“The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has asked Canadian cities and towns to phase out the sale and purchase of bottled water on municipal property.

The federation board of directors passed the anti-bottle resolution at a meeting in Victoria on Saturday.

The move carries no legal weight and aims simply to encourage municipalities to speak out against bottled water and avoid distributing it when possible.

“It’s not a ban, we just try to educate our citizens that the water that you pay in your city is good — use it,” said FCM president Jean Perrault, the mayor of Sherbrooke, Que.

It takes a lot of energy to produce the bottles themselves, Perrault said, and despite being recyclable about half of the bottles sold end up in landfills — at a direct cost to local governments.

But there’s also the personal expense, he said.

“Buying a bottle of water costs approximately $2.50. The cost to produce water in the city? I can fill up 6,000 little bottles for the price of $2.50,” Perrault said.

Twenty-seven Canadian municipalities have already phased out the sale of bottled water on their properties.

Pam McConnell, a Toronto city councillor, described what goes on at Toronto City Hall. “You’d see glasses on the tables, you’d see jugs of water from the tap, you’d see people happily drinking them at their desks and committee meetings,” McConnell said.

Ontario’s provincial association of municipalities has also encouraged its members to use tap water, and 21 Canadian universities and colleges have created bottle-free zones.

“It’s a way to say our water is good, our water is safe and our water is paid for,’” McConnell said.”

“Dogs are now banned from Toronto’s Lake Ontario beaches but there remains a persistent problem of some 3,000 Canada geese defecating every few minutes.

Carol Guy of the City of Toronto’s Waterfowl Management Program said the recent ban of dogs is a small step toward reducing E. coli contamination along some 30 miles of the lakefront but the stubborn goose population that doesn’t migrate south for the winter is still a headache, the Toronto Sun reported.

“Each bird defecates every 6 minutes and that is approximately … 1 pound of goose poo every day,” Guy said. “You multiply that by 3,000 and it’s a considerable impact.”

The city has a program in which workers coat goose eggs with mineral oil to prevent them from hatching but Environment Canada waterfowl biologist Jack Hughes said it’s a losing battle.

“They’re definitely increasing,” he told the Sun. “We’ve estimated presently that they’re increasing at about 8 percent per year.”

Some 1,300 geese were captured, caged and relocated by trucks from city parks last year, and the city also pays a woman with four trained dogs to herd the flocks away from beaches, the report said.”

Biodynamic farming and gardening combines common-sense agriculture, an understanding of ecology, and the specific environment of a given place with a new spiritual scientific approach to the concepts, principles, and practices of agriculture. From biodynamics.ca

Feast of Fields farm has been certified biodynamic by Demeter Canada since 1996. The Biodynamic method goes beyond organic in a sincere effort to enliven the farm entity through growing in harmony with nature and working towards the goal of a self sufficient farm entity.

During the growing season, visit Feast of Fields at Riverdale Park Farmers Market on Tuesday 3-7 pm, Dufferin Grove Thursdays from 3-7pm, The Brickworks Saturday 8 -1 am or Withrow Park Saturdays from 9-1 pm. Feast of Fields also maintains a B&B cottage.

Feast of Fields Biodynamic Vineyard
RR # 1 St Catharines
Ontario Canada L2R 6P7
email: laura-sabourin@sympatico.ca

What can you buy?

- Fresh fruit and vegetables, baked goods, dairy products and free-range eggs
- Bulk grains, flours, seeds, spreads, dried fruits and nuts
- Frozen foods,including organically raised meat
- Renett-free cheese
- Bulk grains, dried fruits & nuts
- Coffees and teas, coffee substitutes, herbal teas and fresh spices
- Canned and packaged foods
- Household and personal care items (dental and skin care products, supplements)
- Environment-friendly cleaning products

Interested in becoming a member? Only members can shop at Karma Co-op. But you can do a one-time trial shop to try us out before joining (payment in cash only). Join Karma

Karma Coop
739 Palmerston Avenue
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6G 2R3
(416) 534-1470
Hours: M: 11am-7pm; T,W,Th: 11am-9pm; F: 10am-9pm; Sa: 10am-6pm; Su: 11am-5pm

Live Green Toronto

These magnificently exposed layers of rock reveal the world’s most complete fossil record of life in the “Coal Age” when lush forests covered Joggins and much of the world’s tropics, 300 million years ago.|

Preserved in situ at Joggins, “Coal Age” trees stand where they grew, the footprints of creatures are frozen where they once walked, the dens of amphibians are preserved with remnants of their last meal, and the earliest reptiles remain entombed within once hollow trees. Nowhere is this record of plant, invertebrate and vertebrate life within now fossilized forests rendered more evocatively.

