CLEAN NOVA SCOTIA • 1

Vol. 5 No. 1 Fall 2009

ISSN 1715-7897

Words to Live By“Think about it: you may be referred to as a consumer, but there is very little that you actually consume - some food, some liquids. Everything else is designed for you to throw away when you are finished with it. But where is ‘away’? Of course, ‘away’ does not really exist.” - Cradle to Cradle

It’s that time of year again! Time to think about the ways you can reduce your waste! Take part in one of Clean Nova Scotia’s Waste Reduction Week activities (see below) or come up with your own creative way to reduce your waste.

Canada’s Waste Reduction Week has a whole new look this year which can be found at www.wrwcanada.com. Oscar the Grouch is our spokes-Muppet for the second year in a row, but this year, he brought some friends with him! Check out the Osc-Watch Report where you can send a personalized video message featuring Oscar the Grouch to friends, fellow students, family and colleagues. It’s fun, easy to do and is a great way to promote waste reduction!

Clean Nova Scotia will be holding three events this year for Waste Reduction Week, starting with our annual Minister’s Business Breakfast on October 19th:

Minister’s Business Breakfast

The Breakfast will take place at the Delta Halifax

Hotel starting at 7:30 a.m. Please join the Minister of Environment, Sterling Belliveau and guest speaker Toby A.A. Heaps (www.corporateknights.ca) for the most important meal of the year! Tickets are free for Clean Nova Scotia Members or $20 for non-members. You must call to reserve your seat at 420-7927.

Waste Reducer Challenge

Have a little Girl Guide or Scout in the family? Well Clean Nova Scotia is offering the Waste Reducer Challenge this year for all levels of Girl Guides and Scouts. Kids need to complete three waste reduction challenges in order to receive a free Waste Reducer Patch/Badge. Challenges and rules can be viewed at www.clean.ns.ca/wrw.

Lunch and Learn Campaign

Each year Clean Nova Scotia awards schools across the province for their good environmental behaviours with a small gift. This year we are handing out reusable cotton lunch bags with the slogan, “It’s never too soon to reduce at noon!”

By

Kari Riddell

Presenting Sponsor: Event Sponsors:

Solid Waste ResourcesSustainable Environment

Management Office

Adopt-a-Watershed

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The Power of Change Retire Your RideVampire Power

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Clean and Green is published quarterly by Clean Nova Scotia, Natasha Sider, Editor. The opinions expressed herein do not necessar-ily reflect those of the Editor, nor Clean Nova Scotia. Articles may not be reprinted without permission. Subscribe online for email delivery at www.clean.ns.ca/c&g. Call 1-800-665-5377 for print copy. Next deadline for content is December 18.© 2009, Clean Nova Scotia

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Adopt-a-Watershed:

Did you know that less than 1% of the world’s water is drinkable?

Do you know where your drinking water comes from?

Do you know what you can do to protect your local watershed?

These are just some of the topics covered through Clean Nova Scotia’s Adopt-a-Watershed Program, funded by Halifax Water, the South Eastern Community Health Board and the Unilever-Evergreen Aquatic Stewardship Grant.

The program was designed to educate youth to become stewards of their local watershed, showing them how to protect and preserve water quality for future use. Over 340 youth from schools and youth groups in the communities of Cherry Brook/Lake Loon, North Preston and East Preston took part in the program, learning about their local watershed environment and how they can help protect it.

Through interactive presentations, outdoor hands-on activities, a watershed stewardship fair, as well as field trips to a local lake and stream, the Adopt-a-Watershed Program staff taught the youth to make the connection between their own tap water and their local watershed.

The field trips were completed in partnership with Saint Mary’s Community-Based Environmental Monitoring Network. Students from this organization demonstrated to the Adopt-a-Watershed youth how scientists monitor water quality. They also explained the kind of negative effect substances such as nitrogen (potentially from fertilizer) can have on water quality and the creatures that inhabit those waters, such as fish. This hands-on approach really helped the youth to understand the kind of impact human activity can

have on our water and the importance of conserving and protecting our water resources.

The final event of the year, “Ubutu: Watershed Stewardship Fair,” brought the Preston-area youth and communities together to celebrate the culmination of all their hard work and to demonstrate what they had learned about protecting their local watershed. “Ubuntu,” an African word describing community-interconnectedness and unity, was a fitting title.

Those attending the event, which was held at the North Preston Community Centre, enjoyed a performance by African dancers from the Maritime Centre for African Dance (this was the ONLY African dance troupe chosen from Canada by the African Foundation of the US to perform at the United States President-elect Barack Obama’s African Inaugural Ball held in Washington D.C). In addition, the event featured a complimentary barbeque, entertainment, games and prizes. There was even an obstacle course designed to teach children about pollution and its impact on the watershed system!

