3 Ways To Help The Health Of the Planet
You can make a difference in the health and well being of our planet by changing just one thing.
WASTE NOT | Here are three ways to get started: Read more
Posts
An Easy Way To Insulate Single-Pane Windows
Replacing single-glazed windows with new double-panes used to be the energy-wise solution. Now there’s a less expensive alternative.
WASTE NOT | When it comes to improving the energy efficiency of older buildings, one of the major things we tend to think of is replacing single-glazed windows with double-glazed models. A CMHC report on energy savings proves otherwise. In 2004, their case-study research found that replacing doors and windows averaged just 12 percent energy savings compared to 34 percent from insulating the foundation and ceiling plus draftproofing the rest of the house, 14 percent from insulating exterior walls and 39 percent from upgrading the furnace. Read more
The Awesome Baggu
Why I’m replacing my cache of nonwoven polypropylene shopping bags with ripstop models from Baggu.
BUY RIGHT | It was cleanup month around here so I tackled the buildup of shopping bags that had threatened to devour my closet. I don’t know how it happened, but over the past two years I’d managed to accumulate around 50 reusable polyester and nonwoven polypropylene “billboard shoppers” (so called because they often display a company logo) in every size imaginable. These shoppers are awkward and bulky even when folded and gang-bagged, and they easily turn into an unwieldy space-stealing mess when stashed in the back of a car or cupboard.
To add insult to injury, nonwoven polypropylene bags are no better for the environment than those disposable plastic bags they’ve come to replace. Read more
Yes You Can! Recharge Your Alkaline Batteries
Don’t even think about recycling: used AA and AAA disposable batteries can now be given new life.
If you’re like me, you probably have a bunch of dead AA and AAA batteries rattling around in a drawer—possibly scattered among several drawers. You can’t throw them in the trash or even in the blue box. And even though since July 1 all household batteries (alkaline and rechargeable) can be recycled at almost 1,500 collection locations across B.C., you still have to take them there. Read more
Super Sources For Eco- Friendly Christmas Trees
A symbol of life after winter, the greenest tree is real, fresh, local and even organic.
Last year in an effort to simplify my life, I looked into buying an artificial Christmas tree, preferably one that came predecorated and opened and shut like an umbrella: I could pop it up before Christmas, then collapse and store it till next year. Then I discovered that the whole point of a Christmas tree is to bring evergreen trees or branches indoors as reminder that winter will eventually end and the world will turn green again.
Real Christmas trees are green in more than colour as they are a renewable crop and often grown on land unsuitable for growing much else. And like any crop, there are different shades of green.
3 Ways To Get A Real Green Christmas Tree Read more
Read About The Little Engine That Could
Tiny Japanese kei cars are cost-effective, fuel-efficient and more powerful than a Smart.
What’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