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Tread Lightly, and Leave No Trace.

Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly
and
Leave No Trace.

I repeat this mantra every once in a while, especially when I've judged myself harshly for being wasteful, or for taking more than my share. I have to remember that living respectfully is not about punishment or doing without; for me it's about taking control and doing my best to responsibly enjoy one fair share, one equal portion, of our earth.

In my past, while apartment and condo living, I've been frustrated by my inability to live "lightly". I was determined to make it my ability when we moved to an environment more readily controlled.

Having settled into a house (recently discovered to be built in 1940), our 2007 Energy Efficiency Assessment came with a deadline of 18 months in which to complete whatever retrofits we could afford (in dollars and time), in order to qualify for government grant money.

As the completion deadline approached, I found myself obsessing about calculations - did we spend our money wisely, investing in the improvements which will give us the biggest rebate?; if I quickly weather-strip the back door, will I get $5 more for air-tightness? I had clearly forgotten the point, my own the big picture.
Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly
Further, when we had our tankless water heater installed, I was pretty much ready to plan the holiday we could afford with the $ $ savings it would generate (Molly Johnson, who hosts the weekend morning program on CBC Radio 2, just mentioned having spent her renovation grant money well ahead of (hopefully) receiving it).

Of course, it's not as simple as hooking up an energy meter to the heater and watching the dials spin in reverse, tallying the negative calculations needed to undo my life's energy gulping moments, all the while making me a better person and validating my decision to spend more money each month to rent this miraculous invention. Whew!
Perhaps a little too much to ask of a machine.

Although I had faith in the logic of instantaneous hot water, I needed reassurance; it was time to spreadsheet our gas bills! Both our furnace and the water heater run on gas so it was necessary to cross-reference average outside temperatures to factor in variances in the amount of gas used to heat the house;
So, in spite of the fact that we used more fuel heating the house (our programmable thermostat ensures consistency), our gas bill has still dropped, suggesting less gas used to heat our water. As a safeguard, I also checked our water consumption to ensure we weren't running the tap more, waiting for the water to heat, which wasn't the case;

So, we are definitely treading lighter than we were at the same time a year ago, while still living more luxuriously than most of our global neighbours.

As much as I am happily anticipating our grant money, having spent the money as Molly did, some months ago, I am also pleasantly aware that we've achieved the real reason for undertaking the retrofit; to Tread Lightly.



Just a note to put our water consumption into perspective, as I realize I've taken only a small step toward real conservation;

At 180 litres/day, we're under our regional average of 258 litres/day (a 1999 total, which I've extrapolated for 2009 in which it will exceed 262) and well under B.C.'s average of 550 litres/day (610 in adjusted numbers). However, globally we're certainly letting the tap drip; Africa is at 47 litres/person/day, Asia is 85 litres/person/day, UK is 334 litres/person/day, and, of course, US tops the list consuming 578 litres/person/day (all numbers from 1999 stats)

Now, to Leave No Trace ...

How we use our water -pt 2

Our bathroom is, by far, the smallest room in the house. It is also the room we've got the most plans for, and the room we've already done the most work to.

First up, though there's a nice window in the room (overlooking a brilliant red Sand Cherry bush), we decided we needed an extractor fan in the ceiling. For us, the key to a successful renovation is to remain calm and not turn into The Bickersons. A four hour job can become a two day job (the light switch which has to incorporate a fan switch has wiring that needs updating). The fact that our house doesn't have soffits deep enough to accommodate the exhaust vent was a challenge that forced us to work creatively, and we solved the problem with a minimum of stress (and three trips to Home Hardware). With the fan installed, I had to patch the area surrounding the new switch plate as some plaster had been removed and a teeny-weeny-woony bit of wallpaper was torn. To make a long story short - most of the wallpaper has been removed following my botched patch-job and we're deciding on a colour to paint the walls.

The room has an assortment of kinda matching greens, one of which has now been removed. We are stuck with the khaki-green clover and the veins of forest green in the tile, and the khaki- brown marbling the vanity, which we will shift. I'm thinking a warm, bees-wax colour, roughly applied to look a bit moody. We'll see.
We're also still deciding on a replacement toilet. Our current museum piece takes three flushes to "do the job" and we've plans to install a high efficiency, low flush model, installed parallel to the sink (to allow for legroom with is currently missing). In the meantime, in the October issue of Real Simple magazine, in the "double duty household items" column, there was a suggestion on how to reduce the amount of water your toilet uses to operate. The magazine suggested filling plastic pop bottles with water and placing them in the tank so that, following a flush, the toilet would require less water to fill. I took this a step further and popped two bricks in the tank (the pop bottles seemed to want to move around) and thereby reduced the amount of water used for each flush by 3L!
And, further to my "potty" talk, we've managed to find a 100% recycled toilet paper that is .... get this ... affordable. Recently while at Whole Foods Market, the store everyone seems to love to hate, we purchased Cascades 24 roll toilet paper for $7.99 (33 cents per roll). It's always seemed irresponsible to me that we need to destroy so much land and wildlife in order to convert ancient growth trees into a product we, to be honest, could use leaves to do.

