The Green Room

My son put my car out of its misery years ago and we decided not to replace it. We walk, cycle and bus as much as we can. Instead of spending the money we would have poured into that car on fuel, repairs and insurance, we have been investing the calculated equivalent each month. Boy, has it grown!

Tell us how your green actions are saving you money, improving your health (eg less car rides = more physical activity) and generally making your life better. We might use your story in the next issue of David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge newsletter.

/Gail

Sarah from Saskatchewan writes:

I don’t have a lot of money to make big upgrades for energy saving features, but I try and do little things. I still drive my car for errands, but instead of just hopping in and going whenever I feel like it, I plan my trips and routes to be more efficient and delay trips until I can carpool with someone else.

To save money, I ride my bike to work in the summer. In the winter, I ride the bus and actually enjoy it as I can read a book on the way home and relax. I unplug electronics when I’m not at home, and I turn off lights and electronics when I’m not using them. I am consciencious of how long I stay in the shower, and I don’t water my lawn (and it’s still green!). I get a good workout using a manual mower (and save money on gas) and pulling weeds by hand (no pesticides!). And I feel better for spending time outside.

I did spend money on a programmable thermostat, and that was well spent, as I have saved a lot on energy since. Throwing an extra blanket on the bed and turning down the heat by one more degree at night can make a big difference. I don’t hold the fridge open, I vacuum the coils regularly, and I use my own muscles to mix dough rather than running an electric mixer. I’m proud to say that I’ve made a difference doing the little things, and I hope I can encourage others to do the same and show them that they don’t have to spend money to go green.

Craig and Layla Baird from Rossland, BC are on a mission to reduce their carbon footprint and aid the Earth along the road to recovery. The husband and wife team launched an initiative this spring to do something green every single day for a year. After organizing a successful Earth Day Celebration in Trail, BC, they decided to go big and live green for a year until April 22, 2009 — and every day after that.

From building a solar cooker and limiting showers to five minutes, to only drying clothes outside, switching to a manual lawnmower and bringing reusable containers for take-out food, the Baird’s have been blogging their inspiring adventures to help spread their message, garnering press along the way.

Devoted to raising awareness about the environment and all the things people can do to change how they live and affect the environment, Craig and Layla are open to ideas for living greener. It’s an important change and we applaud you! Keep up the great work!

Karen Pugh from Brantford, Ontario writes:

Every time I pack yet another school lunch bag (ugh!), I debate the merits of the "litterless lunch" vs. filling up my dishwasher with yet another pile of plastic re-usable containers. While I understand the need to reduce garbage, I can’t imagine that using more energy to heat the dishwasher water and using all that soap is any better for our environment. I know I could handwash those dishes, but in reality, "it ain’t gonna happen." Any thoughts?

Green Room host Gail writes:

Actually, there is some evidence that a dishwasher is more energy efficient than hand washing, especially if you have a dishwasher that’s energy-efficient.

The three R’s of eco-friendliness fall into a kind of hierarchy. It’s best to Reduce as much as possible first. So, you are correct in choosing a "litterless lunch" because it will keep stuff out of the landfills. And Reusing is more important than Recycling, because recycling uses energy and it’s always better to do the best you can to reuse things (such as your food containers) rather than purchasing new things, even when they can be recycled.

Whatever you practice in preparing school lunches, the kids that are eating them are becoming encultured to it - they’ll do what you did when they make there own lunches or (in future) make lunches for others. Thanks for helping to protect nature!

Gail Mills from Golden Lake, Ontario writes:

Our local paper is the Eganville Leader and when I read something that really bothers me, I tend to react by writing letters to the editor. Earlier this summer, there was a letter that talked again about global warming being a bandwagon that the Liberals recently jumped on and that scientists are paid by the government to sway the "simple-minded!" What a load! So I responded and my letter was published on August 6, which I wanted to share:

In response to Wed July 29, 2008 "Get Down from Global Ivory Tower"

It amazes me that there still are those who question the impact of the activities of human beings on our planet. Whether you want to believe that global warming is happening or not, the simple fact that we pollute the air, water, soil, and other living creatures on our earth every single day in so many ways is not open to debate by anyone. Anyone, including scientists, that call global warming complete nonsense, is missing the point. The real issue is pollution, and it needs to be addressed by everyone. Thank God that the Liberals and Kyoto are doing at least something - it won’t be enough, but it will be a start. Scientists have been trying to get governments and everyone to see the problems of pollution for many, many years (even since the 1600’s!). Spending money to help our environment is necessary, and is more important than ever before. Gas prices will not go down - alternative fuels and automobiles are coming, and new technology will hopefully help solve some of the problems that fossil fuel overuse has caused. (If you haven’t heard about compressed air engines, they are amazing - check them out on the internet! Imagine using air to run your engine, and filling up your tank using an air compressor! I can’t wait for the day that most of my hard earned money is not burned up in my car engine!)

