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Alright, here’s something I feel silly for having known nothing about until now…

Did you know that deep in the Arctic Circle there’s a secure vault which holds copies of every seed in the world?

Whoa!

It’s, of course, called the Seed Vault and its head – Cary Fowler – spoke in depth about it at TED. I watch TED all the time on my Zune and am forever in awe of the things that I learn from that vodcast.

Amazing!

Well, I’m glad someone’s keeping track of the seeds. With the way the seasons and weather are changing, it’s good to know someone’s got that front under control, anyway.

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While learning to be more eco-friendly, I run into things daily that I don’t quite understand. Some of it, honestly, takes me by surprise. Solar power is a perfect example. I’d love to say that I completely understand solar power, but I really don’t. Sure, I know it’s energy from the sun… I’ve seen solar panels, certainly. But do they… collect the suns rays? How do they turn the sunlight into energy?

Here’s a 7 minute video made by PG&E, a giant utility company in California, that exlains solar power and how it’s converted into electricity.

There’s also a video on PG&E’s website that’s definitely more detailed and informative. And if you’ve got the time — 1h47m, that is — I highly recommend it!

“We will have solar energy as soon as the utility companies solve one technical problem — how to run a sunbeam through a meter.” — anonymous

According to the Environmental Defense Fund, Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild their entire commercial fleet of airplanes every 3 months. Unbelievable!

Recycling anything is good for the planet, but recycling aluminum is great for the planet. Why? Because aluminum is one resource that can be recycled again and again without wearing out.

Remember — recycle those cans! But first, make sure to follow these handy steps:

• Rinse and place aluminum/tin cans, caps, lids and foil in the same recycle bin.
• Avoid recycling spray cans or cans containing paint or hazardous materials. Contact your local recycling program or city hall to learn where these can be recycled.
• Get in touch with the local buy-back center if you live in an area with bottle/can deposits and plan to drop off a large number of aluminum cans for cash.

Why don’t we have compost bins alongside our blue and black boxes in Ottawa? I’ve wondered this for the last few months or so as I’d heard that places like Toronto, Montreal, Durham, and Markham all have Green Bin programs.  Much of the household waste that is presently going into the landfill is a resource that is compostable and can be converted into a soil-enriching product. These organic wastes include meat, fish, bones, fruits, vegetables, greasy pizza boxes, and more.

Markham, I learned, began its Green Bin collection program as part of its “Mission Green” in the fall of 2004 with implementation to 12,500 single-family residences. “Mission Green” is Markham’s plan to divert 70% of its waste from landfill.  Sounds amazing — so why doesn’t Ottawa do any of this? I decided to investigate a bit.

It turns out that in October 2001, the City of Ottawa did in fact launch a curbside organic collection pilot program called “Compost Plus” – in four city wards. These wards include nine neighbourhoods, each comprised of approximately 550 residents, allowing the City to receive feedback from more than 5,000 residents.

But what happened to the program? This is what the City of Ottawa website has to say on the matter:

During the pilot program, participants are being asked to test different containers and collection frequencies to help the City assess public acceptance, costs, diversion rates and operational concerns, as part of a study to determine if and how a permanent Compost Plus program could be implemented in the City of Ottawa.

Wait, wasn’t that 2001? So… will it be implemented? That was 8 years ago already! Well, after some digging around on the City’s site, I found this:

Starting in late 2009 over 240,000 homes in the City of Ottawa will begin to receive a new Green Bin. Residents will place kitchen scraps such as vegetable, fruits, meat, fish, bones, dairy products, coffee grounds and filters as well as other organic household materials in the bin to be collected. The material will be processed into a nutrient-rich compost. With your help we will be feeding the land and not the landfill.

Excellent! Finally! So tell me, Ottawa, what are your thoughts on this? I, for one, am excited. Who would have ever thought I’d be this excited about compost?

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While sitting at lunch, drinking a bottle of water (that shall remain nameless, though I will tell you it was from a Canadian source) I started to read the label and as I joked about it probably being tap water, I realized that I actually don’t know what the standards, rules, and regulations are for bottled water. If I’m putting it into my body, maybe I should know where it comes from, right? Here are the facts, taken from Health Canada’s very detailed and informative section on everything you want to know about bottled water:

In Canada, bottled water is regulated as a food and therefore it must comply with the Food and Drugs Act. Section 4 of the Act prohibits the sale of foods which contain poisonous or harmful substances and section 5(1) of the Act prohibits the labelling, packaging, treating, processing, selling or advertising of any food in a manner that misleads or deceives consumers as to the character, value, quantity, composition, merit or safety of the product.

