Green Gatherings

What's New for 2008

2008-01-04T14:01:00.000-08:00

Concerned about cleaning products for bathrooms? Read this informative report from National Geographic, which lists old fashioned Bon-Ami in the "best" category, and explains labels and ingredients.

Concerned about fast traffic near schools, or in your neighbourhood? Become a Neighbourhood Pace Car, promoted by Ecology Action Centre. Read how you can start this program in your community.

New product: Read about CCCFs (cold cathode compact fluorescent) lights, which can be used in dimmer lights and motion-sensor lights.

View a few photos of Antarctica, and see what we are in danger of losing.

Turn online purchases into donations to an environmental organization Visit ClickGreener.com and find your favourite retailer. Click on their logo and you'll be connected to their online store. Find the product you're interested in and make your purchase as usual. ClickGreener.com will then pass on 51 per cent of the referral fees they collect to the Canadian Wildlife Federation and other participating nonprofits.

New Book: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products by investigative journalist Mark Schapiro.

Film Review: Leonardo DiCaprio's 11th hour

Learn more about climate change at a very readable new website geared to sharing info about global warming from a Canadian perspective, by a young Vancouver man.

Climate Change and Your Home

2007-10-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

The following was prepared by the Green Gatherings Home/Energy/Recycling Interest Group and was presented at our September meeting.

You can substantially lessen your environmental impact, especially your use of water, energy, and chemicals, by making changes in the kitchen, bath, and laundry rooms of your home.

According to Environment Canada, each person in our country uses 340 litres of water per day. That’s twice the amount that each European uses.

Here’s the breakdown:

Showers and baths use 35%.
Food prep and drinking use 10%.
Toilet flushing uses 30%.
Cleaning uses 5%.
Laundry uses 20%.

Tips to reduce household water use in the kitchen

1. Fix that dripping faucet. A leak at 1 drop per second wastes 10,000 litres of fresh water per year and costs you $100. This is one of the easiest repairs the homeowner can do.
2. Watch your dishwasher. Dishwashers use from 35 to 45 litres of water per cycle. Dishwashers can save water over hand washing after every meal because they tend to be operated only once a day. However, skip the pre-rinse cycle and scrape off food by hand. Be sure to wash only full loads as well.
3. Install a water-efficient faucet aerator. These inexpensive little gadgets reduce water flow. Those designed for kitchens allow more flow that those meant for bathroom sinks so filling a pot won’t take forever.
4. Keep cold water in the fridge. That way, you don’t need to run your water each time to get a cold drink.
5. Steam your food whenever possible. If you must boil your vegetables, use only enough water to cover the foods. Steaming conserves more nutrients anyway! Veggies can be steamed on top of potatoes, saving water and another dirty pot.
6. Clean fruits and veggies in a partially filled sink . Rinse them quickly.
7. Take foods out of the freezer early to allow them time to thaw. Thawing foods under running water is a waste.
8. Sink garbage disposal systems are water wasters! They may consume hundreds of litres of water each week. Consider composting.
9. Choose the right water-softening system. If you have a water softener, make sure it is the type that regenerates the softening agent only when necessary, not on a fixed-time or water-volume basis. A mid-sized system can use 350 litres every time it regenerates the softening agent. If this back flushing happens several times a month, it can add up to 10,000 litres of water wasted each year.

Tips to reduce water use in the bathroom

(NOTE: Since the bathroom accounts for 65% of the water used inside the home, this is a good place to conserve!)

1. Shaving: Save 10 to 20 litres of water when you shave by filling the basin instead of letting the water run.
2. Brushing your teeth: Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth.
3. Turn off taps tightly but gently, so they don’t drip.
4. Take quick showers instead of baths. If you bathe, fill the tub only ½ full.
5. Install a low-flow shower head.
6. If you bathe, add the hot water first, then adjust with the cold water.
7. Flush the toilet only when necessary. Check for leaks by dropping food colouring in the holding tank. If it turns up in the bowl, you have a silent leak that could waste 45 litres of water an hour!
8. Place a large jar of water in the toilet tank to reduce water use. Be sure it doesn’t block the proper functioning of the toilet, however.
9. Do not use the toilet as a wastepaper basket!
10. Install a low-flow toilet. They have become a lot more efficient in recent years.

Energy saving ideas for the laundry room

1. When buying appliances, look for the ENERGYSTAR logo. These are the most energy-efficient appliances on the market.
2. Heating water: A family of four can spend $600 a year to heat water. Set the thermostat back to 50 degrees Celsius. This cuts heating costs 12 to 14%.
3. Insulate your hot water tank and pipes. Wrap your tank in a blanket and your hot and cold water pipes in foam insulation for the first 3 metres.
4. Turn the water heater off if not home for more than a day.
5. Drain your hot water tank a little every 6 months. This cleans out sediment for better efficiency.
6. Wash in cold water and save on your power bill!
7. Purchase a front-load washer. Front-load washers use 40% less water and 50% less energy. They also spin out more water, reducing drying time.
8. Remove clothes from dryer before they are bone dry!
9. Use a clothesline as often as possible.

Energy-saving ideas for the kitchen

1. The refrigerator needn't be too cold. Set your fridge temperature to 3-5 degrees Celsius and your freezer to –17 to -15 degrees Celsius. Your fridge accounts for up to 15% of your household energy usage.
2. Check that the fridge door is well sealed.
3. Keep your fridge efficient! Vacuum the coils in the back of the fridge and the air intake area below.
4. Use the oven efficiently. For efficiency when using the oven, try to bake more than one dish at a time.
5. Bake in ceramic or glass and reduce the oven temperature by 25%!
6. Keep the oven door closed. Peeking causes about 20% of the heat to escape.
7. Do not use a small pot on a large burner. Try to keep pot size and burner diameter similar.
8. Keep a lid on it! Only cook without the lid when it is integral to the recipe.
9. Keep metal burners clean so they reflect heat better.
10. Use a toaster oven for baking and roasting smaller meals. Smaller appliances mean bigger energy savings.

