Columnists

Stop putting nasty chemicals down the drain. That was the message I got loud and clear while listening to a water treatment expert from the City of Toronto, who was speaking at a conference I attended last June. I went over my cleaning arsenal in my mind. Vinegar? OK. EcoLogo certified glass cleaner? Check. Dye-free, scent-free, phosphate-free, biodegradable detergent? Yes. Toilet bowl cleaner? Gasp! Yes, that drain matters too. And I was using something nasty to clean my bowl because, well, that’s what I’d always used.

I just finished testing several types of ecologically better toilet bowl cleaners (some general purpose cleaners that work well on toilets). That will appear in the December/January issue of Homemakers magazine. But I wanted to share this interesting interview with an expert from Nature Clean, a Canadian company that makes all its products here, gets them EcoLogo certified (the ultimate endorsement) and that seems to actually give a d*mn about the environment. Here’s that interview.

Jess: Is the goal of a toilet bowl cleaner to kill bacteria / other life or, like using a dish soap, are we really just trying to dislodge material so it can be suspended in water and washed away?

Nature Clean: The goal of our toilet bowl cleaner is to clean the toilet – meaning dislodge material so it can be suspended in water and washed away. If you’re cleaning your toilet regularly, there really shouldn’t be any need to disinfect it. However it is a good idea to disinfect the seat and bowl every so often as you see fit. We recommend our disinfectant spray (100% natural ingredients). You just spray the surface, let sit for a few minutes and then rinse clean.

Jess: Why do you have a dedicated toilet bowl cleaner while others are offering a general purpose bathroom product?

NC: Our product is specially formulated to clean toilets. The liquid is more viscous so that it clings to the bowl – the product can then soak into stains and work better to clean the toilet.

Jess: Why should we concerned about what cleaning products we flush?

NC: Yes we should be concerned with the products we flush into our waterways. Not just the toilet, but also sinks, tubs, any drain! There are many chemicals used in traditional cleaners which are not necessarily earth friendly. Take a look at phosphates and the destruction they had on our lakes! Now most companies have limited or removed phosphates from laundry and dish products, but what about household cleaners? EDTA (Ethylene Diamine Tetra Acetic Acid) is another widely used ingredient that doesn’t biodegrade! It accumulates in our waterways, lakes and rivers after it’s flushed down the drain. It can remobilize heavy metals such as zinc, nickel, mercury, copper in our waterways. This sediment can eventually end up in our food chain!

So that’s it, folks. Consider the toilet bowl cleaner you’re using, and look for a better choice next time you’re shopping. If you have questions about this or other green living products, please ask me about them by posting a comment.

Have you changed to a more eco-friendly product because of environmental or health concerns?

Courtesy Ontario Parks

In late July, a community showed with hard work and with their pocketbooks that they care about their environment – by preserving a piece of it. Neighbours, volunteers, local and national environmental groups and politicians alike got involved, on July 16th they announced that they’d made it happen. The Thousand Islands Watershed Land Trust (TIWLT), Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), The Government of Canada and The Province of Ontario announced the addition of 605 acres of ecologically significant land along Red Horse Lake to Charleston Lake Provincial Park (click here for map), an absolutely lovely area in Eastern Ontario.

According to NCC, “The property boasts a wide diversity of habitats including shorelines, wetlands, rock ridges, and forests, and includes approximately seven km of shoreline on Red Horse Lake and two km of shoreline on Little Long Lake.” What I can tell you is that it’s beautiful. I got the inside scoop on how the people who live in and love this area made this long-term land preservation happen. That’s because my mom, Marnie Ross, is Secretary of TIWLT.

How did this opportunity to protect land in Charleston Lake come to you?
We have worked with other conservation groups in the area in the past, so when interest to preserve the parcel of land was expressed by landowner George Sheffield, we believed it was a project we had to support. Mr. Sheffield volunteers for the County Leeds Stewardship Council, so the idea originally came through that group.

