Going, going...

Life has been too busy for regular blog updates lately: putting the vegetable garden(s) in, work, new studies, setting up new courses through Confederation College - and a full blown estate auction.

Good friends of ours are moving away and asked to have their estate auctioned off from our property. We happily agreed, as this was a great opportunity to get rid of some of our own things, too.
Jacomyn quickly realized that an auction like this is not just an occasion to sell stuff, it's also a community event. Posters were distributed, people informed, and judging by the number of phone calls we got, pretty soon the community was aware of this upcoming event.

Auctioneer Peter Kantola in action on a large Douglas fir timber

Just after 8:00 am that morning the first lookers dropped in to go through the many things waiting to go, and around 10:00 auctioneer Peter Kantola kicked things off to rapidly work his way through the long list of items. Chairs, hammock, mud buggy, power wood splitter, paint, tractor, timbers, buckets full of screws and nails, power tools, scaffolding, you name it.

It was a lovely (and windy) day, turnout was great and the mood was excellent. Just after 1:00 everything was sold, often for next to nothing. A good time was had by all, we met some new neighbours, and on top of that our property got cleared of a lot of stuff we otherwise wouldn't have known how to get rid of.
Our friends also got rid of all their things and are now getting ready to move on. That's one thing this auction removed: a good friendship. We'll miss them.

Yay for Terrace Bay!

There aren't many recurring events we make a point of attending, but the Green Trade Show at Terrace is an exception to that rule. This year marked already the 4th time we attended; it's almost routine now and we now look forward to seeing the friends and familiar faces who make this show the success that it is.

Despite this town's modest size of 1800 souls and a depressed resource-driven economy, they somehow manage to organize one of this region's better "green" shows. Near-flawlessly organized, infectious of mood and a pleaser of crowds it's a true community event and the reason we keep coming back.

This time things were a little different: as we pulled into Terrace Bay, the clear Lake Superior air got replaced with the smell of the town's paper mill which had finally re-opened. Good news for the community that depends on the mill for jobs, but not necessarily good news for the environment. It encapsulated the difficult tension between economy and ecology...

Once again a shout out to the indefatigable Sean Irwin and his tireless team of volunteers who made it happen. See you all next year!



Opening speeches: show coordinator Shaun Irwin (right) and the mayor of Terrace Bay (left).



Nolalu Unplugged

So Nolalu is maybe not the centre of the universe. And maybe you think we don't have easy access to any culturally relevant entertainment (other than watching our amazing starry nights and northern lights).

Well, okay, maybe. But then our friend and neighbour Larry Watson thought: if we can't go to the entertainment, the entertainment shall come to us. And he organized a wonderful concert in his big and acoustically excellent woodworking shop.

And so, between wood planers, band saws and press drills, about 30 people enjoyed an exhilarating evening with the unique and exciting music from BC's Fish and Bird, as they made a stop-over here on their Canada tour.

Fish And Bird performing amidst woodworking equipment (for better acoustics)

Despite the fact that the 5-piece band (plus "road manager") only arrived about an hour before the show started, their performance was tight, musical, absorbing, and a qualified success (click here to hear some samples of their music).

Those in Thunder Bay who would like to enjoy what we in Nolalu enjoyed first, your chance will be May 30th in the Apollo. Highly recommended!
And to give this entry the required green edge: very soon this band will be touring this vast land of ours in a van that runs on vegetable oil!


Thank you to Fish and Bird for a wonderful musical experience in every sense of the word. And a big shout out to Larry and Liz who organized this neighbourhood concert and offered the band meals, beer and a place to spend the night.

Earth Day 2011

March 26 was Earth Hour, and a few days later on April 22 that hour turned into a full day: Earth Day. Here in in Thunder Bay we had a number of initiatives, including a brand new one: an Earth Day event on April 16 at the Thunder Bay Country Market.

picture: Raili Roy

About 15 different organizations and businesses were offered a free booth to show local shoppers what is being/can be done to improve our environment. Anything from recycling programs to composting toilets (hmm, not all that different come to think of it) to beekeeping and soil testing. We were there, too, and thoroughly enjoyed the positive buzz that was in the air (with warm thanks to Raili Roy for organizing it all!).

picture: Raili Roy

The world was first introduced to Earth Day on April 22, 1970, when an estimated 20 million Americans attended rallies around the country and helped clean up their local communities.

This first attempt to start something of this scale on the national level brought all kinds of people together in their neighbourhoods, starting grassroots campaigns to help revolutionize the way we handled waste, recycling, power consumption, and conservation in general.

41 years on, the event has turned into something of a global phenomenon, a time to stop and think about our earth and our impact on it. Some cities even instigated Earth Week. Kinda makes you hope for the next logical steps: Earth Month and Earth Year...

What I like best about it is it empowers people everywhere to make change happen from the bottom up. No point in expecting politicians to make the change and blaming them if nothing happens. We are the change, and politicians better pay attention.
(Oh, and speaking of politics: you do vote green this coming election, right...?)

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.