Quick, look at the Essentials of Waterproof which will tell you what Canada's Federal government and the provinces do (or not do and should be doing) to protect our drinking water. Thankfully, we live in Ontario now which has the highest standards in the country! If you don't have the time to read 4 very interesting pages look at least at Canada's drinking water report card by Ecojustice.
Click on this Link to get more information, access to the full report and to sign the petition to support safer water for all Canadians. At least, I don't want to end up having to buy bottled water for my every day needs like drinking and cooking!
Once more yes, I found it shocking, disappointing but not surprising to find out the government does not do anything to protect our drinking water sources!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Which world does he live in?
Frauenfelder's book Made by Hand obviously focuses on Do-it-Yourself-activities and still I am buffled how ignorant towards other benefits of his enterprises he (and his family) is. The first chapter was about replacing his lawn with a vegetable garden. The second one was about mending his espresso machine to make better espresso, something I can't relate too because I am no coffee-addict nor would I bother to cause myself high blood pressure by drinking espresso. The third chapter is about his chicken coop. Apparently he wanted to chickens for the eggs, although building the coop was the major DIY-job, but once the hens start laying eggs his family is all put off. On page 109 he admits that they buy packaged food, including eggs in a box from the refrigeratored shelves in the supermarket, and it obviously did not occur to them that this food comes from living creatures. The fact that the eggs slip out the hen's bottom upsets them. So it takes the family a while to actually overcome their absurdism and consume the eggs. Shockingly, when his kids bring friends over they all react the same, can't believe the eggs are edible and keep them as toys instead.
I don't think I need to point out in detail my reaction to his revelations. I have a lot of trouble to believe anybody, ANYBODY, could be so disconnected from their food sources, have such a city-dweller attitude of "food comes from the supermarket", that they have trouble eating certain products like eggs once they realise it comes from an animal like a hen. What do biology classes teach nowadays? I bet Frauenfelder and his family could not drink milk from a cow milked in front of their eyes. I wonder if his wife breastfed their two daugthers. At the beginning of the book he mentioned that they took a breast pump when they moved with their newborn to the Cook Islands.
Also, he does not mention anywhere that his home-produced food should be healthier than supermarket stuff. He notices the eggs look and taste different but does not seem to come to the conclusion that this is because the hens aren't battery-kept and fed on grains. Unfortunately, his vegetables aren't necessarily poison-free. Until he got the chicks he had pest control come in every month to treat his garden against insects, spiders and beetles and such. He stopped doing this in order to not poison the hens. It did not occur to him that the treatment might harm him directly or through being absorbed by his produce? For him it's all about the experience of creating something with his own hands. He does not even mind to buy whatever it takes from the hardware store to complete a project. More accidently, he realises there are cheaper ways and he for example can use scraps from his junk pile that he tends to have in a corner of his garden.
I appreciate that he gardens, keep hens (and later in the book probably bees too) and gets his hands dirty. I would love his efforts even more if he considered his impact on the environment too though.
I don't think I need to point out in detail my reaction to his revelations. I have a lot of trouble to believe anybody, ANYBODY, could be so disconnected from their food sources, have such a city-dweller attitude of "food comes from the supermarket", that they have trouble eating certain products like eggs once they realise it comes from an animal like a hen. What do biology classes teach nowadays? I bet Frauenfelder and his family could not drink milk from a cow milked in front of their eyes. I wonder if his wife breastfed their two daugthers. At the beginning of the book he mentioned that they took a breast pump when they moved with their newborn to the Cook Islands.
Also, he does not mention anywhere that his home-produced food should be healthier than supermarket stuff. He notices the eggs look and taste different but does not seem to come to the conclusion that this is because the hens aren't battery-kept and fed on grains. Unfortunately, his vegetables aren't necessarily poison-free. Until he got the chicks he had pest control come in every month to treat his garden against insects, spiders and beetles and such. He stopped doing this in order to not poison the hens. It did not occur to him that the treatment might harm him directly or through being absorbed by his produce? For him it's all about the experience of creating something with his own hands. He does not even mind to buy whatever it takes from the hardware store to complete a project. More accidently, he realises there are cheaper ways and he for example can use scraps from his junk pile that he tends to have in a corner of his garden.
I appreciate that he gardens, keep hens (and later in the book probably bees too) and gets his hands dirty. I would love his efforts even more if he considered his impact on the environment too though.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Waterloo Regional Museum
The Waterloo Regional Museum had its Grand Opening today. It's a great museum with lots of stories about the region, no doubt about it. It also is a LEED certified building and to let people know about a touch screen in the main hall of the museum tells you all about it: The Region of Waterloo Council aims to have all their new buildings LEED Silver certified. They do already have LEED Gold certified buildings. The Blue Bin program for recycling was first established in Waterloo Region, too, FYI.
So the museum was built with over 30% locally sourced materials, uses 25% less energy than ordinary buildings, has low-flow toilets, faucets & urinals which are also fed by storm water for 8 months of the year. The storm water is collected from the building itself and the parking lot and kept in a pond. The roof was painted white to reflect the sun and prevent the building from heating up too much which would then require air conditioning. Interestingly, a decision against installing solar panels or a living green roof has been made due to cost. Both options were more expensive than the white roof that still has its environmental benefits. After all the museum was built from taxpayers money. Ah! The museum planners consider adding on solar panels when they become more affordable. These are not all the building plus points but all in all I must say they made a great effort. I am glad to live now in a place where the environment matters, and seemingly matters more than profits from environmentally-invasive industries.
So the museum was built with over 30% locally sourced materials, uses 25% less energy than ordinary buildings, has low-flow toilets, faucets & urinals which are also fed by storm water for 8 months of the year. The storm water is collected from the building itself and the parking lot and kept in a pond. The roof was painted white to reflect the sun and prevent the building from heating up too much which would then require air conditioning. Interestingly, a decision against installing solar panels or a living green roof has been made due to cost. Both options were more expensive than the white roof that still has its environmental benefits. After all the museum was built from taxpayers money. Ah! The museum planners consider adding on solar panels when they become more affordable. These are not all the building plus points but all in all I must say they made a great effort. I am glad to live now in a place where the environment matters, and seemingly matters more than profits from environmentally-invasive industries.
My news about diapers, meat, balcony and parking
Our daughter now uses the potty at home when she is wearing panties. I am so glad she got the hang of it now even though she has not learned yet how to pull her panties down but we'll get there. At least she fights having diapers put on which is understandable now that she is all proud to use that thing that her parents kept pushing under her bottom for quite a while. When we go out she is in cloth diapers and at night we have to use disposable. I can't squeeze enough layers around her and into her diaper cover to prevent her from soaking through. Only disposable will keep her dry.
We ate organic meat that we had actually purchased for the first time tonight. I can order from the same store that delivers the organic box and is does not even cost more than the supermarket stuff. Surely, it is the only organic meat we can afford right now. A roast of beef (around 1.5kg) costs $74. Organic ground beef is it for the next while or else we eat vegetarian and fish and thinking about it, salami and wieners from the European Import Store. Luckily I don't get there too often.
I love our balcony. It stores our bikes, I dry the laundry there and it's a great playground and place to catch a fresh breath of air when need be during any nerve-straining home activities. Looking out on the buildings car park, a line of tall trees and dead-end neighbourhood street and in the distance the city centre light pollution is so little that we can see the stars, when they happen to be around. I noticed neighbours drying their clothes on their balcony as well.
The car park with 70 spots is always half empty which we take as a good sign. There are about 46 units in the building. That means that not every unit has a car and most units defnitely do not own two cars.Talking about parking, the newly opened Waterloo Regional Museum has only built the minimum number of car parking spots required by law. Great, but they should have advertised this more before the Grand Opening today. Once the car park filled up drivers just put left their cars along both sides of the road despite the no-parking signs. The option to take a shuttle bus from the nearest mall was not well advertised either. We took a bus from home and then walked 2 km through a park to get there. Alternatively we could have taken two other buses and would have been gotten off 900 m from the museum. But the connection was so time-consuming it would have taken longer than the walk-option. If that's the nearest bus stop to the museum though arriving without a car will not appeal to many visitors.
We ate organic meat that we had actually purchased for the first time tonight. I can order from the same store that delivers the organic box and is does not even cost more than the supermarket stuff. Surely, it is the only organic meat we can afford right now. A roast of beef (around 1.5kg) costs $74. Organic ground beef is it for the next while or else we eat vegetarian and fish and thinking about it, salami and wieners from the European Import Store. Luckily I don't get there too often.
I love our balcony. It stores our bikes, I dry the laundry there and it's a great playground and place to catch a fresh breath of air when need be during any nerve-straining home activities. Looking out on the buildings car park, a line of tall trees and dead-end neighbourhood street and in the distance the city centre light pollution is so little that we can see the stars, when they happen to be around. I noticed neighbours drying their clothes on their balcony as well.
The car park with 70 spots is always half empty which we take as a good sign. There are about 46 units in the building. That means that not every unit has a car and most units defnitely do not own two cars.Talking about parking, the newly opened Waterloo Regional Museum has only built the minimum number of car parking spots required by law. Great, but they should have advertised this more before the Grand Opening today. Once the car park filled up drivers just put left their cars along both sides of the road despite the no-parking signs. The option to take a shuttle bus from the nearest mall was not well advertised either. We took a bus from home and then walked 2 km through a park to get there. Alternatively we could have taken two other buses and would have been gotten off 900 m from the museum. But the connection was so time-consuming it would have taken longer than the walk-option. If that's the nearest bus stop to the museum though arriving without a car will not appeal to many visitors.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Compost & Recycling in K-W
K-W has started a green bin system for compostable garbage. Unfortunately apartment buildings are excluded so far. We have recycled bins for corrugated cardboard, paper, plastics/ metals/ juice boxes etc. and the standard garbage container. The recycling bins regularly flow over on the weekend before pick-up day on Monday. I don't think that supports people with the recycling because in the end you are just going to throw everything in the garbage container. I would like the compost bin jsut because I decided not to have a worm composter in our apartment, or in the summer on the balcony. Our child is far to inquisitive and I don't want worms and compost all over my apartment.
By the way, the garbage containers in the parks have been removed for the winter. A really bad idea because now there's lots of litter in parks. The city knows it's not ideal. They remove the bins because they can't be accessed once the snow falls - there is not winter maintenance on lots of trails. They should leave at least the bins that border onto a sidewalk but it is probably to difficult to map where bins need pick-up and where not. So they take them all. My husband has picked up garbage in our nearest park a few times, on his way to playgroup with our daugther. Since I have been in contact with the volunteer coordinator of the city of Kitchener I asked for help and the city sponsors us gloves and garbage bags. Not quite as elaborate as in Edmonton where you get one of those spears that help you pick things up off the ground but it's better than nothing. Since we have lots of time, unemployed life it's called, we might as well clean up the park. After all, we take our daugther to parks and playgrounds practically every day and we prefer them tidy.
Talking about going outside. Our daughter loves going outside so much that she will collect her shoes and jacket and stand at the door, clearly indicating to her parents her intentions. Or, that's a new favourite, she goes onto the balcony, probably still hoping that one day a magical door opens in the railing and she can step right onto the ground. Weather does not matter, she wants out in any weather. We don't mind.
By the way, the garbage containers in the parks have been removed for the winter. A really bad idea because now there's lots of litter in parks. The city knows it's not ideal. They remove the bins because they can't be accessed once the snow falls - there is not winter maintenance on lots of trails. They should leave at least the bins that border onto a sidewalk but it is probably to difficult to map where bins need pick-up and where not. So they take them all. My husband has picked up garbage in our nearest park a few times, on his way to playgroup with our daugther. Since I have been in contact with the volunteer coordinator of the city of Kitchener I asked for help and the city sponsors us gloves and garbage bags. Not quite as elaborate as in Edmonton where you get one of those spears that help you pick things up off the ground but it's better than nothing. Since we have lots of time, unemployed life it's called, we might as well clean up the park. After all, we take our daugther to parks and playgrounds practically every day and we prefer them tidy.
Talking about going outside. Our daughter loves going outside so much that she will collect her shoes and jacket and stand at the door, clearly indicating to her parents her intentions. Or, that's a new favourite, she goes onto the balcony, probably still hoping that one day a magical door opens in the railing and she can step right onto the ground. Weather does not matter, she wants out in any weather. We don't mind.
How is your lawn doing?
The grass is still green here in K-W which is sooo nice. Of course the grass gets mowed too, right over the 3 inches of leaves that cover it up and get mulched in the process. Only few people put paper bags filled with leaves onto the curb for pick-up. Some just rake (or blow) the leaves onto the street which I don't like. I prefer the leaves left on the ground, in parks and on sidewalks I love to shuffle through them. I don't think many people leave the leaves on the ground due to organic gardening practices, a natural fertiliser. Maybe, they just can't be bothered to invest the time for raking them up. After all, most front and back yards are still fairly large here, compared to German standards. And the maple trees dump a lot of leaves, that's for sure. I think a lot less people here rake up the leaves than in Germany. There, it is kind of a competition. Then the leaves get either picked up or (improperly) composted in a corner of the garden. My husband told me today most people will rake up the leaves in spring, something I have not heard of before. We are both reading Mark Frauenfelder's book "Made by hand" right now. Hubby started on it and told me what happened on every page so I decided to read it myself. It's a great book. Frauenfelder got rid of his lawn a long time ago, turned the space into a garden and grows a huge variety of fruits and vegetables on it. Mind you, he lives in California. Lawns were the result of posh Europeans who thought it necessary to demonstrate they did not need their land to grow food on it because they could afford to buy it. It's a trend that spread like a bad weed but without benefits. That is unless you have kids that need green space to run around in but even then a more natural approach (wild flowers & grasses mix?) would be much nicer. I'm glad Frauenfelder applied the natural method to killing his lawn, with vinegar, newspaper and mulch. Pouring Monsanto's Roundup on top of the grass surely would not have been an appropriate start to organic gardening. Can't wait for next spring to try our balcony garden again.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Food's important
One of the first things we did in Kitchener is obviously to check out stores, food stores. There are different supermarkets here that weren't in Edmonton. Instead of Safeway and Save on Foods we have Food Basics and Value Mart. I was shocked to not find any organic fruits and vegetables (nothing beyond bananas) in any of the supermarkets. Even Sobeys and the Superstore are lousy. So we got straight into business with Pfennig's Organic Box delivery and I am happy as anything. Don't get me wrong, these big stores do have packaged organic foods just not fresh produce. The offer at the farmer's market was meagre too. There I could not believe how many stalls sells their produce for cheap, really cheap, obviously having bought it wholesale somewhere and needing to get rid of it. There was nothing like that in Edmonton, it was all local and at the time of the year were there's barely any local fruit and vegetable the stalls simply got filled with local crafts and arts. Not saying, one or the other way is better, just mentioning it. I suspect that in order to buy for example from the Mennonites here in the area we' d have to drive into the countryside and get it directly from their farm. We can still try the Farmer's Market in Waterloo but for this season it's closed.
The other thing I noticed is the higher prices for dairy here and whole wheat flour. The latter one really bugs me. First of all it only comes in 5 kg and nowhere in 10 kg bags and then, depending on the store, costs 60-100% more than in Edmonton. Argh! So I'll keep now white flour in my cupboard too. I have taken to baking our own bread again very quickly because the first two loaves of bread I bought in Kitchener in different stores both were mouldy on day 3.
Today my bread rose so well it does not fit into the freezer bags. Can't wait to taste it tomorrow.
The other thing I noticed is the higher prices for dairy here and whole wheat flour. The latter one really bugs me. First of all it only comes in 5 kg and nowhere in 10 kg bags and then, depending on the store, costs 60-100% more than in Edmonton. Argh! So I'll keep now white flour in my cupboard too. I have taken to baking our own bread again very quickly because the first two loaves of bread I bought in Kitchener in different stores both were mouldy on day 3.
Today my bread rose so well it does not fit into the freezer bags. Can't wait to taste it tomorrow.
Snow and buses
K-W is still way greener than Edmonton was over a month ago. I love that! Did you read that in the Rockies the first ski resorts have opened? I don't want to be there, not yet. I can't wait to see though if snow removal here is really so much better than in Edmonton. After last year's disaster of cars stuck everywhere city council aims to keep the pack at 5 cm this year. Sorry, pack is pack, 5 or 10 cm in the end does not matter. Drivers still have to navigate for days through all kinds of snow conditions until the pack forms and then, voila, gets icy. Good luck with that!
From where we live on Westmount Road in Kitchener there are several buses running in all kinds of directions. To catch some of them we have to walk to the next intersection but generally it's no big deal. It's been an illusion though to think that public transit is better here. Most buses run every half an hour which is nice and good if I only need one bus but not so fun once my journey requires a connection. When this connection is between a Kitchener city bus, the express bus to Guelph or Cambridge and a local bus there it's not tempting at all. We have therefore resigned to applying for jobs in K-W. My husband could have had a job in Guelph but the commute would probably have worn him out after a week, and me too since I have to look after the child for that time. Never mind, we are still resisting the pressure to buy a car before we have an income. After all, this move to a smaller city was also meant to help up live AND work locally. Commuting to the neighbouring cities was not on the list. Call it stubborn or inflexible we insist that long commutes are disastrous to one's life. We are still optimistic we can find work though, soon and near to home, and am sure we will have plenty of opportunity over the winter the still test the bus system.
From where we live on Westmount Road in Kitchener there are several buses running in all kinds of directions. To catch some of them we have to walk to the next intersection but generally it's no big deal. It's been an illusion though to think that public transit is better here. Most buses run every half an hour which is nice and good if I only need one bus but not so fun once my journey requires a connection. When this connection is between a Kitchener city bus, the express bus to Guelph or Cambridge and a local bus there it's not tempting at all. We have therefore resigned to applying for jobs in K-W. My husband could have had a job in Guelph but the commute would probably have worn him out after a week, and me too since I have to look after the child for that time. Never mind, we are still resisting the pressure to buy a car before we have an income. After all, this move to a smaller city was also meant to help up live AND work locally. Commuting to the neighbouring cities was not on the list. Call it stubborn or inflexible we insist that long commutes are disastrous to one's life. We are still optimistic we can find work though, soon and near to home, and am sure we will have plenty of opportunity over the winter the still test the bus system.
My map, my best friend
We have had some nice autumn days recently, they do come as a surprise still. Used to the Edmonton weather I feel like the weather in K-W changes a lot faster and surely overnight. This brought me already to the conclusion that I have to go for a bike ride when it looks sunny now as later might be too late. I mean, unless I have to, I don't fancy cycling in the rain.
Cycling in K-W shrinks the city. Suddenly I am at the end of our city map. Yeah! That would not have happened in Edmonton where even the longest bike ride moved us barely within the city limits. On Sunday, a crisp sunny morning, oh it was so beautiful, I cycled north past the university and around Laurel Creek Conservation Area. To my disappointment there is an entrance fee to use this area and the picnic tables at the lake. That does not make my picnic any cheaper than going down the road (any road as a matter of fact from where we live) to Tim Hortons and having lunch there. Boo! Any way, cycling around the fence of the conservation area gave me wonderful views of the lake as well. Today I cycled in the same direction but ended up criss-crossing residential areas that look like part of Waterloo but once you are there you feel like out of town. That's because they are need-a-car bed communities, people only come there to sleep since there's no stores, no offices, no nothing else, apart from the lovely parks for walks and bike rides. That's worth a lot to me but I would not move there. The older neighbourhoods have more charm. Our ugly apartment building is surrounded by them. Old brick buildings with treed gardens and trees along the side walks. I love it. The newest neighbourhoods look like in Edmonton, wider roads and without trees. Bah!
K-W does not have a grid system and the residential areas have (like in Edmonton) terribly windy and curving streets. No surprise people need GPS to go anywhere. I prefer the good old map and out on explorations we always carry one with us. You can tell by the look of the map it's survived a lot during the last couple of weeks. I taped it today to keep it from falling apart. Did I mention yet I like the bike lanes in K-W. Travelling North-South and vice versa by bike is pretty comfortable here, going East-West and vice versa has not quite so good options of off-road and on-road bike paths. In order to get to the Grand River and its park system we'll have to one day suck it up and cycle bike-lane-free roads. It's going to be a Sunday. Two days ago I cycled on busy roads south to drop off an application. I could have mailed it but for the added benefit of exercise and getting to know more of Kitchener I cycled and was all proud when I made it there and back safely, without getting lost.
Cycling in K-W shrinks the city. Suddenly I am at the end of our city map. Yeah! That would not have happened in Edmonton where even the longest bike ride moved us barely within the city limits. On Sunday, a crisp sunny morning, oh it was so beautiful, I cycled north past the university and around Laurel Creek Conservation Area. To my disappointment there is an entrance fee to use this area and the picnic tables at the lake. That does not make my picnic any cheaper than going down the road (any road as a matter of fact from where we live) to Tim Hortons and having lunch there. Boo! Any way, cycling around the fence of the conservation area gave me wonderful views of the lake as well. Today I cycled in the same direction but ended up criss-crossing residential areas that look like part of Waterloo but once you are there you feel like out of town. That's because they are need-a-car bed communities, people only come there to sleep since there's no stores, no offices, no nothing else, apart from the lovely parks for walks and bike rides. That's worth a lot to me but I would not move there. The older neighbourhoods have more charm. Our ugly apartment building is surrounded by them. Old brick buildings with treed gardens and trees along the side walks. I love it. The newest neighbourhoods look like in Edmonton, wider roads and without trees. Bah!
K-W does not have a grid system and the residential areas have (like in Edmonton) terribly windy and curving streets. No surprise people need GPS to go anywhere. I prefer the good old map and out on explorations we always carry one with us. You can tell by the look of the map it's survived a lot during the last couple of weeks. I taped it today to keep it from falling apart. Did I mention yet I like the bike lanes in K-W. Travelling North-South and vice versa by bike is pretty comfortable here, going East-West and vice versa has not quite so good options of off-road and on-road bike paths. In order to get to the Grand River and its park system we'll have to one day suck it up and cycle bike-lane-free roads. It's going to be a Sunday. Two days ago I cycled on busy roads south to drop off an application. I could have mailed it but for the added benefit of exercise and getting to know more of Kitchener I cycled and was all proud when I made it there and back safely, without getting lost.
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