The Eco Dad

I can't seem to get into any sorta rhythm with blogging, and I don't know why. I suppose if I keep blogging and not giving up, I haven't completely failed, right? I think having a challenge kept me interested and made me want to update. Going vegan hasn't exactly been all that exciting to write about and it's completely overrun my Instagram account. The memes, recipes and pictures of activism have been good though. Originally going vegan for the health benefits has spread into all other sorts of awareness. I've even started to wean the kids off of meat and dairy. I have to figure if I don't want it in my body, why would I put it in the bodies of my children? That said, they're slowly becoming vegetarians.  I think I'm a couple fun recipes away from making them vegan, but kids are fussy and my current arsenal of recipes is piss poor to say the least. So, as the title of this fine blog entry would suggest, it was my birthday recently. I celebrated by...

Well, it's EARTH DAY again ... but this time I'm actually blogging on the day of, unlike last year.  I've been terrible at this consistency thing. I think a portion of that is I don't like writing about going plant-based. Originally I was going to do it for a month, but I kinda like it, so just gonna keep on keepin' on. It's better for me, better for the environment and better for the animals. Win-win-win. I haven't really come up with a subsequent challenge. I thought about cutting weight. I've been trackin' calories and macros, but really only been maintaining or workin' on a recomposition of sorts. This is a daunting task because I really like food. Guess that means I have to up the fitness game.  I've been slacking as of late. I didn't touch a weight at all last week. It feels like a tear in my shoulder area. Taking a week off has really helped, so maybe a blessing in disguise? 2 months of cutting ... one week won't make a huge ...

We've all heard the saying that "it's better to give than to receive." For my birthday this weekend, that's exactly what I did. In lieu of some party, I gathered a handful of friends and their kids and organized a site for the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. While we didn't give financially, we gave our time and efforts to clean up a park/beach here in Mississauga. Others will benefit from our efforts. I figure if I'm going to gather people in an area, I may as well put them to use. Ha! An acceptable form of child labour.   I find this to be an extremely rewarding experience inasmuch as you do good on the day of the event, but you also teach your kids (and others, 'cause I don't have four kids as pictured above) to do good in the future. You can make it a bit of a game to see who can pick the most garbage, or who can find the biggest piece. It's all in how you sell it. Make it a friends and family event and it should sell itself to th...

I'm certainly glad I put 'irregularly updated' in this blog's description, 'cause it's been just over three weeks since I last wrote anything. I don't really have any excuses. It's just been a bit busy with a family vacation and a work-related trip to Amsterdam, Holland. Oh yeah, and my oldest starts school this week. He seems alright with it. I'm f*cking terrified! For our family vacation we went the cottage rental route. We've done the group cottage rental thing before and I have to say, with the right people, it's a good idea. Luckily, we go with the right people. At our busiest we had 10 adults and 6 children. We were spread around 5 cottages on one property, so we weren't on top of each other for 7 days, thankfully. That's how friendships are ruined. Nope, this was about a 3 hour drive outside the city limits and each family that went had their own cottage. The property was waterfront so the kids got plenty of beach time while ...

Well, I've been hit with a few clothing emergencies. Okay, so they aren't emergencies, but as life happens I'll need a couple things. I dodged a bullet with buying a suit because my son's daycare graduation was moved to a new date that clashed with a business outing. Given the choice I chose family. I always will. Yes, I know it's daycare and it's not a recognized diploma, but my son worked very hard on his Going to Kindergarten song and at four years old he knows if dad is, or isn't, there. Back to the suit though, this will likely require a consignment store. I don't see too many suits in a style I like on the thrift store racks. Consignment means paying more, but not everything second hand is going to be cheap or found in a store that relies solely on donations. It's sort of a negative connotation about second hand - that's it's cheap, beat up, useless stuff. Yes, you have to sift through the rough (and there's lots of rough), but you...