What’s so important about this land? Why were the owners, and TIWLT, keen to protect it?
Red Horse Lake is one of the few unspoiled trout lakes in southern Canada. It is important to maintain high water quality and protect the species of plants and animals in the woods around it. The Sheffields’ father wanted protection to be his legacy and expressed that desire to his four children. They were acting on their father’s wishes. In the deal, they also get to keep their cottages, which are on the property.

Did the project looking daunting at the outset? What needed to be achieved?
At first, a grand idea always seems doable to me.  After the initial euphoria of “doing something good” we came down to earth and realized we were never going to get there unless we dug deep… and acted fast. It was August [2010] and many of the “summer people” would be leaving. They are the people who care most about the area, and they needed to have the opportunity to contribute. That’s when the articles in the newspapers helped a lot [in creating awareness of the project]. Each group approached people who could afford a sizable donation and were influential in the area. This is always difficult but we went from there to going door to door on Red Horse Lake and parts of Charleston. We felt that it was giving people an opportunity to show they cared. And they did.

Which groups were involved in making this come together?
The group included the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ontario Parks, Charleston Lake Provincial Park, Chareston Lake Association, Friends of Charleston Lake Park and ourselves (TWILT). One thing the current government is doing well is preserving land. Through the NCC, a considerable part of the purchase price of $1.6 M was given. We had to raise $75,000 of that.

About how many individuals contributed funds to this project to complement the government funds?
There were 88 donors and the donations amounted to an astonishing $93,000. Some people contributed $25 and some $10,000. About 25 per cent were Americans; we could offer them receipts for the IRS from American Friends of Canadian Land Trusts of Seattle.

What do you think was most important in terms of making this initiative such a success?
Teamwork. We had people who knew people [who could donate funds] and others who were willing to go door to door. And we didn’t quit when we only had about $400 at the end of August. By the end of September we had almost all of the $93,000. Also, the legal people didn’t quit [in trying to work out the agreement], nor did the family [in sorting through the negotiations]. These things are never easy and they take far longer than you’d think. Then Ontario Parks was delayed in accepting the land. You have to all work and hope and believe it will work out. It was important for the Sheffields to know that people cared and were contributing because of their love for the land. That kept them going.

How will the Red Horse Lake area, now within the park, be preserved going forward?
We transferred the property to Ontario Parks, so it has become a part of Charleston Lake Provincial Park. It lies alongside the portage and includes two lovely bays with mature forest up hills and beyond as far as your eye can see. Ontario Parks will never promise to protect forever. That is the mandate of National Parks. Ontario Parks may eventually allow logging and many other activities or even sell the land. But it is as safe and as well looked after as possible.

Where did the lake go?

That great Canadian summer pastime — hanging out by the shore — needs to be defended. Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria — a toxic algae that is harmful to people and wildlife — is growing out of control in many watersheds. Cottagers, beach-goers and the hook-and-reel crowd may find really gross evidence that their favourite waterway is under pressure from industry, agriculture and residential sources.

The offending blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, is bad news because:
– It looks disgusting
- It smells horrible
- It can cause skin infections among those crazy enough to swim in it
- It can cause stomach cramps and even liver damage in those who consume it (see WHO fact sheet)
- It takes over habitats
- It can kill fish, birds and other wildlife through toxins and reduced oxygen levels in the water
- It can introduce toxins into drinking water sources.

Why is this happening? The simple answer is too much nutrient. There’s simply too much food for these bacteria, and they’re growing and blooming out of control.

Where is the nutrient coming from? Three main areas:

- Agricultural runoff. Fertilizer and animal manure are two key sources. Farms that don’t work to contain nutrient, particularly those with drainage to a waterway, are contributing to the problem.

- Industrial runoffs of high-nutrient materials

- Water treatment runoff, from our own wastes and from the soaps and other products that go down our drains

- Septic systems from rural and cottage residences along the water

This nutrient runoff is compounded by climate change, since most areas are experiencing a general warming trend with of higher daily low temperatures. Warmer water temperatures also cause changes to the water column.

