Teachers:  For current climate change information, go to http://ecards.greenlearning.ca.

Choose CLIMATE CHANGE under the LEARN MORE menu.

"Normal" is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to the job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car, and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it.1

The choices we make every day can have a big long-term impact on the environment. With many options available for vacations and outdoor recreational activities, how can we choose with the environment in mind? What about the gifts we give? If your friends and relatives already have lots of stuff, think about some other creative gifts that will mean just as much. Then there is the amount of garbage we produce. Reducing waste is really not so hard when you think about it in a different way. Finally, when we do have a little money left over, it's a good idea to invest it for future use. More and more Canadians are being guided by their principles and values when they make investment decisions – a trend referred to as socially responsible investing.

When every person's day-to-day choices are added up, they give us each a big opportunity to help protect the climate and the environment as a whole, and save money at the same time. To choose specific actions to reduce your annual greenhouse gas emissions, visit the Pembina Institute's One Less Tonne website. With every action you select, the tool will display the emission reductions you'll achieve (and the money you'll save in energy costs!). And for a wealth of information about the things we all use in our day-to-day lives, visit the Worldwatch Institute's website.

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1. Source: Ellen Goodman, New Road Map Foundation Newsletter (excerpted from "Stepping Lightly, Simplicity for people and the planet" by Mark A. Burch