How we use our water -pt 1

Being energy conscious while living in a condo is pretty difficult; you can't turn off a light in the hallway even though there are 30 more burning away, and you can't stop the automatic irrigation system from watering the lawn on a rainy day. Moving into a house, for me, meant I couldn't blame unmotivated neighbours or an uncooperative condo board if my home was using too much of anything.
Apart from switching most light bulbs from incandescent to compact fluorescent, our first resource to tackle was our water consumption. As with electricity, consuming less water is both healthier and cheaper. Our energy provider, St. Thomas Energy Inc., charges us $0.75 per cubic litre of water brought in, and collects $1.28 per cubic litre on behalf of the City to remove it all again.
We installed rain barrels under each of our two downspouts, to collect rainwater for use on our garden. We also installed what Robin nicknamed "our house dialysis"; a third barrel situated under our kitchen window into which, through a simple funnel and some clear tubing, we were able to collect our greywater. Into the barrel went the water used to rinse clean dishes and veggies, water from the dehumidifier and the water from the second rinse cycle of our new fancy-smancy front loading clothes washer. I admit, it was not a perfect system and it certainly lacked "curb appeal", but it was surprising to see how quickly this barrel filled. As this water was slightly soapy (smelling abit of Mrs. Meyers Geranium dish soap), we used it primarily for watering our shrubs and trees during the drought periods, as a little soap can actually help roots absorb water (thanks Dave!). These efforts resulted in a reduction of the amount of fresh, clean water brought into our house, and a considerable reduction in the amount of water being removed!
Although I'm very pleased with our reduced consumption (from 16 cubic litres in June, peaking at 20 in August/September, we've leveled off at 13) I'm a bit disappointed with the way in which we're billed; apparently, the City does not meter the "real" amount of water leaving your property and therefore just charges for the same amount as what came in. Of course, all three rain barrels are stored in our basement for the winter, so much of our conservation efforts will have to hibernate for a few months. This will give me some time to contact our Public Works department to work on a compromise between their current billing system, and one which has some basis in reality.

Hmmm ... I probably won't say it like that to them.

To use a better fuel, or to just decide to use less

Biofuels are confusing. They’re being marketed world-wide as being less environmentally harmful than petroleum products, suggesting that by using a less polluting fuel we can justify a reliance on cars and trucks.

from UTNE Reader, August 2007-10-20 -

How large-scale soy production is threatening the environment.

In Paraguay, “soy production has increased exponentially due to worldwide demand for animal feed and the rise of an insatiable biodiesel industry. Biodesel made from soy oil is touted as good for the environment, even more efficient that ethanol. If current trends continue, by 2020 global demands will require 370 million acres of cultivated land worldwide” (Ontario, which has an area larger than France and Spain combined, is 265.5 million acres)

“An acre of forested land absorbs almost twice as much CO2 as land used to grow biofuel crops, thereby cancelling out any climate advantage advertised by biofuel production” To further add to the “cons” column, factor in the amount of water and agrochemicals required.

“Soy cultivation dumps more than 24 million litres of agrochemicals in Paraguay every year. They include Paraquat, which has no antidote if ingested; Metamidofos, which has reduced sperm count in exposed males; and Endosulfan, which caused birth defects in the infants of repeatedly exposed mothers.”

“The soy workers also wash their machines in the river after spraying (pesticides) – combined with the agricultural run-off, this means that there are no fish left in our rivers, and the water is completely contaminated.”

Locally we recently applauded the ribbon-cutting of a new biofuel plant set to begin production in Aylmer, processing corn for fuel. According to Biofuels Canada, the Integrated Grain Processors Cooperative (IGPC) are “committed to creating value and economic growth in Southwestern Ontario and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the production of renewable fuels”

Right - so we’ll cultivate huge crops of corn or soy, requiring substantial quantities of agrochemicals for pest control and accelerated growth, and most likely vast amounts of water to ensure the growing season remains on sched. We’ll then harvest the crop using fuel-run machinery and process the corn in a fuel-guzzling plant which is operated by workers who will all drive to and from work, and then ship the fuel about in big tankers … and this is our “green choice”?

Let’s face the truth and stop lying about our motivation. The biofuels we’re going to be using are never going to be better for the world; we’ll be lucky if they’ll be just as bad for the world as our current fuels are. What they will be is available, which is more than we can say for our current fuel supply which will likely be exhausted in the next two decades.

