Preparing for the cold

From November 21, 2008:

Yesterday marked the first snowfall of the year in Halifax. As I biked home through the blustery snow, I couldn’t help thinking about how fortunate I was to come home to a house with electricity and hot running water. Grabbing my thickest knit sweater and layering on some woolly socks and leg warmers, I settled down to think about this month’s Relocalize newsletter theme: heating.

What to do when it gets cold out?

Many of us live in temperate climates where winters are cold. Since we are not able to take the route of hibernating for the winter season (appealing though it might be sometimes) most of us must rely on some kind of fuel to keep us warm. Indeed we have been doing this for thousands of years, and now the rising cost of fuel is making this dependency ever more apparent. Fewer daylight hours mean less potential to soak up heat from the sun and more time with the lights switched on after the sun has gone down.

Wondering just how much of a difference taking energy saving measures will make to your home? Here are some home heating stats courtesy of Treehugger:

• 10 percent: Percentage of your heating bill you can save in the winter by using a ceiling fan, which circulates warm air from the ceiling to the floor.
• 8 percent: Amount of heat that escapes through your chimney when the fireplace damper is not closed.
• 5 percent: Amount of heating costs you save by cleaning your furnace filters monthly. Dirty filters restrict airflow and increase the amount of energy used.
• $115: Amount of money saved per year by installing an Energy Star thermostat. [What is Energy Star?]

In shifting away from our fuel dependency, we will be returning to one of the fundamental lessons that we learned in kindergarten: it’s better to share. When it comes to staying warm, inviting people over to your home is like carpooling with shared costs and shared benefits. Nothing heats up a house better than fresh bread in the oven and bodies chatting! Increasing social ties and developing strong community networks is essential to relocalization and building community resiliency. If you have an elderly neighbour or relative, keep a special eye out for them in the winter months and make sure they are safe and well.

Filed under: community, energy, health, lifestyle , Halifax, heating

A new rhythm in a new city | part one

Living in the midst of things. A few short weeks ago, I packed up my stuff in my hometown of Vancouver, BC and headed East to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the opposite coast. Halifax is a much smaller city than Vancouver, but is similar in many ways least of which being that it is a port city. There are three universities situated on the peninsula of Halifax, which houses the city centre, and so the student population swells during the September to April months.

One of the first things that I noticed was that everything seemed so close by. It was a thrill to be able to walk or bike everywhere and arrive within minutes of leaving. I imagine I’ll probably come to appreciate this even more when the rain, wind and fog take over the city. Living close to amenities eliminates any need for a personal vehicle and also means more time saved. Admittedly, having a home office also cuts the commute to zero, as Brendan Koerner of Wired Magazine highlights [Home Sweet Office: Telecommute Good for Business, Employees, and Planet].

Getting around town: walk, cycle, ride. Dalhousie along with many other Universities across the continent have negotiated special transit passes for students, the U-Pass. This has a huge impact on ridership and reduced single-occupancy traffic through the city. In British Columbia, the Canadian Federation of Students-BC has launched a campaign called “We Ride: Student Action for Public Transit” that calls on the provincial government to improve the public transit system. There are also loads of cyclists, and very little infrastructure in the form of bike lanes and markings. As Julian Darley remarked when I mentioned this, “That sounds like most cities in North America, except without the cyclists.” Well, true that may be. Either way, it’s a welcome shift from, as we say, a fuel economy to foot economy.

Reducing energy use in rental places. A huge proportion of students, and the general population, live in rental places and may not have a say in how their home is set up to use energy. Our flat is a duplex in an old house heated with oil and forced air heating. While the landlord has taken measures to make sure the furnace runs as efficiently as possible, we’ve been looking for ways to conserve as much as possible (bring on the sweaters and woolly socks). The Australian Department of Energy released a brochure that suggests some measures for reducing energy use in flats and apartments. The US Environmental Protection Agency also has some tips for troubleshooting common household problems that involve little out-of-pocket costs.

Duncan St., Halifax, Nova Scotia

Filed under: community, cycling, lifestyle , Halifax

Watch the End of Suburbia Documentary

THE END OF SUBURBIA: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream

Synopsis:

Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years, so too has the suburban way of life become embedded in the American consciousness.

Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream.

But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now, some scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary.

The consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are enormous. What does Oil Peak mean for North America? As energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today’s suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW, individually and collectively, to avoid The End of Suburbia ?

Filed under: economics, energy, lifestyle, video