The fair also marked the development of a new trail that is being constructed to eventually link the communities of Cherry Brook, North Preston and East Preston. Guided walking tours of the developed areas of the new trail situated alongside Long Lake and Lake Major were provided.

The event was a great success, with over 150 youth and community members participating. It is Clean Nova Scotia’s hope that these communities will serve as an example to others, demonstrating how one can participate in protecting these delicate eco-systems.

By Ashley David

Creating Watershed Stewardship for the Future

Program Sponsors:

CLEAN NOVA SCOTIA • 3

There’s a delicate balance between conveying the gravity of environmental problems we face, and inspiring action and hope for the future; this may be the greatest challenge faced by environmental educators worldwide! The Climate Change Centre (CCC) works hard to achieve this balance in their outreach, drawing on positive examples and focusing on personal behaviour to create a momentum for change. While tackling the ever-evolving issue of climate change, it is easy to get bogged down in the increasingly alarming science and predictions. Empowerment from the bottom-up and action from the top-down will each play a key role in creating the sustainable communities necessary to support our collective future.

This year, the CCC championed a very special environmental education initiative at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History. Programming staff at the Museum asked Clean Nova Scotia to partner with them during their Ice Age Mammals exhibit over March Break. They were looking for an educational component to address what families can do to slow the effects of human-caused climate change. After discussing the possibilities, it was decided that the CCC would develop and deliver a short, interactive theatrical skit to be shown five times a day over the 9-day March Break period (Mar.14-22, 2009). This meant, with limited resources, the CCC had to get creative…luckily, we were up for the challenge!

Over the winter, Programs Officer Rebecca McQuaid worked with a team

of over a dozen volunteers, including two experiential education interns from Dalhousie University’s International Development Studies program. Working through a design process for environmental programming, we brainstormed, wrote, rehearsed, and delivered “The Power Changers”—a 20-minute theatrical foray for families and children aged 3-10.

Walt & the Power Changers! (photo: Tanya Canam)

Narrated by Walt, a loveable puppet, the play is a story about a fictitious family of colourful characters: Mother Magenta, the race car driver with an idling habit; Uncle Orange, who always has the munchies & leaves the refrigerator door open when sleepwalking; Sister Sapphire, the inquisitive know-it-all; and Grandma Green, the energetic matriarch. Throughout the play, the characters learn all about the different ways that wasting energy can harm our Earth and the creatures we share it with!

Any good educational program includes a follow-up component to see how well learners integrated the messages being presented. To evaluate the success of our efforts, audience members were asked to make a Power Changers “pledge-to-action” at the end of the performance—i.e., to choose at least one habit to change to help the Earth. The pledges took the form of leaves added to a tree on display upstairs in the Museum during March Break, with the message that our collective actions can make a big difference!

Four trees were created throughout the week, for a total of 1,122 pledges gathered (~35% of attendees)! Over 90% of survey respondents indicated that they completed their action, the most popular of which included: reducing electricity

use, conserving water, turning down the thermostat, reducing fuel consumption, using sustainable transportation, and eating more locally-grown & pesticide-free meals. A large percentage indicated telling others about their pledge-to-action, too!

Approximately 3,225 people took in the Power Changers performance during March Break at the Museum of Natural History, representing over a third of total Museum visitors. In addition, an estimated 350 volunteer hours were logged during the course of this project!

Day 2: The first pledge tree is almost full!

Many thanks to all who contributed: we couldn’t have done it without you…

Special thanks to: André Davey, Clare Waqué, Molly Warner, Laura Achenbach, Shannon Macdonald, Jeremy Corbin, Kelly Foster, Cate Ratcliff, Dylan Hill, Lydia Fraughton, Janelle Frail, Rachel Eisener, Lori Crawford, Nicole Cadek, Andrea Rankin, Allie Bell, and Brenna Meagher.

Thanks also to all Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History and Clean Nova Scotia staff who helped to support this project. The Climate Change Centre recognizes their funders Conserve Nova Scotia & Nova Scotia Environment in the success of this endeavour!

The Power of Change...By Rebecca McQuaid (Climate Change Centre)

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Clean Nova Scotia’s Ship to Shore Program had another very successful season in summer 2009, with the program

expanding to include a new region of the province. In addition to delivering Ship to Shore throughout the Halifax Regional Municipality (as in previous summers with funding from the Halifax Port Authority), the program was expanded to include the Pictou County area (through new funding from EnCana Corporation).

