Welcome to Clean Calgary's E-Newsletter. You are receiving this because you indicated interest in receiving up to date environmental information and tips concerning Calgary and urban environmental issues.
In this issue:
- April 14th - Clean Calgary Association’s Annual General Meeting
- Call for Director Nominations – March 31st Deadline
- Ask Ashley - Let the Breeze Do Your Dirty Work
April 14th - Clean Calgary Association’s Annual General Meeting
Save the date! Clean Calgary Association’s Annual General Meeting takes place on Monday, April 14th at the Jack Singer Concert Hall Lobby. Open to the public, this is an excellent opportunity to learn more about our programs, meet other people who are passionate about living in healthy homes and communities, and be introduced to our new board of directors.
We are very pleased that Chris Turner, local author of “Geography of Hope”, will join us as guest speaker.
"With a mix of front-line reporting, analysis and passionate argument, Chris Turner pieces together the glimmers of optimism amid the gloom and the solutions already at work around the world, from Canada’s largest wind farm to Asia’s greenest building and Europe’s most eco-friendly communities. But The Geography of Hope goes far beyond mere technology. Turner seeks out the next generation of political, economic, social and spiritual institutions that could provide the global foundations for a sustainable future–from the green hills of northern Thailand to the parliament houses of Scandinavia, from the villages of southern India, where microcredit finance has remade the social fabric, to America’s most forward-thinking think tanks." randomhouse.ca
Please RSVP to kate@cleancalgary.org by April 4th.
Call for Director Nominations – March 31st Deadline
Clean Calgary Association’s Board of Directors is accepting applications for director nominees until Monday, March 31st. These volunteer positions call for strategic thinkers with a passion for environment who can make a commitment to providing direction to our dynamic organization. The upcoming term for directors begins in April 2008 and last two years. Please follow this link for information about the nomination process and schedule, directors’ duties and responsibilities, and Clean Calgary Association organizational history, mandate, and programs.
Earth Day Options
Isn’t everyday Earth Day? Nope - officially Earth Day rolls around just twice a year. International Earth Day is on March 20th and North American Earth Day is April 22nd. Earth Day – considered by many the birth of the environmental movement - started in 1970 in the United States, and has since spread throughout the world. Today, more than 6 million Canadians join 500 million people in over 180 countries in staging events and projects to address local environmental issues. Clean Calgary Association is offering businesses and students age 11-15 several options for Earth Day participation. Check them out at http://cleancalgary.org/index.php/information_and_resources/earth_day
Ask Ashley - Let the Breeze Do Your Dirty Work
Q:
Dear Ashley,
With spring quickly approaching I was reminded of an incident involving a next-door neighbor last year. It involved my clothesline. This particular neighbor claimed that my clothesline was not only unsightly but it brought down property values in the neighborhood. He went so far as threatening to call bylaw services if I did not remove it promptly. Although I have since moved I am still curious to know if Calgary has a bylaw that would favor aesthetics over my right to do something good for the environment.
Kindly,
Anne
A:
Dear Anne,
Although your question doesn't deal with solid waste (garbage, compost, recyclables) or water directly, it does deal with waste in the broadest sense of the term. It also deals with air quality and resource use and, perhaps, even human decency. And besides, it's a really, really intriguing question. Never, in my life, have I heard of anything so outrageous and that is why I've decided to scratch beneath the surface and find you, and everyone else living in Calgary, an answer.
Apparently clotheslines have been under fire for many years. Developers impose bans in their sales agreements and residential associations draft their own rules as they try to maintain a certain aesthetic quality for the neighborhood. According to Project Laundry List – an American non-profit organization that has a wealth of information about the benefits of using clotheslines - there are literally thousands of communities that restrict or ban the use of clotheslines across North America.
Ontario, for instance, has had clothesline bans for years but several communities, including Aurora, are fighting back. Aurora's mayor, Phyllis Morris, launched a Right to Dry campaign last year urging the government to allow her constituents to override the subdivision agreements that prevent homeowners from using a clothesline to dry their laundry. She stated that energy shortages and an increasing prevalence of smog were reasons enough for the bans to be lifted. This sentiment was also felt by Ontario's chief conservation officer Peter Love, who, in his 2007 report on energy conservation, recommended the bans be scrapped. And thanks to a private member's bill, Nova Scotia's Energy Resources Conservation Act was amended to ensure that property owners would retain their right to erect a clothesline on their property by preventing any restrictions to their use. So did your neighbors threat hold water in here in Calgary?
Not according to the folks at the City's land use department, who stated that no such restrictions exist under the Calgary Land Use Bylaw. They informed me that if a person chooses to dry their unmentionables in the back yard then that is their prerogative. They didn't, however, weigh in on rules drafted by specific community associations or those imposed by developers in their sales agreements. They hadn't heard of any such rules but didn't go so far to say that they didn't exist.
So with the information before us it would seem that Calgarians are at liberty to use a clothesline if they wish. Bylaw officers won't be issuing fines to those of us who hang our clothes out to dry and I haven't heard of communities cracking down on clotheslines in Calgary just yet. Certainly, I would think that the vast majority of Calgarians are decent enough to be able to tolerate a few of their neighbors clothes hanging on a line, especially when one considers the obvious benefits of using a clothesline. A simple clothesline can do so much to conserve precious resources, while also saving people money on their energy bills and clearing the air that we all need to breath. Small actions go a long way in building sustainable and healthy communities; communities that we can be proud to be a part of.
Joyously,
Ashley
Ashley Lubyk, BSC in Environmental Science, formerly a Calgary Materials Exchange Program Assistant at Clean Calgary Association.
Please send your question concerning Water, Waste, or Recycling to Ashley Lubyk
Compost Tip for March
With our warm temperatures and windy days your compost pile will need some help. If you have been feeding your bin throughout the winter you will have discovered that aerating or mixing the browns and greens together is impossible due to freezing. The decomposers breaking down your organics need both air and water. If one of these ingredients is missing you are slowing down decomposition. Without air compost piles can slow by as much as 90%! By adding air and water you can get things balanced again. Ideally, your compost pile should feel damp like a wrung out sponge.
If your bin is full think about adding a second bin. Two-bin systems work well as you can have one with partial to finished compost while feeding the other.
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