So, if you like cottaging, hanging out by the water, fishing, safe drinking water, biological diversity… what can you do?

- Ask your MP to push for adoption of the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations, which would harmonize standards across the country, linked here.

- Change household habits. Switch to phosphate, scent and dye-free personal care and cleaning products. The lake doesn’t need a “spring fresh” scent.

For an in-depth look at how a lake can be affected by blue-green algae, watch Save My Lake, a CBC documentary.

Do you think we need better pollution controls and water monitoring in Canada’s lakes and rivers?

Lakes, rivers and streams are Canada’s original transportation routes. What better way to explore our beautiful country than by the steam of your own paddle? Here are just 10 of Canada’s unbelievably long list of spectacular paddling destinations.

1. Desolation Sound Marine Park, British Columbia. This sea kayaking destination is located inside Here’s a link to one company that offers rentals, tours and lessons.
2. Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve, Eastern Ontario. Click here for maps, outfitters and descriptions about paddling along the beautiful inland lakes of Charleston Lake Provincial Park and paddling routes on the St. Lawrence River’s Thousand Islands.
3. The Thelon Heritage River, Nunavut. According to the territory’s website, which notes outfitters in the area, this is one of the most famous, least strenuous routes in Nunavut.

Canoeing on Moraine Lake

4. Moraine Lake, Alberta. A trip to the Rocky Mountains isn’t complete without a canoe trip on idyllic Moraine Lake! Take photos of the beautiful Valley of the Ten Peaks as you enjoy a couple of hours of dip, dip and swing.

5. Wabakimi Lake, near Thunder Bay, Ontario. Remote but ruggedly beautiful.  Click here for the local outfitter.

6. Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area. This is a vast area, with some open water areas. Here’s a beautiful video showcasing the rugged landscapes and wildlife created by three students from Lakehead University. I love hearing about the students’ love for the lake and its ecology.

7. Hayes River, Manitoba. View the remains of early fur trading posts and travel along original First Nations routes on this historic river. This route is for experienced paddlers with whitewater skills. Begin from the community of Norway House or York Factory. Click here for more information.

8. Caddy Lake, Manitoba. This route features interesting rock tunnels. For photos and maps, click here. For more great Manitoba paddling options, look here.

9. Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, Newfoundland. Take in some beautiful waterfalls and keep your eye out for whales! Also visit this link for information about Iceberg Alley multi-day trips.

10. Green Gables Shore, PEI. Take in the beautiful red cliffs and get your fill of birdwatching. Click here to peruse area outfitters.

Is there anything more Canadian than paddling? And please share your favourite place to paddle!

Today we have a special guest post from Donna Tranquada, an award-winning broadcast journalist. As Eco Logic readers know, local issues are the most important issues, and everywhere is local to one of us.

Maybe we can help each other out by raising our voices for important local issues wherever they arise across our beautiful country. Here is Donna’s story about a mega quarry that threatens an area dear to her, the Hills of the Headwaters, and how you can help.

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A look across the Hills of the Headwaters. (Copyright held.)

The sun shone brightly over our small farm in Dufferin County yesterday as I worked in my garden, weeded the vegetable patch and watched tractors plow the dark earth in nearby fields.  It was one of those perfect spring days in the country. Our little “homestead” is perched on the top of a hill about 90 minutes northwest of Toronto. We’re surrounded by rolling pastures, gabled farmhouses and grey-weathered barns that have survived a century of seasons. It’s one of the most stunning regions of Ontario and is known as “The Hills of Headwaters.” But looming over the landscape is the threat of a mega quarry that will destroy vital farmland, jeopardize fresh water and devastate our environment.

