Earth Hour 2011

Of course I don't have to explain you what that is. And of course you will turn off the lights from 8:30 - 9:30 tonight and be part of a global movement that is part of the solution - not the problem. And hey, if you live in Thunder Bay, you may even have decided to throw an Earth Hour party or event (and maybe qualify for one of the prizes awarded by City of Thunder Bay, Thunder Bay Hydro, EarthWise and EcoSuperior).
Good on you! 

So here's a question. After 9:30 and your lights are back on again, ask yourself: now was that such a big deal? Should I do this only once a year - or maybe more often..?
Ask yourself, what else can I do to conserve my energy consumption and limit my carbon footprint (and my power bill)?

To inspire you and maybe even nudge you to be part of this great initiative, here's a great little Earth Day commercial all the way from Australia. So is this a global movement or what?
(okay, I'll admit I'm a sucker for that Ozzie accent)

Greencouging

I learned a new word today, an effective new word: greengouching. It's what happens to you, your wallet and possibly your health if you fall for the "green claims" touted by countless "green" products that are flooding the (super)market these days. Green shampoos, green clothing, green detergents, green wines, green cosmetics, green you-name-it-they've-got-it.



"Peeling back misleading green labels" (CBC's Marketplace)

 A solid 95% of those "green" claims are (gasp): "vague, irrelevant, unproven or just patently false" according to CBC's "Marketplace". In other words: almost all of the green hype is hogwash and lies. Greenwash.

The article points out that just about every manufacturer especially of cosmetics, skin care and baby products now has a seperate (and more expensive) line of "green" products on the shelves. It goes on to say that these products no longer are limited to a niche market but have gone main stream, making oodles of money for their manufacturers. (I guess it also explains why the accompanying picture shows 2 puzzled women: men don't clean the house, don't look after children and are of course never puzzled.)
I recommend reading the article, if only for a good chuckle on how creative some of those lies - sorry: claims can be.

What bothered me about the article, though, was the sole conclusion it came to: the reason for this problem is the lack of any regulating body. We need more rules.

Now don't get me wrong: civilized societies need rules. The free market is not necesarily always a good idea and regulation can prevent excesses (just look at the unregulated US banking system and what happened there). I just don't think regulation can solve the underlying problem.

The underlying problem is the assumption we need all these products. As long as we think we need toxic products in order to clean the house, suppress body odours and have movie star hair, the problem won't go away. The real problem is not just false advertising, the real problem is us buying wholesale into the illusion we need these products.

Thank goodness there are saner alternatives. There are cleaning products that are actually natural, like baking soda or soap nuts.
There are small scale local manufacturers who make great cosmetic and skin care products manufactured with respect for our environment and (get this): actually do your skin good. A good place to start here in Thunder Bay is Bare Organics, we're so lucky to have them here.
And if you're still using those yuckie deodorant sticks or sprays, consider using Deodorant Crystals: effective, safe to use, non-polluting to manufacture and much cheaper in the long run.

Okay, so these alternatives may be a little bit harder to find. You can't blame them for it, they don't have the glossy million-dollar advertising campaigns. But once you look for them you'll quickly find they are everywhere. Oh, and did I mention you'll meet the wonderful people who make and use them? Try that with a Johnson & Johnson shampoo!

Stop the greenwash, refuse to get greengouched and set your own course to a healthier and saner, truly greener lifestyle.

Pet Peeves (1)

Rant alert. About the Drive-Thru phenomenon. Any Drive-Thru. For coffee, fast food, banking or postal services. There are even drive-thrus for getting married and getting buried, seriously (US residents only, thank goodness).

I don't get them, drive-thrus. Why do people prefer to wait in their idling car, wasting time and fossil fuel instead of just parking the car and walk over to get that same coffee much quicker? Saves time, and in the process you get a little bit of exercise (some walking) and an interactive experience (with that cute server and maybe some other customers).

Point in case: I drive past a Tim Horton's almost every day, and each morning there's a line-up of at least 12 cars there. Often there are so many cars the line-up stretches well into the main road.
One day I stopped to time them how long it took to get their coffee: three and a half minutes. It would have taken me less than 3 minutes to park my car, walk into the restaurant, order my coffee and walk back to my car. Faster, with no engines idling.

An idling car consumes about 2 litres of fuel an hour (even more for trucks and SUVs). Twelve idling cars burn about 24 litres an hour, 12 hours each. Cars that are going nowhere, doing zero miles per gallon. Drive-Thrus are directly responsible for a lot of unnecessary carbon monoxide and other toxic gasses, just because we don't like to get out of our bubble. Heaven forbid we might get wet. Or cold. Or hot. Or (gasp) have a conversation with someone.

Let's face it, folks: drive-thrus don't belong in a green live style or any other saner life style. So next time you feel the urge, just park that car, get out, walk to the counter and order that coffee. You can do it, you'll save some time & fuel, and hey, you might even enjoy it!

Rant done, thank you. And tell that cute server I said hi.

Cool Courses Coming Up

Winter's darkest days are behind us and each day we're clocking a bit more sunshine (read: sun power). From a distance the Nolalu Eco Centre may seem to be hibernating, but the relative silence is misleading. We're already planning this coming summer's activities, and there's always a steady stream of folks dropping in for house tours and B&B stays.

One activity is coming up fairly soon, even: the ever-popular "Living Green" classes as part of Confederation College's Continuing Education program. The first class will be February 23: "Introduction to Solar Power", and the second one March 9: "Living Off the Grid". Follow the links for more information, or check The Key's winter issue.