In these two regions, Clean Nova Scotia’s Ship-to-Shore Program staff visited yacht clubs, sailing schools and boating festivals to provide education, outreach, and materials about how to boat in environmentally sustainable ways. One of the main highlights of the season was the staff’s appearance in four two-minute segments on Breakfast Television and a live, in-studio interview on CTV’s Live at Five (featuring Ship to Shore staff member, Hayley Thomas).

Ship to Shore Staff, Hayley Thomas & John Wagstaff in front of the Ship to Shore display in Pictou. Visitors to the booth learned about the types of plastic often found in the ocean, the harmful effects of blackwater, and how to help protect our waters by practicing environmentally friendly boating practices.

This season, the program focused on the prevention of black water. Black water is raw sewage that is often pumped or dumped overboard, which can poison shellfish, damage fish stocks, degrade reefs, create unpleasant odors, and detract from the natural beauty of Nova Scotia’s waters. This can be prevented by boaters using a holding tank and pump-out station or by using a composting toilet.

Another key component of this year’s program was to promote the use of bilge socks, which are made of an absorbent material. When placed in the bilge compartment, bilge socks absorb excess fuels, ensuring that these hazardous wastes do

not enter the marine environment when the bilge is pumped out. Ship to Shore Program staff gave away free bilge socks at various events throughout the summer.

In 2010, Clean Nova Scotia plans to deliver the program in Guysborough and Antigonish counties, helping to further spread the message about environmentally friendly boating practices helping to create a safer and cleaner marine environment.

For more information about Ship to Shore and green boating practices, visit http://www.clean.ns.ca/ and click on “Programs.”

Sea Waste to the Dock!

Ship To Shore - Boating Tips

1. Have a portable toilet with a holding tank, and use a pump out station. 2. If you don’t want to use a holding tank and pump out station, use a composting toilet. 3. Know where pump-out locations are, and plan ahead so you can use them. 4. Be sure to dispose of your pet’s waste in the proper place. 5. Have fuel absorbent materials ready in case they are needed. 6. Do not use soap to disperse fuel spills, it harms the marine environment 7. Contain oil spills with a spill kit. 8. Be sure that you have a bilge filtration system installed on your boat, or use an oil absorbent pad in your bilge and inspect it often. 9. Properly dispose of contaminated absorbent pads, oil, filters and other materials. They are hazardous wastes.10. Remember that whatever you are putting in the water hundreds of thousands of other boaters are also putting in the water. Make sure that whatever you put in the water is safe.11. Ask your marina or yacht club to look into finding ways it can be more environmentally friendly.12. Get involved in one of the many groups working to protect and restore our watersheds.13. Use Eco-Friendly cleaning products for cleaning on your boat.

14. Be careful with your water usage, many areas often have water shortages during the summer.

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PRESENTING SPONSOR:

Calling All P-3 Elementary Teachers Across the Province!

Still finding litter on your school grounds? Need a little help to remind kids that the Earth is not a garbage can? Well get out your calendars because Eddie is coming to town! Book your stop on Eddie’s Litterless Road Tour presented by Clean Nova Scotia!

Eddie is a loveable cat (puppet) with a cause that is standing up for all the “critters” in the world that have to live with the gar-bage we humans throw around. Through humour, rhymes and song, kids will learn to keep their neighbourhoods clean. Teach-ers are provided with educational resources post-presentation:

• Teachers are left with a special curriculum-based activity booklet that can be used at a later date, a souvenir poster to help remind kids never to litter, a CD of the songs and rhymes heard during the presentation, and each child re-ceives a full colour litter-prevention guide to take home.

• Presentations are available to grades primary to three. Mixed grades are welcome. It is preferable that no more than three classes combined make up an audience for one presentation. Presentations are available in English only.

The presenter will need space big enough for a 4-foot long table with room enough to move behind the table. The presentation can take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour, depending on how many questions are asked. Teachers MUST stay with the class during the presentation due to the delicate nature of the puppets and are encouraged to sing along! Teachers will be asked to fill out a short survey during the presentation to help us exand this new program.

To book your stop on Eddie’s tour, please call Kari Riddell at 1800-665-5377 or 902-420-7927. You can also email your re-quest to riddell@clean.ns.ca.

The 2009 Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up Program Launch Event was a great success this year! Clean Nova Scotia would like to thank the more than 45 enthusiastic volunteers who came out to participate in the large-scale clean-up of Ellenvale Run and Morris Lake in Dartmouth.

The event, which was organized in conjunction with the celebra-tion of Earth Month, took place on the morning of Saturday, April 18. In a three hour period, the group picked up 89 bags of gar-bage, two large bags of recycling, an old, rusty bicycle, various pieces of metal and several pieces of cardboard.

