4 - Wednesday, January 31, 1990 - North Shore News WHAT MAY well prove to be the most important book of the decade, maybe eves: the bible of our times, at least so far as Canadians ar:: concerned, has already been published. I warn you: it doesn’t have an inspirational title. The Canadian Green Consumer Guide. How much duller cana book sound? Yet its content is revolutionary. Published by McClelland & Stewart, prepared by Pollution Probe in consultation with Warner Troyer and Glenys Moss, it is bas- ed on an enormously-successful similar guide issued in the U.K. last year. The book’s message is that responsible shopping is essential to the survival of the earth. Yes, shopping! Mundane old shopping. The world is to be saved not by hurling ourselves on the barricades (although there is plenty of that to be done), not by over- throwing governments (although that can be necessary too), Gr even by picketing and holding press conferences, but by attacking polluting corporations directly where they are most vulnerable: at the bottom line. ce t least a million tonnes of poisonous garbage is dumped into landfill sites in this country every year, much of which seeps into our groundwater, hence into our drinking water, ultimately affecting everything we eat.’’ toxin-free, not just blemish-free. The eco-battlefield must shift to the home front, literally. It is no coincidence that the word ‘‘ecology’’ stems from the ancient Greek word *‘ekos,"’ which means the stewardship and management of a household. Every product in our houses, in- cluding the energy they use and the waste they generate, comes with a hidden environmental cost. The sheer banality of everyday home consumption cloaks a terri- ble truth: the planet is being destroyed not by nuclear bombs, but by saturatics in toxins created in the manufacture and maintenance of the most common, ordinary and frequently trifling objects we use, such as toothpastes and depilatories. White toothpaste contains titanium dioxide pigments which cause acid effluents during manufacture. In aerosol form, depilatories may contain CFCs. The list of poisons created by utterly commonplace items is stag- gering. Nail polish, for example, contains a host of synthetic chemi- cals, including toluene and acetone which, when spilled into the water, cause contamination. Even jewelry has a hidden en- vironmental price tag. The pro- cessing of gold, for instance, in- volves cyanide and causes major pollution problems, killing enor- mous numbers of fish. When the sulphides are burned off, sulphur EE dioxide is produced, which causes In her preface to the guide, Margaret Atwood writes: “Pollution control, like charity, begins at home. !t’s true that in- dustries are major polluters, but industries, in the final analysis, are market — and therefore consumer — driven. Even a small percentage swing in buying patterns can mean the difference between profit and loss.”” { have been poking about in the guide for weeks, underlining, asterixing, cross-referencing. This isn't a book you read. It is a book you study, a sort of do-it-yourself manual about how to achieve a state of ecological grace. You, too, can become a practising eco-freak. The Guide notes that there are 1,406 pesticides out there, finding #- their way into our water and food. There are 15,000 identified toxic chemicals in Canada's workplaces. (Yes — 15,000!) At least a million tonnes of poisonous garbage is dumped into landfill sites in this country every year, much of which seeps back in- to our groundwater, hence into our drinking water, ultimately affec- ting everything we eat. The best-kept secret about Canada is how filthy, fouled, poisoned and contaminated it is. Just because we have a nearly Swiss-like fetish about appearances and tidiness doesn’t mean we use our brains at all when it comes to worrying about the really deadly (but invisible) ‘‘dirt.”’ Clean, for openers, should mean Ardagh 986-4366 Personai Injury Hunter Barristers & Solicitors #300-1401 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver Free Initial Consultation acid rain. Never thought that little band of gold constituted an en- vironmental disaster zone, did ~you? The guide is full of information like this. You can take it in hand and wander through your home, discovering one environmentally- damaging item after another. Did you knew that all those bat- teries you and your kids go through contain cadmium and mercury, which, apart from the damage caused (and the energy us- ed) in their production, cause even more pollution when they are in- cinerated or dumped, either through toxic flyash or leaching into underground water? These are but a few of the serious domestic questions the guide raises — and then proceeds to answer, spelling out precisely what products to avoid and ho:. to replace them with environmen- tally-friendly and healthy goods. Household hazard sus wastes, the guide observes, are ubiquitous. They include pesticides, medicines, tug shampoos, upholstery cleaners, furniture polishes, pool chemicals, paint, paint stripper, paint thinner, stains, finishes, bleach, metal polishes and floor wax, to mention a few. The guide has seen the enemy and is trying to help us redeem ourselves. 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