Earth Hour 2013 - What a difference a year makes

What a difference a year makes

2012 a warm and fast spring.
2013 a normal year of snow.

 This year on Earth Hour we planned an outside fire, with hot dogs and pop.

The trail to the shed had to be kept open this winter. Our blanket around the fire was almost a meter deep.

No lights on in the background. Even the neighbours are participating!

Last year for Earth Hour the back yard was empty of snow.

This picture is taken the week after Earth Hour, but the yard looked the same.

Last year all the power was off in the house, but we decide to have our fire in the wood stove.

It is a good idea. The kids never really think about energy use. Glad to have the kids participate!





Earth Hour org

Earth Hour 2014

Saturday March 29th!

 Hope you will join all of us!

Earth Hour Timmins Ontario Canada.

The Lost Art of Snow as Insulation

Warm yourself - Warm your basement!

Beer Fridge is a BONUS!!!

When I lived in Whitehorse, YT everyone did it. Free winter insulation! Just like firewood, insulating with snow warms twice. First, when you work at piling the snow, second by keeping more heat in the basement.

Here in Timmins, ON I talked to a gal who told me her Dad always piled snow on the side of the house. When did we lose that art?

Some say it puts more pressure on your drainage tiles, but actually it reduces the pressure. Since the wall stays warmer the snow is melted along the edge of the house. The snow along the wall under snow will melt after the snow further away from the house has melted ensuring no water along the wall will be part of the quick spring melt.





Laplander's Natural Lore Blog read more

Mother Earth News read more

New World Encyclopedic - Igloo read more

The insulation properties of snow read more

Basement window once covered in snow will melt into a little fridge. At -40C outside, the temperature in the little igloo will be about -4.  The window will never feel the -40. The side of the house at the sill will never feel the -40.

Since the snow is piled the highest on the north side of the house the snow will stay longer then the other sides. The water will melt very slow and the drainage tiles will not become over full, I hope!

all the pictures at my house are here




NO beer was consumed during the writing of this blog. NO beer was consumed during the taking of the pictures or researching this natural event. In fact I do not like beer.


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Sudbury Earth Day Event at Rainbow Concrete

Fantastic Earth Day Event at Rainbow Concrete in Sudbury!!

Monique and I left Timmins at 6:30am for Sudbury. We arrived at Rainbow Concrete a little before 10am.

There were people there waiting for their free tree seedling. Some had come earlier and had come back to make sure they did not miss out. Trees really are important to many more people then just Muddy Mark.

We set up in the front of the main office complex. It was a little windy, so we had to make sure everything was well anchored as we constructed the backdrop and display items.

Boris was a gracious host and was on hand to make sure we were able to serve his customers. There was a very steady steam of people all day. We had to leave extra trees, knowing people would still be coming even after we left. I am sure people came the next day to see if there were tree seedling left.

CTV was also on hand to ensure maximum exposure of the event. Muddy thinks it makes him look good when he is seen between two pretty ladies.

CBC radio also came by to talk with Muddy Mark about his emporium items he had brought with him. Burl pedestal, hollow tree truck planter and hollow birch bark.

Stewart was also a great help. He and Forester Moe worked hard to keep up with providing tree seedlings to the steady stream of fellow Earth Day tree planters, while Muddy just talked trees. Once you get Muddy Mark talking about trees it is hard to get him back to work!

Rainbow Concrete, CTV and Millson Forestry Service provided many trees to help the people of Sudbury participate in Earth Day and help green the environment one tree at a time.

Hope they invite us back again next year!

Timmins Memorial Trees

Have a tree planted to honour the memory of a loved one.

Your donation will go towards the support of wintergreen's many community conservation projects.

You can purchase a tree that is planted near a walking trail.

Buy a tree in the name of a loved one will last very long time!

Contribute buy a tree

Wind and Solar Power at Gillies Lake

Gillies Lake now has a wind turbine and solar array that soon will be producing green energy.

It is new!

It is smaller then the wind generators in the wind farm I visited in Sault Ste. Marie, but it is still very impressive.

I am told it is a Skystream 3.7. This summer you should be able to visit it and see how much electricity it is generating. The power is wired in to the building and I think there is also plans to have it into the grid to reverse the meter!

What a great idea. It was pretty windy when I was there today and it was quite, much more quite then the big towers in Sault Ste. Marie. I am really looking forward to all the information it will be able to show. Will have to follow this once it is fully operational and displays in place.

You can follow the link below for more information on the wind generator there is also links to MRCA and Wintergreen Fund for Conservation. There is a picture of the wind farm in Sault Ste Marie.

Skystream
MRCA
Wintergreen Fund for Conservation