Happy Canada Day! It's Canada 150 up here and though the weather sucked for a good portion of the day, it didn't dampen our spirits.  The kids got dressed up. Mom wore a reconfigured Canada shirt and I wore my altered lobster shirt (I'll blog about that tomorrow). It was all very red and white today though. Check this dynamic duo out! My wife purchased these 'outfits' for the kids, so technically I still haven't purchased anything new. It should be noted it would be totally worth it though. I loved looking at my kids and loved how they greeted everyone they came across with "Happy Canada Day!" They didn't wear capes to the park this morning, but they still wore red and white and carried Canada flags. I hope they truly appreciate the country they live in and all it has to offer. They may not appreciate it now, and I don't expect them to at 4 and 2 years of age, but one day, I hope they do. I hope they look after it, care for it and make...

Just a quick post to say happy Father's Day to all the dads out there and moms pulling double duty. I had a great day (predominantly great day) with the family. We spent the morning at Canada's Wonderland and capped off the evening with an after dinner walk. For Father's Day my boys each donated $50 to my run to raise $1000 for SickKids Hospital. It's been a great day. The younger of the two boys had a real dad attachment today. It was awesome! I have to say, the best gift is time with the boys. Sure, they drive me crazy sometimes, but when they're good (or just not in a dumpy mood) it's great! It's the reason I go to Wonderland something like 8 times per year and only get on about half a dozen rides. It's all for them. So far, I've been there twice and the adult ride count stands at 0. Coco out.

The first long weekend, in Ontario anyways, with decent weather is (hopefully) the Victoria Day weekend. It's sort of an unofficial kick-off to summer, even though summer is actually another month away. It's also a huge weekend for gardening. I'm not sure if it's because the temperatures are all but certain to stay above that bloody frost point or because the only shopping people can do on the holiday Monday is at a nursery/garden centre. Either way, I don't care. I went to our local nursery this long weekend and picked up some flowers and a couple scotch bonnet pepper plants. At first I wondered if it broke the mission of not buying new, but plants are perishable items, kinda like food. I've never really heard of someone buying pre-owned annuals. They die. Every year. Circle of life. Perennials, I suppose, you could buy second hand, but I've never heard of someone digging up someone else's garden to transplant it in their own garden. You'd risk root...

Ah, Mother's Day. A day to celebrate the mothers in our lives. I happen to have three - my mother, my aunt (Godmother) and my wife (mother of our two rug rats). What do you get the women in your life that have raised you and now raise your children? I'll tell you what I got them: nothing. Sounds a little harsh when I put it that way, but none of them need anything - certainly nothing within my budget. There are, however, mothers, and their families, who could use gifts within my budget. Instead of giving the women in my life stuff, I opted to give meaningful gifts to women I'll never meet and never know. My boys had a 50/50 chance of being affected by hemophilia, which would have likely resulted in many trips to SickKids Hospital. My own cousin has spent time at SickKids for his cerebral palsy, so I've seen first hand how amazing the staff at this hospital are. It might be something to consider for upcoming birthdays or other holidays that usually have gifts give...

Over the past two days, little by little, I have endeavoured to make my best friend a trophy. Why? Because she deserves it. She has served her country for twenty years and I am fortunate to have been her partner (officially and unofficially, on and off) for almost the last four of them. I could go on and on about how awesome she is, but that's not the purpose of this blog. The trophy I made - that's why I'm writing today. So yeah, she's served her country for twenty years as an officer and there will be no pin, no plaque, no handshake, nothing. In fact she had to plan her own celebratory lunch. While I'm up for that, I wanted her to have something other than a full belly. My immediate thought was a gag gift - a used softball trophy from Value Village, likely a 1997 Pee Wee 'AA' Championship. It wasn't that I was looking for a softball trophy, I just figure that's the sorta trophy that gets thrown out. Having it used also keeps in step with my year ...