To Reduce Your Use of Toxic Products

Chemical cleaners and laundry detergents are polluting our waterways and our home environments. Most ingredients of household cleaners are not listed on the label. Anything labeled “ danger”, “poison”, or “ corrosive” is likely to be the most toxic and should be avoided. Products labeled “warning” could make you really sick but will not kill you. Labels stating “caution” are slightly toxic. It’s best to use natural products or purchase ready-made cleaners that are less harmful from companies such as Nature Clean, Citra-Solv, Down East, and Seventh Generation. These products can be found in the health-food sections of local supermarket chains, at health-food stores, and online. They range from around $5 for smaller sizes to $15 for large refill bottles. Anti-bacterial products should also be avoided as they are harmful when their ingredients enter the waterways. Also, avoid chlorine bleach, which can react with chemicals in the environment to create dioxin, a hormone-disrupter that builds up in our tissues.

Home-made cleaning recipes for a cleaner planet:

Kitchen degreaser: 1 part vinegar and 1 part water in spray bottle or 1 drop of essential oil (from health food store) plus a sprinkle of salt.
Glass cleaner: ¼ cup vinegar, ½ cup natural dish detergent, and 2 cups water. Wipe with newpaper for streak-free shine.
Toilet bowl cleaner: ¼ cup Borax and ¼ cup vinegar. Let sit a few hours, then scrub.
Soap scum, mold and mildew remover: Try making a paste with baking powder or Borax and water. Also try, straight vinegar, heated and left for 5 minutes before cleaning.
Furniture polish: 1 cup of olive oil and a squirt of lemon juice.

Next Green Gathering

2007-07-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

Our October 28, 2007, meeting will be held at 7 pm at Brookfield Fire & Emergency Services (the fire hall), 110 Highway 289 East, Brookfield. Topic and guest speaker to be announced.

Our November 25, 2007, meeting will be held at 7 pm at the Middle Stewiacke Recreation Centre. Carpooling will be available from Brookfield, and we encourage those attending from other communities to carpool also. Please contact us if you want to carpool or are interested in helping out in any other way. The Middle Stewiacke Recreation Centre is located in the former Middle Stewiacke elementary school and is next to the fire station.

Topic: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Guest Speaker: Deborah Searl, Environment and Education Office, Municipality of the County of Colchester

Please click here to see notes from our last (June) meeting. See below for a report on our Canada Day activities.

Green Gatherings Display on Canada Day

2007-07-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

To keep up our summer momentum, Green Gatherings were part of Canada Day celebrations in the community of Brookfield, at the Brookfield Train Station Museum. During the festivities, The Green Song had a "world premiere". It brought many smiles and chuckles from the crowd, and drew them in to the Museum to view our display of poster-boards, to learn about global warming and what they can do to help. Various handouts were available, including the Canadian Living Go Green Guide, a list of "things to do" from various organizations, and some material from Clean Nova Scotia, including the Drive Wiser program.

We asked people to tell us their "pet peeve" about the environment. Here is some of what they told us:

People who do not compost at all
People are not responding fast enough (e.g., to save the polar bear)
People who litter
Trucks idling needlessly
Same as those mentioned!
Lights left on in large buildings at night
Styrofoam packaging
Too much packaging
Litter on the street
Paper coffee cups on the road
Snowbirds -- a waste of energy
Junk mail
Polluting the ocean
Disposable mops
Lack of regulations to enforce manufacturers to use environmental friendly packaging

People also shared with us what they are doing now -- and the good news is that they are doing quite a lot already; however, there's still more that can be done, especially in the area of well maintained, non-idling, fuel-efficient vehicles. On a CBC program recently, David Suzuki said that for people in rural areas, the best thing you can do is purchase a fuel-efficient vehicle, from a dealer as close as possible to your home.

Did you know that cuts of up to 70% are required to keep atmospheric CO2 at double pre-industrial levels? On a personal basis, you can achieve this by doing the things recommended by Tim Flannery in his book, The Weather Makers:

Understand how you use electricity, and ask about a green power option. If your supplier doesn’t have a green power option, dump them and go to a competitor.
In the developed world, about 1/3 of CO2 emissions result from domestic power, and 1/3 of that is for hot water. Install solar panels and let the sun do the heating.
Choose energy-efficient appliances air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration. Turn off appliances when not being used.
Generate your own electricity through solar panels.
If you cannot buy a hybrid, buy the smallest, most fuel-efficient car possible.
Ask your employer to have an energy audit done.

As Mr. Flannery says, "I have done my best to fashion a manual on the use of Earth’s thermostat. Now it’s over to you."

The Green Song

2007-07-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

(Tune: If You’re happy and you Know It)

If you want to stop polluting, take a walk
If you want to stop polluting, take a walk
Walk a mile for Terry Fox,
You can do it in your socks,
If you want to stop polluting, take a walk.

If you want to grow a garden, save your scraps,
If you want to grow a garden, save your scraps,
Take them to the compost bin,
Lift the lid and drop them in,
If you want to grow a garden, save your scraps.

If you want to save on fuel, ride a bike,
If you want to save on fuel, ride a bike,
Doesn’t matter who you are,
Get a bike and park your car,
If you want to save on fuel, ride a bike.

If you want to save on plastics, take a sack,
If you want to save on plastics, take a sack,
Make a cotton bag or more,
Take them with you to the store,
If you want to save on plastics, take a sack.

You can be a friend of nature, save the earth,
You can be a friend of nature, save the earth,
Take a walk and save your scraps,
Ride a bike and take a sack,
You can be a friend of nature, save the earth.

