Spring in November?

There are purple crocuses blooming in my garden right now. That's an oddity in this part of the world for November. A good friend remarked that she hoped her 12-year-old son doesn't see them, as he's already worried about global warming.

Actually, he doesn't have to worry, since these are fall-blooming crocuses anyway. They're not a sign that anything is wrong, they're just doing what they're supposed to do, when they're supposed to do it. It's all good. I'm not certain that planting them was actually a good idea on my part...I did it for some fall colour/interest in the garden, but seeing them now has had the effect of reminding me how far away spring really is.

What's really sad about the whole thing is that kids have to worry about these things. Some of them are aware enough to know that the problems we've been making are going to be theirs to inherit.

Crows

I was watching some crows out my kitchen window this morning and thinking what interesting creatures they are. We have quite an abundance of them in our neighborhood all year round. In the springtime the woods in back of our house are filled with the year's crop of young crows, trying out their voices. They create a real cacophony that goes on sometimes for days. Some people might not enjoy it but to me, it's a sign of spring, so it's welcome.


The three crows today spent some time foraging around in the grass and in the kids' playground area. I noticed one up in a tree pounding hard on the branch with his beak. I wonder what he was trying to dislodge? One took a bath in some water that had accumulated in a bin cover. The water must have been awfully cold (there was ice on the puddles yesterday morning) but he didn't seem bothered by it. Sometimes they just stand and look around, like they're hanging out. We know that crows sometimes make and use "tools"; I believe that they are quite intelligent. Observing them makes me even more certain of this.

In my 2005 NaNoWriMo novel, The Seventh Crow, the crow of the title was a very important character whom I really enjoyed writing. Perhaps this goes some way to explaining my affinity for crows and why I find them so fascinating. At any rate, watching them go about their business in my yard this morning and trying to figure out what they were thinking was an interesting exercise.

The Clothesline Debate

It seems the "clothesline debate" is on again in certain parts of Canada. Ontario's Minister for conservation has made a recommendation that the province move ahead with legislation that would effectively negate all restrictive covenants that disallow clotheslines in subdivisions, condominiums, etc.

Personally, I think this is a good thing. The misguided sense of asthetics or false modesty that prompted these restrictions in the first place is outdated. Conservation has to be the overriding concern, and I think people who would like to save money and energy by drying their clothes naturally should have the option to do so. In a world where we are constantly bombarded by advertising for feminine products and sex-enhancing medications, some people are offended by the sight of clean underwear? Give me a break. People who argue that clotheslines have a negative effect on property values just aren't living in the real world.

To tell the truth, I don't even particularly like line-dried clothes. However, it was my intention to put up a clothesline this summer in order to enhance the green shade of my ecological footprint. I confess I didn't get the job done, but it's still on the list for next spring.

The clothesline was a constant in my childhood. We had one, my grandmother had one; everyone did. In the springtime a man would always come around door-to-door selling new clothespoles, the back of his truck piled with straight, smooth poles, stripped of bark, and nicely notched on one end to hold the line. Sheets and towels would always be flapping and snapping in the breeze, and I do remember the lovely outdoor scent if you buried your (hopefully clean) face in them. I didn't mind hanging out the clothes, but I never liked the chore of bringing them in--having to shake each piece vigorously to dislodge any tenacious spiders!

The radio discussion included one of the authors of a book about clotheslines, which I believe was this one: "The Clothesline" by Andrea VanSteenhouse and Irene Rawlings. I'll have to double-check the CBC website later to make sure I have this right. At any rate, it sounded like an interesting and fun book of reminiscences and photos. I'm thinking I'll check the library for it (when I have time to read again!).

Thanks to cohdra for the lovely clothespins photo!

Poor neglected blog...

Hello, Blog, I've neglected you terribly over the summer. However, I seem to be thinking of all sorts of things lately that I want to say, so your time of loneliness might be almost over.