Step 2 of our Inspection; Energy Efficiency Evaluation Report

We have now received our Energy Efficiency Evaluation Report from AmeriSpec and our home is in pretty good shape. On the EnerGuide rating (which lists 0-49 being least efficient, 57 being average and 80-100 being most efficient), we sit at 66, with a goal of reaching 76. Our motivation is ultimately to be as energy efficient as possible (for a variety of reasons) and realistically we need to qualify for as many government grants as we can, to afford the work required.

Our $ incentives, if we follow all recommendations and pass the follow-up inspection;
1) Reduce heat loss -
Drafts; by air sealing (caulking windows and doors, sealing attic hatch, insulating exterior wall electrical outlets, etc.) our goal would be to improve overall efficiency and increase our Energuide rating from 66 to 76 ($150 Prov./$150 Fed.). If we reach 20% better we qualify for an additional $300.
Insulation; basement, full wall and header, to R-24 insulation factor ($600 Prov./$600 Fed.)
Insulation; crawl space below dining room; full wall to R-24 insulation factor, with poly ground barrier ($800 Prov./$800 Fed.). All insulation, which will likely be spray-foam, would cost about $4,500.00 and will require wall studs and dry wall covering as foam cannot be left exposed.
2) Replace windows; we could qualify for $60 per replaced window, if we installed Energy Star windows, but I think we'll try sealing first and evaluate.
3) Low flush toilet; this is a "must do" because we currently have a 3-flusher, if you get my meaning. Install a low or dual flush toilet rated 6L with a performance of 350g or more, which will likely cost around $1,200 to purchase and have installed ($50 Prov./$50 Fed.).
4) Hot water tank; replace current low/mid efficiency gas water tank with high efficiency gas, tankless water heater, costing around $1,200 and which would also solve our chimney problem (it either needs to be re-pointed or be taken down and, unlike our current tank, this type of water heater does not require a chimney) ($200 Prov./$200 Fed.).

Stage 1 of our Energy Retrofit Master Plan is all about making the current structure as environmentally strong as possible. Once the building is solid and efficient, we will commence with Stage 2, which will be a bit more exciting; an alternative heat source (such as a pellet or corn fueled fireplace), solar panels, rechargeable battery bank, wind turbine, grey water recovering...

Our short memories

I live in a small town and cycle through a high school parking lot on my way to work each day. I gotta say, of all places, shouldn’t the parking lot be empty? I mean, what are these kids being taught? I can count on one hand the number of bicycles I see, but can barely navigate my way through the monster trucks and around the idling busses.
Almost every time I read about biofuels (biodiesel or ethanol), there is a reference to the “big oil crisis of the 1970’s” when the per-barrel price of oil doubled and there was "chaos at the pumps!". We were all going to be more fuel-conscious and buy small cars. Hmmm …
My friend at work says she’ll quit smoking when her doctor says "you've got to or else". I guess that’s when people figure they’ll stop driving – once they have no other choice; once it’s all gone. Given maybe a decade or two left of oil, it seems to me that we should be using it to make things that will benefit future generations, like solar panels or medical equipment, rather than burning it up, driving the current generation to school.

Peak Saver

When we were last in Austin, TX visiting our friend Janet, we learned of a program by which the local energy provider would install in your home, free of charge, a programmable thermostat allowing the energy provider remote-access control to your air-conditioning. During a peak energy-use period, the provider could cycle-down specific A/C systems, reducing the strain on the grid and potentially avoiding brown-outs. We recently received a similar offer from St. Thomas Eneregy called Peak Saver and on Tuesday we had our programmable thermostat installed, free of charge. Apart from helping out during the hot summer days, the device will enable us to micro-manage our heat use during the winter, as it allows us to program 4 temperature settings a day (#1 - cool over-night, #2 - warm in the morning, #3 - cool during the day, #4 - warm during the evening and #1 - cool at night). The remote access A/C program is home-owner driven, and I believe that we likely won’t notice the temperature difference. If we do, it’ll just remind us that we’re doing our bit to help our friends, neighbours, and the next generations.

Our nest

In Stephanie Donaldson's prologue to The Elements of organic Gardening, by HRH The Prince of Whales, she says "an organic gardener's focus is on the soil, while a conventional gardener's focus is on the plant".
Similar to using the word "smog" instead of "pollution", "conventional" in this context is a polite way of saying "short sighted". We're no longer so naive as to think that what we are doing to the planet is not affecting our health and we've got to stop wondering why our roses have no fragrance, if we've killed all the organisms in our gardens.
As Marjorie Harris wrote recently in Gardening Life, "we've done a fine job of fouling our own nest". She writes of ways to deal with our climate change, the first of which is to face the realities of it; the increase in storms (frequency and force), droughts and flooding, and bugs and disease which, as with our own mammalian viruses and diseases, have been strengthened by our chemical use
(stronger bugs = fewer predators).
The good news is that Nature is an amazing force - that's why there is a plant growing in the middle of our paved driveway! We just need to stop working against it and become part of the solution.
Stuff spinning around in my head (for today, at least) ...
1) Zeriscaping
2) Biodiversity
3) Indigenous, drought resistant perennials
4) Our rain barrels and push mower
5) Non-grass lawn (clover, thyme, periwinkle, moss)
6) Break up the sidewalk leading to our front door
7) Pruning the dead bits from our trees before the next storm