A few blog posts back I made mention that I would use some of my Kijiji earnings and support a friend's charitable endeavours. I did, but then more recently I thought to myself, why stop there? My finances may be finite, but I can raise more money for the cause by taking part in it myself. That said, I will raise funds for the World Wildlife Foundation by completing the CN Tower Climb here in Toronto. It's just that there is always room for more good in the world. It's like Jello, and if I'm to believe the commercials of my childhood, there is always room for Jello. Who knows, maybe my kids will see me doing it and want to do it too. Granted, they're a little young at 2 and 3 years of age, but it gets them thinking. Here's an excerpt from a conversation I had with my 3 year old this evening about it ... Not sure I'll be able to save any 'cars' doing the WWF Stair Climb. 😕 So, he may have been thinking about Transformers and how some of th...

Kids grow up so fast - way too fast as it turns out. They outgrow their friggin' clothes and it's hard to keep up. If they aren't out growing the clothes, they are simply shredding them at the knees, elbows, collars, everywhere. The good thing is, in addition to my go to thrift store, there are kids only thrift stores called Once Upon a Child ! We managed a pretty sweet haul of clothes for the oldest boy. Unfortunately for the youngest, he will likely get second generation hand-me-downs that don't have holes in them. No one said life was fair. Green Lantern Meets Captain Thrift? My oldest son was pretty stoked about his new gear, as seen in the flexing pose above. You can't go wrong with a MEXX sweater for about $5.  We grabbed two other sweaters, three jeans and a pair of shorts. The Green Lantern glasses, pictured above, were already his from a Happy Meal.  Clothes aren't the most exciting thing for kids, but it seemed to make my little guy smile....

Well, I've been on a bit of a writing hiatus, but it's been pretty productive. I've actually managed to donate some kids toys, though not nearly enough of 'em. My oldest son even got in the spirit of not buying things by wearing his Mountie costume for the fourth time.  That's two trick-or-treating expeditions, one school dress up and a school Mardi Gras parade. And this isn't the last time the costume will be used either. Nope, my youngest will likely wear it a couple more times too. What does this all have to do with my blog of not buying new? Aside from the obvious 'reuse' from the three R's, it reinforces the notion of quality over quantity. Had we bought a dumpy, cheapy costume it likely would not have survived the first Halloween, let alone the subsequent uses. This goes for a lot of life's purchases. You often times get what you pay for. Cheap sunglasses break or scratch easily. Cheap clothes tear or wear sooner than higher quality clothes...

While I've pledged to refrain from buying new things for a year, my wife has not, and that's okay. She spends enough time with a start-up company and mothering our kids that she doesn't have the same amount of time I do to research and find second hand clothes, especially when she needs an emergency pair of shoes. I did make the absolute most out of the situation though. I took some time and sat down with my three year old this morning and made him a garage for his cars ... from mom's shoe box. Waste not, want not? Constructing/decorating the garage didn't take much time. I think I got 15 minutes of quality time with the boy on this one, but it was 15 minutes of him and I working together. He got to place some stickers and then park his cars in the garage. Lately we've been playing a lot of cars, so I thought this particular craft would be fun ... and it was. We'll likely be playing with it this afternoon when he gets up from his nap. Time to use th...

Despite the title of this blog post including the popular consumer term "BOGO," I haven't actually bought anything new. It's been well over a month and I'm still surviving. There are a few things I should probably start researching or asking around for. Not buying new isn't going to come easy without being prepared. Something you can't buy used are experiences. Those are always going to be new and hopefully you can indulge in time with family and friends more often as a result of not buying stuff.  What does that have to do with BOGO? Our family happened to have a coupon for an hour of free bowling because we held our oldest son's birthday at a bowling alley last year. Part of the birthday package included a free hour of bowling for a later date, hence "buy one, get one" free. Not everything you do, or everywhere you go will have a BOGO offer, but it's worth looking into. I know Medieval Times sometimes has BOGO free on admissions. Airl...