Participants were encouraged to come dressed in their best, Earth-freindly costumes. Congratulations to Madison and Cayden, who were each awarded a prize and the title of Mr. and Miss Earth Day for wearing the best Earth Day outfits!

The launch event serves a reminder to Nova Scotians that we can all do our part to address the issue of litter. Working together, we can maintain the health of our communities. Clean Nova Sco-tia applauds the efforts of all our volunteers across the province who are organizing or participating in a clean up within their own area. Together, we can make a real difference!

For more information about the Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up Program or to register to organize a clean-up within your own community, visit www.clean.ns.ca/pmu.

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InternationalDay of Action

International Day of Climate Action in Halifax

On October 24th, 2009, millions of people worldwide will en-gage in the International Day of Climate Action. This movement was initiated by 350.org and is demanding the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350ppm (part per million). Many climate scientists have agreed this is the maximum safe level and warn that catastrophic climate events could occur if this limit is exceeded. Climate change is already occurring more rapidly than expected even a few years ago.

October 24th was chosen because the date is six weeks before world leaders congregate in Copenhagen, Denmark for post-Kyoto climate change talks. We want our voice to be heard in Copenhagen and we want Canadian leaders to proceed with legislation for safe targets to cap carbon dioxide emissions and ensure a healthy future for our children, grandchildren and the Earth! Sign the Kyotoplus petition: http://kyotoplus.ca to push for effective climate policy solutions in Canada.

Join friends and neighbours in HRM for a family-friendly get-together on Saturday, October 24th on the Halifax Common by the Pavilion. Festivities will begin at 2pm and at 3:50pm we will join together for a collective action to show our support for strong government leadership and action on climate change. There will be music, activities for kids and collective action. Bring a sign with a drawing or painting of what/who you’re concerned about in terms of climate change.

This event is part of the global 350.org movement. We encour-age faith groups, community groups and workplaces to plan your own event any and everywhere in Nova Scotia and join ours if you’re in HRM! See www.350.org for details on how to plan your own event. Join our Facebook group for updates on or event, to post your event and to show your support: search “International Day of Climate Action – Halifax, NS”.

The Halifax Day of Climate Action is organized by a coalition including Oxfam, Council of Canadians- Atlantic Region, Ecology Action Centre, KAIROS, United Church of Canada- Maritimes Conference, Sierra Club- Atlantic Chapter, Lutheran Justice Group, and Halifax-Dartmouth & District Labour Council.

Vampire PowerThe Undead Need to be Unplugged

See that little red light on your stereo or TV when you turn it off? No, that’s not a hungry vampire eye staring at you; it’s the standby mode drawing power. Vampire power (also known as phantom power, idle current and wall warts) is labelled as such because of the electricity that is sucked from the power source when a device is not turned on. Along with the TV and stereo, cell phone chargers, DVD players, computers, printers, microwaves and other small appliances all draw power when on standby. Though the amount be-ing drawn per device is small, when a household has multiple gadgets and appliances the amount adds up. Solar NS estimates that vampire power is 11% of the amount of electricity used in a household. This also means that 11% of a power bill is being uselessly drawn by phantom power! This might not seem like a lot but it equals one free month of power being wasted. Nova Scotia Depart-ment of Energy suggests borrowing an energy meter from your local library to test your appliances and see how much energy the turned-off TV is using.

What can we do to scare off the vampire power?

Instead of using garlic and wooden stakes to chase away the vampire power, unplug the appliances when on vacation and not in use or plug them all into power bars and switch those off at night and when you’re gone during the day.

Don’t stand for being sucked dry! Reduce energy use, cut your power bill and decrease greenhouse gas emissions!

http://www.conservens.ca/resources/publications/SNS-Primer.pdf http://secondnature.gov.ns.ca/yourhomehttp://www.conservens.ca/in-the-home/electronics.asp

For more information, visit:

By Janelle Frail

CLEAN NOVA SCOTIA • 7

Retire Your Ride

Did you know...

A 1995 or older car generates 19-times more smog forming emissions than a 2004 or newer car.

While only comprising one third of Canada’s vehicle fleet, cars manufactured prior to 1996 produce almost two thirds of the fleet’s smog forming emissions. Due to outdated vehicle emissions and fuel efficiency standards these cars contribute a disproportionate amount of Carbon Monoxide, VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) and NOx (Nitrogen Oxides) to atmospheric pollution; as well as, produce climate change exacerbating CO2. Twenty percent of Nova Scotia’s

vehicles are model-year 1995 or earlier, which translates to over 100 000 highly polluting cars and trucks on our roads!

Get those old cars off the road!

