Archive for the ‘Environmentalism’ Category
Energy efficiency should be the first item on Canada’s energy agenda.
Canada is about to spend billions on new oil sands projects, pipelines, nuclear and fossil-fuel power stations, hydroelectric dams, solar projects, and wind farms. But as we prepare to generate more energy, it makes sense to save energy first.
http://saveecoenergy.ca/save-energy-first
We need to get serious about energy efficiency.
The global economy is struggling and governments want to create jobs. This is a huge opportunity for Canadian governments to help Canadian families save energy. Making our homes more energy-efficient creates jobs in all communities. We urgently need to send a clear message to decision makers that it’s time for Canada to save energy first.
Green Audit
A couple of years ago, we conducted our own internal Green Audit to see how we could make a difference around our office. A couple of key things changed for us.
We purchased a water cooler and switched to drinking water out of glasses instead of buying hundreds of water bottles every year and throwing them into landfill. We also switched from the daily run to the coffee shop and all the cups associated with that, to having our own coffee maker in the office. We know there’s plenty more to do, but at least we got started!
It’s not just about the Earth, most of the time the changes you make impact your wallet as well. I know we’ve saved money having that water cooler, and I know that each employee spends less on in-house coffee than coffee runs to the shop. Having just attended the Chamber of Commerce and Earthcare’s “Building a Business Case for Sustainability,” presented by Bob Willard, I was reminded that audits should be annual. Let’s see what else we can do around here…
Have you ‘green audited’ your office, or your home life? If so, what changes do you think made the most impact?
How Green is Your Garden?
If you’re a gardener, check out the new Landscape Guide for Canadian Homes from CMHC.
Meet your home landscaping needs while respecting the natural environment, whether you want a radical makeover or want to spruce up an old garden. Illustrated with many colour photos and drawings, the Guide describes the design process, materials, types of plants, soils and so much more. Learn about low-maintenance gardens and lawns, water conservation, natural pest control methods, and how to hire a landscape contractor.
It is available for $19.95 here.
Happy Green Thumb!
Sudbury Earth Day
CanSpec will be at Earth Day in Sudbury on Saturday the 30th.
It’s at Tom Davies Square this year, not Market Square. Don’t get your squares confused. Earth Day is a whole lot of fun and we’ll be there from 10-5.
Find out more at www.earthdaysudbury.ca.
Spring Cleaning
Even though it snowed in Sudbury today, Spring is actually on its way, and with Spring comes the usual major yard and house cleanup. If you’re like me, you have some old electronics kicking around (you know, the big white monitor or the old tube TV) and you may be throwing them to the curb this season. Before you do, visit the Ontario Electronic Stewardship website to find out how you can recycle your old electronics and divert them from landfill. Happy cleaning!
Passive House
I attended the presentation on Passive House building practices today, hosted by Earthcare and the Sudbury & District Home Builders’ Assocation and while my head might explode with the amount of information I had to absorb, well, the bottom line is that this type of building seems to make so much sense.
You can find out more at the Passive House website, but essentially it’s all about building an air tight and well insulated home that barely needs mechanical heating at all (in fact they say that Passive Houses consume up to 90% less energy than a code-built home). How the home is situated on the lot and the material used to build the home are all part of the low energy impact design. Of course, there is so much more to it than that. Passive Houses aren’t the stuff of hippies and grass huts; these homes are being built in 40 countries and aesthetically can be designed to look like any regular type of home.
A lot of the material that goes into the home is slow to come to Canada, so there is much work to be done there, but the idea sure is exciting. Had you ever heard of the Passive House before, or are you like me and learning something new every day?
Can I Buy You a Coffee?
Diverted from landfill this week!
With 16 people in our office in Sudbury, who all drink coffee and tea, well, we tend to accumulate a lot of paper cups from the local Canadian icon coffee shop! We only just recently realized that lids can be recycled and cups can be composted. Yes, composted. Not recycled, but composted. Who knew? I would have guessed recycled, but no.
So now I’m taking the cups home and putting them in the green bin provided by the city for compost pick up. Probably the best thing to do is to use a travel mug (or make coffee at work!) and save $.10 every time, but if you can’t get into that habit, why not start a new bin for your cups to go into the compost? Wouldn’t it be great if the city collected recycling and green bins for businesses, not just residential? What do you wish your home town would do to help with recycling and composting?