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I thought I saw an old friend on the weekend, but now I’m not sure I ever knew her at all.
After years of seeing orange lady bugs (I think I’m supposed to call them Lady Beetles), which I learned were an Asian species, I was out in the garden watering plants when I saw a bright red, black-spotted lady bug. I froze, afraid of shooing it away. I think it’s been about 10 years since I’ve seen on of these, and it was like seeing a friend I didn’t know I’d lost.

I looked up ladybugs online, hoping to learn what had happened to my red-shelled friend. But to my surprise, I learned that the iconic beetle is the seven-spotted lady beetle, a species introduced from Europe in the 1970s to control aphids. That childhood friend was not a native insect, not a part of the landscape as I had thought! For a picture of the lady beetle native to Ontario, the pink-coloured Spotted Lady Beetle, click to see the explanation from the University of Guelph.

Apparently all forms of lady beetles are helpful in controlling aphids, and also feed on dandelion pollen. They do not munch garden plants.

Are there insects you like to have in your garden? Are there others you’re trying to control?

The documentary, Waterlife, is a powerful argument for taking a stand on the health of the Great Lakes. The film is screening in various parts of the country. Via the documentary website, you can also request a screening of your own.

 

I’ve long been a fan of Bodum’s double-walled glassware. Foregoing ceramic mugs, my partner and I have a cupboard crammed with elegant double-walled glasses in a few shapes and sizes. Why? They keep things hot, they keep things cold, they don’t require coasters as there’s no condensation. And they look nice. I would also say that glass is an environmentally friendly material, being recyclable and free of hazardous chemicals.

Recently a friend sent me a fab gift: this double-walled glass bottle made by Anchor. It’s just what I’ve been looking for, like my Bodum glasses, but for on the go! Large enough for a big latté and versatile enough to carry any kind of hot or cold beverage, the lid has a silicone closure. I’m not sure what kind of plastic the rest of the top is made with, but it feels like (BPA-free) polypropylene. I’ll write to Anchor and see if I can find out for sure. The website says that most of their products are still made in the US, in Columbus, Ohio.

I’ve noticed that many coffee shops have in-store ads suggesting that their patrons bring their own drinkware. Even Starbucks, maker of the iconic white cup, has posters in their stores, though they report that only 1.3 per cent of their customers bring their own mugs. So that’s the trick. We have some great options for coffee on the go, we just have to remember to bring our mugs, jugs, bottles and cups. You know, in our reuseable bags!

Yesterday I came across some research showing the links between parental environmental stewardship and the likihood that children will become environmentally minded. The research paper concluded that, “Children developed interest in nature when they had access to a safe environment and were encouraged to explore that environment by role models who demonstrated environmental stewardship.” My guess is that goes for respect for the environment in terms of daily habits as well.

One of my best friends has a baby nearing seven months, and she’s made a terrific commitment to her baby’s health, and the environment, by doing things like making her own baby food, using glass containers for everything, and using cloth diapers (cute, fancy ones from Fuzzi Bunz). When she’s away from home for a while, my friend switches to biodegradeable disposable diapers (so doesn’t have to carry dirty diapers around for ages). She likes the Seventh Generation diapers, as well as the PC GREEN diapers.

No doubt this little babe will be along for the ride on cycling, hiking and market shopping excursions, and she will learn much about the value of our earth and its natural wonders.  Of which she is one. 

Do you have a favourite childhood memory of being outdoors? Do you have suggestions for new parents about how to help kids enjoy the natural world?

Nothing says summer vacation like lolling about reading a good book. Because I work at Homemakers magazine, and I try to be involved in the magazine industry in general, I usually spend my transit rides and my late hours devouring one magazine or another (and yes, they’re mainly Canadian magazines – we have so many terrific ones).

While on vacation last week, I read through the four or five magazines I’d brought, but the bad weather had me looking for more reading material. Then I remembered that I’d brought a book my mom lent me ages ago – “The Holding” by Merilyn Simonds (McLelland & Stewart, 2005). Not only is the book a beautiful work of fiction about pioneer living and back-to-the-land living, I thought Simonds really hit some ecological notes. In poetic detail, she describes trees, wildflowers and medicinal plants native to the Madawaska area (near Ottawa). Her careful descriptions, told within the context of a greater story, really make we want to be able to identify forest flora and, hopefully, bring some of this richness to the shady corners of my garden.

Mom, I can finally give you the book back! As soon as I’ve traced through it for the names of some of those plants.

Have you read any great fiction lately? Has a work of fiction inspired you to try something, or helped you learn about something?

We call solar and wind energy renewable energy, and sometimes clean energy. I’ve been out sailing for the past week, and it’s become clear to me that clean energy is a good name for it, and I’d go for considerate energy too.

While out moored in the beautiful Thousand Islands, I noted that boats of a size meant for sleeping in are equipped in one of two ways. They either have a mix of solar panels, high-efficiency solar lights, small wind generators and coolers with ice and dinghies with oars OR they have dinghies with outboard motors and they charge their batteries that power the lights, the fridge (and sometimes the stereo system) by running the boat’s engine. Some even have an extra generator on board for even more power. A few people have a mix of these accoutrements, but most seem to be of one school of thought or another.

Let me tell you, nothing shatters the peace of early morning in a beautifully natural island bay like someone’s outboard-powered dingy trip so rover can do his business on the island. Followed closely by the guttural sounds of a diesel engine kicking in, ready to power the coffee maker.       

