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Give the Gift of Conservation
This year,
give less for Christmas!
Thanks to the miracle of conservation,
you can give your loved ones a little less electricity.
Check out our gift ideas on the right,
make a family pledge to use less, or make a donation to help promote
conservation across Ontario!
And to let people know of your
commitment, we've even included a card you can print off and personalize!
Print your own card
 What light is this?...
Let's hope it's energy-efficient.
Print off our conservation card to go along with your gift.
1. plain paper, folded to 1/4 size
2. card stock, single fold and cut to size
Conservation Gizmos
Looking for a gift that says conserving energy is cool? Here's some ideas...
 Kill
A Watt
(Cost: $49 plus tax and shipping)
Monitor your power consumption and find out where the electricity pigs are in
your home. Available from
www.enviro-energytech.com (order by Dec. 18)
 Power
Cost Monitor
(Cost $150 plus tax and shipping)
Monitor your home's total power consumption
in real time. The monitor attaches to your meter and relays the
information to a display monitor in your home. Available from
www.save-electricity.ca
Hydro One customers in Northern Ontario may
be eligible to get a monitor for free -- click here.
Solar Backpacks
(Cost $175)
Charge your cell-phone on the go and eliminate part of the
phantom load in your home. Available at Grassroots
www.grassrootsstore.com
Freeplay Wind-Up Flashlights
Cost ($29.99)
A 60-second wind up provides up to 1 hour of illumination with LED lights.
Also available at Grassroots
www.grassrootsstore.com
Donate
Make a donation in someone's name.
 You will
receive an instant e-mail tax receipt and you can print off our card (at left)
to let them know.
Your contributions will help us
build Ontario's conservation movement, support community-based projects across
the province, design new campaigns to help promote conservation solutions, and
press for stronger incentives and support programs for conservation.
Advent Sharing Calendar
For an environmental version of an advent calendar, see Your Earth,
a weekly column by Suzanne Elston. Follow the daily instructions with your
family for some gentle reminders on how we can all live a little more lightly on
this earth. (Note: it pays to conserve.)
With thanks, and best wishes for
the season,
Chris Winter,
Executive Director
The Conservation Council of Ontario
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Gift Ideas
Bright Ideas
Your local hardware store or eco-store should
have both the basics and some neat gizmos for conserving electricity.
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compact fluorescent lights (CFLs)
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LED flashlights and bike lights
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solar lights for the yard
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rechargeable
batteries
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motion detectors for high-use areas
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programmable thermostat
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low-flow showerhead
Nice
Gifts
Music
Sarah Harmer:
Escarpment Blues
Sarah is on tour promoting the protection of the Niagara Escarpment.
Mike
Ford: Stars Shone on Toronto
A nice collection of eco-tunes from a couple of years back.
Clothing
Ask retailers for organic
cotton or hemp options. Your local eco-store is a good place to start (see
below) but you will also find the major
 chains are offering organic clothing
Cotton
Ginny
Check out their website -- sustainable style! The organic cotton hoody (right)
is a winner at $45.
Bigger
Budgets
Autoshare (Toronto)
www.autoshare.com/giftcentre.html
$149 gives you "The keys to the City", an Autoshare membership plus ten hours of
driving. A great alternative to owning.
Bullfrog Power (Ontario)
www.bullfrogpower.com
Green power costs about a dollar a day for the average home, or 50 cents if you
are a good conserver. Leave a cheque in a conservation card (see left) with the link
to the Bullfrog Power website.
Appliances (anywhere)
If you are shopping for an appliance, or intend to take advantage of the Boxing
Day sales, give someone a conservation credit note to cover the extra cost of
the energy-efficient model. Check the Energuide label.
A Green Communities Home Audit (Canada)
www.gca.ca
Now that the feds cancelled the subsidy for Energuide home energy audit, it's up
to you to help your kids have the most energy efficient and comfortable house.
Check the Green Communities website for the organization that serves your area.
Cost is around $200 - $300 for a full energy audit.
Urban Tree Salvage (GTA)
http://www.urbantreesalvage.com/
Furniture with a conscience. UTS uses salvaged lumber to make quality
furniture.
Online
Eco-Shopping
A few online options if you can't shop in person...
Grassroots
www.grassrootsstore.com
P'lovers
www.plovers.net
Stores in Stratford, Port Perry, and Bayfield.
Eco-Source
www.eco-source.com
Based in Ottawa, with a full catalogue of eco products
Mountain Equipment Coop
www.mec.ca
For the outdoors folks.
Lee Valley Tools
www.leevalley.com
Durable stuff for home and garden.
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