One interesting thing I learned this summer concerned hummingbirds. I have a feeder on the kitchen window and it was very busy all summer. There were at least three different birds, two males and a female, whom I learned to distinguish, and there may have been more who just didn't look quite unique enough from these three. Now, hummingbirds are unquestionably beautiful and amazing little things, especially this ruby-throated variety. But they are also scrappy little fighters, who will swoop and dive and chirp in a very scolding way if two happen to arrive at the feeder at the same time. This doesn't diminish their attractiveness for me; in fact I think it makes them more interesting. Maybe that's the writer in me. Everything's better with a dash of conflict...

Earth Day Checkup

Since yesterday was Earth Day (and it was a lovely afternoon) I went outside and started some of the spring yard-cleanup. It felt wonderful to get out in the fresh air and start making the place look tidy again, and the occasional clumps of crocuses and other green things starting to poke up out of the ground were delightful and encouraging.

Today, though, I thought I'd check in with myself and see if I've made any improvements since I did that Green Meme back in January.

1. What do you for the birds and the bees? I did feed the birds through the winter and have seeds started and ordered that should make our backyard a haven for birds and pollinators again this year

2. Household products. Chemical or organic? I've begun checking all cleaning products for phosphates and other undesirable ingredients--if they have them, I don't buy them.

3. Do you junk? Since January I have had our names taken off several junk mailing lists and continue to whittle down the pile as I can.

4. Air-dry or tumble-dry? I hang about one-quarter to one-half of our clothes to dry inside the house, and we've discussed putting up an outside line this spring.

5. Old gadgets. Recycle or toss ‘em? Still recycling this stuff.

6. Lightbulbs - incandescent or fluorescent? Okay, we haven't started to change the bulbs yet but plan to. We also started making a nightly ritual of ensuring that all computers in the house are turned off overnight. I think we've made a big difference that way.

7. Meat or veg? I try to have two meatless nights a week now, and recently invested in cloth grocery bags. I take them into most stores now, not just the grocery.

8. Loo paper. Virgin or recycled? Switched to 100% post-consumer waste recycled toilet paper and paper towel. I have a beef that the paper towel is not well-perforated and doesn't tear off well, but I might write a letter about that...

9. Tap or bottled water? Haven't bought any bottled water lately, just using the filter jug.

10. Dating - metrosexual or ecosexual? Hubby is becoming "greener" all the time at my...persuading.

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Also still composting, and I've begun to take more notice about water use in the house--filling the kettle only to the level needed, re-using water for plants, etc.

I'm pleased to see big improvements in our household's environmental footprint since January!

More Green Thoughts

I came across some more ideas for living in a more environmentally friendly way at an unusual place the other day, on the website for HSBC bank. They have a "what you can do" page for their Commit to Change program which is worth a visit. One new idea I got from the site:

> When making hot drinks--don't boil more water than you need. This saves both water and energy.

Then I got to thinking, if you do overestimate, make sure you use the extra water on plants or save it for use later (for washing or cooking vegetables, for instance)--don't pour it back down the drain.

I've also been reading up on Carbon Neutrality. There's a load of great information on David Suzuki's site. I'm investigating some of the options listed there, such as carbon offsets.

However, I was dismayed to have it pointed out (I'm ashamed to say it never crossed my mind before) that the publishing industry is a terrible drain on the environment, in terms of both energy and paper. Fortunately, there are some options for authors who would like to publish in a "greener" way, as talked about at ZeroFootprint. I think I'll be looking into it more.

Yes, we have winter

For a few days, at least; who knows how long it will last with the crazy weather patterns we've been seeing? School was cancelled and the kids were outside playing before nine o'clock this morning.



No, this is not my house. ;-) This is the barn where my grandfather's cows used to live, many, many moons ago. It's sort of behind our house. Every winter we wonder will this be the last one that it remains standing.



Our dog, Holly. She's not very impressed with the snow, can you tell?



Berries on our Mountain Ash tree.

The Green Meme

This is one definitely worth propagating! Charlotte of Charlotte's Web devised this green meme from a Newsweek article on easy ways to live a more environmentally friendly life.