Notes from our June Meeting

2007-06-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

Community Room, Fire Hall
Brookfield, Nova Scotia
June 24, 2007

“If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed."
--Chinese Proverb

Gathering agenda:

Introduction
Guest Speaker: Mr. Mike Gale, Program Officer, Clean Nova Scotia
Interest Group information share:
1. Food/Gardening
2. Communications/Awareness
Announcements: Upcoming events and “What’s new” in reference materials.

Attendees: 18 people from Middle Stewiacke, Halifax, Shortt’s Lake, Brookfield, and Birch Hill.
Displays/handouts: The Climate Change display (four poster boards) was available for viewing, with the following new materials:

Brochures on Colchester County agriculture and the Ecology Action Centre.
Copies of “10 things to do” taken from nine organizations’ websites, including those of the World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club, and Ecology Action Centre.
Copies of the Canadian Living GoGreen Guide (permission to copy has been obtained.
Handouts from Clean Nova Scotia.
Contest: "Guess the Date of the Sobey’s Bag"
"Pet Peeve" and "Share What you Do" poster board.

Introduction

Brief background to our first meeting and how we got started and a reminder that our new website, http://www.greengatherings.org/, holds notes from Green Gatherings, nifty lists of things you can do, and starting in July, a “What’s New” section.

Guest speaker

Mr. Mike Gale, Program Officer, Clean Nova Scotia, reviewed this organization’s programs. Established in 1988, Clean Nova Scotia is a nonprofit, nongovernment environmental organization that emphasizes the importance of individual action to create environmental change. They work with Nova Scotians to help them understand the importance of environmental responsibility and to provide them with the means to make positive decisions about the environment.

Clean NS has activities, programs, and services in these areas: climate change/energy, solid waste, water, health and environment, and activities for children. Some examples of programs and information available:

Green Yards Sustainable Landscaping. This program of free on-site assessments is currently available only in HRM; however free advice is available outside HRM through the GreenLine at (902) 420-6593.
Drive Wiser Vehicle Fuel Efficiency is a province-wide program providing driving and maintenance tips for reducing fuel consumption and GHG emissions. Visit http://www.drivewiser.ca/. This program also travels across the province for major events or by request to help educate Nova Scotians about running cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Drive Wiser will be taking part in the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition, Bible Hill, on August 23rd.
Eco Energy Retrofit Program (with grant $ available!) is a rebate program in which an advisor makes home visits and tests/assesses for energy efficiency. The visit takes 2-3 hours and is followed by a report with recommendations. Renovations are made and the assessor returns, assesses changes, and writes report to government, whereupon an incentive (rebate) is mailed to the homeowner based on changes for energy efficiency. (Insulation and air sealing are two steps that often generate the biggest improvements.) In future, this program is expanding to cover small businesses. A company called Sustainable Housing Education conducts assessments in Colchester county. The toll-free number 1-877-722-2842.
The Climate Change Centre provides education and outreach on what people can do regarding energy savings. The current focuses of the CCC is faith groups, First Nations, youth, educators, and students. Water and space heating account for 84% of an average Nova Scotian Household’s energy use.
The Environmental Home Assessment Program is designed to assess water usage and safety regarding wells, septic systems, and oil tanks. This program is FREE. Two people signed up for this program during the evening.

Clean Nova Scotia may be reached at 126 Portland Street, Dartmouth; by phone, 1-800-665-LESS; by email: cns@clean.ns.ca; on the World Wide Web at http://www.clean.ns.ca/. They have a free quarterly online newsletter.

Interest Group Updates:

The Food & Gardening Interest Group gave a very informative talk on “eating local”, with references to our own Colchester County Agriculture brochure, Community Supported Agriculture, and the Ecology Action Centre’s new cookbook Eating by the Seasons (available for $10 + postage from EAC). The full text of this talk is available below.

The Communications/Awareness Interest Group shared the results of a chat with this group regarding Green Gatherings formats/venues/scheduling approaches. To generate interest, there is a “Guess the Date of the Sobey’s Bag” contest (draw date July 21), and folks are invited to share what they are doing today and to tell us their Pet Peeves about the environment. More great ideas for promotion are just awaiting eager folks to implement them! If you have an interest in helping on a small activity, please let her know. A handout with details is available below.

The Home/Recycling/Energy interest group will share its findings during our September Green Gathering.

An interest group on transportation/vehicles has not yet been formed. If anyone has an interest there, please let us know: greengatherings@gmail.com

Announcements/Upcoming Events

A decision was made to not hold Gatherings during the summer; however, our displays will be available for viewing on:

July 1 at the Train Station in Brookfield from 12 noon until 3 pm.
July 21 at the Fire Hall, Brookfield, from 1-5 pm during the Touch a Truck event and also from 6-8 pm during the Cabaret at the Sportsplex. If anyone would like to help out for an hour or so at either of these events, please let us know.

Mark the next Green Gathering on your calendar: Sunday, September 30, 2007, at the Middle Stewiacke Recreation Association, from 7-9 pm. The idea is to alternate between the Brookfield Fire Hall and the Middle Stewiacke Recreation Association to give more folks a chance to use less gas to attend. Please bring along a few friends, neighbours, and/or complete strangers--and remember to car pool!

Tell your friends about our new website at http://www.greengatherings.org/ .

Consider visiting the Sustainable Living Consumer Expo, September 7-9, Exhibition Park, Halifax. http://www.greenlogic.ca/ or 902-832-1176.

A Final Word to everyone

If you have any ideas, comments or would like to “take action” by helping out, please contact us.

We’ve had a very successful start to saving our home, Planet Earth. Please consider becoming ambassadors, spreading the word about how important it is for folks to become informed (see the film, read books, attend Green Gatherings) and Take Action!

Our Food, Our Environment, Our Community

2007-06-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

The following was presented by the Food & Gardening Interest Group at the June 24, 2007, Green Gatherings meeting in Brookfield.

