Big Day at the Vancouver Athlete's Village

First, I was able to attend the ceremony marking the official handover of the Village from Millenium (the developers) to the City of Vancouver to VANOC CEO John Furlong. Read one article on CTV here or another here.

Second, today marks 100 days to go to the start of the 2010 Olympic Games. That just seems so unreal to me! I remember when I started working here last year, there was a countdown clock that was at 600 and something, and I laughed thinking that it would take so long to get those days behind us... boy, was I wrong about that!

And last, I had the opportunity to spend part of my afternoon in "operator training" for the Kubota we will have on site to help move items around the Village.

Red Mitten Campaign & New Canadian Olympic Team Clothing Launched!!

Only 133 days to go!!!

Buy your pair of red mittens today! They are so amazing!! They were my favorite part of the Torch Bearer uniforms that were unveiled earlier this year, so I am super-thrilled that anyone can now buy their own pair, plus support Canadian athletes in the process!! Read all about the Red Mitten Campaign here and here.

Check out the article on CTV.ca about the launch at the new Vancouver Bay Olympic Superstore, as well as you can see all the clothing on the Bay's website. There is some really great gear for the public to be able to buy as well - my fave is the plaid "Canuck" print t-shirt, and I just LOVE the fact one of the toques has a big pom-pom on it!

Reuse, Recycle... but not always in Canada!

This is so frustrating!! Those of you who know me well, know I can be a little crazy when it comes to recyling. Not just your average stuff though: paper, plastics, etc., but making sure anything that still has "usefulness" to it, can be used by someone else if I no longer need it. One of my biggest challenges is that I don't have a car, so I can never load up the trunk and drive things to where they need to go. I thought I would share some of recent discoveries with you.

When I was first preparing for my move to Ireland, I used Freecycle. I used them again when I first moved to Vancouver as well. However, I found I wasn't always able to find a new home for some of my items.

I did find this great company in the USA though, Greendisk, who will let you mail in your old tech gadgets & media!!! They are even willing to serve Canadians!

Then there are the book bins around town that I have been more than happy to supply. I have managed to clean off a few shelves on my bookcases. (They even recently dropped off a bin near my house so I no longer have to cart bags of books on the train to a convenient location.)

I have to admit that one of the pros about my condo is that I live across the street from the RCH Thrift Shop. At least once every 6-8 weeks I take a bag of misc items over there to donate. I love that they will take just about anything - picture frames, vases, hangers, etc.

Around the corner is a donation bin for the disability centre - they take clothes and household items. I have made a fair bit of space in my closet thanks to them! And earlier this year they added a bottle & can recycling bin. With the amount of Coca-Cola I drink, this has become a very useful bin (previously I would save them up and take them into my office every few weeks). (And even though I have been trying to cut back, it is still nice to have an easy & convenient place to recycle bottles, cans and milk containers.)

For the past few weeks I have been doing a lot of online research, trying to find organizations in Metro Vancouver that would be happy to accept some of my goods-in-kind. I used this great resource from Calgary to help get me started. It took a fair bit of digging, but I was able to find these "wish lists":
- BC SPCA
- WISH Drop-In Centre
- Ronald McDonald House
- Lookout Emergency Aid Society
- The Cinderella Project
- YWCA

Not all of them take second-hand items, but some do, so it is worthwhile to check them out! Many thanks to my friend Virginia who came by last weekend and let me load up the back of her car and drove me around to drop off a number of items to a handful of these organizations. Right now the only items I have left are for the Cinderella Project, but they will not be collecting anything till the new year.... let's hope I can fit that into my schedule!

And in my research I came across this event. WOW! What a great idea!

But it's not all good news. I am always looking for new things to reuse / recycle / donate, and after listening to a great podcast by Stuff Mom Never Told You, I was eager to look into some of their suggestions. But what did I find... either the organization is no longer accepting items (as is the case for Green Jeans Insulation), or they don't accept their products for recycling in Canada (like Nike and Origins) (these are the ones that frustrated me the most!)

FYI, there is a similar shoe recycling program in the Ottawa area, Sole Responsibility.

I have been told for a few years now that Clinique is looking into a recycling program. I have been willing to stick with their make-up products with this "light at the end of the tunnel" (well, that and the ever wonderful "Clinique Bonus Time"), but now that Origins accepts any products, I think I may be out of luck. I think I may switching back to MAC (who, btw, I only stopped using because the counters at The Bay were constantly out of my product. There is a much larger counter at the Bay downtown here in Vancouver as well as a stand-alone store on Robson, so I don't think I would run into that problem now-a-days.)

Well, that turned into bit more of a ramble than I was expecting, but I hope you found something interesting!

Cheers,
Becky

Bumbershoot!

This was my second foray down to Seattle for the Bumbershoot arts & music festival and it was great! We stayed at the nearby Travelodge, so it was only a short walk over to the grounds. Katy Perry and The All-American Rejects put on great shows in the afternoon. We then headed over to one of the Comedy stages and were stunned to have the mystery guest be Sarah Silverman! Check out this review of her performance. I wouldn't say she was stellar, but it is fun to tell others I saw her.

We wrapped up the day with Sheryl Crow as the headliner for the night - I saw her last October and think she is a great performer, so was thrilled to be seeing her again.

We were also fortunate that the rain held off for most of the day, and we seemed to miss the afternoon showers during the comedy show.

I can't wait to see who is playing next year!

Canada's Girls Kick A**

I had the fortune to attend one of the games for the Canada Hockey Cup this evening, Canada vs. Finland. And our girls kicked some a**! 10-2 was the final score; it was a great game! The extra bonus - we had front row seats!! (Seats that I will never, ever have again, for any event there, Olympic or otherwise!! Note to self - it is cold that close to the ice! Bring a coat and don't wear summer sandals next time!!)

There was a great penalty shot and record-setting assist by Captain Hayley Wickenheiser. Check out this short article on CBC.

Unfortunately I won't be able to see any more of the games in this event, as I am heading to Seattle for the weekend... well, there's a slim chance we'll be back in time for the Gold Medal Games on Sunday! Fingers crossed!!