1. What do you for the birds and the bees? "Pesticides, pollution and habitat destruction are taking a toll on the birds and insects that pollinate about 80 percent of the world's food supply..."

We've been working on our garden ever since we built our house ten years ago, and we do use native plants and a range of flowers that attract butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. We also feed the birds in winter. I think we're doing our part in on this one.

2. Household products. Chemical or organic? "Household chemicals contribute to both in-door and outdoor pollution."

I have tried "green" cleaners but they're not always available where I live; the only cleaner I actually buy regularly is Mr. Clean or the generic version thereof. Guess I could do better in this department.

3. Do you junk? "Not only is junk mail annoying, it kills trees."

I don't think there's anything I can do about junk mail at the mailbox level here, although I have already put our names on "do-not-call-or-mail" lists. Whether these actually work or not I don't know. Any junk mail we do get goes into the recycling, for what that's worth.

4. Air-dry or tumble-dry? "Make like Grandma and line-dry your clothes once in a while."

This is a tough one for me--I really hate line-dried clothes. Most of the year here the weather isn't optimal for outside drying anyway, so I have a bit of an excuse there. However both our washer and dryer are low-energy, and our washer is low-water use, and I always wash in cold water and dry on low heat. So I'm doing my best.

5. Old gadgets. Recycle or toss ‘em? "Don't clog landfills with old electronics."

We have a repair shop just up the road and they love donations of electronic gadgets and computer parts which they re-use, so most of ours go there now. We've also participated in electronics "swaps" where you can turn in your old stuff. So we're doing pretty well there.

6. Lightbulbs - incandescent or fluorescent? "Trade your old incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent ones...They use about 70 percent less energy than regular bulbs and last 10 times longer."

We don't have many fluorescent bulbs, although we do use the low-wattage ones, and also halogen bulbs, which may not be as good as fluorescent but I believe are better than incandescent. We also participate in a program offered by our power company to support renewable energy by paying a little extra. We've been trying to be more aware (and train the kids also) of turning off the lights when not in use, but we're bad for leaving the computers on all the time.

7. Meat or veg? "Have a meatless Monday...it takes 16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat."

For a while we were doing meatless Mondays; I got out of the habit of scheduling it, but we don't eat meat every day--just most days. I'd like to try and make it two meatless days a week, for health reasons as well as green reasons. I do try to buy locally when possible, but I'm not one for taking cloth bags to the store. The plastic ones get reused and recycled, though.

8. Loo paper. Virgin or recycled? "If every U.S. household replaced one toilet-paper roll with a roll made from recycled paper, 424,000 trees would be saved."

Unfortunately we have a heavy paper-using household. I will start looking for more ways to use recycled paper (never thought of it for bathroom tissue or paper towel, actually). With a house full of writers and artists, it's not going to be an easy area to cut down, although I do try: when I print out manuscripts I save the printouts and print the next draft on the other side of the paper, then it gets shredded and goes into the composter. Other paper that's only used on one side gets cut up for notepaper next to the phone, shopping lists, etc.

9. Tap or bottled water? "Instead of spending big bucks on bottled water, drink the stuff that comes from your faucet."

We use a water pitcher with a filter to keep cold drinking water in the fridge. Sometimes I buy packs of small bottles of water because I find it encourages the kids to choose water more often, but when I do the bottles get recycled.

10. Dating - metrosexual or ecosexual? "two recyclers are better than one."

I'm the main green-thinking person in the household, although hubby is moderately green. I keep after him!

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As an aside: The only thing I thought was missing from the Newsweek article was composting, although I suppose if one's municipality doesn't support organic waste collection and you don't have access to a backyard composter it's not going to be feasible. I can't believe how much less garbage goes out to the curb since I started composting. For anyone not living in an apartment complex it's something that should be considered.

I do get very irritated that municipalities often don't make the distinction, however, between compost and organic waste. They're not the same thing.