Important Holiday Dates

Remember to place your order early online. All orders placed on or after December 23rd will not be processed until December 29th.

Please note that our E-Commerce Department will be closed on the following dates. You may still place an order online but your order will not be processed until the following business day:

Tuesday, December 23rd 2008 - Closed
Wednesday, December 24th 2008 - Closed
Thursday, December 25th 20008 - Closed
Friday, December 26th 2008 - Closed
Thursday, January 1st 2009 - Closed

Free Cotton Shopping Bag Give Away!

From December 1st through December 24th, Grassroots will be giving away our unbleached cotton shopping bags to all customers that spend $60 or more (before taxes & shipping, limit 1 per customer). These bags do not contain any petroleum products or synthetics -they are 100% cotton canvas. Our goal with this giveaway is to help reduce the number of plastic bags littering the planet, as well as appreciate the people that show their support for environmentally friendly products at Grassroots. The bags also make great gift wrap!

CALLING ALL ARTISTS!
Grassroots Annex is always looking for art to showcase in our store.

Are you an artist who explores environmental themes in your work? We love supporting local artists and it is a great opportunity to get your work out there. Painting, drawing, photography, whatever your medium! For more information please contact the Annex Store Manager: Alison at 416 944-1993 OR email her at: [email protected]



ATTN: TORONTO RESIDENTS - Receive a $50 gift card & $25 off your hydro bill
Sign Up for peaksaver and help keep Toronto green!

Air Conditioning season may be behind us, but as a Toronto Hydro customer you still have a chance to let your air conditioner really earn its keep by signing-up for peaksaver. A small peaksaver will be installed near your central air conditioner. During peak times, a remote signal allows the system to cycle down, reducing the amount of electricity the air conditioner uses. Best of all, with installation, you'll receive a $50 gift certificate to Grassroots courtesy of Toronto Hydro-Electric System and a $25 credit on your Toronto Hydro bill courtesy of the OPA. The activation period won't exceed 4 hours and you likely won't notice a change in the temperature of your home.

• reduce the demands on Ontario's electricity system
• activation is minimal
• reduce the need for additional generation plants or the purchase of expensive peak power
• keep the cost of electricity down in the long-term

Our popular, community-based workshops inspire self-sufficiency and are empowering to those seeking an alternative path.

Check back in the new year for great upcoming workshops!

Events

Elections 2008. Make your vote count!
October 14th, 2008

With elections approaching in Canada and the United States, Grassroots has been compiling resources to help our customers Vote for the Environment. Check these out:

- Read up on what the Suzuki Foundation has to say about the election:www.voteenvironment2008.ca.

- You can track the Sierra Club's thoughts on the Climate Crisis Election on their new blog at:www.sierraclub.ca/climatecrisis.

- Vote for Climate is a grassroots campaign to elect a federal government committed to bold action to reduce the emissions which cause climate change. Find out more at:www.voteforclimate.ca.

- Rabble's got a bad case of the election feeever! Rabble launched an election blog, bringing together progressive contributors from across the country, including Maude Barlow and the Council of Canadians, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Parkland Institute, The Rideau Institute, Murray Dobbin, Alice Klein, Matthew Good and many morevoices whose analysis you won't want to miss!www.rabble.ca.

- The CBC is inviting Canadians to submit questions for the Oct 2nd leaders debate. Send your question to:[email protected].

The event was hosted by CBC personality Jian Ghomeshi. In addition to a keynote address by Suzuki, there was entertainment by MacLean, Catherine MacLellan and Chris Murphy of Sloan. Guests, including singer Kim Stockwood and actress Teresa Pavlinek, snacked on organic hors d'oeuvres and were able to bid on items in the silent auction.

In addition to sponsoring the event, Grassroots' staff showed their support by volunteering in various capacities. The party raised $20,000, with 100% of the silent auction proceeds going to the DSF and $5 from the sale of every ticket going to benefit the New Leaf Yoga Foundation, which makes yoga and meditation accessible to disadvantaged youths in Canada.

Brothers Ted Grand and Rob Grand are pictured
here with David Suzuki.