There are specific regulations for bottled water set out in Division 12 of Part B of the Food and Drug Regulations. The regulations provide definitions for different types of bottled water and specify microbiological standards, acceptable treatments and labelling requirements for these products.

In addition to the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations, the Health Products and Food Branch also issue guidelines for bottled water and other products. These guidelines are published in the “Health Products and Food Branch Standards and Guidelines for the Microbiological Safety of Foods – An Interpretive Summary” published in the Compendium of Analytical Methods. As a result of microbiological surveys conducted across Canada, the Health Products and Food Branch has set guidelines for two additional bacteria (other than those in the Regulations) : Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Aeromonas hydrophila. These bacteria are indicators of poor “Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)”. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and other health officials could test for these bacteria when the manufacturer is out of compliance and/or has been involved in food borne outbreaks.

Standards for microbiological quality are based upon data collected through Canada wide surveys on these products, reviews of international data, and consultation with bottled water associations, scientific experts and other clients involved in this industry. Based upon these consultations, Health Canada is bringing the microbiological standards in line and harmonizing with international standards. The Food and Drugs Act and Regulations are available on the  Department of Justice’s Web site.

If you’d like to know more about Canada’s regulations including who checks the water and how it compares to tap water, see the Health Canada website directly right here.

I remember watching a Sesame Street clip (or was it Mister Rogers?) about glass recycling when I was a kid but I definitely spent more time being wowed by the conveyor belts of pretty coloured bottles than actually learning about glass recycling.

So here are the straight facts!
Everything you ever wanted to know about glass recycling.

This is a subject that has fascinated me since I was a small child. I remember seeing pictures of those big, beautiful windmills in fields and thinking ‘Someday when I have a house of my own, I want one of those!’ — of course, at that point I had no idea what the practical uses for them were, but I did know that they were pretty. Nowadays, while I’m pretty confident that I know what they are, I’m not entirely sure how they work — how do they harness the wind? DO they harness the wind? Let’s find out! Read the rest of this entry

Today I did a bit of reading on what a carbon footprint really is — and no, I’m not ashamed to admit that previously I had no idea! Do you?

Your carbon footprint is how many greenhouse gases you release in your daily activities. UK Carbon Trust defined it specifically (in 2008) as “the total set of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product”. An individual, nation, or organization’s carbon footprint is measured by undertaking a GHG emissions assessment. Once the size of a carbon footprint is known, a strategy can be devised to reduce it. Carbon offsets, or the mitigation of carbon emissions through the development of alternative projects such as solar or wind energy or reforestation, represent one way of managing a carbon footprint.
The concept and name of the carbon footprint originates from the ecological footprint discussion.

Hrmm — it sounds complicated, I know. Took me a few reads to figure it out myself. Maybe the video will help? I like the little tag line in this video: “Be remembered by your good deeds, not your carbon emissions.”

I thought that with all this talk of the garbage strike in Toronto, I could write about the Green Lane landfill which is owned by the city of Toronto.

The Green Lane landfill is a landfill near London, Ontario in Canada. It is, as I just mentioned, owned by the City of Toronto.

It operates a leachate collection system and an on-site leachate treatment plant. Green Lane also has an extensive landfill gas collection system. This gas is roughly 50 per cent methane and 50 per cent carbon dioxide, along with traces of other gases. Currently the gas is collected and directed to the flaring system that allows for release into the air.

History and politics

As the city’s last remaining landfill site, Keele Valley, neared capacity during the 1990s, it was found that no other municipality in Southern Ontario was willing to accept the garbage, but there was also no political support for a change to incineration. A deal was eventually made to ship Toronto’s garbage to the Adams Mine, an abandoned open pit mine in Northern Ontario, once the Keele Valley site closed. But objections grew into vociferous controversy as the time neared, and eventually the agreement was canceled.

By the time the Keele Valley site closed at the end of 2002, the city had made a new deal: its garbage is now shipped by truck to a site in Michigan.

Read the rest of this entry

Climate change is a global problem, and yet each one of us has the power to make a difference. Even small changes in our daily behaviour can help prevent greenhouse gas emissions without affecting our quality of life. In fact, they can help save us money.