Autumn is a beautiful time of the year with leaves changing color.  It is also a time for accepting things as they are or have become.  Leaves fall, vegetables fade and everything is becoming settled, peaceful, quiet and calm.  The days become shorter than the nights.

Do you recycle? Re-use? Buy locally-grown, organic produce? You might think you’ve got all the bases covered when it comes to being environmentally friendly.  But if you feel you’ve done all you can to reduce your carbon footprint, maybe you could try tackling a trickier subject: your carbon paw print, so to speak. While the greenest choice may be to forego domestic pets in favour of observing the wildlife in your garden (see articles on our website), or to opt for animals which help you to recycle some of your kitchen waste, like chickens, this doesn’t mean pet ownership and an environmental conscience need be mutually exclusive. Even if you choose a domestic animal, you can still make a difference.

Biodiversity is the hallmark of a healthy ecosystem.  The rain forests, the African savannahs - wherever there is a significant amount of biodiversity, you can be sure that the natural environment is running in top form and with little human interference.  However, where human settlement encroaches, things often change, with habitat destruction as the seemingly inevitable result, and plummeting biodiversity just behind. 

• Use a variety of plant species, especially hazelnut, hawthorn, and lime tree (tilia/linde/tilleul) are popular.
• Do not clean up leaves and stems from your garden until after the winter.
• Practice eco gardening: no pesticide or insecticides.
• Do not cut the grass too often and leave it high in some spots.
• Leave some of the nettles, they love it!
• Flowers provide them with nectar and pollen.
• Make a shelter for the winter for them and watch them cuddle up.
• They are the perfect solution for aphids or plant lice on your roses!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Those who observe it remember all the things they are thankful for: families, friends and blessings such as a house or that dream job. This year, let us add to our list something which has always been there for us but we don't seem to appreciate enough: trees. We know that some trees are a source of food. Others provide lumber and raw materials for making paper and other products. The latter are values trees give us when cut. However, we seem to take for granted that they offer us a number of benefits when they are alive and strong. Besides being grateful for the products we get from them, why else should we be thankful for trees?

Last month's article on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Threshing out the Promises from Reality: a Look at GMOs, highlighted some of the environmental, health and economic issues behind GMOs. Here we'll look a little deeper at how GMOs affect our health. Is there really a danger in consuming GMOs, and if so, what is being done about it?

Have you ever considered getting rid of your car?

Let's face it - we all like the convenience of having it just outside the door waiting to be used and take us wherever we want to go. But who wouldn't want to be rid of all the hassle that comes with owning a vehicle: filling it up with expensive gas, checking tyre pressure, refilling window cleaning liquid, standing in line at the Contrôle Technique, expensive insurance, repairs... the list goes on forever. What if there were a way to use a car whenever you really needed one without assuming the responsibility of ownership?  Well, there is: it's called Cambio.