As you drive westward from our farm, the land rises to a vast and fertile plateau in Melancthon township, north of Shelburne. It’s the highest point of land in southern Ontario and contains the best grade of soil in the province: Honeywood silt loam. Farmers love it. Not only is it fertile and rock-free, it sits upon a massive limestone aquifer, which offers a perfect drainage system for growing potatoes and other crops. Fifty per cent of the potatoes consumed in the Greater Toronto Area are grown on this plateau.

The region is also the source of water for four watersheds, including the Grand and Nottawasaga rivers. It’s estimated one-million people downstream rely on the fresh water. Local wells, ponds and streams count on the headwaters for replenishment.

Agriculture or Aggregate

Enter the Highland Companies. Over the past few years, Highland, which is backed by a $22-billion Boston hedge fund, has purchased about 7,000 acres of the 15,000-acre plateau. At first, Highland said its focus was growing potatoes and, after assembling so much land, it’s now the largest potato producer in Ontario.

But, in March, Highland confirmed suspicions that it was far more interested in the limestone beneath the fields. Highland filed a 3,000-page application to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to tear up the fields and excavate the largest open pit quarry in Canada for the lucrative aggregate market. The proposed size is staggering. The mega quarry would span 2,300 acres. It would be deeper than Niagara Falls and plunge 200 feet below the water table.

Forever is a long time

In order to keep the quarry from filling up with water and draining the watersheds, Highland says it will have to pump 600-million-litres of water a day, 24 hours a day. Forever. That’s the same amount of water used by 2.7 million Ontarians each day.

At a recent public meeting hosted by Highland, I expressed doubts about a pumping system running in perpetuity. The hired water-management consultant replied “We have the technology.”  Well, the Japanese thought they had the technology to protect their nuclear reactors from earthquakes. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was equally confident about its levees around New Orleans. Pumps fail, and when that happens, the results will be catastrophic for those downstream.

Not Welcome in the Neighbourhood

The mega quarry would also be a troublesome neighbour for the Niagara Escarpment, which runs through the Hills of Headwaters and is recognized by UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve. The Florida Everglades and Galapagos Islands share the same designation. The Niagara Escarpment Commission says it is “one of the world’s unique natural wonders.” The Escarpment also supports “300 bird species, 53 mammals, 36 reptiles and amphibians, 90 fish and 100 varieties of special interest flora including 37 types of wild orchids.”  Yet, the largest quarry in the country would stretch alongside this environmentally-sensitive area. No government would ever allow a quarry of any size near the Florida Everglades or in the Galapagos Islands.

Deep Down on the Farm

Once Highland extracts the limestone it intends to farm the bottom of the pit. That’s right, the bottom. The company claims it will spread topsoil in this deep, massive scar and, if the pumps don’t fail, it will grow crops. But according to current provincial legislation, Highland is under no obligation to rehabilitate the quarry pit because it would be below the water table.

Help Stop the Mega Quarry

There’s so much more. Up to 300 heavy diesel trucks an hour would rumble to and from the pit each day, polluting our air and clogging our roads. And, incredibly, the largest proposed quarry in Canada is not subject to an Environmental Assessment in Ontario. This is unacceptable.

The Hills of Headwaters is normally quiet and bucolic. But it’s now noisy with opposition to the proposed mega quarry. What can you do to stop it?  Write letters of objection to the province of Ontario. Please demand an Environmental Assessment. The deadline is July 11, 2011. Click here to learn more.  You can also e-mail Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty here.

And for further information about the mega quarry, visit www.ndact.com and www.citizensalliance.ca, and join us on Facebook at Stop the Quarry for news updates and events.

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Eco Logic readers: use the comment space below to let Donna know you’re with her!

Dusk at the marsh

Not far from my house, there’s a large park that runs through an old ravine. Thanks to the work of the City of Toronto and volunteers, the park has several naturalized areas. The made-made marsh shown above is small, and it’s a bit of a showcase of itself, what with its interpretive signage and gravel pathways. But it’s proof that, even flanking a soccer pitch and not far from a dog run, a little bit of habitat, even man-made habitat, can support a lot of birds and other life. Seeing wildlife thrive motivates me to volunteer for these kinds of habitat projects. I’m really glad that environmental organizations are making their volunteer opportunities known.

