Environmental Tip for September-CONTEST ALERT

Every once in a while, the WB Family hands out a tip or two about going just a little greener. We have not done that in quite a while (almost a year), so, we hunted up something more that we could add to our green repertoire. I have to say that we feel like we do pretty well. Some of our friends do mock and joke. Largely we have earned the jokes : )

I've (Saje) spent the last couple of days rounding up all of the bills that we receive by mail that we can receive electronically and signing up for the electronic billing. Most of the bills can be accessed using Canada Post's epost system. I signed up for this system about five years ago just to discover that it only accommodated one of my bills and wasn't worth the effort. I canceled.
Well much like the claims that Ford has been making (that the WB family can't confirm or deny, we have NOT driven a Ford lately) they've stepped up their offerings and are even offering a sweet contest. By signing up and adding bills you can win a pair of Vespa Scooters, valued at $9,000, or 1 of 5 $1,000 cash prizes. The more Mailers you add, the greater your chances of winning!

Our credit card bill has their own electronic system as does one of our utility bills. I have those set up separately, we'll see how it works out.

So now we are causing less ink, paper and fuel to be consumed so that we can receive our bills. A small part of me wants the mail box to be a spot where only wonderful things arrive! Packages and cheques only please : ) It would be great to stop having a huge stack of bills whenever I check.

So let me know if you win the scooters. I totally want to go for a spin on one!!

The Shaving Experiment

For those of you who became dependent on the DPoD for the last 1 1/2 years, I apologize for my lack of pictures upon my return to work full time. I'll do my best to get things back in order and have the camera handy. I, as likely many of you, miss the photos and capturing what I hope are priceless memories of the boys. Please see my poll that I've added to gauge your addiction level to the photos.
In other news, I mentioned that I've been trying to be more environmentally conscious in new ways. There has been the rain barrel (which is working like a charm I might add) and our vigorous need to compost (thank you to the new large spider that has moved in to consume the bevy of fruit flies). In the last 2 months I have moved away from the typical shave gels to the organic version. It goes on like a smooth cream and the first I tried - Kiss My Face - lathers up a little. I've noticed that my skin feels softer and smoother. The iritation level on my skin has also decreased quite substantially, even during the warmth of summer and soccer.


I've finally run out of the little sample size (it was about 15 mL for 99 cents) and moved on to Avalon Organics. It doesn't lather up, but rather goes on as a transparent film. At first I was a little weary of it since it didn't lather up. Quickly however I liked how my skin felt both during and after the shave. There was practically no iritation at all and it even smelled nice (much better than all the stuff with harsh, fake stuff in it). The cost for about 150 mL was 7 bucks and it'll likely do me for about a year since all you need is about a pea-sized amount per shave.
Thank you sunshine for picking up this variety of shaving stuff for me.
And to all the guys out there - the cost is WAY cheaper than the heavily marketed other brands, my face feels super and gets much more attention from my wife and I feel better about the footprint that I'm leaving behind.

Reduce Reuse Recycle-a la WB

Big C has figured out how to break through our wall of tabletops and assorted crap that we've been using to keep him out of the back half of the basement. The back half is the part of the basement with the tools, the furnace, the storage...you get the idea.

Since he figured out how to get through I've been thinking that we need to build a half wall or something to keep him out more securely. Dave has not had a whole pile of time, so it hasn't happened yet.

A couple of days ago it was garbage day and I spotted and old crib that someone was throwing out. It seemed like the idel item for my little problem. It is essentially lots of long gates! Into the trunk she went. Now the crib was from 1990, so technically still safe to use as a crib. Someone had painted it, poorly with drip everywhere, a fushia/purple colour. No matter for me. The colour isn't important!!

I brought it home and put my idea into reality. I was so proud of myself for making it "Big C proof" that I took these pictures. Then I realised something that made me *think* of a swear word. Big C was right beside me, so I didn't say it. So I had to change it. What did I change? Put your answer in the comments section.

Bonus points for the person who can tell me why I had to change it!
Speaking of contests and awards. We've offered rewards before, many times. Yet I still have almost an ENTIRE bag of lollypops! So, have we actually been giving them out? Or is anyone still owed a lollypop? If so, let me know and I will make sure to give you double what you originally won, just to make it up to you.

BTW, lollypops travel by mail just fine. So our friend in Vienna...go right ahead. Spain, Japan, same thing!! Go ahead and guess away!

How I made a rain barrel in Ottawa

I decided to make a rain barrel rather than buying one since the least expensive option for one that was in stock was 100$ at Canadian Tire. There were a few eco-friendly stores selling them in Ottawa, however stock is generally limited and I was up for the challenge of constructing my own.

