People all over Edmonton are waking up to the fact that we’re in the midst of an environmental crisis. It’s good to remember this once in a while, as we go about life in this city of the one driver per car. Some good citizens at Saint Andrew’s United Church are trying to make a difference. They’ve paid some attention to their church building “through regulated use of more efficient heating, installation of low-flush toilets and replacing doors and windows with more energy-conserving models”.  Now they’re trying to reduce the amount of single-occupancy church commuters through Operation Carpool, “a program designed to help our congregation reduce emissions and fuel consumption by having fewer cars pull into our parking lot on Sundays”.

They’re also keen to share their knowledge through “offering tours and workshops to other churches and non-profit groups”.

We’ve started a new section here at Green Edmonton called “Initiatives”. It will highlight and document organizations that are making concerted efforts in the right direction. Congratulations to Saint Andrew’s Church for their positive initiative.

This is Anna Talman. She's a member of Edmonton’s Children-Organized Anti-Idling Recruiters (Eco-Air).

I saw Anna speak to a City Council committee last year about enacting an anti-idling law. It was awesome. Being characteristically timid, our fine councillors backed off on a law and instead committed $140,000 to beg educate people to stop idling their cars unnecessarily. Better than nothing.  read more... »

Believe it or not, you can drastically reduce your carbon emissions this summer without having to afford a several hundred dollar appliance purchase. These 8 carbon-cutting actions offer fun and easy choices you can make to fight climate change.

1. Grow something tastier than grass

According to calorie-count.com, one hour of gardening will take care of 280 calories - about one grande Starbucks whole milk latte. Plus, New Brunswick’s Fallsbrook Centre tells us that the average meal travels 2400 Km to reach our plates. That’s roughly the distance between Montreal and Winnipeg - every meal!  read more... »

There's been a lot of moaning about gasoline prices lately. People are outraged that their poor choices about where to live and what car to drive are coming back to haunt them. I guess it's easy to make poor choices when 99% of the people around you are making the same ones.

The fact of the matter - the cold, hard, indisputable fact - is that oil is a finite resource. I smile when I hear an expert on TV say "we're not running out or anything". Uh, actually, we've been running out since we burned the very first drop. They're not making anymore of the stuff.  read more... »

Driving is going to have to become a novelty if we're going to avoid the worst of the climate crisis. Plus, Peak Oil is going to force us into drastically reducing car use whether we like it or not.

The best thing to do is move towards car-free living. That means moving to a more central location and/or biking, walking and busing as your primary means of transportation.

Still, there are still justifiable reasons for owning a car. Your livelihood is a big one - I can't imagine how a realtor or roofer could run a successful business without driving most days.  read more... »

This is 84th Avenue. The street on the left is 99th street. The green arrow is pointing at the future location (tearing down in May) of the Mill Creek NetZero Home.

I have been learning about ecohouses for years now. One thing you discover early is that a great deal of them are built in the country. The people who value energy efficiency and green building often have an affinity for a more natural setting than a city like Edmonton provides.

The thing is, most often these people work elsewhere. In fact, I've never heard of a green home in the country that was within walking distance to any jobs (I guess it could exist on a farm).

So you build green, but you commute two hours a day in your dinosaur burner?  read more... »

As I sit on my bike in the mornings at the 109th Street and Saskatchewan Drive intersection, I sometimes count how many passing cars are single occupancy. The percentage is about 90%, which is shameful given that many of them are driving from the same neighborhood to the same general area.

Concerned citizens should make their transportation choices in this order of preference:

1. walk or bike
2. bus
3. carpool
4. drive alone

There's a very cool new tool for Edmontonians who want to carpool: carpool.ca.  read more... »