The environment IS the biggest issue in Canada. The best thing you can do is learn more about pollution and start doing what needs to be done. I love looking out my window every morning and seeing the wonders of nature. I don’t want to think that my grandchildren will not see this same beautiful country. We need to do all we can to protect and care for our land, air, and water. Without these essentials, there is no future. Now that’s something to think about next time you fill up your gas tank.

Some municipalities (including Metro Vancouver) are trying to convince people that burning is the best solution for so-called ‘residual waste’ (the stuff that can’t be composted or recycled). Lowering consumption, reusing and cradle-to-cradle regulations for manufacturers are less-toxic alternatives. Go to http://blog.zerowastevancouver.org/ and http://americanhealthstudies.org/index.html for more info.

The children of Paul and Lucy Morel of Deep River, Ontario, sent this loving tribute to their Dad:

Our father was always conscious of the world around him and its limited resources and he attempted to instill this in his four children. Here are the top ten things which seemed quite odd (and embarrassing, if truth be told) to us as children and teenagers in the 70s and 80s, but which we now realize were wise and conscious choices. Many of these carry memories which now bring us to tears of laughter.

1. We had a well-used wood stove in our basement to cut down on furnace use

2. The heat was turned down to about 55° Fahrenheit at night in the winter - we loaded on blankets and wore warm pajamas (we swear we could at times see our breath in the mornings)

3. Our laundry was dried on a clothes line and the dryer used only in limited circumstances (frozen stiff jeans were quite normal in our house)

4. We have always had a "compost heap" in our back yard which nourished our vegetable garden (our early chore as children was to carry the potato peelings and vegetable scraps to the compost each night)

5. Reduce/reuse/recycle was second nature to our dad - he recycled when recycling wasn’t cool (a milk jug would be refashioned into a scoop for the water barrel which in turn was fashioned out of an old garbage can)

6. We naturally had no air conditioning in the summer - windows were opened at night, and closed with drapes pulled in the mid-morning to capture and maintain the cool air of the nights
7. Our father never used Kleenex - he has always had handkerchiefs (and still does to this day!)

8. Our dad was the first person we knew who replaced all lightbulbs in his house with compact fluorescent

9. We actually always shared bath water to limit electricity and water use!

10. Our washing machine had a "suds saver" such that on laundry day multiple loads of laundry were washed in the same water

We will always recall as teenagers our Dad’s observation on the changing world when he would shake his head and say "We are becoming a throw-away society". But our Dad certainly did his part and now we find ourselves following his example as best we can: using our own clotheslines instead of our dryers, using our own water barrels to water our gardens, getting our own composters, installing programmable thermostats to ensure our air-conditioning and heating is used at its minimal – and of course reminding our own children to turn off the lights when they leave the room!. We are grateful to our wonderful father for his example.

In honour of his eightieth birthday, we have made a donation to the David Suzuki Foundation. Here is our Dad’s mantra from our childhood- words to live by:

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT.

Margot Morel (Guelph, Ontario)
Mark Morel (Ajax, Ontario)
Catherine Morel-Lopez (Toronto, Ontario)
Lisa Morel-Misener (Ottawa, Ontario)

Lots of green living ideas are recycled! Maybe that’s why what seems ‘new’ to a lot of people is second nature to others. Readers - what green wisdom was passed down to you from parents and grandparents?

Hayes Zirnhelt at UBC Engineering brought up this issue:

Thank you for the monthly newsletters. I just wanted to pass on an idea that might save power with your newsletters. If you switched to a black background, or dark background with light lettering you could probably save quite a bit of power considering many people read thesenewsletters. An example of this is the search engine,
www.saveandsearch.com (they also have some statistics on how much power it saves).

Keep up the good work.

There’s a lot of confusing information out there about this. We go by an independent study of 45 monitors ( 23 CRT, 22 LCD) done to investigate similar claims made by Blackle.com . Of these, only one was proven to show any significant power savings when on a black screen. In fact, LCD’s (used in laptops and modern flat screens) showed an increase in energy usage when set to a total black screen.

For more information, check this out:

techlogg.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=360&Itemid=9

Will be staying with white background for now. Thanks, Hayes, for bringing this to light!

Bev Sawyer of Tobermory, Ontario has a roofing question:

"I’m having a rough time choosing what to reroof my home with. I live in a very cold climate, so fibreglass shingles are not wise. or clay tiles, etc. - they can’t take the cold. It looks like I have little choice and it will have to be a steel roof."

I suggested that Bev consider a green roof - plants growing on a building’s roof. Depending on the slope, strength and size of your roof, you can have a roof covered with grass, flowers or even shrubs. Besides aesthetics, green roofing can add an extra layer of insulation to your home, reduce storm runoff and provide a buffer against temperature extremes. For more information: www.greenroofs.org .

Readers, have you got any other suggestions? Or experience with green roofing to help Bev?

I operate www.reyouzd.com which supports and profiles businesses who sell used, second-hand, reclaimed and recycled goods. The focus of the website educates that used goods require no new agricultural and industrial practices, no new manufacturing processes, no new packaging and no transglobal transportation to marketplace yet these goods serve our purposes more than adequately.

Lynne Taylor, Kincardine Ontario