Here's how things went:

Step #1 - Acquiring the know-how

I went with the instructions from the City of Ottawa and the parts list that they included. It was my hope that it would require limited shopping around as compared to a few US websites that had me visiting lots of stores to get a variety of parts.

Step #2 - Getting the parts

My mother-in-law was generous in going to Cohen and Cohen's in her SUV after I had tried to load a barrel into our little Jetta. She spoke with the yard manager who hooked her up with a 2-piece lid variety of the barrel. This made things WAY easier as it saved a step in drilling the top open for the inlet. The barrel was also one that previously contained sweet pearl onions, a much nicer smelling alternative to the olive barrels that I've heard so many woes about. Thanks so much to my mother-in-law! Total cost of the barrel - 17$ including taxes.

My next step was to Rona to get all of the necessary plumbing parts. Colin in the plumbing department was very helpful. I had to substitute the 1/2" overflow valve for a 3/4 " valve since they didn't carry the smaller variety. In the end I felt this was actually easier. Total cost of the plumbing parts - 25$ (grand total of 42$). I didn't end up needing any of the eavestroughing pieces as in the location I chose I was able to simply shorten the downspout and use the existing framework.

Step #3 : Construction

The building of the rain barrel was actually quite simple and faster than I anticipated (from start to finish 1 1/2 hours, though I was interrupted several times by my 2 sons). Rather than gluing the screen to the underside of the barrel lid, I was able to fold it over (the thin screening that is used for windows) and tighten the lid securely in place. I also didn't have a pipe wrench and vice to tighten the coupling to the faucet, so we'll see if that holds up. Hand tightening it seemed to make it water tight, though I wasn't about to waste many liters of water to find out. I'll re-evaulate after the first few rainfalls.

Fortunately I'm quite tall. Otherwise, I'm not sure how I'd install the bushing into the hole for the faucet. I was at an arm's length to hammer it into the hole, since I used a 1" drill bit and tried make it as narrow as possible in drilling.

Otherwise, I followed the instructions to a tee. I used a combination of bricks and cinder blocks to estimate the height, then lowered it just onto the bricks to accomodate proper water flow with the angle I was working with.

Step #4 : Inserting goldfish??

I read this on one of the websites. It not only cleans the water, but will prevent any mosquito larvae from forming. I must say that I'm a little concerned about the cleanliness. Considering that we have a 2-year old and a 4-year old here at home, I may forego the fish route for now.

Regardless, here are some photos of the final product. First, upon completion in the basement.
Next, here it is in its final resting place - the downspout at our back door.

If you follow any of this advice, have any ideas to add, or end up making your own rain barrel then please leave me a comment.

Shaving Cream

We're on the hunt for an environmentally friendly alternative to the aeresol can full of shaving gel that Dave uses on his face...anyone out there know of a good suggestion? I've emailed Nathalie of www.ecomama.ca to see what she knows of.

Currently I am looking up articles on the web. It is always nicer though to know what other people have used that works.

Heather, what does Paula say??

Earth Hour 2008 - What will you be doing?

If you haven't already heard, tomorrow between 8 pm and 9pm the entire planet (well, to be honest those of us with electricity) will be observing the first Earth hour. This is a green initiative to turn the lights off, and all electrical appliances, for one hour. This conservation initiative is one that has the potential to impact the planet based solely on the number of those who participate. Here's the link for more info: http://www.earthhour2008.com/.
Please take a moment to think about and then please act on it. Let us know what you did for one hour of one day to make a difference.
See you in the darkness!

Composting Facial Tissues ~ Used Ones

This has been a discussion around our house for a little while now. I would like to reduce our additions to the local landfill even more than we already have. Currently some biggies that we do are using cloth diapers, using reusable menstrual products, buying our laundry, shampoo (ask her about her larger size bottles) and other supplies in large quatities and then decanting them into refillable containers. We also compost and recycle. I want to do more though. We still have stuff that goes in the garbage. I asked Dave (he is a scientist don't forget) about recycling used facial tissues and paper towels.

He sees my point, but thinks that this might be taking things a bit far. He is concerned about the bacteria that might be able to thrive in the composting process and then infect us later. Seeking to prove the point once and for all, I took to the web. I found another blogger who has looked in to the same thing and thinks that Dave is right, for food crops at least.

To quote from their post:
A study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases in October 2006 reports:
Many people carry Staphylococcus aureus, a potential disease-causing microbe, in their nose and now new research shows that large amounts of this organism and other bacteria are released into the air with every sneeze.

In a discussion on food poisoning, Health A to Z cautions:
It is estimated that 50% of healthy people have the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus in their nasal passages and throat, and on their skin and hair. Rubbing a runny nose, then touching food can introduce the bacteria into cooked food. Bacteria flourish at room temperature, and will rapidly grow into quantities capable of making people sick.