This morning I woke up and was surprisingly pissed off by my Facebook feed, even though it likely didn't warrant the disdain I felt. A group I joined has revealed itself to be more of an annoyance than source of information. It brutally clutters my feed and I found myself pissed off by it. After this morning's incident I thought of removing myself from Facebook altogether for the rest of February, and depending on how that went, maybe permanently. Just when I steeled my resolve to pull that trigger I remembered I have a contact and health related group only available to me through Facebook. So, still on Facebook it is. This was in relation to an online tea order ... a f'ing tea order. Nothing says over privileged or attention seeker, or perhaps mentally unstable, like this reaction over tea. This is a grown man, and sadly he's not the only one who whines about a tea order not arriving in a day or two. #FirstWorldProblems This desire to disconnect, but in...

I bought something today, but it isn't new, so I'm still on course for my year long challenge. I picked up a vintage straight razor. I did a little research and scoured Kijiji with my one prerequisite being that it has to be used. The result is the $40 beauty you see below, but that's not the best part.  The best part of my purchase was the brief experience I had with the guy who sold it to me. He asked if I collected straight razors or wanted to use it. I said I'm planning on using it. He chuckled and asked why a straight razor in this day and age. So I told him what I'm doing here - that I've given up buying new stuff, including razors, so it was either grow a beard or find a way to shave that doesn't include disposables. He lit right up when I told him. He then asked if I was anti-consumerist and I said, not yet. Jokingly he asked if I buy food and I said it was the one thing I am allowed to buy new. He suggested, to keep in line with my challenge, that I...

With all the cost cutting and selling stuff around the house, I've mentioned before about supporting a friend who has undertaken a charitable endeavour. The cause I've chosen to support is the World Wildlife Foundation, and the friend I'm supporting is Lindsay. She climbs the CN Tower every year to support this worthwhile initiative. And really, why wouldn't I support her? I like animals. I like Lindsay. It seems a no brainer. That said, I'm going to post the link to her fundraising efforts right here ,  Who knows, maybe I can push a couple extra bucks in her (WWF's) direction. I feel this shark would totally high five me for donating to Lindsay and the WWF! I once read that no one has ever gone poor by giving to charity. I believe it. Now, I'm not saying to throw all your money at a charitable cause, but try giving a bit if you haven't already. You'll feel better for it. If you do give, you know it's true. Know who else feels good? The fr...

I've sorta fallen off the blogging wagon, but I've had a pretty sweet weekend in terms of family, decluttering and continuing the 'not buying anything new' streak. The problem with the blogging wagon is that Blogger won't let me post pictures from my phone and if I try it just fails to post. I couldn't use my Chromebook either because, well, I left it at home while the family and I spent the weekend at the mountains. Decluttering, however, was pretty profitable. I just sold my old snowboard for $100 and used a gift card for booze. Scratch that, I used two gift cards for booze.  Now, I hadn't planned on buying any liquor until I drank what I have (and I have a small collection), but most of it wasn't even for me. I grabbed myself a couple ciders and a seasonal beer. Not exactly partying it up, but I suppose parenthood puts a bit of a damper on drinking like a freshman at a frat house. I'm surprised sometimes how many gift cards people carry a...

Not only have I refrained from purchasing stuff since I gave up stuff, I also sold my old Kobo eReader. That's $50 in my pocket and one more electronic device out of the house. I can comfortably sell my Kobo because all my Android devices (all two of them) have the Kobo app on them. I don't need a dedicated device when I have a Nexus 7" tablet (albeit, old and on it's last legs) that does the same thing, minus the amazing battery life. Looking around the house it's easy to start identifying duplicates. That little point and click camera? Easily replaced by my phone. My four spatulas? Who needs four spatulas? No really, I have four and each one seems to be specialized. I have one for eggs in the little pan, one for pancakes on the griddle ... I wish I was kidding. Sad as my spatula situation is, the point is that duplication exists and only adds to clutter. Perhaps it'd make a good starting point for someone who wants to start minimizing. I imagine it'd b...