I recently caught a five second local TV news blurb relating to hikes in regional water prices. Unfortunately it was one of those annoying “tune in at 11 to get all the details” tidbits so I had no clue what they were talking about, and of course as per usual did not tune in at 11.
Luckily I did however remember to check out the website for the station and was able to learn more.
It seems our regional water system is due for an upgrade and it’s going to cost a bundle!
The cost of water in Waterloo Region is about to increase dramatically.
It’s expected that the cost to upgrade the Region’s water system, including the sewage treatment system, will cost more than $800 million dollars over the next decade.
The average household should see an increase of $22 dollars this year to their water bill, but it may double in the next six years.
I think we can expect to see this sort of thing a LOT more in coming years - whether it’s due to water shortages or system upgrades or anything in between, as many people have suggested, I think water is going to be the next ‘oil’.
Anyway, the timing of the announcement is interesting since I have been formulating my plans for serious water conservation this year. I’ve already been cutting back as much as possible, but once spring arrives I intend to kick things into overdrive!
You may recall my post about Val Yule the so-called “Water Woman‘. Well reading about her methods provided a lot of inspiration for me.
Once I have a place to put it (ie my gardens etc) I intend to start collecting as much of my water waste as I can.
Some ideas I have for water conservation in general:
- Collecting dishwashing water rather than letting it drain
- Catching rinse water in some sort of tub which can then be poured into a larger storage container
- Keeping buckets in the shower to collect waste water
- Installing a water saving showerhead and potentially replacing our toilets with water conserving models
- Setting up a serious rain collection system
- Plus a few other top secret methods I don’t care to elaborate on (wink wink)
I have big plans for the gardens so I will need a fair amount of water. I’ve been very aware of our water use these last few months and can see a lot of potential for collecting large quantities that will be suitable for outdoor use.
Hopefully these regional water hikes will jolt people into action on the water conservation front! Should be interesting to see.
Rest assured, I’ll be writing more posts about all of this in coming months!
Technorati Tags: water bill, water treatment, water supply, water conservation, water saving, waterloo region, water hikes, grey water, greywater, rain barrels
Written by Bentley on February 9th, 2007 with 2 comments.
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After giving it some more thought, I have decided to end my ‘Winter Composting Extravaganza’. As I mentioned last time, I’ve had no luck maintaining any real warmth in the bin thanks to our brutal cold snap. It’s getting a little silly at this point. I have 3 small indoor worm bins so I should have no worries handling my food scraps until we see some warmer weather.
All in all, I am quite happy with the way things turned out - especially considering the fact that this was my first real attempt at winter composting. With a few modifications in my methodology I know it could be possible to keep some form of active bin throughout the winter.
So what would I do differently next time?
I think it’s safe to say that I got a little over-confident as a result of the long-delayed winter. I used up my entire supply of leaves a LONG time ago, and they definitely would have come in handy once the cold weather really hit. Next year I will definitely aim to gather a lot more.
I think I did a pretty good job with insulating the bin this year, although I may try to come up with something a little different - perhaps a thick thermal blanket of some sort (obviously something that can survive being outdoors).
Another option would be to go with an entirely different system - some sort of in-ground pit with a lift up lid would likely be easier to keep active since the surrounding soil would act as insulation. It would probably be easier to access as well (simply lift the lid vs having to pull back the tarp or blanket). On possibility to think about anyway.
Actually…something else just came to mind as a good way to insulate the existing bin - straw bales. If I stacked a single layer of them all the way around I think that could be an excellent additional source of insulation. I’ve heard of people making winter bins entirely out of bales (another possibility - I definitely don’t have to use my wooden bin).
It became pretty clear this year that an additional source of rich waste material would have been very helpful. As mentioned, I did get some horse manure towards the end, but I think next time I will aim to secure a more steady supply from the start.
Anyway, it’s definitely been fun and I’m really looking forward to spring so I can get back to it. Even if the cold did manage to kill off a bunch of worms, I know there are thousands of worm eggs in there that will easily survive the harsh condition and hatch once things warm up again.
I may write some posts about my indoor vermicomposting efforts over the next few weeks, but we shall see!
Previous posts in this series:
Composter’s Log - Dontchu Know I’m Loco?!
Composter’s Log - The Iceman Cameth
Composter’s Log: Stardate 60492.2 - ‘Oh Winter, Where Art Thou?’
Composter’s Log: Stardate 60429.3 - Unusual Life Forms
Composter’s Log: Stardate 60393.6 - Winter Has Arrived
Composter’s Log: Stardate 60376.9 - RED ALERT!!
Composter’s Log - Stardate 60352.8
Winter Composting Extravaganza
Technorati Tags: compost, composting, winter composting, compost bin, worm composting, vermicomposting, worm bin, composter, kitchen scraps
Note: The Winter Composting Extravaganza has moved to a new home. To catch all the latest winter composting action be sure to check out the Compost Guy
Winter Composting Page.
Written by Bentley on February 9th, 2007 with no comments.
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Interesting stories to share from the last couple days. Of course I couldn’t resist adding some algae-biofuel headlines in there (3 & 4) - the first is an interview with Jack Lewnard from Greenfuel Technologies, and the second is a excellent article from WorldChanging - I highly recommend you check it out for a great overview of the algae-biofuel topic. Some of the other headlines are pretty self explanatory, but I’ll touch on the last two. It seems that Australian scientists are experimenting with slow-burning technique used by Amazonian indians as a way to lock up carbon - very short article, but I’ll definitely be interested to hear more about this.
The last story falls into the ‘aw shucks’ category. I find it unbelievable that there are still city schools in North America that don’t have recycling programs but at any rate, one young girl took it upon herself to get a recycling program up and running for her school! Fantastic.
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1) For first time, biofuel to keep mobiles ringing in rural areas
2) Biofuel craze is water madness
3) Algae Talk: A Chat with Greenfuel Technologies
4) Oil From Algae
5) Florida’s Largest “Green” Building Set to Become Next Rockefeller Center
6) Waiting List Gone, Incentives Are Coming for Prius
7) Amazon technique aims to reduce greenhouse gases
Fort Lauderdale student, 11, gets her school going green with recycling dumpster
Technorati Tags: green news, eco news, environmental news
Written by Bentley on February 9th, 2007 with no comments.
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