Since 1961, the tonnage of food shipped between nations has grown by 400%. In the United States, food typically travels 1,500-2,500 miles before it arrives at someone’s table. This is 25% farther than the same food would have traveled in 1980.

This international movement of food is changing social, environmental, cultural, and economic conditions around the globe. It has a direct effect on the freshness, quality, and variety of the food we eat. It is also having an impact on global climate.

Is buying local all that counts? Most organizations support buying foods that are not just local but also produced by small farms in a sustainable way.

What is local? Some people say that a good definition of “local” is anything grown within 50 miles, others say 100 miles. Another definition is "within a day's leisurely drive of our homes.”

Why buy locally grown, sustainably grown foods from small farms?

Improve the quality and variety of the food you eat

Fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms taste good, are nutritious, and keep well.
When foods go directly from farm to table, they are less likely to be treated with products to keep them looking fresh and prevent spoiling.
Eating simple, unprocessed foods, especially fruits and vegetables, is healthier.
Eating local foods in season encourages us to vary our diet from season to season, helps us to appreciate foods when they become available, reminds us of our connection to nature.
Varieties of fruits and vegetables that can be grown by small farmers may taste better than the varieties that can be shipped long distances to supermarkets. Farmers who grow unusual varieties of foods are helping to protect the genetic diversity of our food supply.
Small farmers generally eat the foods they grow and give them to their families, so they have a personal reason to be concerned about the healthfulness of the food they produce.

Help the environment and protect workers

Small farmers typically try to be good stewards of their land.
Foods grown in North America are produced according to North American health and safety standards, with protections for workers that may not exist in other countries.
When farmers sell direct to the public, they generally use minimal packaging.
Small meat producers often pasture or “free range” their animals and allow them to eat a more natural diet. This is good for the animals and for the environment.

Help prevent global climate change

A study in Iowa found that increasing local foods consumed by just 10% could save hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel per year and reduce and carbon emissions by millions of pounds.
A British study found that farms avoiding both chemical pesticides and artificial fertilizers use 50% less energy than non-organic farms to produce the same amount of food.
When farmers invest in improved soil, they help to prevent climate change because rich, organic soils store more carbon than depleted soils do.

Build community

Get to know local farmers, local landscapes, local land-use issues.
Get to know neighbors at farmers’ market and through community-shared agriculture.
By eating local foods in season, create and preserve unique local traditions.

Support rural economies

The number of small Canadian farms declined more than 10% in 5 years from 2001-2006.
Farmers who sell through conventional means get an estimated 4-18 cents out of every dollar. When farmers sell direct , they keep an estimated 80-90 cents out of every dollar spent.
A British study found that money spent at a local food business was worth almost twice as much to the local community as the same money spent at a supermarket chain.

What can consumers do?
In February 2007, the Women’s Institutes of Nova Scotia issued a report on the importance of consuming local foods. The WI Buy Local Challenge asked participants to do the following:

Eat at least two meals per week that use mainly local ingredients.
Learn to enjoy at least one local ingredient that you’ve never tried before.
Talk to at least one food retailer and one food producer about local food choices.
Choose local food products whenever possible.

Some additional suggestions:

Consider joining a Community Shared Agriculture program.
Visit local farms and buy directly from them.
Visit farmers’ markets and buy from local farmers. Locally, we have farmers markets on Saturday mornings in Truro and Upper Stewiacke.
Consider growing your own fruits and vegetables, using sustainable methods.
Practice cooking and eating seasonal recipes.
If you don’t want to “eat local” in the winter, try to do so during the growing season.
Learn about issues in food production and ask questions about how your food is being produced.
Encourage restaurant owners to buy local foods.
Visit SeaChoice to learn how to choose sustainable seafood.

Resources

The Ecology Action Centre has published a cookbook featuring local foods, with recipes organized seasonally. Eating by the Seasons is $10 and can be ordered from the website: http://www.ecologyaction.ca/food_action/food_action.shtm
The EAC website also has a good downloadable brochure about local foods: http://www.ecologyaction.ca/food_action/efabw_intro.shtm
The Atlantic Canada Organic Regional Network (ACORN) maintains a database of organic growers and retailers: http://acornorganic.org/acorn/databaseregional.html

More organizations worth knowing about

100 Mile Diet movement, “Local eating for global change”: http://100milediet.org/home/
Canadian Organic Growers: http://www.cog.ca/
Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada division for Atlantic Canada: http://www.organicagcentre.ca/RegionsCanada/atlantic_welcome.asp
Slow Foods Nova Scotia: http://www.slowfoodns.ca/
Nova Scotia Organic Growers Association: http://www.nsoga.org/
Farmers’ Markets Cooperative in Nova Scotia: http://www.nsfarmersmarkets.ca/
Sustainable Table has lots of information and resources: http://www.sustainabletable.or/

Sources:

June Report From the Communications Interest Group

2007-06-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

The following report from the Communications Interest Group was presented at the June 24, 2007, Green Gatherings meeting in Brookfield.

Responsibilities of the Communications Interest Group include our Green Gatherings, notices of upcoming sessions to those interested, and preparation of display and reference materials.

Green Gatherings activities

Approach: Have fun!

Scheduling dates and venues (alternate between Stewiacke Valley/Brookfield)
Inviting guest speakers
Setting up display and reference materials before meetings
Obtaining reference materials as needed: free where possible, and small charge to cover photocopying as needed
Preparing and distributing advertising (posters, radio, newspaper, newsletters)
Email updates to attendees

Reference materials

Approach: Share what we learn from other sources, rather than “reinventing the wheel”; make available via the Internet and hard copy.

