A great case for protecting your notebook while helping build a village in Guatemala.

We posted a Green Deal video a while back about the great fair-trade organic coffee from Ethical Bean. Now, just in time for Christmas, they have branched out with beautiful hand-made cases from Guatemala - perfect for iPads, notebooks or just toting around.
It all started when Ethical Bean founder & President Lloyd Bernhardt was shopping in a local market on one of his frequent trips to Guatemala, and noticed a hand-crafted case that was a perfect fit for his iPad. He realized it would be a great product with which to raise money for Project Somos, a village Ethical Bean is helping to build for abandoned and orphaned children. Bernhardt and his team are hoping to raise $1.2 Million, which will eventually fund a self-sufficient village with a school, organic gardens, and coffee testing and roasting facilities to help provide income.
The bags themselves are delightfully colourful and sturdy. The handmade texture is a great contrast to the high tech feel of the iPad, and each is made at a women’s co-op near Tectan Guatemala, with no sweat-shop labour.
Of course, these are available at London Drugs. So for the tech-savvy person with a heart-of-gold on your list, why not pick up one of these handy totes and spread a little more warmth to the season.

Spreading the Green Word at Vancouver's Olympic Village Open House

It was a beautiful day to be hanging out at Vancouver's newest and (some say) most sustainable neighbourhood. This was the Grand Opening for the Athlete's Village, and London drugs was there with a booth focused on What's the Green Deal, and yours truly joining the LD crew behind the table. Come September there will be a new London Drugs right there, giving people shopping options without having to use their cars. In Fact, the whole zone is an extension of Vancouver's Smart Growth philosophy, letting people live an 'Urban Village' lifestyle, with walking, transit and cycling being the main modes of transport.
Interest in the booth was high, with a good number of folks stopping to find out more about Styrofoam recycling, Bring Back the Pack and browsing our display of What's the Green Deal products. Though many more were interested in entering our contest to win the basket of Green products and the DVD Player/ Flat-screen TV we had running our Green Deal videos.
A few challenged us on our green-ness. One lady felt we were 'green-washing' by promoting the GreenWorks line of cleaners from Clorox. Others loved that we recycled Styrofoam, but were disappointed it was only for packaging on purchases from our stores. But still more were impressed to learn how diligent London Drugs is at recycling electronics properly.

London Drugs keeps on truckin’, with biodiesel.

Part of the reality of running a multi-location retail operation is getting the goods from the warehouse to the stores. To help reduce the environmental impact of this process, the team at the London Drugs Distribution Centre started using biodiesel fuel in their truck fleet about 18 months ago.

Biodiesel is manufactured from renewable, non-petroleum resources like animal fats and vegetable oils - so the carbon released when you burn this fuel was previously captured from the atmosphere by plants, and is thus part of a natural cycle. (As opposed to petroleum fuels which release additional carbon into our atmosphere that has been stored in the earth for millions of years)

I spoke with London Drugs Shipping/Transportation Manager Bob Howe to find out more. He told me the trucks run a blend of Biodiesel and regular diesel fuel, which is adjusted according to weather conditions. (Pure biodiesel can ‘gel’ when the weather gets colder, clogging up fuel lines) In the winter, they use ‘B5’ blend, which contains 5% biodiesel. In summer months, that percentage can be as high as 20%.

So far, Bob says the program has been working really well. Horsepower and mileage is comparable with regular fuels, and although there is no cost advantage to using biodiesel, moving toward more sustainable solutions ultimately helps the whole London Drugs community.

If you want to find out more about biodiesel, you can visit the website ofHIWAY Fuel Services, the supplier of fuel products for the London Drugs fleet.

BC powering up to recycle batteries.

Rechargeable batteries used in toys, small appliances and electronics can contain heavy metals like cadmium, lead, chromium and even mercury. These metals can make their way into the water system and into our bodies if they are disposed of with your regular trash.
"It's absolutely integral in maintaining our eco-systems and health of humanity not to do that," says Sarah Cox of the Sierra Club of B.C.
It's so important, in fact, that B.C.'s Ministry of Environment is looking to bring in legislation within two years that will make battery recycling mandatory. This will add rechargeable batteries to the growing list of recyclables that includes electronic waste, motor oil and beverage containers.
Ministry Spokesman Chris Ord says the program will be industry-driven. "(Battery producers) need to talk to the public and stakeholders, then submit a plan to the ministry, which we review, and statutory decision-makers make a decision on that plan," Ord said, adding that July 2010 is the target date.
In the meantime, recycling your rechargeable batteries is as easy as dropping by your local London Drugs, who has been collecting them for over 2 years. By the end of 2008, London Drugs will have collected some 12,000 lbs. of batteries, which are shipped to a toxic waste recycler in Trail where they are broken apart and the metals separated and sold.