Tomorrow I’ll be planting trees with the East Don Parkland Partners on the northern end of the Don River in Toronto. It feels great to get some trees into the ground and meet like-minded people.

If you’re looking for something you can do in your area, check out the Nature Conservancy’s Conservation Volunteers program. You could help pull garlic mustard and herb Robert, two invasive species, from sensitive habitats. You could help survey for rare wildflowers. You could help maintain a woodland trail. You could help plant new native plant seedlings. And that’s just what’s happening in May!

Do you think it’s worth creating man-made habitat to support wildlife?

Are you voting for the environment on May 2? Talk of climate change, conservation, green energy and other key environmental planks has been all but missing from election debates, but if you’re reading this blog, you’re probably among the many who know that the health of our earth and the changes we’ll experience from climate change depend on who takes control in Parliament.

The problem is, it takes time to sort through all those pesky platforms. So I’ve done it for you. Here is an edited, brief version of each party’s environmental platform for the upcoming election with links to the original text. What you believe is up to you!

From the NDP platform (read the entire document here on their website):
- Adopt the Climate Change Accountability Act, legislation that aims to bring Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions to 80 per cent below 1990 levels by the year 2050, with interim targets for the period 2015-2045. (This act was passed by the House of Commons but, in a surprise move, rejected by the Senate, a shameful Canadian first. Read more here.)
- Create a cap-and-trade system to put a price on carbon and to create funds to invest in green technology and related jobs, energy and conservation.
- Help Canadians and those abroad mitigate their impact and adapt to climate change effects.
- Create a long-term energy security plan.
- Create Green Bonds to fund research and development of e.g., green energy research and development and its commercialization and community-scale renewable projects.
- Create a National Public Transit Strategy to maintain and expand public transit across Canada.
This thought appealed to me: “Recognizing that oil and gas will continue to play a prominent role in our energy mix in the medium term, we will discourage bulk exports of our unprocessed resources and encourage value-added, responsible upgrading, refining and petrochemical manufacturing here in Canada to maximize the economic benefits and jobs for Canadians.”

From the Liberal platform (read the original text here on their website):
- Become a global leader in clean resources by reducing the impact of resource-based products and supplying knowledge, technology and expertise to other markets for responsible management, development and consumption of natural resources.
- Create a Clean Energy Partnership with the provinces and other stakeholders to develop a plan for a low-carbon future with related jobs, climate change targets, efficiency programs.
- Install a $400 million Green Renovation Tax Credit program for homeowners (tax credits up to $13,500 per home), which sounds like a variation of the EcoEnergy Retrofit program, which was a reprise of an earlier program with a different name…
- Quadruple energy production from renewable sources (solar, wind, tidal, biomass) from 2009 levels by 2017 through the Renewable Power Production Incentive.
- “Cleaner” oil sands development to bring its carbon footprint in line with development of other oil sources, improve regulation and related monitoring. Related: Immediately cancel tax breaks to the oil sands industry.
- Establish a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions by large industrial facilities.
- Commit to long-term greenhouse gas reduction target of 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050; mid-term targets to be set.
- Protect more intact wilderness areas and create “eco-corridors” to allow species to move from one protected area to another.
- Create a Canadian Freshwater Strategy to improve water consumption efficiency; protect groundwater from contamination; deal with drought and flooding, protect water from bulk export; address some invasive species issues; work to restore degraded and threatened areas in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence; clean up excess nutrient levels in Lake Winnipeg.
- Expand marine protected areas.
- Create an oil spill contingency plan.
- Halt new leasing and oil exploration in Arctic waters.
- Formalize the BC Crude Oil Tanker Moratorium.