Displays of global warming, climate change, and “what you can do” materials
Use the World Wide Web to share information: http://www.greengatherings.org/ now contains notes from Green Gatherings, a What’s New section, and a How to Get Started section (includes related web-sites, and lists of “things to do”)
Hard copies of reference materials
Handouts from organizations

Awareness includes promoting awareness of global warming/climate change through showings of An Inconvenient Truth and display materials. It also includes developing an “image” for our Green Gatherings group.

Showings of An Inconvenient Truth

Plans are in process to show to the Stewiacke Valley area in the fall.

Global Warming/Climate Change Displays

On July 1, Canada Day, Green Gatherings will have a display at the Brookfield Train Station
"Guess the Date of the Sobey’s Bag" contest
"Pet Peeve" and "Please Share What You are Doing" lists
On July 21, during Brookfield Homecoming week, Green Gatherings will have a display at the Touch a Truck event.
There has been a Cabaret request from Stewiacke for fall, 2007.

Promoting awareness -- ideas, activities, image
Approaches:

Acknowledge accomplishments
Provide motivation
Obtain ideas from everyone ("Pet Peeve" and "Please Share" lists)

Ideas:

Go Green walk – pedal event

Paint/put our website on the side of an empty building
Have a business card/slogan/brochure
Invite business to share what they are doing to be green
Event to showcase song/poetry writing on Earth theme. Possible fundraiser?
Offer to help “green” community events
Have a “green” insert in a community calendar
Possible interest group for green book reviews
Merchandise ideas (useful items):
* Make cloth bags with "Green Gatherings" on them
* Make signs for cars: “slow down, save money, save the earth”
* Car sign: “stop idling, save money, save the earth”
* T-shirts: polar bears, earth?

Notes From Our May Meeting

2007-05-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

On May 27, 2007, Green Gatherings hosted a group of 23 like-minded folk interested in sharing experiences and learning more about how to reduce global warming. The purpose of the meeting, which was held at the Brookfield Fire Hall Community Room, was to share information, learn from others, and decide what to do next to help save our home, Planet Earth.

Attendees came from Middle and Upper Stewiacke, Brookfield, Fort Ellis, Windsor, and Truro. We consider this a good turnout for our first gathering but encourage those attending to try to bring along friends, family, neighbours, strays from the street, etc. We especially invite anyone with interests in any of the areas below to join us to share their ideas and experiences.

Those attending the meeting were able to view a Climate Change display (four poster boards) with:

new media clippings
a new series of self-help booklets from the Earth Day EcoAction Teams
new lists of “things to do” taken from the Websites of nine organizations

Signup sheets were available to order copies of the “ten things to do” lists and the Canadian Living GoGreenGuide (permission to copy has been obtained). In addition, attendees were able to drop off used rechargeable batteries and old cell phones for recycling.

The meeting began with background on how this Green Gathering is a follow-on to a screening of An Inconvenient Truth: A Global Warning, which was attended by 42 people in April, 2007, at Knox United Church in Brookfield.

This was followed by a presentation from representatives of the Living Earth Council, now operating for six months in Truro. Among the points made by the speakers were the following:

Their group is organized from the ground up rather from the top down.
They are aware that a creating/maintaining sustainable community is very much in keeping with trying to save the planet.
They consider it important to look for allies in the community.
They encouraged networking with others who are already taking actions (avoids duplication of effort and provides a source of information).
A key objective of their group is to have fun, not get burned out; meetings are attended by the whole family, including children, with pot-luck dinners that make it fun and allow for informal conversations.
They want to engage the business community and have an awareness of economic issues.
They want to engage local government. They began this process by hosting a showing the film An Inconvenient Truth: A Global Warning for the Town Council. They are hoping to involve Truro in Partners for Climate Protection, a program to assist municipal governments in climate protection. More than 100 municipal governments, representing approximately 50% of Canada’s population, are participating in PCP.
They encourage members of their group to focus on their areas of interest.
The group is now conducting a residential electricity challenge and is developing a community garden.

The LEC representatives were followed by a representative from the Ecology Action Centre, who discussed that organization's Food Action program, which encourages people to purchase locally grown foods (or grow their own) and encourage local supermarkets to do the same. She encouraged us to “vote with your dollars” when buying food, asking retailers to supply not just local food, but Nova Scotian food. EAC has a cookbook, Eating by the Seasons, available for purchase and sponsors an annual Harvest Festival to promote local food producers.

Those attending the meeting had many useful items of information to share. These included:

Our area now has Community Supported Agriculture program to supply families with locally grown (Brentwood) vegetables (almost totally organic). Families joining the program receive a share of vegetables grown throughout the season. There are still a few memberships left in this program; if you're interested, please email us and we will provide additional information.
The Nova Scotia Government will be implementing. in February 2008, a plan to recycle computers.
Brookfield MacQuarries accepts used household batteries and cell phones for recycling. These items are then taken to the Hazardous Waste folks by volunteers.
The book The Circle of Simplicity was recommended.
The DVD of An Inconvenient Truth is available at the Library in Truro.

Small groups have formed to further discuss ideas related to:

Food/Gardening
Home/Recycling/Electrical usage
Communications/Awareness/Publicity
Liaison with Living Earth Council

In addition, a member of the group offered to provide technical assistance to the communications and publicity group and enthusiastically created our own Website just one day following the meeting; now that’s action! Please visit http://www.greengatherings.org/ and bring your comments on Website content and management to the next Green Gathering. Please note that a decision was made to not include individuals’ names on the Website, for privacy reasons.

Some points to consider for the future:

We would like to find persons interested in the issue of transportation/vehicle usage.
Needs of seniors and youth deserve special consideration.
A visit to the Ecology Action Centre might be in order.
Consider engaging local municipalities in Partners for Climate Protection.

Another Green Gathering is now scheduled for Sunday June 24 at the Brookfield Fire Hall, 7-9 pm. Many thanks to the Brookfield Fire Department for allowing us to once again use the Fire Hall’s community room at no charge. The agenda will include a sharing of information from the discussion groups that have formed, and possibly presentations from some families who can share their experiences.