10 Million pounds and still recycling!

When the London Drugs management team began calculating the amount of waste that has been recycled throughout the organization, we knew it would be significant. But I think we were all a little surprised at the tally to date. Let’s put this number in some perspective. 10 Million Pounds is approximately equivalent to a dozen full-loaded 747 Jumbo Jets. Or 42 Blue Whales. Or 6,215 Smart Cars.
This number represents total waste diverted from landfill and recycled with our partners over the last two years, from London Drugs stores, warehouses and customers returning packaging, electronics and appliances.
A majority of the recycled material is cardboard and wrap from our distribution centre, but this total also includes 49 tons of electronics and 3 tons of rechargeable batteries and cell phones.
So congratulations to all London Drugs customers, management, staff and recycling partners. Keep up the good work.

What do you get at the last minute for the person who has everything green?

Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate
These bars are so stylish you don’t even need to wrap them. Try the mint-filled bar for a classic festive flavour, or the 85% cocoa version for the true dark chocolate connoisseur. If you can’t decide, go for the Mini Bar Collection. One bar a month for the whole year. Or 12 hours of outright green gluttony.

Fair Trade, Organic Coffee
London Drugs has a great selection of certified brands - Saltspring, Ethical Bean, Farmers First, Kicking Horse – from decaf to high-test. Not sure what the difference is with Fair Trade? Check out our video on Ethical Bean.

Batteries Included
Whoever is on your list, chances are they have something that runs on batteries. Rechargeables are definitely the way to go. Do the math and you’ll see that they really are much cheaper than disposables (as long as you don’t accidentally dispose of them, of course) and newer technology means they last a long time and power even high-energy devices like digital cameras. Remember you can bring old rechargeables and regular alkaline cells back to us for responsible recycling.

The Tea Room Organic Green Earl Grey Tea Infused Dark Chocolate
Organic tea is nice. Organic tea-infused chocolate is luxurious. The flavour is delicate and different. Perfect for the tea-lover on your list who is probably tired of getting nothing but teas.

Que Pasa Organic Corn Tortilla Chips
Okay, this is actually more of a holiday snack idea. These Que Pasa Tortilla Chips are really good, certified organic and are cooked in non-GMO pressed canola oil. They even come in a festive red corn version that will look great on the table next to the green holly centerpiece. And what the heck - youcould give them as a gift... a big crunchy gift.

Planet Earth DVD
This is an amazing 4-disc series, shot in HD, available in DVD or Blu-ray 550 minutes of some of the most amazing scenery and animals our planet has to offer, narrated by David Attenborough. It’s the green equivalent of watching football all Christmas day.

Panasonic VIERA 58-Inch 1080P Plasma TV
Perhaps not as green as a pair of organic cotton fair-trade boxer briefs, but even the most ardent environmentalist would be secretly happy to see this behemoth flat box under the tree. The Panasonic VIERA 58-Inch mercury and lead-free screen panel lasts up to 100,000 hours. (That’s 10,917 straight viewings of the entire Planet Earth DVD set) And of course, since you bought it from London Drugs, your green giftee can bring back all the packaging, including styrofoam, and even their old fat-screen for free responsible recycling. Just make sure you give them the receipt to show at customer service. You can always black out the price if you want to keep this 58" gift discreet.

Solar Products

Objective : Save Energy, Save Environment.

Solar Energy
Solar energy flow is not a cycle, but a flow from the sun to the biosphere. It is one of the four basic ecosystem processes or windows through which we can begin to perceive the ecosystem as a whole. Solar products are innovative mechanisms that help conserve energy, thus, help maintain the ecosystem. Solar products are environmentally friendly and are usually cost effective as well.

Today, there are several solar power products in the market for our home and office use. Solar Products include items such as solar hot water heaters, solar heating systems, solar panels, solar flashlights, small radios, solar calculators, solar battery chargers, solar lanterns, solar lighting, solar car batteries and much more.