After interviewing a young man who lives in an environmentally designed condo, I realized I take a lot of (environmental) things for granted: I have been separating garbage from recyclable material for eons and my family composted things biodegradable for decades. But these are things people who live in apartment buildings or condominiums haven't had the pleasure of really doing ... until quite recently.

When I visit a friend at his condo, I see him separate the garbage from the recycling goods -- I know he is environmentally conscious. But I realize only now, his condo isn't: My friend throws his garbage down the garbage chute, but he leaves the recycling material in the little garbage room in his hallway. Since my above mentioned interview, other people have told me of their ecological adventures of disposing of recycling: collecting items then hauling them down to the recycling rooms in the basements of their apartments, and so forth.

Last summer I rented a room and shared a house in Regina with a young couple and was horrified to see stacks of newspapers being tossed out in the same bag as the garbage. This made me realize how "eco-ahead" Toronto is in terms of reducing, reusing and recycling. Our city has really made great strides.

My mother is a high school teacher. About 10 years ago she taught an environmental course. One of her class projects was creating a green roof on top of the school building. The environment is such a hot topic now - but we and our city have been environmentally involved in making it greener for a while now. A decade or two. But at times - it seems like something so brand new and emerging. Maybe it's because EVERYBODY is environmentally concerned and aware now ... it's seeped into everything now - we are eating, breathing, sleeping, buying green.

I was told by a Tridel sales rep that the condo developer conducts market research to find out what/where/how consumers today want to live - and the environment is a major factor. So much so, that they are building environmentally sound condos across the GTA, using the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) system.

There are many other condo developers who are building environmentally friendly buildings ... but not to the extent or standard of LEED.

My article is about LEED building design (and condos). It's a relatively new (7 year) rating system that guides builders in building truly environmentally sound buildings. Previously it was only used for commercial buildings, now residential units are utilizing this system, and soon too, will individual homes. Everybody in the building industry seems to know about LEED - builders, designers, engineers, architects, environmentalists ... LEED design is taught in engineering classes. So much so .. it made me wonder if I have a story. "Everybody knows about this!" ... But luckily, not everybody. Non-industry people do not know about LEED or other environmental design strategies and building systems. But those who are in the know are hoping LEED will lead to strictly enforced municipal/provincial/national environmental building codes and laws.