see what was fresh at Dan’s Farm on Oldfield Road. They grow a lot of apples many of which are keepers, kiwis, pears and of course all the storage veggies I saw at Michell’s.

Take my advice and skip the supermarket this week!  Even in the middle of winter, there’s a great array of fresh and flavourful foods available from our vibrant local farms, all the way up and down Vancouver Island, and in your community too!  Check out the Farm Fresh guide for details.