Retire Your Ride is a national vehicle scrappage program that offers Canadians incentives to remove their pre-1996 vehicles from the road in an environmentally responsible manner.

To ensure that the option to retire their car(s) is available to all Canadians, Retire Your Ride has a network of partners that operate at local and national levels across Canada. Clean Nova Scotia is delivering the program for the province of Nova Scotia and in just seven months, has successfully retired 678 cars.

Ultimately, by removing higher polluting vehicles from the road, Retire Your Ride will improve air quality and reduce air pollution; in turn, reducing the impact of two serious environmental and health problems. Poor end of life vehicle maintenance is a serious environmental

hazard. Less than 40% of vehicles taken off the road each year are properly decommissioned. This means that environmentally harmful components (i.e. fluids) are simply disposed of, or not treated effectively. Retire Your Ride looks to further protect the environment by only partnering with recyclers who meet a certified environmental standard: all dangerous parts and hazardous fluids

are removed prior to scrappage. This allows us to assure our participants that their vehicle is being recycled in the most environmentally responsible way possible.

The program offers a choice of incentives to participants (for more detailed information about incentives, visit www.retireyourride.ca).

How to Retire Your Ride:

Contact 1-877-773-1996 or fill out an application form online at www.retireyourride.ca. If your car is model year 1995 or earlier, has been registered and insured for the past six months, and is in running condition then you qualify! After your application has been accepted, Retire Your Ride will arrange a drop off location or tow, and once your vehicle is taken to the recyclers you can claim your incentive.

By Julia Pelton

Incentives1. $3002. 6 months FREE passes for

Kings Transit3. 1 year FREE membership to

CarShareHFX plus $200-250 of driving credit hours

4. Up to a $490.00 discount off the purchase of a bicycle through participating retailers, manufacturers and eligible bicycle models

5. Various discounts on new vehicle purchase

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Making a Difference in Our CommunitiesClean Nova Scotia would like to thank TD Canada Trust for their continued support of our environmental projects and intiatives in the community through donations, partnerships and the tremendous volunteer efforts of many of their environmentally-minded employees.

Pictured below is Kim Wood, TD Canada Trust’s Branch Manager (97 Portland Street Branch, Dartmouth) with Clean Nova Scotia’s DriveWiser Program Coordinator, Tanya Canam. TD Canada Trust has partnered with Clean Nova Scotia to help deliver DriveWiser messages to all clients who request information about a personal car loan. The Clients will become informed on the advantages of buying a fuel efficient vehicle. It is through such efforts that we are able to help address air quality issues in Nova Scotia and improve the overall health of our planet.

Who could imagine that changing light bulbs could make such a big difference for our environment and our pocketbooks?

That’s exactly what Nova Scotia Power’s Cleaner, Greener, Brighter Campaign is all about! It offers small business owners and organi-zations across Nova Scotia a FREE energy efficient lighting retrofit. Clean Nova Scotia is pleased to be a partner in delivering this program, along with Summerhill Group.

Clean Nova Scotia is involved in both the retail and direct install components of this campaign. Our direct install initiative provides Nova Scotia small businesses and organizations (such as churches, recreational facilities and senior’s com-plexes) with energy efficient lighting at no cost.

To date, our team of 20 installers located from Yarmouth to Sydney have exchanged more than 99,905 incandescent bulbs for CFLs and more than 4,265 exit signs have been exchanged for more en-ergy efficient LED lamps.

Our target is to reach 2700 organizations and take 15,300,000 kilowatt hours of electricity off Nova Scotia Power’s grid over the course of this cam-paign. This will save both money and thousands of tonnes of emissions.

In these difficult economic times, many of these or-ganizations have indicated they couldn’t otherwise afford to conduct such expensive lighting retrofits.

The potential savings for these organiza-tions will help reduce the escalating cost of operation for years to come.

The campaign has also provided full time employment for 27 individuals and part-time work opportunities for 75 Nova Sco-tians across the province.

The potential of this program to make a difference in energy and emissions savings is significant. Replacing even one 60-watt incandescent bulb with a 13-watt CFL in each of Canada’s 12 million households could save up to $73 million a year in en-

ergy costs. It would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 397,000 tonnes. That is the equivalent of taking more than 66,000 cars off the road each year!

For more information or to schedule a Cleaner, Greener, Brighter energy efficient lighting retrofit, call Clean Nova Scotia today at 902-420-7952 or 902-420-7949.

NOTE: This campaign is part of NS Power’s commitment to help-

ing Nova Scotians reduce their energy use – providing financial

savings for businesses and contributing to a cleaner, greener,

brighter environment.

A Bright Idea!Energy Efficient Lighting Program