The great thing about these courses is you don't need to be living in Thunder Bay to enjoy them. The College has a number of "virtual class rooms" all over NW Ontario, hooked up to the actual class room via closed circuit TV. Very cool!

There's always a high turnout for these courses, and with the recent (and impending...) price hikes for Hydro, propane and gas we expect they will sell out even faster now. Interesting how the economy can be part of the drive to be green...

snowshoe tracks at dusk

One of our favourite winter activities doesn't require any electric or combustible energy to enjoy: snowshoeing. The conditions this year are just glorious, so you'll find us breaking trails when ever time (and the weather) permits. Call me crazy, but I love winter for it.

Dancin' and Prancin'

Who says nature is boring? A few days ago we were treated to a private show by a big red fox having a whale of a time in the December snow. The -14C and cold winds didn't seem to bother him as he played around, diving and dancing, taking his sweet time, even catching the occasional rodent.

(click to enlarge)

Perfect timing, style and gracefulness, just a joy to watch... Foxes are creatures of habit, so we're keeping our eyes open for a repeat performance!

Snow And Straw

Let it snow, let it snow, I wrote last week. Be careful what you wish for, they say. Well, we did get lots more snow (yay!) - and had to cancel our informal get-together that was planned for Sunday afternoon (boo!).
We had been asked to host an afternoon with 2 folks who work in North Japan on local social and ecological issues for the United Church of Canada and were looking forward to meet them, together with a few good friends. Well, thick heavy snow prevented it from happening. That's how it can go in this neck of the woods; we like to think we're in control of what happens, but really we aren't. Oh well, another lesson learned.

Fortunately our straw bale presentation at renowned architectural firm Kuch Stephenson Gibson Malo went ahead as planned, last Friday. "Kuch", as the firm is affectionately called here in Thunder Bay, specializes in buildings that make more sense environmentally; they have been asked to work on an exciting new straw bale project in the town of Red Rock, not too far from here. We thoroughly enjoyed being invited at "Kuch's" and talking to the open-minded folks there.

The ambitious project is to build a 4000 square feet multi-purpose straw bale building on the rejuvenated harbour front, facing the lake. The challenge will be to make it as environmentally friendly as possible within the serious restrictions of a public space.
Kudos to the Red Rock city council for having this vision, the stamina to stick with it and for getting the complex financing in place! It's now in "Kuch's" capable hands to come up with a proposal that will satisfy the many complex and opposing demands, not an easy task. But having met them we now feel if anyone can pull it off it's them.

First Snow...

Last Sunday morning we woke up to a beautiful white world outside. A good 10cm of snow had fallen overnight and the late afternoon before. All those dreary fall browns and grays outside had suddenly morphed into a sparkling brand new world. Our neighbours tell us "This is it, this'll be on the ground till next spring".

Somehow that first snow is always a bit exciting and magical; shades of childhood, of snowmen, snowball fights, snow forts, trying the ice...
There's less squeeling and peals of laughter in our lives now when seeing the world covered in its first white robe of the year. Yes, there's still that sense of excitement, mixed now with the knowledge that after the very busy fall things will slow down a bit. We don't exactly go into hibernation, but we do hole up more, spend more time indoors. We eat more, too, mostly with good friends. And personally I like to revisit a few old Hollywood classics in our solar-powered mini cinema.

What I like best about winter is it doesn't have that urgency summer and fall have, of things that got to be done. Get firewood ready, work the gardens, do maintenance and renovations, organize workshops, house tours, feel guilty about not doing that canoe trip we promised ourselves...

Instead, the snowshoes have been prepared for another good workout and the snow blower topped & tuned up. I know I'll feel different about it in 6 weeks or so, but right now I'm ready for the cold season, secretly squeeling with delight inside.

Carbon Emissions Be Gone!

We recently spent a week in Toronto for a big-city-fix, our first vacation in 6 years! Isn't it interesting to notice how your sense of vacation changes depending on where you live?  "You can take the boy out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the boy", to coin a phrase.

Because we only had 1 week, driving down there wasn't an option; it would have meant 5 days on the road, leaving 1 measly day to enjoy our destination. So I booked a free flight (thank you Aeroplan!) but felt bad about the ecological footprint involved. Canadians spend too much time on planes, and no matter how you cut it: planes ain't good for our environment and are part of the growing greenhouse problem.

Granted, Canada is just too darn big to travel by other means and still get there within a reasonable amount of time. So what to do? The answer: purchase a carbon credit!

When processing our online bookings I was pleasantly surprised when a window popped up asking if I wanted to offset the carbon emissions for these flights by purchasing a corresponding carbon credit. Turns out that in our case of two return tickets Thunder Bay - Toronto, the carbon credit cost us less than $25.00 - a no-brainer, of course.

Carbon credits are getting increasingly popular with consumers and industries alike. The basic idea is that by supporting alternative energy programs, like investing in solar and wind generation, planting trees etc., we can offset the carbon emissions created through the burning of fossil fuels in transportation and industries.

Now mind you, even though I felt not as bad about the flights, it isn't the solution. It's tempting to think we can maintain a basically destructive lifestyle simply by buying more carbon credits. Sorry, it's not the fix we need, it's only a band-aid. Ultimately, we have to drastically change our lifestyle, a tall order to fulfill.

So until then, purchase those carbon credits whenever you can. It does help, and hey, you'll feel a lot better, too!