The fossil record includes species first defined at Joggins, some of which are found nowhere else on earth. It was here that Sir Charles Lyell, with Sir William Dawson, founder of modern geology, discovered tetrapods — amphibians and reptiles — entombed in the upright fossil trees. Later work by Dawson would reveal the first true reptile, Hylonomus lyelli, ancestor of all dinosaurs that would rule the earth 100 million years later. This tiny reptile serves as the reference point where animals finally broke free of the water to live on land. This evolutionary milestone recorded at Joggins remains pivotal to understanding the origins of all vertebrate life on land, including our own species.

With careful observation and interpretation, you may find your own missing piece of time’s puzzle. As you explore the beach at Joggins, remember that every rock holds the possibility of discovery. [source]

From the nyt:

“OTTAWA — Cameco, the world’s largest uranium producer, has told the Canadian nuclear regulator that its refinery might have leaked uranium, arsenic and fluorides into Lake Ontario.

A section of the Port Hope, Ontario, plant of Cameco, the world’s largest uranium producer.
The plant at Port Hope, Ontario, across the lake from Rochester and down the shore from Toronto, first refined uranium for the Manhattan Project during World War II. It has been temporarily closed since July to remove contaminated soil.

A spokesman for Cameco, Lyle Krahn, said Wednesday that a computer model created for the cleanup, which is several months behind schedule, indicated that the radioactive and toxic materials have been polluting a harbor adjacent to the factory. The harbor leads directly to the lake.

The company notified the regulatory agency, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, about the finding at a meeting last week and now plans drilling tests to confirm the contamination and to measure its extent.

“We’re anticipating that material may have been entering the harbor,” Mr. Krahn said, adding that Cameco did not know how long it would take to confirm any possible pollution.

A spokesman for the agency, Aurèle Gervais, said: “The Port Hope UF6 plant matter has been ongoing for some time and the harbor issue is a recent development,” using the chemical formula for uranium hexafluoride.

In a background paper prepared for the agency’s commissioners last week, its staff concluded that the potential remained for continued water pollution from the plant.

Cameco in general and the aging Port Hope refinery, which transforms mined uranium into forms suitable for electrical power reactors, have long been targets of environmental groups and the regulatory agency.

After a flood last year closed one of the company’s mines, which produces about 10 percent of the world’s uranium, Linda J. Keen, then the head of the regulatory agency, said her commissioners and staff had a “lack of confidence” in Cameco and its management…”

Read the full article

“It’s time to get over any hang ups with clotheslines.

Ontario will outlaw clothesline bans by this summer to encourage citizens to use the environmentally friendly option when doing laundry.

“We want you to feel comfortable, wherever you happen to live in the province of Ontario, to put up a clothesline and to let mother nature, let the wind and the sun, dry your clothing,” Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday.

Homeowners would no longer be subject to municipal bylaws or homebuilder agreements that ban the lines.

Electric clothes dryers account for about 6% of a home’s energy consumption, and cutting use by 25% would save consumers about $30 per year.

Toronto Hydro’s Take A Load Off program is offering citizens a free retractable clothesline and cold water washing detergent.

At the official launch of the program yesterday, Energy Minister Gerry Phillips was wearing a shirt that had been hung out to dry.

“I think it’s safe to say that outdoor clothes-hanging season’s now with us,” Phillips said.”

Check them out

Eco Wedding/Bridal Show
March 1 & 2, 2008
at the Design Exchange
234 Bay Street
Toronto Ontario M5K 1B2 Canada
10am to 7pm
Website: Eco Wedding Show

“Why worry about keeping church and state separate when oil and automobiles already poison North American political culture? Here’s the latest dustup:- a trade war threat by a Canadian official against US presidential candidates. Analysis by category.

Car Making
Canada exports numerous cars that are designed in the US, assembled in Canada, and then sold in the US, bringing many jobs and sustaining a positive balance of trade for Canada (which does not want things messed up by challenges to NAFTA by US Democrats).

Lobbying
Neither do the Detroit-based car companies and the US oil companies operating in Alberta, all of which seem to have positive relationships with the present US Federal and the Canadian National Governments. Tactical similarities between national leaders of the US and Canada are remarkable:- see: Prime Minister Mini-Me Cans Science Advisor

US Politics
On the campaign trail, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both have been trash talking NAFTA a bit lately, taking a populist stance toward jobs and health and environmental protection. For Ohio’s sake.

Canadian Politics….”

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