From the Conservative Party (read the original document here):
- Facilitate the creation of new protected areas, including national parks and marine conservation areas.
- Make land between protected areas more permeable to wildlife.
- Use digital technologies to help connect Canadians to nature.
- Take action toward the establishment of a new National Park in the Rouge Valley (east of Toronto).
- Support research and development in “clean energy” and energy efficiency.
- Support “clean energy projects” with national or regional significance, financial merit that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Stated climate change goal is a 17 per cent reduction in domestic greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2020.

Unfortunately, the platform does mention resource exploration in the gulf of St. Lawrence, mining tax credits and other initiatives that sound bad for the environment. But I’m trying to stick to the other side of the ledger, so I won’t go into that here.

The Green Party of Canada’s platform (linked here) is extremely detailed. It’s certainly worth a read if you would like to dream a little about what a more environmentally focused Canada would look like. There are hundreds of ideas in the platform; here are just a few:

- Reduce Canadian greenhouse gas emissions to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020, and to 85% reduction below 1990 by 2040.
- Create a green transportation strategy, including public transportation, a national railroad strategy that includes increased service to more nodes and some high-speed rail, and efficiencies in frieght and trucking.
- Bring in new monitoring for pesticides, herbicides, hormones and other chemicals used in food production.
- Bring local food to school meal programs.
- Help farmers make the move to efficient production (e.g., water use) and organic farming; improving the Canada Organic standard.
- Promote local food production and culinary tourism.
- Allow farmers to save their own seeds. Encouraging heritage seed banks and seed exchange programs.
- Promote urban agriculture such as roof-top and community gardens.
- Protect watersheds from farm nutrient runoff.
- Protect at least half of Canada’s Boreal Forest and improve wildlife corridors between areas.
- Develop a Genuine Forest Health Indicator to assess state of forests.
- Give tax breaks to FSC-certified companies.
- Promote non-tree sources of cellulose for paper production (agricultural waste, hemp).
- Reduce air pollution through the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, including smog-causing heat and pollution.
- Protect Canadians’ fundamental right to clean freshwater, including future generations.
- Pass legislation to prevent bulk water exports.
- Develop a plan for restoring the health and cleanliness of water bodies.
- Increase monitoring and protection in National Parks and other protected areas.
- Make it a criminal offence to kill an animal listed under the Species at Risk Act.
- Regulate all substances shown to pose a significant risk to human health under a revised Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
- End the use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes.

Do you think there’s a party you can vote for, from an environmental point of view?

Looking to create more growing space in your yard this year? Maybe this is the year to let your garden take over some of your lawn.

North Vancouver mayor Darrel Mussatto is encouraging his city’s residents to make the most of their real estate by growing food on it, rather than manicure grass. According to this article in the Vancouver Sun, Citing reasons such as food security and the cost of food, Mussatto says, “We want people to convert the yards of single family homes to gardens and even commercial farms.”
The idea of converting lawn space into produce space may  horrify anyone who has spent loads of time manicuring their lawn into a perfectly groomed green carpet. After all, aren’t lawns already pretty eco? Well, sorry, but no. They’re a monoculture that doesn’t offer native insects and wildlife much in terms of food or protection. Lawns crowd out native plants that do offer these benefits. And people often dump chemicals on them (see study here showing that yes, this is still happening). That cause harm to the aforementioned wildlife, and, surprise surprise, us. So, in my books, lawns aren’t eco friendly.

Companies that use a tuft of green lawn as a symbol of “going green” are clearly disconnected from what makes a healthy planet. To read about how a grass monoculture became a ubiquitous North American concept, click here.

This is the year for me to tackle the lawn problem in my own garden and landscaping design. I have raised beds in my garden, but they only get late-day sun. I have space to grow foods in containers on my little deck, and they can get a fair bit of sun through the course of the day. If I want to enjoy delicious home-grown veggies, I’ll have to take over a lot of my little backyard lawn, which gets sun for most of the day.

