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Subaru micro van

Read About The Little Engine That Could

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Tiny Japanese kei cars are cost-effective, fuel-efficient and more powerful than a Smart.

Subaru micro vanWhat’s shorter than a Mini Cooper, skinnier than a Toyota Echo and cuter than a VW Bug? The answer is a kei car, Japanese for “light vehicle.” The term may be unfamiliar, but you’ve probably noticed these cute and quirky little trucks, cars and vans zipping around local streets.

Kei cars are as practical as they are cute. Japan is a tiny country with narrow roads and few natural resources, so in 1949 (61 years ago!) the government introduced tax breaks for small, fuel-efficient vehicles. Though the maximum size has grown since then, kei cars are still less than 3.4 metres long and 1.48 metres wide, and have engines no more than 660 cc and 64 horsepower (this may sound wimpy, but a Smart has just 42 horsepower). Read more

Sunchokes in a colander

Try These Easy-Grow Perennial Vegetables

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It’s crazy not to cultivate tasty sunchokes—and these other easy-grow perennial vegetables.

Sunchokes in a colanderGROW YOUR OWN | Anyone who has tended a vegetable garden knows it can be hard work. That said, are there easy-grow edible crops that offer an exceptional return for a minimum amount of labour? That’s the question I put to my good friend and neighbour Mark Johnston, an amazing gardener dedicated to growing as much of his family’s food supply as he can on the large, attractive and highly productive organic farm-style plot he tends in the wilds of West Vancouver. Read more

The Mother Of All Heritage House Tours

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Old houses cost less than new ones even if you renovate—and the heritage house tour can show you how.

MONEY WELL SPENT | What’s the first thing that comes to mind when making an old house more energy efficient? Changing all the windows maybe? Well, relax. A CMHC case study on renovating for energy savings reveals that replacing the windows and doors of a pre-Second World War house reduces just 11 percent of energy loss compared to 34 percent for insulating and draftproofing of walls, ceiling and foundation; 34 percent for upgrading the furnace; and 18 percent for adding exterior insulation beneath the siding.

This is just one of the helpful tips to be gleaned from the 30-page guidebook for this year’s Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s heritage self-guided house tour on Sunday, June 6. Another is that retrofitting an old structure can be less expensive than demolishing and rebuilding—like the $89 million to be saved by the UBC Renews rehabilitation of 10 buildings on the university’s campus. Read more

Something In The Air

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Paraffin candles emit pollution, but there are reasonable alternatives.

Beeswax tealightsEvery year on the last Saturday in March, people around the world observe Earth Hour by turning off unnecessary lights and appliances for an hour. The World Wildlife Fund, which founded Earth Hour in 2007, was hoping for a billion participants in 2010. Many of them probably lit candles—which, proving no good deed goes unpunished, can also create pollution. Read more