Could I safely throw our tissues in the compost pile and then confidently use that compost on food crops? I’ve searched online and had trouble finding any references at all to whether this is a legitimate concern.

Yesterday, I saw that John and Louisa in the UK recommend that you do not try to compost your snot due to the possibility that pathogens will survive the composting process.On Joseph Jenkins’ Humanure site, he instructs composters to allow composted toilet material to age for one year before applying it to your soil. If the compost temperature is maintained at the proper heat levels, the finished compost can be used on food crops.

So yes, I’m confident that in the right composting conditions, composting our snotty tissues would render the pathogens harmless. Unfortunately, our current situation does not allow us to set up an appropriate composting system and have the time to age it properly.

If you are still reading, here are my thoughts. We don't have a food garden, well, aside from the raspberries we don't. If I kept the compost away from food gardening, would it be okay?? I mean, if this stuff is already in my nasal passages anyhow, who cares if I get it on my hands when I am gardening, right? Hmm, we'll have to think about it.

Save $25 on eco-friendly power

Wow! $25 worth of free power. For those of you thinking of signing up for 100% green electricity, now is a great chance. http://www.bullfrogpower.com/index.cfm

The WBs cut thier hydro bill again!!

Wow! We have continued on the same path of general conservation. Nothing major, nothing drastic. Just being aware of what we are doing and what we are using.

From October to December we used 2278 kWh or 36.17 KwH per day,
from December to February we used 2207 kWh or 35.03 KwH per day.
from February to April we used 1915 kWh or 33.02 KwH per day. This is when we sat up and took notice. This is a lot of power consumtion. So we went around the house and put power bars on the TV and the computer. We turned off the furnace fan and the ceiling fan and we generally took notice.

So then from April -June we used 913 kWh or 14.97 KwH per day

Today we got our bill from June to August we used 515 kWh or 8.3 KwH per day. Our bill is only $65 this month as compared to over $170 at some points in the past-wow! Talk about putting your money where your mouth is!!

We went from 36.17 kWh per day to only 8.3. Incredible!
wow we were wasting a lot of energy, and money in the past. The amazing thing is, we barely notice the difference in our day to day life.

The WB family cuts thier hydro consumption by half!

Dave and I consider ourselves to be very environmentally conscious. We barely ever use the air conditioning, we hang our laundry to dry. Big C is in cloth diapers and we walk to the grocery store. We were really confused when our hydro bill came two months ago and it was higher than many other people's that we know. We looked back and realised that this has been going on for quite a while. It caused us to take a good hard look at how 4 people were using 1900 Kw hours over 58 days.

We toured the house and we made some changes. These changes resulted in us cutting our consumption by more than half, down to a mere 900 Kw hours in 60 days.

So how did we do it?
*We toured the house and we started to use a power bar to turn off the computer, printer, modem, speakers and monitor all at once. That represents more than 2 Kw hours per day. These things use "phantom power" even while they are turned off
*We put the TV, VCR (yes those still exist), DVD player and cable box on a power bar and we shut them all off every time we are done with them.
*we turned off the de humidifier in the basement. I don't know if this will be sustainable through the winter when the clothes are hanging down there-we'll see.
*we turned off the furnace fan
*we never used the air conditioning (there was one night where we wished that we had used it, we just didn't think of it soon enough)
*we only used the ceiling fan when there was no wind and the windows were open. It helped us to keep the AC by sucking cold air in to the house
*we turned off Monkey's CD player (it used to be on 24 hours per day)
*We borrowed a kill-o-watt meter from the library and took a good account of where we were loosing our power. This also helped us to see which appliances were not taking power (my clock radio and the noise machine seem to run on air alone!)

The WB Family issues a challenge...

Here is our challenge. If any of you out in WB Family land can lower your hydro bill by 25% or more your name will be entered in a draw to win a trip in our luxury 2001 VW Jetta to the restaurant of your choice to buy your OWN lunch. How could anyone not want to give it a try!? To enter, please provide a copy of your previous and most recent hydro bill to show the change. There is no deadline to enter-we will award a random number of prizes at the sole discretion of the WB Family co-founders.

Hydro Ottawa is running a *slightly* better incentive plan you see the details here https://www.hydroottawa.com/conservation/index.cfm?lang=e&template_id=396 "If you reduce your electricity use by 10% this summer, Hydro Ottawa will give you a credit on a future electricity bill. It's just that simple!The Hydro Ottawa Summer Savings program runs from July 1, 2007 until August 31, 2007. Just reduce your electricity use by 10% between July 1 and August 31, as compared to the same period last summer, and you'll receive an additional 10% credit on a future electricity bill. This is on top of what you'll save by using less electricity!"