Good Choice Initiative

Hi! My name's Noelle and I would consider myself an eco-citizen. I've spent most of my childhood living abroad in countries like Argentina and India, but Ottawa is and always has been home. Only a one hour drive away, our family cottage in La Pêche, Quebec is where I spent most of the day outside, swimming in the lake. Today, it is where I disconnect from the city and reconnect with nature. With a degree in Geography from Queen’s University, I’m passionate about sustainability and community development. I've studied tropical ecology in Costa Rica and benefited from an internship in environmental education in Honduras, working alongside local NGOs on conservation and environmental education projects. On the island of Utila, I learned to scuba dive and fell (more) in love with the ocean. My dream is to one day see a whale shark in its natural habitat... I even got a bamboo tattoo of this gentle giant in Thailand as a daily reminder of this personal lifetime goal. I...

Today is day #12 of my self-isolation time. I returned from my trip to Guatemala on March 17th, just in time before they closed their borders to incoming and outgoing flights. I'm glad I got to travel when I did, before all of this broke out. I got to experience the colonial city of Antigua and its landmark yellow Santa Catalina Arch, surrounded by volcanoes. At night, the Volcan del Fuego gushed glowing orange lava. I got to see the cloud forest and lush jungle, swim in the turquoise pools of the Cahabon River and got to witness the beauty of Atitlan lake and the richness of the Mayan culture in the towns nestled along the waterfront. Remembering the view below reminds me that my travels weren't so long ago and I know I'll have new adventures to look forward to. I am grateful to be home safely and close to family, and to be in good health. But I do miss the fresh air and the sunlight kissing my face, meeting up with friends and going dancing. I know I'm doing...

Welcome to 2020! It's a new decade, and with it comes a whole new set of resolutions - and expectations - to live better. In the past, I've set ambitious resolutions to meditate daily or to stop eating dairy in the hopes that I could be motivated to change my ways. Knowing myself, these expectations were in fact unrealistic and I was inevitably disappointed when I couldn't stick to them. So, now I'm trying another approach - one where I set realistic goals considering my habits and I stick to them. I am committed to living by my values of minimizing my impact on the environment, supporting local businesses and doing my best to buy products from abroad that are sourced ethically and sustainably. As long as I live by my values, I can only win...right? Right 😉 For those of you who are making sustainability part of your New Year's resolutions, I've come up with a list of 5 tips that you can easily implement into your daily habits ( it may take some ti...