Are you wondering how to pack out your veggies and those bulk peas? It’s hard seeing your tomatoes go rolling down the conveyor belt – it’s food you’re bowling! Coming to the rescue is the 6 in 1 bag called the moukisac. Actually, there are smaller netted bags conveniently sized for bulk items all held in one large bag.
If you’re interested in this neat looking idea, go to their website www.moukisac.com
Organic Islands Festival 2009
If you’re coming to Victoria this weekend, be sure to check out the Organic Islands Festival at Glendale Gardens being held July 4-5th. This annual event promises to be bigger and better than the last and just as sustainable! Be sure to check out their website for more details.
BC is introducing legislation in 2010 that will require all new houses in the province to be built with water reclamation rough-ins as part of a larger goal to reduce water consumption. Theses pipes would be purple to make it clear that the water is non-potable.
Water would be “reclaimed” from baths, showers, washing machines and kitchen sinks. This so-called grey water could be used for outdoor irrigation of your lawn or garden. By recycling grey water, it is estimated that water usage would decrease by as much as 50%.
Chemainus Estuary
Ducks Unlimited Canada purchased the Chemainus Estuary on Vancouver Island from Catalyst Paper for $3 million after twenty years of negotiations. The estuary, located along the shoreline, comprises 200 hectares of pristine coastal habitat.
According to their website:
…the estuary received a Class 1 ranking out of more than 440 estuaries in a report released by Environment Canada and Ducks Unlimited Canada.
According to the study, when compared to other major estuaries on Vancouver Island, Chemainus remains relatively free from urban disturbance. This provided conservationists with further rationale to direct more effort and resources towards protecting this important natural ecosystem.
… it forms a habitat of international importance to waterfowl and other birds using the coastal migration corridor along the Pacific Flyway. Averages of 1,000 waterfowl per day have been sighted during the migration and wintering periods.
Tags: Chemainus Estuary, Ducks Unlimited
This is an excellent video on sea lice from fish farms and the impact on wild salmon!
Posted using ShareThis
Tags: fish farms, sea lice, wild salmon
O.W.L.
The Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society in Delta, BC, has been hit by the economic downturn and needs your help in order to continue providing a safe place for birds that have run into trouble.
OWL has been turned down for government subsidies and in order to look after birds that have been hit by cars or tangled up in wires they are relying 100% on public donations. O.W.L. desperately need funds to keep feeding the birds and looking after them as they spend time at their facilities recovering.
Also, they say if you give a hoot, don’t litter by the roadside. Discarded food items by the roadside attract rodents which in turn attract birds of prey such as owls that are vulnerable to being hit by vehicles. In fact, most of their patients are “HBC” hit by car.
If you want to learn more about O.W.L., check out their website.
Tags: bird rehabilitation, birds
I am in the midst of trying to remove acrylic paint off the banister. Why? I know it seems silly when there is so much else to do outside but it’s been bugging me for a while because while I painted the banister a couple of years ago, the old wood stain prevented the latex paint from adhering properly and as a result, you could scratch it off with your fingernail. Kind of embarrasing.
The other day, I bought a jug of 3M Stripper which is supposedly non-toxic and after a couple of tries the white paint is almost all removed. This is impressive considering I must’ve painted on at least 5 coats!
As far as covering the stained wood I am told that I have to use an oil-based primer. This is not something I want to do, but what other products are out there?
Tags: paint stripper
Usually every year around this time, I enjoy sitting in the window as some baby robins practice taking flight from one bush to another. This year, however, I was worried when I saw that several green spaces in the area were being bulldozed to make way for yet another strip mall. The full effects came to light this summer when the crows, who normally roost down the hill, took over the couple of trees in my back yard and chased the robins out! I was so disappointed, especially since I had become accustomed to hearing the robins’ evening songs.
Today, I’m sitting in my window watching a young crow, just fledged, take a practice flight from the fence to the ground.
Tags: robins extirpated
Senator David Tkachuk
Waterton-Glacier International Park is perhaps one of the most beautiful parks I have ever seen and perhaps one of the most endangered according to the Sierra Club because of the proposed mining in the adjacent Flathead Valley. Cline Mining Corporation is forging ahead with its plans to to extract 40 million tons of coal over the next 20 years from a mountaintop about 25 miles north of the U.S.-Canadian border and intends to export the high-grade coal to Asia for steel development. The proposed mine’s location along Foisey Creek, which empties into the North Fork of the Flathead River, would be the watershed’s first coalmine.
The only thing that stands in the way is an environmental assessment and who better to steer Cline Mining Corporation through political manoueverings than Conservative Senator David Tkachuk from Saskatchewan, who happens to sit on their board of directors.
The Sierra Club has applied to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to declare two World Heritage Sites in peril. This includes Waterton National Park and nearby Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump.
If you haven’t signed their petition, here’s your chance.
Tags: Cline Mining Corp, Flathead Valley, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park
Did you know your home is one of the worst sources of pollution? It’s hard to believe isn’t it, but all those nasty chemicals are being masked in pleasant smells. According to the Georgia Strait Alliance’s ToxicSmart program, chlorine is one of the worst offenders. Usually found in bleach, chlorine produces dioxins and organochlorines, which cause reproductive, endocrine and immune disorders. Another offender are phosphates, which are found in detergents, add nitrogen to the waterways when thrown out, which in turn diminishes oxygen needed for fish.
Create your own all-purpose cleaner:
125 ml castile soap + 4 L of hot water + 4 tablespoons lemon juice
or try: 60ml of baking soda + 1 L hot water
For more cleaning solutions, try www.georgiastrait.org
