Not Far From the Tree is an organization of do-gooding gleaners who pluck away the plump fruit from urban homesteads across Toronto and give it to a worthy cause. It's a win-win-win situation that spreads good will and fresh fruit to everyone involved.

Basically, here's the deal: one can take part two ways, either as a tree owner, or as a gleaner (a fruit picker). Those lucky enough to have a mature, fruit bearing tree on their property need do no more than let the good people at Not Far From the Tree know about it and offer up its bounty.

Although the official launch parties won't take place until next month, both Riverdale and the Junction neighbourhoods have been selected by Project Neutral to work toward becoming the first carbon neutral urban communities in the country. The result of a competitive process in which community members applied for the opportunity to participate in the environmental initiative, Riverdale and the Junction were selected from a pool of over 20 nominated areas.

A rare roll cloud was spotted over Toronto yesterday evening. We don't normally post about weather — unless it's extreme — but given how spooky-looking these things are, I'll break that rule. Formed by downdrafts associated with thunderstorms, these clouds detach from those around them and appear to "roll" slowly around a horizontal axis. Although they look like tornadoes turned horizontal, they're not actually dangerous (nor will they suddenly turn vertical).

Earth Day 2011 happens to fall on Good Friday, which just means many events in Toronto have been scheduled more so throughout the coming week. If anything, I think the spread of events is good for the mantra behind Earth Day, and reinforces the idea that we need not just one special day during the year to demonstrate our commitment to the environment. Earth Day is now in its 41st year, and is celebrated in over 170 countries. Here in Toronto, many kicked off the week a few days ago by picking up trash with Rob Ford. Yes, the things we do for Mother Nature.

The experience of saving money is made infinitely better when you can feel like you're doing something positive at the same time. Yet rarely do these two conditions meet; either you're the jerk counting your quarters and holding up the line at the cash, or you're the soft-hearted sucker, down a few bills with a whole lot of Girl Guide cookies you'll never eat.

Toronto's Live Green Membership Card Program seems to offer both. The card, which you can receive for free, will save you money at more than 250 local stores and businesses, while at the same time serve to promote green initiatives and environmentally friendly products and services.

But the program has not gained the momentum anticipated back in November during its launch, at least according to some local businesses. They say that since signing on (also free for businesses) they've seen few customers whip our their cards. So is the issue that Torontonians don't know about the program, or are they just not using their cards?

Earth Hour 2011 in Toronto was a bust. Although the lights went out on the CN Tower and the billboards at Yonge and Dundas Square, aside from the former, surveys of the skyline offered little indication of the collective effort made by those who did participate in the annual event, which was founded by the World Wildlife Fund in Australia back in 2007.