I just hope that the next generation of boats are made with considerate power in mind. After all, hulls with built–in solar arrays would look neat, LED lighting is plenty bright for the cabin, and then there’s the freedom from the gas dock. For now, we outfit our boats ourselves. My partner has a relatively small but well-made solar panel that provides enough energy to power our phones and recharge our solar light. (We love the Sunnan lamp from IKEA – you take out the solar panel and leave it outdoors. At night its flexible arm provided all the light we needed inside the boat.) At night, conventional solar lights meant for the yard serve as mooring lights, emitting a soft glow from mid-mast and at the stern to ensure we’re visible – without blotting out the stars.

Have you seen clean energy replace an old way of powering things?

At my post at Homemakers magazine, I’ve had the opportunity to work with writers on stories about women in developing countries who are improving quality of life for themselves and others. As a Canadian with little trouble accessing fresh water, it astounds me that, in many countries around the world, people spend hours a day collecting small quantities of water, and not necessarily safe water either. (For a convincing argument for improving access to potable water, read up on guinea worm.)

As the world becomes increasingly thirsty for fresh water, I hope that we can work for better standards for dealing with fresh water here in Canada. When I get a chance to visit friends and family in the Thousand Islands, I spend as much time around, on and in the water as possible. Lately I’ve realized that the water isn’t just a scenic pool for boats and swimming, it’s a living ecosystem that’s full of life. Kept in balance, the water is a healthy provider. Swung out of balance, the water can’t support the things it should, and we could lose a wonderful oasis and an important resource. Right now we have a growing issue with algae growth in the Great Lakes, as I noted earlier, and we also have many invasive species competing with native species. The latest threat is the quagga mussel, which looks similar to the zebra mussel but it’s a little smaller. Native to the Caspian Sea, the quagga mussel has no competition in the Great Lakes – it actually wipes out zebra mussels. The quagga mussel consumes phytoplankton, the basis of the food chain for native fish, leaving very little food for anything else, but producing a lot of waste material. The waste then blankets river and lake bottoms, and supports algae growth. In one study of Lake MIchigan, areas without quagga mussels were about 75 per cent of the biomass; in areas with the mussel, phytoplankton made up just five per cent of the biomass.
What can we do about invasive species? In big picture terms, we can ask our elected representatives to make it a requirement for ships to dump all of their ballast water before entering fresh water systems. Individually, we can be careful not to move invaders from one lake or river to another. That means thoroughly cleaning off boats before moving them to another river system, not dumping even small amounts of ballast water into a secondary lake, and not moving live fishing bait from one lake to another. Even if you don’t spot any mussels on your boat, you never know if there are quagga mussel eggs attached.

Have you come face to face with any invasive species?

I confess, I’ve had fruit flies in my kitchen lately. In spite of being clean and fruit-free, I’m still finding these little guys floating around the kitchen, sometimes even the bathroom. But apparently, I’m not alone. According to this article in the Toronto Star, fruit flies have taken over Toronto thanks to the garbage strike. Apparently the brimming green bins and seeping garbage bags were a good source of food and great place to lay eggs. The good news is these little guys only live for about 10 days. The bad news is one fruit fly can lay 500 eggs.

Here’s a video showing one way to make a fruit fly trap. I built another style of trap that worked fairly well. I put about a quarter cup of cassis into a small glass bottle with a narrow mouth (a beer bottle would work) and then twirled some aluminum foil around my pinkie so it had a large mouth on one side but a small opening on the other. I shoved the foil cone into the bottle and used a narrow rod (a BBQ skewer) to press the foil out to the sides of the bottle. Voila. The next day, I had a lot of floating dead flies. Gross. I hope they enjoyed that cassis!

I think there are many ways to design a fruit fly trap. Do you have another way? Have you found a particular bait effective?

I often come across cute little symbols on products making green claims. The symbols show a happy planet, or a happy cartoon animal, but they don’t actually seem to signify a program or standard of care for the environment.

The website ecolabelling.org currently lists 299 eco labels from all kinds of standards, from coffee to textiles to fishing practices. The site does not offer an analysis of each program / certification, it just describes what it’s meant to do and offers links for more information. But it’s a good site to consult, particularly if you have a mobile phone with web access so you can use the site to make choices before you buy.

Because sometimes a cartoon of a cute polar bear is just a cartoon of a cute polar bear.

Do you get confused by eco symbols?

Gazing up at the maze of plumbing between our floor joists, a plumber we invited in to consult on our water system recommended that when replacing copper and galvanized steel pipes, we should use PEX, the flexible plastic tubing now common in plumbing installations. He noted that it was more affordable because it was so much faster and easier for him to install. But then he volunteered that he wouldn’t have it in his home, since his wife was pregnant.

We’ve learned a lot about creating a safe water supply, and I think we shouldn’t be too quick to forget the lessons that lead pipes have taught us. Why go from a bad known to a convenient unknown? The plastic PEX and PVC pipes might be safe, but we’ve learned a lot about small amounts of material leaching from plastic when it’s heated — and our hot-water heaters send hot water to our taps at a fairly hot temperature. Copper pipes have been in use for about 50 years, and though they’re a little harder to install, they are very durable and safe, from a health point of view. I’ve read that a lot of copper tubing and fittings are made with recycled copper. Since it’s a valuable material, it’s worth reclaiming.

My partner tackled a plumbing project last weekend — I was the wrecking crew, pulling away old ceiling material and insulation so that he could easily access the plumbing at hand. (Do not underestimate the value of a shop vacuum as a “green cleaning” tool for sucking up material you don’t want to touch!) Shown above is the nasty, dripping steel pipe we replaced; in its place is a neat network of copper pipes, complete with a couple of shut-off valves so we can easily stop the flow of water to various parts of the house. Sure, plastic might have taken less time, but hey, we’re worth the extra trouble.

Are you tackling any DIY projects around your home? Are you trying to pick healthy / green choices?