Conservation Issues

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter"

- Martin Luther King Jr.

"My dad always encouraged us as kids to speak out about the things we thought were important. It is today's children who will carry the burden of maintaining our beautiful planet. We as teachers and adults need to encourage our youngsters' natural love for the wonder of our natural resources."      Bernie

We all play a role in being good stewards of the environment we live in.

Here are some recently published articles I have written:

Dear Editor:

 Now that the issue of Pesticide use is back on the Town Council’s agenda, there are some thoughts I would like to share.

 First of all, any proposed laws would have to take into consideration the economic impact of agricultural uses, as there are many farming operations with Oakville Town limits.

 Secondly, there is the impact of lost revenue to local retailers. This should be minimized by the increased sale of natural fertilizers, weed whackers and other hand implements commonly used by the gardener to weed themselves of pests.

And third, present users of lawn and garden pesticides need assistance and education as to how to manage their own lawns and gardens in an effective, natural, or organic, way. 

Ontario has a web site one can visit for numerous tips on how to thwart weeds and bugs naturally. Please visit: http://www.healthylawns.net/  Another great place for information is with a group called Gardens off Drugs. Reach them at: http://www.gardensoffdrugs.com/ 

Chemicals used on lawns and gardens end up in our water, move over property lines through the air and end up on public sidewalks, roads and neighboring lawns. There are many effective ways to maintain healthy lawns and gardens without the use of dangerous chemicals.

Dear Editor:

It was with some disbelief when I heard that David Suzuki, Canada's famed scientist and environmentalist, needed to dispose of a single bag of garbage per year from his household. After all, our household has been avid recyclers of everything Halton presently takes in the blue box program.

In addition, for the past thirty years, our family has used a backyard composter for all of our kitchen scraps and we still seem to generate a bag a week. A couple of weeks ago, as I took my can of trash out I thought about how light weight it was. It was then I realized I was disposing a can of mostly non-recyclables and plastic bags.

So I got busy and contacted the city, the Region, the Province. After all, Premier McGuinty was on the news telling us the distressing news of the seven million plastic bags thrown out each day in Ontario and how we should go shopping with reusable bags and so on. But the Premier had no answer as to what the Province might do in terms of recycling these bags. I contacted Halton Region and they told me to bring my plastic bags to the grocery store. At the grocery store there is a big bin to place your plastic bags for proper recycling. I contacted A&P Canada (Dominion) and they were delighted to hear from me.

I told them I would tell everyone about their positive environmental efforts. For pet waste, or any other disposal purpose, there is also a substitute, recyclable, biodegradable plastic looking bag you can use. The bags are made by The BIOSAK Comapany. The bags are compostable, being made of corn starch and are available all over town at our grocery and hardware stores.

So the fact of the matter is if we are in our kitchen wondering how or if we can recycle our packaging, it's a bit late. We need to make that determination at the point of purchase. With each purchase we can think: "I'd really like to have that particular product, but can I recycle the packaging." One good way to promote the use of proper recycle-ready materials is support only those manufactures who offer their products in the stores in readily-recyclable packaging. It can be as simple as changing your brand of crackers or chips or soap.

We all would love hand over a clean and healthy planet to our  grandchildren. We don't EVER have to fill up the Halton landfill. So please contact the following agencies; they would love to hear from you. Taking our plastic bags to the grocery store is not a long-term solution. They belong in the Blue Box Program. Please encourage Halton to get this plastic bag recycling project into the Blue Box now.

Dear Editor,

Isn’t it time the Ontario and Federal Governments stepped up to the plate to deliver low-cost compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) to consumers who choose to save energy and their energy dollars? Last September I re-bulbed our entire home with the new CFL bulbs. I now realize a savings of over $15.00 per month on my electricity bill. The problem right now is that as I add a lamp here and there in my home and want to purchase more of the miniature lamps, the Home Depots of the world are constantly out of stock on these items. The other day, while at the Home Depot, I was passing by the aisle where bulbs were sold and stopped to help a couple in their sixties. The man was holding two packages of CFL bulbs. His wife had a package containing a new ceiling light fixture. They looked a bit lost. I spent fifteen minutes with them explaining which types of bulbs fit in which fixtures and which bulbs work best in bathrooms, bedrooms and basements.

Home Depots of the world: I challenge you to offer greater educational advice to your consumers who need to know which light bulb goes into which type of lamp.

Provincial and Federal Governments: We need greater educational resources. We need more financial support from the government to bring these new bulbs into a more affordable range. And we need more bulbs! Instead of new energy plants, let us put our money into helping bulb manufactures get these bulbs to market.

California Assembly member, Lloyd Levine, the Chair of the Assembly’s Utilities and Commerce Committee, recently announced that he is introducing legislation - the How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb Act - to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs in California by the year 2012.

According to the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a nonprofit organization that focuses on energy policy, replacing a 75-watt incandescent light bulb with a 20-watt compact fluorescent would result in the same amount of light but would save 1,300 pounds of carbon dioxide and save customers $55 over the life of the bulb (while the life of one 75-watt incandescent bulb is roughly 750 hours, the life of a compact fluorescent is a whopping 10,000 hours). Meanwhile, incandescent bulbs use 750 kWh over 10,000 hours, while compact fluorescents use only 180 kWh. In addition, a utility can give away compact fluorescent lamps more cheaply than it can fuel its existing power plants, which is why Southern California Edison, for example, has given away more than a million such lamps.