Earth Hour was a Huge Success!
March 29th, 2008

Earth Hour 2008 was a remarkable global event, and in towns and cities across America people "went dark" to lend their voice to the worldwide call for action on climate change.

On March 29th, people everywhere turned off their lights - to make a statement, to help find new ways to reduce their impact on the environment, and to start a movement that ends with a solution to the common challenge we all face.

Millions of Americans in Chicago, Atlanta, Phoenix, San Francisco and dozens of other communities large and small - joined mayors, citizens' groups, schools and corporations from coast to coast. Around the globe, people on five continents took part, from Albania to Zimbabwe, Bosnia to Uzbekistan, Canada to Uruguay.

Here in Toronto, resident and businesses hit our energy reduction target during Earth Hour last night, as tens of thousands of people combined fun with a clear message of concern about climate change. Read more about how Toronto celebrated Earth Hour.

Earth Hour broke down boundaries. Never before have people from so many different backgrounds, cultures, and geographies come together to press for urgent change. Never before have governments, NGOs, businesses and average people called upon each other and the world to find a new direction.

That unity inspired millions, and with that same spirit we can move forward to find answers to this most urgent of problems. And the time to begin is now.

Earth Hour 2008 made a difference. Millions of people around the world continuing the commitments we have made - changing our lives and encouraging others to do the same - will change the world.

Turning the lights off for Earth Hour is a great first step, but if you really want to see a difference, then make Earth Hour part of your everyday life.

To learn more about this global initiative, visit the Earth Hour website.

Reclaiming Earth Day - How it all started
April 22nd, 2008

In April, 1970, the environmental movement burst onto the political stage with one of the largest grassroots demonstrations ever seen. Between 20 and 25 million people, mostly in the United States, answered the call on the first Earth Day. Event organizers were shocked at the response and marveled at the crowd that drew from every constituency: students and seniors; inner cities and small towns; faith groups and hippies.

The success of Earth Day shook the Nixon White House, and over the next year Nixon spearheaded a series of environmental reforms: creating the Environmental Protection Agency; regulating fuel efficiency and emission controls in automobiles; enacting laws protecting endangered species and habitats; signing the Clean Water Act; and more. No government before or since has equaled that environmental record and it was the fear of a rising movement that forced Nixon to act.

The Canadian government also reacted to the pressure from below for environmental action by forming a new federal Ministry of the Environment in 1971, pulling together various aspects of environmental policy that had previously been under the jurisdiction of a number of disparate ministries. This was followed by the development of environmental laws governing national parks, land use, wildlife and water.

Over the years, corporations began to fund and sponsor Earth Day events, some out of sincere interest, more out of desire to buy “green” credentials. This shifted the emphasis from public rallying to put pressure on politicians and policy makers, to predominantly innocuous and symbolic events. Large scale, interconnected mobilizations were out. Decentralized photo-ops were in. The unfortunate result was, most activists began to ignore Earth Day.

Help Us To Reclaim It!

Today we are faced with unprecedented environmental crises on one hand, and hypocrisy and inaction on the other. The time is NOW to reclaim the spirit of the ORIGINAL EARTH DAY, to pool our best ideas and give voice to our finest thinkers. 

Read more about Earth Day and events.



 Grassroots Continues to Lighten its Footprint
Grassroots blazes a new trail by being an early adopter of LED technology at its Toronto-Annex retail location. As part of a pilot project with greenTbiz, Grassroots replaced all the energy-intensive halogen bulbs in its flagship store, thus becoming one of the first retailers in Toronto to use the eco-friendly 'technology of the future'.

This initiative demonstrates the ecological superiority of LED technology - it's more efficient, completely mercury free and longer lasting. Grassroots expects to lower energy costs by 1.5 kilowatts - or 75% - annually. Manufactured by TuroLight, the LED lights (MR16) are 7 watts each, replacing the 50-watt halogens.

Grassroots is no stranger to alternative power sources. Both its Toronto-based stores are Bullfrogpowered with 100% green electricity and a solar panel powers the window lights at the Riverdale location. 

To read our press release about this initiative, click here.

 International Events Calendar

To find out about cool environmental events happening across the globe, click on the button below: