REEP House rocks!

I participated in a tour of REEP House for Sustainable Living (http://www.reepwaterlooregion.ca/) on Wednesday night. REEP House is located at 20 Mill Street in Kitchener and should be visited by anyone considering buying a house or renovating one. The tour is very informative to say the least and should direct people towards redoing their home in a more responsible way for the environment and their own health.

It starts outside with native plants in the garden, driveway paving that is 9 times more water-permeable than standard interlocking bricks and rain barrels capable of holding 2000 litres which are used for flushing the toilet and gardening. Besides grey water from the bathroom sink is collected to flush the toilet. The bathroom includes a 3-litre-toilet with air suction for superior performance. A water filtration system in the basement treats the water to eliminate chlorine and other chemicals that harm appliances and human health. Skin absorbs more chlorine through a shower then we take in from drinking tap water! The tankless water heater was not new to me as it’s been around in Europe for a while but it’s new to Canadians.

For heating they have a high efficiency boiler and radiant heater as well as a geothermal heat pump which the guide admitted is more useful in rural areas than in the city where natural gas is still cheap. The energy recovery ventilator became necessary after the house was sealed off with thick insulation to regulate moisture and condensation. The programmable thermostats to regulate the three levels of the house separately are again newish in Canada but leave me in disbelief, growing up with a thermostat in every room which I still miss since I don’t want my bedroom and kitchen as warm as the living room. The ceiling fans were a neat thing so simple and effective, especially since they opened up the ceiling of the upper storey into the attic which required the rising warm air to be spread out throughout the room in the winter.

The house features a variety of windows. Windows are usually the last thing they recommend people to replace while insulation is the most important part to save on energy and make a house more liveable. The reason is that windows are fairly expensive compared to all other eco-friendly, money-saving (in the long run) adjustments possible in a house – unless of course the windows are leaking as in our apartment.

For lighting and appliances REEP house features a lot of options that might seem a bit “too much” (sensor light switches) and aren’t often necessary, as behaviour changes are cheaper e.g. switch off the light when you leave a room, or unplug the computer when you are done with it. Since fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury only LED lights were installed. They last 50,000 hours, 10 times longer than a CFL bulb and are getting better too. The initial investment can be up to $100 per light fixture but it pays off to buy a high quality LED light. The refrigerator was super awesome as the compressor is on top (instead of underneath or behind) and warm air rises without reheating the fridge from the outside. The fridge was way more insulated and can be hooked up to the outdoors to use cold winter air for cooling. It costs $7 per year to run! Besides there was a steam washing machine, induction stove and high efficiency dish washer.                       

For furniture only solid woods were used, flooring, doors, stairs etc. were built from reclaimed materials, the roof is covered with recycled polymer shingles (including from used tires) that come with a 50 year guarantee. They are just as good as a steel roof but much better than asphalt shingles.    

Now I mentioned that insulation is the most important part in a home and we thankfully talked a long time about it. While different options (rockwool, fibreglass, cellulose, polyurethane foam) were shown and savings in energy cost calculated REEP house is almost entirely insulated with that foam. Insulation is measured in R-values and the building code requirement for new buildings just went from R-20 to R-26 while REEP House has an R-38. Thankfully the guide emphasized that polyurethane foam is, though best for insulation, terrible for the environment. It’s a petroleum-based product that causes greenhouse gases worse than carbon dioxide. So instead of putting in 6 inches of that foam he recommended not more than 2 inches of foam combined with 4-5 inches of another option. Rockwool is a by-product of the steel industry, cellulose is recycled newspaper and some other stuff was recycled too. More care needs to be taken to not squish these materials when installing them or the insulating effect gets partly lost but it’s also not as permanent as the foam, if ever repairs on the electric wiring or plumbing need to be done. Besides, the off-gases from spraying in the foam are toxic.

The EnerGuide rating of REEP House went from 49 to 87 after completed renovation. It becomes exponentially harder to get a higher rating and REEP is still aiming for an 89 with more changes. Our guide had never seen a house with over 90 though. Even 49 for a century-old home is more than usual but the previous owner had done some insulation. Most of the energy savings came from the insulation of the whole house and fixing air leakages (for example around the windows!).                     

If we ever consider buying a house I am sure to be back at REEP house for advice. The energy advisors there also do home evaluations with regards to the structure of a house and what could be improved at what cost. Before leaving I exchanged a few words with the guide as we talked about cycling (of course I cycled there) and home improvements. I mentioned I can’t understand why Canadians are so slow to catch on with both of these things and he totally agreed. Good morning, Canada, it’s time for a behaviour change!

Slow Death by Rubber Duck in more detail

In the last chapter of the book, the authors summarise each chemical again and how best to avoid it, even though it's virtually impossible to escape any of them completely since by now they are so spread around in our environment (water, air, soil) that only moving to Mars might help.

Phthalates – plastic softeners: found as perfume and fragrance in body care products, in PVC shower curtains and other PVC products, in air refresheners & toys – The EU, Japan, Korea & Mexico have banned phthalates in toys, but Canada & the US have not – www.healthytoys.org and www.momsrising.org/notoxictoys have databases for tested toys

www.stoptoxicimports.org is about a campaign to raise awareness of lead in toys and to help organise “Get the lead out parties”

Reduce your fat intake – many chemicals are stored in fat tissue and travel up the food chain that way. By consuming less fat through meat and dairy you’ll expose yourself less to phthalates, pesticides, PBDEs.

Perfluorochemicals (PFC’s, e.g. Teflon) – the non-stick stuff:

very persistant & indestructible, stick around the environment for a long time and are possibly carcinogenic; found in non-stick cookware, water-repellent clothing like Gore-Tex, Stain-repellent products like Scotchgard & Stainmaster to treat carpets, upholstered furniture and fabrics, food packaging such as fast food wrappers, pizza boxes & microwavable popcorn bags, also appears in some lipsticks, windshield wiper fluids and the like – read the labels!

No legislation in place yet to ban this group of chemicals, industry agreed to phase out PFOA (perfluorooctane sulphonate) by 2015 but that does not mean that the replacement chemicals will be any safer!      

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) – flame-retardants:

Found in clothing, furniture, mattresses electronics, PBDEs also accumulate in dust so vacuum & dust often            

Wear natural fibres like wool, hemp, (organic) cotton that are naturally fire resistant;  

Newer furniture tend to be PBDE-free, some companies changed to PBDE-free products e.g. IKEA, Greener Lifestyles, Essential; again electronic companies opted out e.g. Sony, Philips, Panasonic, Samsung – remember the 3R’s and responsibly discard of your electronics they don’t belong into the landfill!; National Geographic’s Green Guide lists companies that manufacture PBDE-free furniture, electronics & other products;

No significant legislation in place yet to stop PBDEs in consumer products  

Triclosan (2,4-dichlorophenoxy) – the anti-bacterial stuff:

Found in personal care products, cleaning solutions & tools, even in socks, sandals & underwear, toothbrushes, toys, cutting boards, knives, aprons, J Cloths – Triclosan is also marketed as Microban, nanosilver & nanoparticles has also been used as antibacterial agent but has not been proven safe  

Alcohol-based anti-bacterial products are fine, but those with Triclosan aren’t, check out the Skin Deep’s www.cosmeticdatabase.com or www.safecosmetics.org/companies/compact_with_america.cfm; clean with baking soda, borax & vinegar

Pesticides:

Found in food & lawns

Keep a chemical-free lawn, choose plants that are insect resistant, native and drought-resistant over grass, some municipalities have banned cosmetic use of pesticides on private properties, in schools & parks; Eat organic & local food, if not organic then wash your produce thoroughly and avoid the “dirty dozen”

Bisphenol A (BPA):

Lots of plastic food & drink containers, children’s products, epoxy linings of tin cans (incl. for infant formula), plastic bags, car parts, CDs, eyewear, building materials (vinyl), foam packing materials, coat hangers, electronics housing etc.     

When it comes to plastics check the recycling symbol and remember: “4 (LDPE), 5 (PP), 1 (PETE) and 2 (HDPE), all the rest are bad for you!” (3 (V, polyvinyl chloride), 6 (PS, polystyrene) and 7 (PC or other, polycarbonates) contain more harmful chemicals than just BPA) 

http://zrecs.blogspot.com created a directory of children’s products containing BPA;         

Opt for glass over plastic containers and fresh or frozen foods over canned; 

Don’t use plastic containers in microwave; BYOB (Bring your own bag);

Ban disposable water bottles even though most are made of PETE which does not contain BPA it’s best to avoid plastic altogether since most of it ends up in landfills instead of recycling

Mercury – the natural toxin:

Released majorly through industrial pollution especially coal burning in power plants and waste incineration!, it then works its way up the food chain

It’s found in fish, fluorescent lights, batteries, thermostats, contact-lens solutions, baby vaccines; Used to be used as mercury amalgam in tooth fillings, in bathroom, kitchen & hospital paints, in agricultural fungicides, in medication for tons of ailments

Mercury is found in nature e.g. rocks and soil but the right conditions will turn it from inorganic to organic and make it more absorbable by living things – but mercury in all its forms is very toxic, linked to a range of diseases and kills if exposure is high enough

Eat fewer fish & smaller fish – the bigger the fish, the more mercury it will have accumulated, especially predatory fish, avoid white albacore tuna, light skipjack tuna is better, check out www.seachoice.org or www.edf.org, if you fish yourself make sure the fish is deemed safe for consumption; return & recycle mercury-containing products to keep mercury out of landfills.

The chapter about Mercury/ Quicksilver was one of the most interesting ones in the book!

The Waterloo Classic Run

I did another run yesterday, 10 km this time, and I am waiting for the stats to be posted online. 
So far I came in 107. overall, 16. woman, 1. in my age category, in 48:43 min     

Slow Death by Rubber Duck

That's a nice book if you like to know a bit more about certain chemicals created by some clever humans to increase the convenience of daily life - and that at the same time harm or even kill you. It's written by two Canadian authors (Rick Smith & Bruce Lourie) and contains some Canada-specific data. I say some because often enough Canada won't take its own steps to research, analyse, and take legal action first but instead observes what happens in the USA or Europe. So there's a lot of US data in there too. 
The authors on purpose expose themselves over a defined period of time to toxins that surround us every day but that we can't necessarily see or feel or smell. Then they get their blood and urin tested to see how the badly toxins have accumulated in their bodies.  It's about BPA, Teflon, antibacterial substances and items (containing Triclosan), flame-retardants, pesticides, as well as mercury. Mercury is the only naturally ocurring substance in the list but it's highly poisoneous and although that's been a known fact to humanity for a loooooong time we still use it a bit too carelessly. 
It will make you rethink a lot what you eat, what you have in your home, how you care for your garden, what you are exposing your kids to.  
I have not finished the book yet so I better get back reading.                

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