A Final Word

If there is anything missed that will not be covered by one of the discussion groups, please bring that idea or comment back to the next meeting.

We’ve had a very successful start to saving our home, Planet Earth. Please consider becoming ambassadors, spreading the message. See the film, read books, attend meetings, and to start to Take Action!

Become Informed: Earth's Climate Crisis and What You Can Do

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The following is a resource guide for learning about global warming and ways to take personal action to prevent climate change.

Updated June 28, 2007.

Note: While every effort has been made to quote reputable Web sites, be aware that the list below has been compiled by volunteers; readers are invited to use their own judgement in evaluating materials. This is not intended to be a complete list.

Foreword

By now (Spring, 2007) and especially with the most recent three reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), most of us realize that Global Warming is real, is here now, and that unless we all take action, earth will not be the same for our grandchildren. In all the history of mankind there has never been such a need for people to take action individually and collectively, without waiting for government to “fix the problem”. Please, take this seriously, so that the world’s oceans will not rise, severe weather events will diminish, and polar bears will not go extinct. It all starts with you.

We suggest that you begin by talking to your family, friends, and neighbours about seeing the documentary film An Inconvenient Truth, A Global Warning and that you encourage them to start in on the Ten Things To Do.

To help convince others, here’s some material from the film’s Website (footnotes are explained in detail on the Website): “By burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil and clearing forests we have dramatically increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere and temperatures are rising. The vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is real, it’s already happening and that it is the result of our activities and not a natural occurrence.1 The evidence is overwhelming and undeniable. We’re already seeing changes. Glaciers are melting, plants and animals are being forced from their habitat, and the number of severe storms and droughts is increasing:

The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years.2

Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level.3

The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade.4

At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles.5

If the warming continues, we can expect catastrophic consequences.

Deaths from global warming will double in just 25 years -- to 300,000 people a year.6

Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf ice in Greenland and Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide.7

Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense.

Droughts and wildfires will occur more often.

The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050.8

More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050.9

There is no doubt we can solve this problem. In fact, we have a moral obligation to do so. Small changes to your daily routine can add up to big differences in helping to stop global warming. The time to come together to solve this problem is now – TAKE ACTION."

In order to arrange for others to see the documentary:

Buy your own copy (available from Amazon.ca and other sources) or borrow it from the Library. Share with friends/family/neighbours at home; have discussions on what impact the film has.

Visit the Website for the film An Inconvenient Truth: a Global Warning: http://www.climatecrisis.net

Visit the Climate Project at http://www.climateproject.ca/ to learn how to request a showing for your community.

To learn more about this issue

The Green Search at http://www.thegreensearch.ca/ is a specialized search engine that searches Canadian environment-related Web sites. Your search yields "green" results from across Canada and around the world. Use it as a research tool, or keep up to date on the latest news, events, and trends happening in our environment.

Websites about the science of global warming:

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to assess the scientific, technical, and socioeconomic information relevant for the understanding of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts, and options for mitigation and adaptation.Visit the IPCC Website at http://www.ipcc.ch/ to monitor ongoing reports.
Climatechange.net at http://www.climatechange.net/ provides an explanation of climate change--the science, impacts, and policy--from a professor at Stanford University and includes links to climate-change news sites.

In addition, The Climate Project, at http://www.theclimateproject.org carries on the work of An Inconvenient Truth with training sessions and additional resources. Topics covered include:

Consuming Less, Conserving More
Driving Smarter
Choosing Energy-Efficient Lighting

Some related Canadian Websites:

The Green Pages, http://www.thegreenpages.ca/, is Canada’s environmental information portal, with news, events, and links.
Friends of the Earth (FOE) Canada, http://www.foecanada.org/, is a nonprofit environmental organization.
Environment Canada (select Climate Change from the navigation panel), http://www.ec.gc.ca/. For tips on Lowering Canada’s Vehicle Emissions, see issue 54 of the EnviroZine: http://www.ec.gc.ca/EnviroZine/english/issues/54/feature2_e.cfm
Earth Day Canada, http://www.earthday.ca: a great list of links, plus EcoAction teams (see below).
The CBC News Website's section on climate change, http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/climatechange/index.html, includes video clips shown on The National during the week of April 2.
The David Suzuki Foundation, http://www.davidsuzuki.org: Take the nature challenge to fight global warming and sign up for great e-newsletters and access to ready-made lists of “what you can do”.
City of Toronto Website on how to reduce your ecological footprint:
http://www.toronto.ca/eia/footprint/reduction_tips.htm
Office of Energy Efficiency of Natural Resources Canada: http://www.energystar.gc.ca/
EcoLogoM, http://www.environmentalchoice.com/, is a Government of Canada environmental certification mark. By certifying the environmental leaders in over 300 categories of products, EcoLogo helps buyers find sustainable products. A carbon credit organization, http://www.greenmyflight.com/ is EcoLogo certified.
The Green Energy Challenge, http://www.greenenergychallenge.org/, is a Canadian nonprofit organization. The Website has list of things to do in the Energy Challenge (even if you don’t complete it) and rewards program for energy-related products.
Environment Canada’s EnviroZine, http://www.ec.gc.ca/envirozine/english/home_e.cfm, is a free monthly e-newsletter. While visiting this site, browse articles on Air, Climate Change, Environmental Action, Nature/Wildlife, Pollution, Science and Technology, Water, Weather, and more.
The Government of Canada's Know Your Watershed site, http://map.ns.ec.gc.ca/kyw/Default.aspx?lang=en-ca, has information about the watershed in your area. (Brookfield’s is the Shubenacadie.)
Green Street, http://www.green-street.ca/home/index_e.html, is a national program that supports environmental and sustainability educatio programs for teachers and students across Canada. It has its own newsletter for youth.
The Youth Action Centre, part of the Green Street's National Youth Engagement Program (YEP), is at http://www.youthactioncentre.ca/English/index.htm

