Moving Calgary Forward

Last night we were visited by the Clean Calgary Association as part of their ‘Healthy Homes‘ program, a free service being provided to the first 400 households that sign up (there are still some spots available, get involved here).

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the visit but I was impressed by the scope of what was accomplished over about an hour and a half. The program takes the whole home into account and the visit started with a quick interview about our house and some of our habits.

Then we did a room-by-room walk through of the house and I was surprised to see how much power was being used by my home office even when everything was turned off or in “stand-by mode”. We also looked at all of our cleaning supplies and which are good and bad and they made several recommendations for improvements. They tested the toilets for leaks, gave us free compact fluorescent light bulbs and even offered to provide a free low-flow shower head as well as information about the City of Calgary’s $50 rebate for low flow toilets (pdf brochure).

Given the age of our house (built in the 1960’s) I was actually pleasantly surprised to see our electricity, gas and water use compared quite well with the average Calgary household. Did you know that the average Calgary household uses 6000 liters of water per person per month? Also, 12% of the water used in Calgary is lost to leakage.

We talked about indoor air quality and the effect of different cleaners and different types of vacuums and furnace filters. We compared our energy bills to averages for similar sized homes to see how we were doing by comparison.

They looked at all the appliances and prioritized updates and improvements that could be made there and even discussed how we can adjust our landscaping and gardening plans to make them as clean and sustainable as possible.

My overall impression of the program was excellent, I would recommend it to anyone who is concerned about reducing their waste (ie. bills) and improving things like interior air quality. The program is FREE and there are still spots open if you’re interested.

Visit #2 will be in about 3 months when they will be bringing us a second composter for the backyard AND a rain barrel to be connected to our downspout.

The Healthy Homes program has many sponsors, including the Alberta Real Estate Foundation.

The City has released new details about the curb side recycling program coming to single family homes in Calgary next year.

The service will be rolled out by quadrant. Service will start in the South West in April. This will be followed by South East, North West and North East communities serviced by June. The service will be a mandatory $8/month charge for weekly pickup at the same time and location as the regular garbage collection.

The program will recycle “plastics labeled with the recycling triangle 1 to 7 (except Styrofoam). The program will also accept newspapers, magazines, mixed paper, cardboard, milk containers, food cans and glass.” Best of all, there’s no need to sort, everything will go in the same bin and be sorted at a depot.

Single family homes, duplexes and fourplexes will be covered but condominium locations will not have the curbside pick-up. These homes will not be charged the $8/month and will have to continue to use the community recycling locations throughout the city or rely on private companies that currently provide pickup services.

Last month I posted an article (LINK) about the potential use of solar panels on homes in the future. I also mentioned a contest being held by EnMax to win a free 1 kilowatt solar panel for your own home - the alternative prizes of a $5,000 credit on your EnMax bill or a $5,000 credit at Trail Appliances are attractive too!

Get the details here - Make sure to let me know if you win!

Might we see solar panels on the rooftops of new homes a few years from now? Many people think the advances in solar technology and the rise in cost of electricity from traditional sources could soon make this a very economical choice.

ENMAX has a demonstration centre on the roof of their corporate headquarters where they’re evaluating several new technologies.

EnMax currently has a contest featuring a grand prize of a 1kilowatt solar panel (or $5,000 credit on your EnMax bill).

Get all the details here and make sure to let me know if you win!

The ENMAX Energy Interpretive Centre is currently showcased at the Stampede grounds.

On June 21st the City of Calgary will be selling subsidized outdoor composting bins from 8am to 4pm at the locations listed. You can also order online or buy them year round from the Clean Calgary Association.

• Westbrook Mall
• Country Hills Home Depot
• Sunridge Mall
• Southcentre
• North Hill Centre
• Shawnessy Home Depot

Full details available on the City of Calgary website.

The Alberta Real Estate Foundation has cooperated in making available a free tool kit for sustainable living at home. You can download it free from this link. The 36 page booklet is a very easy to read reference designed for people who have recently bought a home, but useful for anyone.

The idea is, every day decision you can make around the house to minimize your impact on the environment.

We’ll be starting a backyard compost over the May long weekend and the City of Calgary makes it an easy thing to do.

You’ll need a compost bin, which you can build or buy from a variety of sources. I’m going to use the “Green Machine” which is provided by Clean Calgary for a subsidized. It can be picked up at their EcoStore location for $25.00 or ordered from the City of Calgary’s website for $35.83 including shipping to your door.

The City of Calgary has a website with great tips for first-time composters like me.

The City of Calgary’s Curbside recycling program will start serving 300,000 households in January 2009. The program will be limited to single family homes, duplexes and four-plexes. Condominiums will not receive curbside service yet but the community recycling depots will remain in place.

Recycling will be picked up on the same day, and from the same location, as regular garbage. According to the city it wont be necessary to sort the difference recyclables - they can all be combined into the blue carts the city will be providing.

The program will cost $8 per month, which will be billed to Calgarians on our City of Calgary / EnMax bills.

Find out more about the program on the city of Calgary website. Recycling in the mean time can be done at any of the 50 depots in the city, a list is available here.