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

Heidi from Ottawa, ON writes:

I was reading your newsletter and am interested in the Boreal Forest Friendly Coffee, however the company featured in the newsletter is an American company. Is there a Canadian company to deal with? I think that for this type of initiative most Canadians would prefer to deal with a Canadian company. Here in Ottawa, we have a company called Bridgehead Coffee. How do they stack up in the eco-friendly coffee department?

Gail from the Green Room replies:

We provided a link to the Boreal Forest Friendly Coffee to support the Boreal Songbird Initiative. There are, as you say, Canadian coffee companies providing bird-friendly product. I looked up Bridgehead Coffee and, according to their website , their products are "Fairly-traded, organic and shade-grown" - so they score the triple crown! Good choice.

Children who connect with nature grow into adults who care about protecting it.

Sylvie de Sousa and Katharine Byers are two Vancouver Moms who’ve put together a bag of tricks sure to nurture eco-consciousness in any kid (and, hopefully, prevent the onset of what Richard Louv calls “nature deficit disorder”). They helped us put together activities to turn kids into bird watchers and protectors for our November newsletter.

Share your wisdom about getting kids into nature here.

Canada’s Boreal forest - a green halo that touches nearly every province and territory - is home to millions of birds. Yet most of it is unprotected. Sign the Boreal Songbird Initiative’s petition to save the forest and the many creatures that call it home.

A reader wrote:

Your compost tea is missing one KEY ingredient: oxygen.  In the anaerobic water environment it’s most likely you’ll create something that will kill your plants as that is the best way to create harmful bacteria, fungi, etc. The key to great compost tea is aeration. I use an aeration pump/filters used in fish tanks.

Lindsay responds:

The compost tea recipe we provided was definitely the anaerobic or non-aerated version. As you can imagine we have a wide audience out there, from those who have never gardened to master gardeners! Our intent was to provide the most basic and simple recipe, hence the "bucket-fermentation method" versus what some would consider the more complicated, ‘Bucket-blubbler method" or suggesting they purchase a commercial tea brewer.

From my reseach I found that the non-aerated version also has a function in the garden and compost tea can be as complex or as simple as you want to make it. Now that we’ve got people curious about compost tea, perhaps we’ll do another ‘level 2′ video, where we talk about aeration (like the a aquarium aerater), adding nitrogen via alfalfa pellets and adding sugar, like molasses.

Again, sources I found called this ‘Level 1" compost tea or the ‘bucket fermentation method". Stay tuned, as we hope to bring people along one small step at a time. I think your suggestion of highlighting the benefits of aeration when making compost tea are definitely worth exploring. In a future issue we can elaborate on Level 2, 3 and 4 types of tea which includes aerated teas.

Have you taken steps toward a greener summer vacation this year? Got plans for an upcoming eco-friendly holiday? Advice for lowering eco-footprints at the campsite, cottage or on the water? Favourite green hotel? We want to hear your ideas and tips! Share your comments here.

Denham Dingle of Lindsay, Ontario asks:

Define "pesticide" please! Is it a substance to kill animal pests only or does it extend to plants - i.e. so-called "weeds"?

Good question! The definition of ‘pesticides’ includes insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, algaecides, and slimicides. Be aware that "Weed and Feed" products include chemical pesticides.

So yes, the definition of pesticide extends to plants - so-called ‘weeds’.

Ken Davis of Lone Pine Publishing sends this note:

Our company published three new books this spring - Garden Bugs of Ontario , Garden Bugs of Alberta , and Garden Bugs of British Columbia .

These books, written by professional entomologists in an accessible manner and beautifully hand-illustrated throughout, talk about both beneficial and damaging insects in the garden from the perspective of using natural controls and also with a view to sharing the fabulous display of nature available at the ‘bug’ level right in your own back yard. For more information, you can check out these books on our website www.lonepinepublishing.com .

Ruth Tschannen, of the Cascadia Society for Social Working relates how they’ve turned the backyard of their centre into a productive vegetable garden using the principals of biodynamic gardening:

In the beginning of last century Rudolf Steiner introduced biodynamic preparations - a wonderful way of bringing back worn out soil. We’ve been doing this here for the last five years. Our composts are incredible within a short time. Birds and bees are abundant within our garden.

The biodynamic preparations are stirred at different times of the day. During summer it is Silica 501. In spring and fall it is Horn manure 500.

Our garden is going to be featured on the Natural Garden tour on Sept. 14th.  If people would be interested in dates for the stirring of the preparations please let me know (604)987-3407.

Anyone else have experience with this method? Here are a couple of websites to look at for more information:
http://www.perc.ca/PEN/1999-11/s-cleary.html
http://www.biodynamics.com/biodynamics.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture

Naomi sent in this question:

Our compost had rats so we had to get rid of it - how do I avoid this if we want to try composting again?

Here’s Lindsay’s response:

Rats you say? I’m assuming then that you’re in a city setting. Most municipalities have issued compost bins to avoid smart critters like crows, rats, raccoons and skunks from getting in. Check your municipal waste website and see how you can get one. They’re often about the size of a large garbage can, with small air holes, a locking lid and holes to peg it down.

Trouble shooting for rats would also mean that you want to make sure no cooked or meaty foods get into the compost. These are quite fragrant and tempting for critters like rats.

Also, you can add pet hair right to the compost. It’s supposed to give your bin that “predator” smell and keep the vermin away. I add my cat and dog hair from their brushes as well as dryer lint (it’s mostly pet hair) and haven’t had a problem with rats for three years here in Vancouver. And I do know they’re around. I’ve seen them with my own eyes scrambling my fence and trees!