Websites at the provincial level:

Environment Canada Atlantic Region Green Lane: http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/index_e.html
Conserve Nova Scotia: http://www.itstartswithme.ca/. Includes information on government rebates and programs, Energy Star and EnerGuide, reducing energy, and more.
Ecology Action Centre: http://www.ecologyaction.ca . Nova Scotia nonprofit organization addresses coastal, marine, energy, food, transportation, built environment, and wilderness issues. Has online e-newsletter.
Clean Nova Scotia: http://www.clean.ns.ca Nova Scotia nonprofit organization. Website contains sections on climate change/energy (Home Energy Evaluations, DriveWiser Vehicle Fuel Efficiency), solid waste, water, and health & environment.
Nova Scotia Power: http://www.nspower.ca/Energy efficiency tips.

At the international level: http://www.treehugger.com/ Includes “how to go green guides” on topics such as car, water, electricity, and many more topics.

Suggested books:

The End of Nature by Bill Mckibben
The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery
The North Pole Was Here by Andrew Revkin (on global warming for kids)
Stormy Weather: 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change by Dauncey and Mazza
Hell and High Water by Joseph Romm
The Rough Guide to Climate Change by Robert Henson, Rough Guides
Wild Weather by Dr. Reese Halter, Altitude
The Ten Minute Activist: Easy ways to take back the planet by Lloyd Dangle, Nation Books
The Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good Life by Cecile Andrews

Suggested magazines:

Between the Issues, published by the Ecology Action Centre.
Alternatives Journal, the official publication of the Environmental Studies Association of Canada. See also http://www.alternataivesjournal.ca/
The Green Guide from National Geographic magazine is a bimonthly newsletter available by subscriptio either online or in print. See http://www.thegreenguide.com/issue.mhtml. The Website also has a free weekly e-newsletter.

Suggested DVD: The acclaimed BBC series Planet Earth, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, in 11 episodes of 50 minute each. Available from Amazon.ca

Your ecological footprint is the biologically productive area required to produce the natural resources you consume expressed in global acres -- that is, an acre of biologically productive space of average productivity. (Source: The Sierra Club)

Calculate your ecological footprint:

From Canadian Living Magazine: http://www.canadianliving.com/

Select: Health/Green Challenge/Quiz: What is Your Ecological Footprint to take an easy quiz, and link to resources on many topics from fighting smog to earth-friendly living to cutting energy consumption to environmentally friendly cleaning products and really, much more. See April, 2007, issue for 10-page “Go Green Guide”.

From the Sierra Club (with link to EarthDay): http://www.sierraclub.org/footprint/

Good quiz provides your footprint in hectares, with a comparison to country average (8.8 for Canada) and the number of “earths” required to support us all if we all lived the way you do! Lots of great references. (Note: the actual footprint quiz is at the Earth Day site, http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.asp)

Calculate your greenhouse gas emissions: www.climatechange.gc.ca/calculator

This Government of Canada site takes about 10 minutes to complete. By asking about your daily activities, it generates a personalized report of your greenhouse gas emissions, where they come from, and how you compare with other Canadians. Based on your results, the calculator suggests key areas for reducing your emissions and shows you how much of an impact those changes will have.

Calculate your carbon footprint: http://www.bp.com/carboncalculator.do?categoryId=9008641&contentId=7025802

This quiz from BP expresses the footprint in tons of carbon with country averages. A household carbon footprint is the quantity of CO2 emitted to the atmosphere as a result of household energy use, transportation, and waste disposal in one year.

Carbon offsetting:

Carbon offsetting is one of the solutions increasingly being offered to people and businesses who want to reduce their impact on global climate. The concept is simple. Using online calculators, you can determine how much carbon dioxide was emitted by the business flight you took last week or your daily drive to work. You will then be given the option of investing in a reforestation project or an alternative energy initiative that will offset or "cancel out" the carbon dioxide you emitted.

Zerofootprint, http://www.zerofootprint.net, has an online calculator that allows you to figure out how much CO2 you have emitted. You can then go to Zerofootprint Offsets to find ways to offset your CO2 emissions.
GreenMyFlight, http://www.greenmyflight.com, is an EcologoM-certified company offering offsets for air travel.
Planting trees is an excellent way to offset carbon emissions. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has launched the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign, www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign/index.asp, in which people, communities, business and industry, civil society organizations, and governments are encouraged to enter tree planting pledges online with the objective of planting at least one billion trees worldwide during 2007.

For information about how food choices affect the environment:

SeaChoice to learn how to choose sustainable seafood: http://www.seachoice.org/
100 Mile Diet to learn about the value of eating locally produced food: http://www.100milediet.org

Keep stuff out of the landfill:

The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) provides information on where to return used rechargeable batteries at http://www.rbrc.org/call2recycle/. As of May, 2007, the site listed the following local resources:

Colchester Material Recovery Facility, 185 Mingo Road, Unit 2, Truro
The Source by Circuit City, in Truro Mall, Truro.

Canadian Tire in Truro also accepts used rechargeable batteries.

Help to protect nature and wildlife:

Canadian Wildlife Federation: http://www.cwf-fcf.org/
Conservancy Canada: http://www.fightforcanada.ca/

Learn about consumer goods:

Climate counts for a list of companies that have been rated according to their attitude toward climate change: http://www.climatecounts.org/scorecard.php.
Greenpeace for a shopper's guide to paper products ranked according to companies' attitude toward products that are ancient- and endangered-forest friendly, have a high post-consumer recycled content, and are chlorine free: www.greenpeace.ca/tissue The guide uses green, yellow and red to indicate level of commitment.

