How Green are our community leaders?
How green are you?

Judy Craig, Arts Society KIng

In the May “Green” issue of Canadian House & Home, editor Cobi Ladner asked her staff “what they’ve incorporated into their day-to-day lives to help out with the green movement”. With that
in mind, we approached many of our community leaders in King to see what they would say. We got some great answers too. Of course, almost all of them mentioned replacing their incandescent lights as they burn out with fluorescent or energy efficient bulbs.

“Karl and I walk to work. When grocery shopping we’ll choose local produce over imported. We have a vegetable garden every
year.” Barb Davis, President, Nobleton Schomberg District Chamber of Commerce

“Last summer we replaced all of the windows in our house with high performance Cardinal LoE 2 Argon Filled Glass which helps to cool the house in the summer and warm it in the winter. We replaced all of our toilets with Toto 6-litre toilets. We have a new
high-efficiency furnace and water heater and will eventually replace the water heater with a tankless, instant water heating system. We use low-consumption waterheads in our showers and on our sink taps. Last summer we did not even turn on the swimming
pool water heater, thanks to a good solar blanket. Solar panels installed on the back roof are next. The pool’s old bromine system has been replaced by a salt-water system, which uses fewer toxic chemicals. I also use canvas bags when I shop.” Louise DiIorio, Chair, Archives Committee

“I use a refillable mug as often as possible when I visit Tim Horton’s and if I do end up with a paper cup, I remove the lid when it’s empty and flatten the cup before putting it in my
bluebox.” Harold Sellers, Executive Director, Oak Ridges Trail Association

“We have been as “green” as possible for years – avid users of the Blue Box, fanatical compost makers for over 20 years, and of late, have started to unplug all appliances when they are not being
used.” The Lions have been recycling aluminum cans for 5 years now and all the money gets “recycled” back to strengthen the Schomberg community.” John Bradbury, President, Schomberg Lions Club.

“When I remodelled my kitchen, we installed a European dishwasher (ASKO) which uses much less water and is much quieter than the North American models. I was so impressed that when our clothes washer (top loading) needed replacement, I looked again to European front
loading models. I selected a Bosch with the highest

spin speed. Being on a septic tank, using less water was a real plus. The top loading washer would fill the laundry tub twice – once for the wash and once for the rinse. With the new Bosch, a wash and two rinses uses only 9” of water in the tub. The real plus however was the high speed spin (1200 rpm). Dryer time used to be 60 plus minutes. Now everything is dry at 35 minutes. The energy guide sticker states that if you do 8 loads of wash a week and heat water with gas, the ANNUAL operating cost would be $10 US.” Ed Millar, Chapter Chair, Oak Ridges Trail Association

Our island is typically Georgian Bay rock and pines with only shallow soil so we ruled out a septic bed and installed two nonelectric composting toilets which are entirely satisfactory. The resultant compost we deposit as nutrition under the junipers. A compost bin for vegetable materials has been a fixture for many years too. About 15 years ago, Tom learned how to install the batteries, collector panel, wiring and controls for the solar power we use for 12 Volt lighting, radio and hand-held vacuum. We’ve always been very careful all the 43 years of our ownership of that fragile 1 acre ecosystem not to place a heavy footprint that might destroy the water quality or the flora and fauna native to the Shield. Virginia Atkins, President, King Twp Historical Society

“Julie and I are making a conscious effort to improve our practices as we share in the reculturing of consumers. We use canvas shopping bags; recycle rain water for plants; doubled our blue box content over the past year; and pack lunches in re-usable containers.” Bill Cober, Deputy Mayor, King Township

“I usually keep the larger envelopes and re-use them. For my work I need to do a lot of printing, so I often have pages which are half blank. I always fold my page and cut the half
which is good. I keep those as note papers. I also re use clean plastic bags for my smaller garbage bins.” Zohreh Zandvakili, Parent Council Chair at King City Secondary School

Our yard is wild-life friendly -
pesticide-free, brush piles, standing dead trees, several bird feeders, bird bath, a bird seed garden, etc. Several years ago we stopped mowing a third of the yard (about a quarter acre) and are converting it to a native plant garden – drought tolerant tall grass prairie/meadow species in the sun, woodland species in the shade. Old newspapers, compost (our own and truckloads from
the recycling depot) and wood chip mulch are used to control weeds, create paths, and conserve moisture. We collect rainwater from the roof in a fresh water cistern and rain barrels and have run dripper hoses to the thirsty parts of the garden. The garden is “decorated” with natural and recycled

objects – a trellis made from an old wooden ladder, log and stone “mushrooms”, large pieces of driftwood, etc. We have started using cold water for laundry and hanging our clothes outside to dry. We cover our skylights (which provide passive solar heat in winter) with fitted sheets in summer to reduce air conditioning. Garry Conway, President, Arts Society King Pam Heron, Co-chair, Laskay Hall Committee of Management

“I have fought the urge to purchase an outboard motor at the cottage – opting instead for the exercise provided by rowing and the quietness of the lake while fishing.” “In the library, we sell our famous durable & reusable cloth book bags – perfect for a trip to the library or grocery store. The Library also offers a multitude of information resources that can energize and inform those who want to reduce their impact on the planet. Example: InfoTrac Environmental Issues & Policy eCollection. This is a custom collection of nearly 200 journals providing robust coverage of environmental issues and policies, including diverse perspectives from the scientific community, governmental policy makers, as well as corporate interests.” Murray McCabe, Chief, King Twp Public Libraries

Due to overwelming response comments will
be continued in the fall issue of Tapestry.