Heating our water

I've never understood the whole huge-tank-of-hot-water-sitting-in-the-
basement thing. When I was in the UK years ago on business I had my first experience using something called Hot Water on Demand (we sometimes call it instantaneous hot water). This is a tankless system which heats water as we require it buy coiling cold water, through tubes, around a heat source. The water comes out of your tap at the desired temperature, for as long as you require. Our friend Rita, who lives not far from Inverness in northern Scotland, has this type of system as well. In fact I think most of Europe functions quite nicely without having big tanks of water on "warming standby". The most inexpensive option for us right now would be for a gas system (we currently have a gas hot water tank). In fact, no matter how much we reduced our consumption, an electrical tankless system would cost us considerably more to operate. My compromise will have to be a gas system now, which we could later convert to electric and tie into our then operating solar power system. In keeping with our Energy Retrofit Master Plan we would ensure we qualified for the retrofit grants which could entitle us to $400.00.

Step One; Our AmeriSpec visit

So we had our energy efficiency assessment from Andrew at AmeriSpec. He recorded a lot of data, asked a number of questions, took some measurements and explained how the program works. Once we had all of our windows shut, he conducted a pressure test by utilizing a fan equipped with computerized controls to pressurize the house. We were then able to physically identify (and label) problem areas, simply by seeing where air was rushing in through closed windows, door frames, electrical outlets etc. Andrew will now make some calculations and suggest ways to make improvements. The report we’ll receive will also indicate what grants we would be entitled to, provided we follow the program correctly, have the work completed within 18 months and have a follow-up inspection.

As I have read over and over again, there’s no point in doing any “green” upgrades to your home if the house itself is not already an efficient vessel, and Andrew has already made some suggestions. We hadn’t expected to insulate the basement, because we didn’t want to finish it, but it seems we will be losing up to 30% of our heat through our un-insulated, above-grade walls. Spray-foam insulation will likely be our best bet as we could also seal the corners and window frames relatively easy. An added bonus, though we have no apparent water leakage in the basement, is that spray foam does not “feed” mould, so we’ll have no issues covering our questionable areas.

Andrew also noticed our three rain barrels which we’ve installed (two for rain water and one for grey water from our kitchen sink). He suggested that he had seen rain barrel water used to flush toilets, mounted high, above the toilet, using gravity. Hmmm … we are planning to change-out our sixteen flusher for a taller, low-flush, high performance model …

There'll be more on this once we receive our report.

We have a push mower

I like the life my grandparents lived; I think they were healthier and good stewards of the earth.

They didn’t watch much TV and read only local newspapers. Most of the food in their fridge and cupboards didn’t have ingredients. They had only one of everything; TV, fridge, automobile, residence. They ate pears and cherries off of their own trees. They had stress and struggle, and times were tough, as tough as they had been before and as tough as they are now. They had antacids, aspirin, cough syrup. We grandkids had to eat the turnip and squash, but there were fruit flavoured jellies and pineapple-orange juice as well. Their clothes smelled like clothes; cotton, linen, wool, and starch, and shoe polish. And their clothes were mended, re-sized, passed on, and familiar. They treated their sons like children when they were young, and like men not long after that. Too early, perhaps.

My grandfather had a push lawn mower and a pocket watch he wound each night.

When we moved into our house, there was a push mower from my Dad waiting in the garage.

No Labour on Labour Day

We’re enjoying our Labour(less) Day holiday Monday, sitting on our deck (something we couldn't do in our condo, with our juliet balcony!). Yesterday we had a friend (and qualified electrician) doing the tricky stuff as we moved our stove to an exterior wall to accommodate an extractor fan. In the process of wiring the high voltage outlet required for the stove, it was discovered that the previous cabling had been spliced a few times, so we were certainly pleased to but in new wiring. Oddly enough, the breaker box was replaced not that long ago, but the electrician doing that work wasn’t nearly as thorough. Moving the stove to a more practical and functional location was like getting a new kitchen. As well, we purchased a range hood that would accommodate compact fluorescent bulbs, enabling us to use two 14 watt bulbs, instead of two 50 watt bulbs.

Next project along the same lines will be to install an extractor fan for the bathroom, but we’re waiting a few weeks for temperatures to lower as much of the work will involve someone (me, being the true bat-boy that I am) stuffed into the attic following instructions.