Learn about energy efficiency:

Clean Nova Scotia for A Guide to Energy Efficiency for Religious Buildings in Nova Scotia: http://www.clean.ns.ca/

Learn about transportation choices:

Canada Revenue Agency for information on a tax credit for taking public transit (the transit pass tax credit): http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/ Background: On July 1, 2006, the Government of Canada began its program to offer individual Canadians a nonrefundable tax credit to help cover the cost of monthly or longer duration public transit passes. Because it is a nonrefundable tax credit, anyone who applies does not receive the money in the form of a refund. Instead, the amount claimed is multiplied by the lowest personal income tax rate for the year (15.25% in 2006) and then is deducted from the amount of tax owed for that year.

Learn about advocacy:

The Sierra Club for an online petition you can use to tell Prime Minister Harper to meet Canada’s Kyoto targets. You can help ensure Canada meets its targets by signing this petition today: http://www.sierraclubaction.ca/main.html

Learn about what other groups are doing:

Like Leaf Rapids, Manitoba, learn how to start your own BringYourBag campaign, at http://bringyourbag.com/
Visit http://www.zerofootprint.net/ to see how Toronto has pledged to involve first its employees and then its citizens in order to reduce their footprint to zero. “By joining forces, cities can have as much impact on the environment as an entire country.” Other cities are invited to do the same; write to cities@zerofootprint.net.
Find out about EcoAction Teams from Earth Day Canada:
http://www.ecoactionteams.ca/ Calculations are currently geared to Ontario, but five online guides (http://www.ecoactionteams.ca/resources/resources.cfm) have good information for both personal and community actions. Activity areas include becoming more energy efficient, reducing household waste, practising sustainable food and gardening habits, reducing water use, choosing transportation alternatives. They are reviewing the possibility of rolling the program out to all of Canada.
For faith communities: http://www.faith-commongood.net/gss/index.asp. Greening Sacred Spaces was developed to assist faith communities "to renew the sacred balance". A resource kit (workshops, posters, personal 8 page Energy Action Planners) help faith groups reduce greenhouse gases and to live sustainably.

Congratulations on starting your journey to help save our home, Planet Earth. Enjoy your journey, have fun along the way, and chat a lot with your fellow inhabitants.

These materials were originally prepared as a handout for the April 22, 2007 viewing of An Inconvenient Truth – A Global Warning in Brookfield, NS. Revised as a resource to Green Gatherings. Most recent revision, May 30, 2007.

Decide to Take Action: The Pledge

2007-05-30T04:14:00.000-07:00

We recommend filling out the following pledge and posting it in a prominent spot where you can see it Every Single Day for the Rest of Your Life. Unfortunately, we are not currently able to post this to our Website in a printable form. Please email us for a version that you can print out on your computer.

Green Gatherings Pledge

My carbon footprint (CO2 emission) is _______tons as of ____________

My PERSONAL PLEDGE to the planet’s grandchildren’s children to do my bit to help save our home, PLANET EARTH:

I pledge to do the following three things this week:

1. Make up my own list of Things To Do and what I alm already doing.

2. _____________________________________________________

3. _____________________________________________________

I pledge to do the following three things this month:

1. Make a list of my friends and family and start to convince them to see An Inconvenient Truth and to pledge to do The Ten Things.

2. _____________________________________________________

3. _____________________________________________________

I pledge to do the following three things this year:

1. Review my personal progress annually.

2. _____________________________________________________

3. _____________________________________________________

Signature: _______________________________________________

Date: ___________________________________________________

Quickstart Action Plan: Ten Things To Do

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Want to do something to help stop global warming?

Here are 10 simple things you can do and how much carbon dioxide you’ll save doing them:

Change a light: Replacing one regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent light will save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.
Drive less: Walk, bike, carpool, or take metro transit more often. You’ll save one pound of carbon dioxide for every mile you don’t drive!
Recycle more: You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide per year by recycling just half of your household waste.
Check your tires: Keeping your tires inflated properly can improve gas mileage by more than 3%. Every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere!
Use less hot water: It takes a lot of energy to heat water. Use less hot water by installing a low-flow showerhead (350 pounds of CO2 saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year).
Avoid products with a lot of packaging: You can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide if you cut down your garbage by 10%.
Adjust your thermostat: Moving your thermostat down just 2 degrees in winter and up 2 degrees in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.
Plant a tree: A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.
Turn off electronic devices: Simply turning off your television, DVD player, stereo, and computer when you’re not using them will save thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide per year.
Be a part of the solution: Learn more and get active at ClimateCrisis.net

Taken from the cover of the DVD of An Inconvenient Truth: A GLOBAL Warning (2006)

Create Your Own Personal Action Plan

2007-05-30T03:53:00.000-07:00

Print out the following lists of “things to do” and highlight all the actions you are already taking. Then choose which actions you want to take in future. Keep this list on the fridge or in some other conspicuous place so it becomes part of your new lifestyle. Make global warming reduction part of the new you!

The Ten Things from the film An Inconvenient Truth
From the World Wildlife Fund: http://www.panda.org/how_you_can_help/at_home/
From JustGive.org: http://www.justgive.org/html/guide/50waysenvironment.html.
The David Suzuki Foundation: http://www.davidsuzuki.org
Canadian Living Magazine's April 2007 Green Challenge 2007 list: http://www.canadianliving.com/upload/CanadianLiving/generateur/GreenChallenge.gif
From the Sierra Club: http://www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/tenthings/#top (References are to the United States but are equally applicable to Canada – global warming knows no boundaries!)
From Nova Scotia's Ecology Action Centre: http://www.ecologyaction.ca/climatechange/
From EcoAction Teams, Earth Day Canada:
http://www.ecoactionteams.ca/ See the online guides at http://www.ecoactionteams.ca/resources/resources.cfm).
A new guide called Greening Your Community is available Teehugger.com: http://www.treehugger.com/.