Here are five steps to transitioning your lawn from a high-maintenance monoculture into a prodigious, environmentally beneficial garden:

Step 1: Evaluate your needs
How do you use your lawn now?  Will you need to do more than garden in that space? How can you accommodate other activities around your garden?

If your yard is a place for kids to play, perhaps you want to keep a large area of your yard as an open space to run around, so some drought-tolerant grass may be the best thing for you. However there are low-growing groundcovers that can create a mat of verdant beauty that you don’t need to mow. For areas that won’t see too much foot traffic, try Dutch white clover or even thyme.

Do you bring out a table and chairs to dine al fresco? Perhaps you could locate a small patio area within your new garden space, perhaps next to a tree (which can be used to hang lighting from). For instructions on laying a stone patio, click here.

To create a beautiful border to your vegetable garden, consider using lovely wildflowers. They will attract pollinators such as bees to help pollinate your veggies.

Step 2: Take stock of threats

Is your yard a haven for neighbourhood cats? (Mine is.)  You may need a structure around your veggies to prevent them from using the space as a litterbox. Are raccoons often prowling through your yard at night? Again, protect your food plants.  Raccoon contact means potential exposure to raccoon roundworm, which can cause brain damage and loss of eyesight. Front-yard gardens may suffer from road salt damage (see my earlier post about road salt here), so you may need to plant salt-tolerant plants around the border of your garden, such as blueberries.

Step 3: Plan out your space

What can you do with your new-found garden space? Plotting out your plans may help you decide what you want to grow, and where. To draft your plans, first measure the space. You could represent the area on graph paper and sketch in the garden beds, patio stones, furniture and other features on it. Or you could take a photo of the area and draw on it, either via a print out or using a program with built-in stencils such as OmniGraffle.

Image via Wikipedia

Step 4: Build your garden beds

Turning a lawn into a garden is best done by building up the space into raised beds. Use stone or wood to create boxes to fill with high-quality soil and compost. Kits for building raised beds with lumber corner pieces make building the beds quick and easy. I love the kit linked here from Lee Valley.

Step 5: Select your plants and start your seeds!
As I wait for spring to arrive, I’m enjoying buying seed packets and researching seed starting. Seed packets note when you can start your seeds and when you can plant them outdoors. Enjoy planning a mix of fruits, veggies and herbs that you love to eat. Try to include some early starters and late bloomers so that you’ll have super-local produce throughout the growing season.

Do you think you could give up a slice of your lawn for a kitchen garden?

As I skidded and slipped my way to work this morning (thanks, freezing rain), you think I would’ve been happy when I came to a sidewalk covered with about a 1 cm layer of road salt. Grip? Check. But I knew my boots were getting wrecked with every crunchy step. According to a 2004 report by Environment Canada, 5 million tonnes of salt are applied to Canada’s roads each year. All that salt is just going to dissolve into the water, wash off roadsides and down storm drains and into the soil and water.

As Homemakers blogger Jen will tell you, salt is a problem from a personal health perspective. I thought I’d share the effects of road salt on the environment, and how you can stop using it at home.

Four ways road salt is spoiling nature’s party:
1. It poisons waterways. That’s our drinking water by the way, not to mention vital habitat. University of Toronto profs published a case study on the effects of road salt runoff on a particular lagoon near Pickering, Ont., called Frenchman’s Bay, a representative study for other waterways connected to the Great Lakes. Co-author and geology professor Nick Eyles said, “[The vast salt runoff] is a really bad news story about the relentless chemical assault on a watershed, with bleak implications that go far beyond the lagoon itself. We now know that 3,600 tonnes of road salt end up in that small lagoon every winter from direct runoff in creeks and effectively poison it for the rest of the year. The future of Frenchman’s Bay is not bright, but this also affects the Great Lakes.”

2. It poisons wildlife. Just as Jen says, salt is hard on your heart. Too bad birds, foxes, deer that live near roads don’t have access to our municipal tap water, instead often drinking from streams, puddles and other water sources that may be contaminated with excess salt. Apparently (link here) the salt toxicity effects are even enough to make moose walk in front of cars: “In northern Ontario and Quebec, ingestion of salty snowmelt is a major cause of moose/vehicle accidents. Salt toxicosis has not been documented in moose or deer, but moose drinking salty water lose their fear of vehicles and humans.”

3. It kills plants, especially along road sides. Says this report from the journal Stormwater, “Elevated sodium and chloride levels in soils create osmotic imbalances in plants, which inhibit water absorption and reduce root growth. Salt also disrupts the uptake of plant nutrients and inhibits long-term growth.” Have you seen all the dead evergreens along the highway?

4. It contaminates soil, which in turn creates erosion conditions and can further contaminate water. According to this document, in the year 2000, “Environment Canada reported soil chloride concentrations exceeding 200 mg/l as far as 200 m from roadsides. Exposure to [salt] inhibits some soil bacteria at concentrations as low as 90 mg/l, which ultimately compromises soil structure and thereby inhibits erosion control. ”

Ugg, salt is very bad news.

So how can you stop using salt around your home?
- Try proactive shovelling to remove snow before it compacts and melts into that slippery enemy, ice.
- Planning to create or rework your driveway? Consider a porous surface that offers drainage and improves traction, such as gravel or interlocking paving stones.
- Use sand. It’s gritty, it’s non-perishable, it’s natural, it’s sand!
- Use ashes. If you have a wood-burning fireplace, you need to so something with the ash. It’s grippy and it’s dark, so it heats up in the sun, melting ice! (Thanks for the tip, Dad!)
- Use a salt alternative. I’ve been using a product called EcoTraction. I buy it because I don’t have a free source of sand, but its spiky little crystals are super grippy, and I don’t care if some of it ends up in my garden. I like that it sticks around (ha!) between snowfalls, and I can sweep it up and reuse it if I get ambitious.

I’ve heard about some yeast-based salt alternatives that bring on the melt, but I haven’t seen any for sale yet.

Are you pro salt (hey, it’s “natural” and cars have to get up hills somehow) or anti-salt (too much already!)

The brick oven, in progress

Heavy. Rugged. Fundamental. The foundation of our landscapes. Really painful if you drop it on your foot. There’s something about stone, the basic building block, that inspires possibilities. And so it should be no surprise that there is such a thing as a Dry Stone Wall Association, and that women and men from across the globe – “wallers” – will gather in one locale to build walls and arches and bridges together.

Yet surprised I was at this year’s event in Eastern Ontario on Thanksgiving weekend, as I watched people gleefully hefting big chunks of rock, chipping off errant parts of it, and wiggling their newly hewn stone into place in a structure. These people were having the time of their lives doing something that would have been done much the same way hundreds of years ago. The technology really hasn’t changed much. And in building their structures, the wallers helped add new features to an eco tourism destination.

The arches and walls and the brick oven and perhaps particularly the bridge over a stream they built over three days at The Landon Bay Centre, an ecological reserve just East of Gananoque, Ont., were contributing to the landscape, creating structures that will draw people to enjoy them, and hopefully to value the natural habitat around them, for many years to come.

The building of the bridge was suspenseful: the team of workers from the US, Canada, Scotland, Ireland and elsewhere worked from light til dark on it, building stone around a wood form that they’d pull out from under their work on the third day – and it would be then that we, the spectators, would see whether their stonework would stand on its own. Here’s what the bridge looked like on the second day:

And here’s what it looked like mere hours before removing the form:

The bridge, before the form was removed

The video below (sorry, it’s terribly shaky – I promise to improve my video skills) documents the removal of the form.

And here’s the vantage from the Landon Bay Centre’s lookout, the reward for a nice little hike through the forest:

What a view!

And here is local news coverage of the event: