Recyclists' Spin

www.zerowastecowichan.ca

2011-09-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a video produced for the Zero Waste Challenge.

Click on the link to go to the video to watch — for some reason Katie's cut off in this one and she already thinks I try to steal the spotlight...

Enjoy!

Boulevard Magazine Article

2011-08-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

Check out page 28.

Love the photo!

We'll miss you, Betty Anne

2011-04-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

Taped to our fridge is a 10 dollar bill.

It's an ordinary sample of Canadian currency serving as an extraordinary reminder.

It was given to us by the most self-less, community-minded volunteer we've ever met; a person who has given so much she need never give again.

Yet she gave it us. From her own pocket.

In 2007 when we started this recycling service, we approached the Cowichan Valley Basket Society and asked Betty Anne — the tireless volunteer who for more than two decades has been running the local staple to many down and out people's diets — if we could help out by taking away her recycling.

Betty Anne, who has given and given of herself since 1988 and not asked for a thing in return, was so thankful and supportive she immediately said yes, and made it a habit of making sure she thanked us every Thursday for taking the material.

And on that first Christmas, despite our great protestations, Betty Anne made us leave with a 10 dollar bill from her own pocket to show her gratitude.

It's taped to our fridge — a constant reminder of the deep and pure goodness (nah, Greatness) that exists in people.

If we ever feel as though we have nothing left to give, we can always turn to the $10.

It's Betty Anne's last week of volunteering.

You will be greatly, greatly missed.

Here's a story that ran in the News Leader Pictorial on our hero.

Recyclists' race...

2011-04-08T13:43:00.000-07:00

VOTE for Cowichan Recyclists & show Canada bike-based business works!

2011-04-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

A few of our customers (and even some strangers) recently alerted us to a competition to showcase small businesses in Canada.

So, with an audio documentary put together by Recyclist Katie and an array of photos taken duting the past three-and-a-half years, we decided to enter.

The contest is Scotia Bank Small Business — BIG Impact challenge and we think it's a great way to show Canada just what impact bike-based, eco-friendly businesses can have.

So, please, follow this link, check out our submission and VOTE!

You can vote multiple times — please re-use the button...

Cowichan Recyclists has had huge support from the community — let's see if we can get the community some recognition for its recycling commitment.

Thanks, everyone!

http://challenge.getgrowingforbusiness.scotiabank.com/entry/4207539-Cowichan%20Recyclists?offset=0

Somewhere on a cold, January road...

2011-04-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

Slow and steady wanes the waste...

2011-02-10T20:43:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of providing (ahem) objective journalism, we here, at Recyclists' Spin, need to make a clarification.

It's possible that past posts MAY have left readers with the impression that Cowichan Recyclists are the sole people-powered recyclers here in Cowichan.

As you can see by the photo, this is far from being the case.

Two workers in Cowichan Bay — North America's first Cittaslow designated community — are, after building this beautiful public recycling centre, seen pushing and pulling it toward it's final destination.

Now that truly is people-powered, slow-moving, earth-loving dedication.

Last year Cowichan Bay's Maritime Centre, at the behest of the Cowichan Bay Improvement Area board of directors, began making public recycling a reality by building these wooden structures.

We've had the pleasure of emptying the bins, and pedaling the materials back to the recycling yard in Duncan.

All in all, it's a perfect partnership, and an excellent example of when things are slowed down it's easier to spot a good idea.

It looks like people-powered resource recovery is catching on!

Where ya bin? Bin walkin' all over the town...

2011-02-07T22:32:00.000-08:00

The first weekend of curbside compost bin delivery went off without a hitch.

(Well, technically if went off WITH a hitch, as we needed a hitch in order to tow the U-haul trailer behind our B-100, veggie-oil burning, earth-lovin' truck. But that, of course, is just stating the obvious. And only someone really, really tired would be obtuse enough to state the obvious. (psst, I mean me. ))

Anyway...

The completely capable, conditioned and courageous compost carter Katie and I took to the streets of Duncan delivering nearly 500 bins in the misty (OK, torrential) rain. And we're almost a third of the way done.

How did we do it, you ask?

The process was as follows.

1) Muster some pluck — eat oatmeal and an energy bar
2) Tip the stacks of bins off the pallets — make sure rain water pooled on the top completely drenches you as you do this.
3) Unload the kitchen catchers — dump the rain water from each one and dry it with a towel...not tedious at all.
4) More pluck mustering
5) Fold a letter from the City, a collection calendar, and sample compostable bags into a neat package — deposit in freshly dried kitchen catcher.
6) Slowly drive around the neighbourhoods of Duncan stopping frequently to unload bins — If bins are stuck together, sit in a puddle with your feet on one bin, knees touching your ears, and firmly grip the other bin with your tender, tender hands. Push, pull, grunt, wheeze and pant until they come apart.
7) Walk each bin to every household — if someone is there, staring through the slightly cracked front door at the poor sucker in the rain, explain why you are trespassing...

Here are some photos to document our first couple days.

Going Green and Growing Green

2011-02-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

One of the most enjoyable perks of biking around all day is the time it gives for thinking.

For some reason I was thinking about green funerals and how everyone should just be composted when they are gone.

This little take on Mary Frye's Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep was percolating for a few pedal strokes.

Enjoy!

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there, I’m the compost heap.

I am in the rotting fruit and leaves

I am the earth; do not grieve.

I am the fuel saved from cremation

I am for clean air circulation.

I am organic. I am not embalmed.

I am not destined to grow lawn.

Of vegetables sprouting up in spurts,

I am the nutrient rich dirt.

I am decomposing. I’m going home.

I am the ever bearing loam.

I am nature, carbon clean.

I am giving back. I am going green.

Do not stand graveside, deep in thought.

Just scoop me onto your veggie plot.

The Golden Trowel Award — Totally Dig It!

2011-02-02T08:39:00.000-08:00

As firm believers in community building, or in this case community growing, we find ourselves spending much of our spare time volunteering.

Part of this is serving on volunteer boards for non-profit organizations to help other passionate community builders shape their dreams into reality.

Right now we are President and Secretary with the Jubilee Community Gardens, which is what this post is about.

The two beautiful people in the picture above are Ken and Rose, two passionate gardeners who have been involved with JCG since it was created.

Despite being two of the more "seasoned" gardeners in the 40+ membership, they are by far the two most active. They can be found at the garden most days during the season, shoveling compost, tending the communal garden and passing on years of invaluable knowledge.

This year we felt it was important their hard work be recognized, so the Golden Trowel Award was created.

They epitomize selfless volunteerism and are the reason why Jubilee Community Garden is a success.

Thanks, Ken and Rose.

Your hard work is inspiring.

Recycling Compact Flourescent Lights

2011-02-01T17:32:00.000-08:00

When it comes to green, really, there's Kermit, Oscar, broccoli and you.

Heck, you changed your bulbs, man...

It may have taken 10 years to get those LEDs on the Xmas tree, and the result was less-than-dazzling, but you did it.

You now have glowing, curly, pig-tailed CFLs in every socket.

So, in the spirit of of the Holy Rs and keeping pace in the race to reduce waste, any ideas what you do when these energy-saving light-shedders shed light no more?

Here in Cowichan, you have some options.

Many of the home renovation shops — RONA, Home Hardware, Home Depot — have programs where you can return the bulbs to be recycled. There's no fee but call ahead to make sure they take all sizes.

For the tube fluorescents, try Schnitzer Steel Pacific or Bings Creek Transfer Station.
There's a charge to recycle them, but it's less than the cost of throwing them in the landfill.

The New Stratas Fear: Missing out on Curbside Compost Service

2011-01-28T07:52:00.000-08:00

You may have heard that, beginning this March, residents within the bubbling metropolis of Duncan B.C. will be receiving curbside compost pickup service.

Exciting news, to be sure.

Every residential dwelling — a.k.a. single family home — within the city limits will automatically get this privilege.

People living in apartment buildings and strata complexes, however, will not.

It's not because the city has a vendetta against multi-family dwellings. Apartments and stratas are considered commercial properties in the eyes of the tax collectors, so they are excluded from the municipally offered service.

Worry Not, Stratas!

We're here for you.

Cowichan Recyclists offers an extremely cost effective, clean and efficient curbside pickup service for stratas and apartments, too.

Just because the city can't deliver the service to you doesn't mean you can't compost with the rest of them.

Give us a call or e-mail and we can help you move toward zero waste.

Bike Maintenance: Maintenant or Mañana?

2011-01-26T21:58:00.000-08:00

Bike maintenance is important, no doubt about it.

It's also something I wish I was passionate about.

Turns out I'm not.

I wouldn't go as far as saying wrenching makes me wretch, but it definitely falls prey to the pull of gravity more often than other tasks, sinking to the bottom of the to-do list time and time again.

202 days ago, this beauty nail took its toll on my rear Kevlar tire.

198 days ago, I replaced the tube.

The following 180 days were pure gravy — I'm pretty sure I didn't even put air in the tire.

Then, 18 days ago, the inevitable happened. The 6-month-old tube finally worked its way through the nail-torn hole in the tread, letting loose a depressing sigh as it slowly deflated in front of me.

My solution was obvious — use Katie's old, small, rusted mountain bike instead.

After nearly three weeks of slogging around on knobby tires with my knees hitting my ears, I'd had just about enough. But I didn't actually stop until her rear rack lost a nut and started dragging on the ground, making the bike inoperable.

Damn!

So here it is, just after 10 p.m. on a Wednesday night, and I've just come in from replacing my tube (which I bent the valve on) and tread (which I'm fairly certain I put on backwards) in the darkness of City Square.

Is procrastination worth it? I dunno.

I'll tell you what I think after spending the next six-months riding on a backwards tire with a bent, slowly leaking valve.

Extra! Extra! 3R's all about it!

2011-01-25T22:46:00.000-08:00

I came across this photo today while spending time marveling at how fast time is flying and doing a little relaxing reminiscing.

Maybe it was the fact that this week, Gretz —The Great One — is marking his 50-year milestone. Maybe because he is now officially more than halfway to the revered 99, I meandered through pictures of yore.
Or maybe it was the impending marking of another set goal date. I'd marked February as a time for change and change is rarely tardy.

Whatever the reason, my flighty mind lit upon this picture and made me think, hmmm...how poetic.

I took this photo while working as a reporter/photographer for the Cowichan News Leader Pictorial when photography was my job and recycling was my hobby. I climbed as far as I could into the CVRD multi-bin to capture some diligent eco-warrior recycling my freshly-written prose.

And now, more than five years after snapping the photo, I'm on the outside of the bin looking in.

Recycling is my paid gig. Photography is a dusty hobby. And writing is, as always, somewhere nearby.

Whether you see it in the continuity of the recycling symbol or the idea of art mimicking life mimicking art, it's pretty rare to end up far from where you originally began. But taking that journey is worth it.

Duncan Curbside Compost Launch Delayed

2011-01-22T06:58:00.000-08:00

Some Duncan folks might think this is rotten news, but when you're dealing with compost, that's bound to happen from time to time.

Duncan's Curbside Compost Pickup program is being delayed by a month.

The key word here is delayed. It is by no means canceled.

The reason? The special-order split-container truck needed to propel the City of Duncan into the neighbourhood of zero-waste is taking its time getting here.

Once the truck arrives, we can begin the program, and work toward reducing each household's waste by 35 per cent on average. Cool!

March 1st is the new start date.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Cutting Carbon in Cowichan

2011-01-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, with a trailer full of recycling, standing in the cool, cool rain outside Gillingham Cabinets I got to talking with the conscientious company's environmental champion Duncan Wilcock.

He was telling me about some of the straightforward steps the business took to reduce their carbon footprint by more than half.

And it all started with him signing up to take the Carbon Smart program.

With an eye on cutting costs and cutting carbon, the program helps businesses assess their current operations and find environmentally sound solutions to meet some of their diverse needs.

The program is coming to Cowichan!

Cowichan Valley Regional District and Pacific Carbon Trust are bringing the course to the area but businesses have to act fast.

The space is limited to 10.

After speaking with Wilcock, it seems the program has truly catapulted Gillingham Cabinets into a new paradigm — one where environmental benefits are tightly tied to economic benefits.

Register at www.climatesmartbusiness.com

Cycling fuel — what goes in your tank?

2011-01-20T07:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I met up with Recyclist Patrick at the Duncan Garage to have a chat about recycling. He was chowing down on a delicious-looking organic cinnamon bun because he had used up most of his fuel.
And that got me thinking about the best foods to keep a cyclist going.

For the past three-and-a-half years we've been spending large portions of our days in the saddle.

And when you propel yourself around by pedal-power, energy levels are most definitely worth monitoring.

For me, starting the day with a heaping, hot bowl of old fashioned oatmeal topped with a handful of nuts, a couple scoops of hemp protein powder, some banana and some berries and I'm good to go until at least 10 a.m.

Then I tend to keep myself moving with anything I can get my hands on — cookies, cake, chocolate — until noon when I eat a couple of tuna sandwiches.
And, I can tell you, I'm starving again by 2 p.m.

I'd love to know what other all-day cyclists are putting in their tanks in the morning.

Happy riding!

Taking Pause from a Great Idea

2011-01-18T22:48:00.000-08:00

We had to break some sad news to a couple who called us to their home today to recycle some of their accumulated garage detritus.

Fortunately, we had only told them the good news minutes before, so their emotional investment was more flash-excitement than deep-rooted ecstasy.

The good news?

Recently the Cowichan Valley Regional District started accepting Styrofoam for recycling at Bings Creek Transfer Station.

The foam is dealt with by a non-profit organization out of Nanaimo with a mobile compacting machine.

The sad news?

It appears the program has been so popular and the response so great, for whatever reason the amount of material is not being dealt with fast enough.

So, at this point the CVRD's bins are chock-o-block full and we were told they are no longer accepting it. At least not right now.

We hope this changes.

The idea is obviously one whose time has come. Hopefully the mobile compactor will come too.

Until then, we can still find a home for your Styrofoam if you'd like it recycled.

Idle Thoughts

2011-01-17T22:09:00.000-08:00

When it comes to blogging, sometimes I need a kick in the proverbial tailpipe to get typing.

Today I received more than my fair share of inspiration.

It came in the form of pollution, puffing and wheezing its way out from the ass of an idling diesel crew cab parked at the recycling depot. (Coincidentally, the vehicle was also driven by an ass, which goes to show that nothing escapes the encompassing grip of the circle of life, not even those who are trying to squash it.)

Anyhow, after an energetic, sun-filled day of recycling, Katie and I congregated at Schnitzer Steel Pacific to unload for the final time. Schnitzer Steel provides a place for the public to come and drop their recyclables, mostly without cost.

The public takes advantage of this because, well, frankly, recycling will save the world. At the very least it beats throwing trash in the river.

So there we are, breathing deeply and feeling lively at the end of a healthy day of work, when a massive truck and trailer pulls up. Without shutting off his motor, this guy disappears into the office and doesn't come out for more than 10 minutes.

I'm sure he was having a great time, regaling the staff with stories of how he once was mistaken for a pylon, or how he kept losing to his neighbour's goat at Scrabble.

Us poor suckers in the yard, however, were quietly choking to death on pickup particulate.

When he did emerge from the office, this prince among polluters went about his business of dropping off his recycling. His truck, meanwhile, continued to emit.

Katie and I, meanwhile, continued to gasp for air.

Seriously, I can't fathom the disconnect between recycling and the rest of the environment for some people.

That one idling truck not only canceled out any Mother Nature Brownie points this guy could have earned from doing his own free recycling, I think it ended up costing him about $5 worth of fuel.

City of Duncan has adopted an anti-idling bylaw for their fleet of vehicles and Lake Cowichan is considering it.

Maybe our recycling friend will get the hint when more municipalities get on board.

Cowichan Valley Citizen Editorial

2010-11-16T21:24:00.000-08:00

Everyone needs curbside organics collection

The Citizen

Published: Friday, November 12, 2010

Well it's about time.

Finally, one area in the Cowichan Valley (excluding Ladysmith) is instituting curbside organics collection.

We applaud the City of Duncan for getting on board with eliminating compostable materials from the waste stream.

As stated in the article in today's Citizen, by taking away all of the meat scraps, pizza boxes, and other kitchen waste, Duncan can expect to cut down on the amount of garbage headed for the landfill by 35 to 40 per cent.

That is an incredible number, and one we hope the other municipalities and electoral areas in the region are taking a good, hard look at.

Here in the Valley we currently have a very undesirable solution to waste -- we ship it out of town. Out of sight, out of mind.

It is unlikely we will be able to continue to do this indefinitely, which means we will be in for a shock when we are forced to face our waste, so to speak.

Look at all the outcry over where to locate a waste transfer station in the south end of the Valley.

Imagine the difficulty of trying to locate an actual landfill -- it boggles the mind.

Add to that the fact that we are far behind here in terms of diverting organics from the waste stream, and you see the need quite clearly for us to pull our socks up and get with the times.

Even Ladysmith, which has now been collecting compostables at the curb for several years, was late to the party compared to most of Canada.

From the Maritimes to Toronto, municipalities have been collecting and composting kitchen waste and other organics for more than a decade.

These programs have worked very well. Some have even included yard and garden waste in their organics pickup, thereby eliminating much of the problem of backyard burning.

We were thoroughly disappointed to hear the Town of Lake Cowichan back away from their plan to institute a similar organics collection scheme in recent months.

The issue, apparently, was one of cost.

We think that we are rapidly coming to the point where we will not be able to afford not to -- much like Victoria is finally having to bite the bullet and properly treat its sewage before it gets pumped out into our coastal waters.

Gone are the days when it was okay to empty your oil down the nearest storm drain or into the nearest ditch. Gone are the days when it was commonplace to just take all of your garbage out into the backyard and burn it anytime you felt like it.

These are not things for which we should be nostalgic.

It's time for the whole Valley to follow Duncan and Ladysmith.

Cowichan Valley Citizen Compost Coverage

2010-11-13T08:44:00.000-08:00

Duncan coming for meat scraps, pizza boxes

Katie Harris of the Cowichan Recyclists demonstrates how Duncan residents will be able to take part in the upcoming wide-ranging compost pick-up program, expected to begin in February. Aaron Bichard photo

Kevin Rothbauer, The Citizen

Published: Friday, November 12, 2010

The City of Duncan will take a major step in the war against waste early in 2011 when it rolls out a curbside composting program alongside the already-successful recycling program.

Beginning in February, residents will be able to deposit a surprisingly wide variety of organic materials in 48-litre green containers each week to be composted on Vancouver Island, rather than ending up in a landfill in Washington state.

"It's something we've been looking at doing for some time," said Duncan mayor Phil Kent. "The waste we do export from the Valley has a significant cost. This will reduce the cost of waste management and it will be an opportunity to have the waste used for positive purposes."

Similar programs have been successful in other Island communities, including Ladysmith and Nanaimo. The diversion of organic waste has seen household garbage decrease by an average of 35 to 40 per cent.

"We have a program that is time-tested in other communities," said Kent. "It should work."

The list of acceptable items is long and not entirely obvious, including fruits and vegetables, all food scraps, cakes, cookies and candy (without wrappers), pizza boxes, food-soiled wax paper, milk cartons, and wooden stir sticks.

"The thing to focus on is that it goes further than backyard composting," said Aaron Bichard of the Cowichan Recyclists, who are working with the City to educate and prepare the public for the program. "It's meat, grease and cooked foods as well."

The outdoor containers, Bichard advised, will have latches on them to prevent animals from getting in.

Waste will be picked up in a compartmentalized truck. Compost and unlimited recycling will be collected one week, followed by compost and a 77-litre garbage can on other weeks. From there, material will go to the Bings Creek Transfer Station, then on to International Compost Corporation at Duke Point.

The highlight of the program is the ease with which residents can participate.

"It's going to be very simple," said Bichard.

Initially, the program will be restricted to about 1,250 single-family residences. Commercial operations and multi-family buildings will be left out for the time being, but Kent said the program may be re-evaulated to include them as well. The mayor noted that there are businesses that cater to commercial composting.

Residents of Duncan can expect to receive their compost kits -- comprised of a kitchen-scrap catcher, a 48-litre curbside tote and a sample of 100 per cent compostable bags -- early in the new year. In the meantime, information on the program will be available throughout at the Duncan Farmers Market, Christmas Chaos and City Hall, and residents are encouraged to contact the City with feedback.

2010-11-11T08:49:00.001-08:00

Cowichan News Leader Pictorial - News

Curbside composting coming to Duncan

Katie Harris demonstrates the compost kit that will be delivered to 1,200 Duncan homes in February. Andrew Leong

Published: November 10, 2010 10:00 AM
Updated: November 10, 2010 10:33 AM

Duncan homeowners can recycle organic kitchen wastes — spanning food scraps and bones to dairy wastes and greasy pizza boxes — under a curbside-compost collection program starting in February.

The goal is reducing by 40-odd per cent the tonnage of trash city taxpayers shell out to ship — with the rest of Cowichan’s garbage — to a Washington State landfill.

Duncan’s curbside program will see about 1,200 homes given a free curbside compost kit comprising a kitchen scrap catcher, a 48-litre curbside tote, and a sample of 100 per cent compostable bags.

Kits will be delivered by early 2011.

Contactor Cowichan Recyclists will stage educational displays and sessions about how the composting program works.

The city’s curbside setup costs are about $44,000, including advertising and educational exhibits, but council hopes most , or all of that will be saved in shipping bills, city staff said.

The menu of Duncan’s kitchen wastes will be shipped to International Compost Corporation’s facility at Duke Point.

Those household organics, plus those now collected in Ladysmith and Nanaimo, will be processed into a compost fertilizer.

Mayor Phil Kent said curbside composting makes a host of financial and environmental sense.

“It’s a program the city has been looking at for some time.

“One issue was trying to find a low- or no-emission vehicle to do it but we were ahead of the curve so we’ll use high-efficiency vehicles running on biodiesel.”

Council hoped to join a curbside program being mulled by the Cowichan Valley Regional District, but financial issues have delayed the CVRD’s program by about a year.

“We also had to make decisions about our vehicles,” Kent added.

“We decided to bring this program on line in-house and recycling is the best approach for taxpayers.”

The organics waste drive is not initially offered to apartments, town homes and businesses, Kent said, but those places could be added later.

He wants folks to realize short-term pain in set-up costs will spell long-term gains in reduced trash costs — and Duncan’s carbon footprint.

“We want to reduce our greenhouse gases and our dependence on purchasing resources,” he said, “and we may be able to realize revenue opportunities for bio-gas and district energy.

“We’ve looked at other communities who’ve done this and learned from their lessons and mistakes so we don’t repeat those things.”

For more, call 250-746-5321.

reCYCLISTS on CBC Victoria

2010-09-20T08:57:00.000-07:00

Jason Adams of reFUSE ( www.reFUSE.ca ) and Aaron Bichard of Cowichan Recyclists ( www.cowichanrecyclists.com ) have teamed together to form reCYCLISTS.
In the interview below they talk to Gregor Craigie on CBC Victoria about the launch of the bike-based compost and recycling service in partnership with the Downtown Victoria Business Association.

Bike Parking in Duncan

2010-08-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

Garage tenants applaud new bike parking
Sarah Simpson, The Citizen
Published: Friday, August 06, 2010
Those headed to the Duncan Garage can leave their cars at home now that the City of Duncan has installed a dedicated bicycle parking spot right outside the big yellow building.
"By all accounts, so far it's a hit," said Mayor Phil Kent.
He said the bike rack had been located at another spot in town and was being underutilized. Council jumped at the chance to repurpose it in a high traffic location.
That's just what Aaron Bichard of Cowichan Recyclists, this year's Bike to Work Week coordinator, wants to hear.
He said he hopes the initiative continues.
"It's encouraging to see the City take an important step toward building cycling infrastructure by providing dedicated bike parking, especially in a place that's frequented by cyclists," he said Tuesday. "The way to make it safer on the roads for cyclists is to encourage more people to cycle, and bike racks are a good first step in acknowledging that cyclists exist in the community."
There's never enough bike parking spots said the Duncan Business Improvement Area Society spokesperson MaryAnn Hartley.
"I know that there are some on Station Street that even at 7:30 in the morning, seem to be well used. The more there are, the more it encourages people to ride to downtown," she said.
Not to be greedy but, "More, more, more!" said Nicolette Genier, co-owner of The Community Farm Store inside the Garage.
"We've been begging and really wanting bike parking for a long time," she said. "I'm sure darn happy to see the beginning of bike parking. We would like everybody to ride their bikes downtown. Lots of our staff have been wanting to ride their bikes to work and we actually have nowhere to park them."
"She said with 300-500 customers a day coming through the store, and upwards of 20 staff working at any given time, there's a load of potential at the Garage to reduce vehicle traffic.
"We really want to encourage it, and when we see lots more bike parking then I think we'll go on a real rampage and really start promoting the whole business of 'leave your car at home, you don't need one anyway.'"
Genier said the folks in the building are "just waiting for Phil Kent to turn the whole town into a pedestrian and bike-friendly place to live.
What's more, no vehicle parking spots were lost.
"There was about half a space there that couldn't be used as parking space, so we used that," said Kent.
That's a good thing, said Genier, as she understands the need to maintain a certain level of car parking downtown.
She'd like to see even more bike racks, perhaps in a covered space with some benches, in Charles Hoey Park.
"I think that would work really well," she said.
All in good time, said the Mayor. He noted a more comprehensive active transportation infrastructure plan, which will include other Cowichan local governments, is in the works.

Thanks for the Mention Monday Mag and NewsLeader Pictorial

2010-08-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

A wheely good idea

Pedal-powered recycling will soon be coming to downtown Victoria businesses as Duncan-based Cowichan Recyclists prepares to expand its services to the South Island.

In partnership with local recyclers reFUSE — which offers big-bin recycling and drop-off at its Government Street depot — the Recyclists plan to offer zero-emission bike-and-trailer recycling pick-up around the downtown core.

Recylists’ website shows the company currently has more than 80 commercial clients in Duncan alone and company co-founder Aaron Bichard says they plan to fill a gap in services in Victoria.

“What is currently being offered out there by the bigger companies is that you have to be a certain size business and have a certain amount of space to warrant the service,” he said.

“You need to have space to put bins outside in the alleyways and you have to be generating enough volume that it would be cost-effective to order one of those big bins.

“Whereas we deal with, typically, smaller business, so businesses that maybe don’t have the space to be holding on to their recycling, the businesses that might not be generating as much volume, and we deal with things that aren’t typically picked by the regular services.”

Bichard says Victoria is ready for the Recyclists.

“We’ve done some surveys and questionnaires down in the Victoria business community, and so it looks like they are looking for recycling solutions for smaller businesses—and especially green solutions that are emission-free.

“Victoria’s a very bicycle-friendly city and a city that’s looking for the green eco-friendly option.”

— Jason Youmans

Recycling the Tunes on Earth Day

2010-04-25T11:45:00.001-07:00

The Love Guns lay down the beats for Return It Man.

Wow...those Love Guns are some sharp dressers! Thanks, Marc, Eric and Shane.

Rockin' the beds

2010-04-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

Sounds saucy, I know, but what we're talking about was far from romantic.It's tough to set the mood when sandbags and wire worms are involved.

As co-presidents of Jubilee Community Garden, this year Katie and I along with the other gardeners decided to build a couple of raised beds for people with mobility challenges.

After moving about 600 sandbags (twice!) to use as fill and shoveling more dirt than I care to think about, there was still more work to do.

Gardeners Fred, Ken and Rose (combined age of 250) helped us put the beds together and fill them. At 89, Ken can out-shovel Katie any day.
If it weren't for those three we'd still be there.
The following are a few photos of the festivities.

Leadin' the way by Trailin' behind

2010-01-30T13:43:00.000-08:00

Sing-a-long if you know the words.

Tow, Tow, Tow your groceries slowly 'round the town...lah-de-dum-dee-dum dee doh- sumthing, sumthing FREE!!!

Now we have that song out of the way (an original Recyclists' opus, may we add), we are very excited to tell you about our newest project — Cowichan Community Trailers.

Launched a mere two weeks ago, Cowichan Community Trailers aim is to making biking for utility possible for everyone in the area.

To that end, with funding support provided by Moving on Sustainable Transportation, we've secured six trailers made by Tony's Trailers to be towed behind bikes or electric scooters and made them available for the community to use absolutely free.

In order to participate, people can go to Cowichan Independent Living to sign up for the free membership, then sign the trailers out from there or from Cowichan Green Community.

The trailers can be used for grocery shopping, returning library books, trips to the laundromat, delivering food and flowers, etc. The uses really are endless.

If you've ever spent time circling aimlessly in a full parking lot, searching for a spot to leave your vehicle, you'll appreciate the ease of Cowichan Community Trailers. And you won't have any trouble recognizing them thanks to the logo design by Dale Nigel Goble and the reflective signage made by Greenprint Studios.

For more information visit our website — www.cowichanrecyclists.com/cct — a give us a call at 250-732-3619. We'd love to pass on as much info about this exciting project as we can.

Happy trailering!

Spot the link...

2010-01-25T15:50:00.000-08:00

In an effort to infuse our partners', fellow-recyclers', kindred-cycling-spirits' and, of course, our dear, dear readers' psyches with a little bit of refreshing enjoyment in the dreary winter days, we Recyclists propose the following game for your amusement.

(Drumrollllll) Introducing — SPOT THE LINK!

The rules are fairly simple: What do the following two photos have in common?

The answer...?

a) After hauling the load on the bike, Aaron had the group of Croatian sausage-makers use their techniques to massage his calf muscles.
b) Both the 530-metre sausage and the load on the trailer set world records.
c) The blue aprons in the first photo are Cowichan Recyclists' new uniforms.
d) The amount of pork used to make the world's longest sausage and the weight of bike, rider and trailer is the same — 400 kilograms.

Happy picture sleuthing!

Some Rare Winter Sun

2010-01-18T18:06:00.001-08:00

Just before we headed out on the bikes this morning we saw a patch of blue sky that eventually conquered clouds around it—amazing. As we were surveying that patch of blue, CBC Radio Two was playing this song by an artist called Mayer Hawthorne. Its upbeat tempo put us in a great mood to start the day, and the sun carried us through.

Thought we'd share it with you. Enjoy.

	Mayer Hawthorne - Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin' .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

From the Local Newspaper...

2009-12-26T08:46:00.000-08:00

STYROFOAM RECYCLING NOW AVAILABLE

By Peter Rusland - Cowichan News Leader Pictorial

Published: December 24, 2009 6:00 AM

Styrofoam is perhaps the only waste Cowichan’s successful recycling program doesn’t handle.

But Cowichan Recyclists owners Katie Harris and Aaron Bichard are tapping the Styrofoam market as locals face a Christmas mountain of the petroleum-based plastic that doesn’t fully break down.

“We’ve actually been offering to take customers’ No. 6 Styrofoam for past few months and they’re taking advantage of it,” Bichard said.

Customers pre-arrange for foam pick up, or a drop-off place.

“We only want white, block Styrofoam found around fridges and other appliances, stereos, and toys, so no meat or cookie trays, or Styrofoam with labels on it.

“Our municipalities and the regional district don’t have a way of recycling it because it was cost-prohibitive, but we have an option,” he said.

Recyclists have partnered with local EcoSIP Industries to have the lightweight waste shipped to a mainland plant where it’s turned back into Styrofoam as insulation panels and more.

“It’s 100 per cent recyclable,” stated Bichard.

Folks should call the Recyclists, not eco-housing builder EcoSIP.

“EcoSIP allows us to piggyback our collection with their truck returning to the plant, where the polystyrene will be recycled.”

The Styro-service is part of the Recyclists’ goal to help Cowichan reach zero waste instead of continuing to pay $3 million annually for shipping trash stateside or to the mainland.

Bichard’s optimistic about the local Styro-stream market.

“Already we’ve had a dozen calls from people saying they’ve saved Styrofoam for years and now there’s an option.”

The couple has also approached business-supply giant Staples about taking customers’ No. 6 foam.

Still, ferry and fuel costs remain, and there’s no government dough for disposal costs.

“There are no tax dollars at work here — this is independent of the Cowichan Valley Regional District and municipalities,” Bichard explained.

That’s likely because island Styro-recycling facilities don’t exist, he said, coupled with low public pressure for politicians to ship and recycle it.

For more, call Cowichan Recyclists at 250-732-3619, or visit www.cowichanrecyclists.com.

Cowichan Climate Change Vigil

2009-12-20T09:35:00.001-08:00

On Dec. 12 more than one hundred people gathered in Duncan city square to hold a candlelight vigil, the goal being to bring awareness to the importance of action around climate change.

This song is about Solar Energy with a bit of a holiday flavour.

Enjoy!

How's this for a morning commute?

2009-11-29T04:26:00.000-08:00

A little exercise, a little socializing, and a little liquid cheer to brighten your day before work...

Livin' Life by the Multiplyin' Drop

2009-11-20T22:17:00.000-08:00

The Cowichan Valley has been a soupy mess of late, thanks to a barrage of buckets being dumped from above. (Yes, that's some poor recyling bag drowned in the sewage-riddled stew.)
A too-high tide, coupled with the non-stop rain has made for numerous road closures, more than 300 home evacuations and a world of discomfort for many residents.

Cowichan Recyclists took to the paved waterways to survey the damage and, of course, recycle.

Here's some of what we saw.

Quamichan Middle School

Residents sandbagged their homes but many found it was too little too late.

The driving range became nothing but a water hazard.

The Cowichan River exploded its banks, butting up against the dyke in McAdam Park in Duncan. The measuring stick shows the water has risen half-a-meter since overflowing the river's edge.

Because of all the wetness, our main route to Cowichan Bay was closed, forcing us to take a more vertical approach.
Going down into Cowichan Bay along Bench Road was easy. Coming back up, not so much. This photo on the right is taken at the bottom looking about a third of the way up the incline, and the video below is taken about three-quarters of the way up the hill.

After this, I'm sure no-one will question us if we trade our bikes for camels and move to sandier, more arid climes...

Late is better than never...

2009-11-19T19:44:00.000-08:00

We came across this story done by local star reporter Sarah Simpson while perusing the Cowichan Green Community webpage.

Thought it was worth a (com)post to the blog. We've now diverted a heckuva lot more organics and a curbside program is still yet to appear.

Poll shows 'lukewarm' support for organics collection

Sarah Simpson, The Citizen

Published: Wednesday, June 03, 2009

When polling firm Ipsos Reid questioned 400 Cowichan Valley residents in March of this year, one of the questions asked was whether citizens were willing to pay an additional fee for an expanded curbside recycling program in which all food waste would be picked up regularly and commercially composted.

Despite the continually progressive nature of the Cowichan Valley, and further poll results that show the environment and recycling is of increasing importance, "I would call lukewarm support for that idea," said Ipsos Reid spokesman Kyle Baird on Wednesday evening. "Only four in 10 residents said they would be willing to pay an additional fee."

The numbers shocked Cowichan Green Community's Judy Stafford.

She thought the green-minded people of the Cowichan Valley would be more willing.

"That is surprisingly low," she said Thursday afternoon. "I wonder if it just comes down to people in general feeling a bit of a pinch and maybe at a different time they would have said yes?"

Stafford said people would likely be more receptive to the program if they didn't have to pay for it.

"These are public services," she said. "You look at European countries and these things are just part of life in so many other countries. It should be just a service that is standard. It should just be a part of life."

Stafford suggested implementing the service without a cost to the taxpayer in order to gauge interest and overall costs before asking the community to foot the bill.

"This is something we need to do as a community for the environment and we need to make it easy for people to make that change," she said. "People need to do it. This shouldn't be an optional thing anymore."

For the past three months Cowichan Recyclists has been offering a commercial and residential food waste pickup program in the region.

In the short time and with only a handful of customers, the service has diverted nearly 10 tonnes of material from the long journey to the landfill in Washington State.

Co-owners Katie Harris and Aaron Bichard are disappointed but not surprised at the results of the poll.

"The businesses and residents we have had sign up are the ones who do it because they know it's the right thing to do and they want to reduce their waste," said Bichard. "An organics collection program is an added service, so there will be an added cost, but if you're a business you will see a reduction in your garbage volume and that means reduced garbage fees.

"Many people don't understand that food waste is a valuable resource and can be used instead of buried in a landfill."

Bichard said the Craig Street Brew Pub and Just Jake's restaurant have reduced their garbage by nearly 50 per cent since signing up with the Cowichan Recyclists, and have found the change to be affordable.

"Creating a sustainable community requires individuals to step up and make changes, and separating food waste is a big part of taking this step," Bichard said. "The municipalities can take the lead, but it's up to the individuals to actually make the difference."

B-Train...?

2009-11-04T07:36:00.001-08:00

Nope. Double-A Train! Aaron pulls both trailers on a day other duties took Katie away.

Tony of Tony's Trailers designed a very functional hitch to tire our legs even faster.

Bottles, Bottles Everywhere...

2009-10-27T20:51:00.000-07:00

...and not a drop to drink. (sigh)

There's no denying recycling by bicycle is thirsty work, but please believe us when we tell you we did not empty every bottle in this photo.

Once or twice a month the bottles we inevitably collect get to be too much for our small storage space so we load the trailers and take a ride up to the Cowichan Valley Bottle Depot.

We'd likely go more regularly if it wasn't uphill.

Since the Terry Fox run we've been dedicating the proceeds of the refundables we collect to the Terry Fox Foundation for cancer research.

So keep on tilting them back, folks. It's going to a great cause.

Pedal to Petal

2009-10-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

We want to tell you about these guys, these bike-lovin', earth-savin' compost folk spreading the word on dirt in Victoria.

Like us, they pick up food scraps from residences for compost and, like us, they use bikes and trailers.

And their name is pretty fantastic...

Check out their blog here.

This is How We Move It

2009-10-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of October, the Cowichan Gr een Community were slated to move to a larger office. The creators of Fruit Save, Grow A Row, Cowichan Car Share Co-op and numerous other enviro-initiatives have grown too big for their hemp-sewn britches and needed more space.

Given that the staff there are eco-warriors and their new office space is about two blocks away (181 Station Street), they decided to do a zero carbon move.

What does that even mean, you say?

Well, they used Cowichan Recyclists' bike trailers — two from the Recyclists and two from the soon to be implemented Cowichan Community Trailer Project — and a bunch of volunteer muscle.

They moved desks, books, shelves, paper, signs, posters, displays, seeds, etc. : all using no oil or fuel.

It was apparently quite a sight for the two hours it took with numerous volunteers traipsing back and forth pushing trailers full of stuff through the streets and alleyways.
Unfortunately, the staff there were so busy not producing carbon they forgot to take photos.

Here are a couple pics from when we moved a book shelf for CGC into their new office a few days earlier using the bike and trailer.

It's great to see some people are walking the walk toward zero carbon, even if it means a bit more planning is involved.

Recyclists' Summer Reading List

2009-10-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

Right now, if you were to quickly glimpse into one of Cowichan Recyclists' raindrop-spotted bike mirrors, you'd still be able to discern that the gorgeous beauty with the sunny disposition fading into the distance is, in fact, Summer.
The good weather stayed around for longer than we expected, and we tried our hardest to enjoy it while it was here.
We have to admit, there weren't too many days spent sitting 'round in the apartment, floggin' the ol' blog box, typing updates and sharing stories.
But now that the sun is safely tucked away in the proper West Coast closet, hidden by a fresh order of grey clouds, we can get back to regaling you with recycling rhymes and adventures.

Some of the Summer's best-selling titles and synopses include:

Childe John to the Dark Compost Came —

Taking place in the middle of summer, nephew John took some time from his camping trip at Gordon Bay on Cowichan Lake to help uncle Aaron pick up food waste and organics. His muscles and hard work ethic made the job seem like play, and the duo quickly finished to head back to the lake for the rest of the vacation.

Ode to the Greasy Urn —

Aaron discovers the slippery nature of buckets full of bacon fat as he unintentionally fills the back of his truck with the goopy soup. Clean-up would be no problem if only his gloves weren't drowning under the freshly tipped bucket of pork slop. Will the skinny, fat-covered Recyclist learn the value of bungee cords or will he repeat his "slip-up" for the remainder of the year? Read on....

The Rime

of the Awkward Styrofoam —

Since Cowichan Recyclists began two years ago, it's been a goal of the protagonists to find a solution for recycling Styrofoam here in Cowichan. The pesky plastic product has a recycling symbol stamped right on it but was not accepted in any local recycling program...until now! Join Katie and Aaron as they wrestle the bulky, light, bright, white unsightly blight on all that is right, and find a solution for the packaging pollution.

Spring

2009-04-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

It's the middle of April and spring might actually be here. It's been above 10 degrees at least twice so far this month - or we've caught Claire Martin twice saying so (yes, we have TV — playoffs are here). As much as we like to hear bleats from baby animals in nearby farm fields, and spot colourful crocuses stirring the soil, and certainly we agree those grad-dress pink blossoms are truly delightful, for us spring brings a different kind of recycling experience.

Last week we dared to leave our long johns in the closet. We look forward to making it official: "no mitt Mondays", "toque-less Tuesdays", and moving those LJ's from a top spot on the closet shelf to a box at the back of the storage space under the stairs — a space upon which we recently bestowed a popular spring tradition. We'd like to clear our pockets of the Kleenex required to curb that continuous winter drip. It's April and we haven't been warm since mid-September last year.

Recycling in rain, wind and snow isn't always unbearable. There was that one cold January day when the white stuff was more friend than foe. Katie was sorting recycling at Steel Pacific when she reached into the bag for the next item and the object slipped (or was dropped) from her grasp. When sorting you don't expect to have your hand covered in a wet, slimy, and yet so aromatic goop. Spaghetti sauce. That glass container must have snuck by the "Clean Recyclables ONLY" sign. If it wasn't for the dirty snow piled around Steel Pacific's yard, Katie might have had a saucy hand all day. A quick dip and wiggle of her hand in the cold snowy pile and she was back in basil...er...business.

Also, not having hose access we've come to rely on frequent winter downpours to clean out our totes. Just leave the lids off the bins for a couple of days during winter, let them fill up with rainwater and they're as good as new.

And if it weren’t for the experiences acquired on the winter streets we wouldn't have been able to pass on a practical fashion tip to friends. John and Sandra from Vancouver were visiting other friends in Victoria, so we joined them and our pal, Tasha for brunch one Sunday. City people do brunch. Sandra is extraordinarily urban: stylish, a producer for a TV station, she takes the bus to work (although being born and bred in the 'burbs she does own a car). You'll never catch her in a tent unless she's part of a National Geographic tour of Bhutan and there are lotus petals dotting the pathway to her tent. She attends art class where she sips red wine from a Juliet balcony while painting a picture of Buddha. Sandra and Tasha had spent the previous day shopping: Sandra needed new boots - the winter's heavy snow had totally trashed her black leather (insert name brand here. We missed that part, or else didn't understand what language she was speaking). Katie was able to offer a tip to save her friend a few bucks for next year: Canadian Tire black rubber gumboots for $12.99 will last a lifetime. (Note: this is not an official store guarantee).

Recyclists earn Best New Business Award

2009-04-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

Much to our shock and surprise, on April 8 Cowichan Recyclists were recognized at the Duncan Business Improvement Association Society's AGM for the Best New Business of 2009.

President Garry Macgregor of Volume One Bookstore presented the award following an extremely kind speech about our service.

We're fortunate to have such amazing support from the business community we work with, and have been continuously amazed at the attention and success our service has had in the eyes of the community.

It's encouraging to know that we can have success by not comprising our values and are able to provide a service that is apparently appreciated by those we are aiming to help.

Congratulations as well to Susan and Nicolette at the Community Farm Store and Corfield Cafe for earning the award for Best Business of 2009.

Also congrats to landlord Geoff Maxwell for earning the Community Spirit award for his commitment to making downtown a more vibrant place.

Thanks everyone for your support.

Cowichan Carbon Busters coverage gets national recognition

2009-03-28T13:46:00.001-07:00

Following article published March 27, 2009 in News Leader Pictorial.

Two national golds for News Leader Pictorial

Two articles published in the News Leader Pictorial last year were judged the best of their kind in Canada.

Peter Rusland and Aaron Bichard received gold in Best Environmental Writing, Circulation 10,000 and Over in the annual Canadian Community Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Awards.

Rusland penned a series of stories covering the formation of the Cowichan Carbon Busters and their efforts in reducing their personal carbon footprint and that of their community.

Bichard — a former News Leader Pictorial reporter turned Carbon Buster — capped the series off with an opinion piece talking about the effort first-hand.

Meanwhile, John McKinley was awarded gold in the category Local Editorial, Circulation 12,500 and Over for a piece he wrote about the battle surrounding Buckley the mini-horse.

McKinley took silver in the same category the previous year.

The News Leader Pictorial also received a Blue Ribbon — signifying overall general excellence — from the awards program, which honours the best work of the CCNA’s more than 600 member newspapers from across the country.

The paper is also a five-time nominee in the separately judged B.C./Yukon Community Newspaper Association Ma Murray Awards, which will be presented next weekend in Vancouver.

** Note: Peter Rusland was also named a top-three finalist in the B.C./ Yukon Community Newspaper Association Ma Murray awards for his coverage of Cowichan Carbon Busters. **

What? You bought a truck????

2009-03-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

'tis true. 'tis true.

We, of the bike-ridin', outdoor-lovin', clean-air breathin' ilk, went out and bought a (gasp) truck.
Not just any truck. A North American built Chevy.

But, it's the imports that are leading the charge in fuel consumption, you say.
And it's the Fords, the Dodges, the Chevys that are plaguing the roads with monster trucks, sucking the earth dry of oil, you say.

Well, it turns out back in the early 80s, Chevrolet put out a small pick-up truck with a 2.2 litre Isuzu diesel engine. Only and handful were made for a couple a years, and we fortunately stumbled upon one.

So now we have a diesel truck running off locally made B100 Bio-Diesel made from waste vegetable oil collected from local restaurants.
It's kind of like completing, or at least complimenting, the circle of waste.

We pick up organics from restaurants like the Craig St. Brew Pub — who are also doing their part for the environment by brewing local beer, allowing folks like us to do our part for the environment by drinking it. The oil that comes from their restaurants powers our truck to keep their food waste out of the landfill, which in in turn is used to grow more food, which they can, in turn, cook in oil. Phew!
The foot-bone is connected to the head-bone, or so they say.

With K's trusty Jetta on its way to becoming a gigantic pop can, the truck has become our only vehicle.

Good thing we don't have many formal affairs to go to, dressed up fancy-like in our purdy gumboots....

Sayulita Recicla

2009-03-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

Photos of Sayulita Recycling

Just north of Puerto Vallarta sits a small surfing town named Sayulita. It's a mix of wealthy gringoes, tourists and local fishers, living off the sea.

It's a typical, lazy-yet-exciting, Mexican village with one very atypical characteristic.

The folks in Sayulita have a public recycling program.

At just over a year old and started by a few expats from around the globe, the program has a long way to go before it is used correctly.

Bins line the streets and on any given day in the morning, a gas guzzling truck can be seen careering through the cobbled streets, with shirtless and open-toed show wearing workers spilling the mix of garbage and recyclables into the back.

The program is funded in part by the Punta de Mita Foundation, but most of the operating funds are collected from the sweaty brows of volunteers.

A bodega to sort the recycling has recently been built just outside of town, and now a compactor and scale have been purchased.The program is gaining steam and is something we are very interested in.

When we arrived in Sayulita for a 10-day vacation/recycling research project, we were fortunate to get to know the organizers and workers and discuss ways to help.

Aaron spent a morning riding around picking up recycling with the crew, but the work he did was more for the experience then to help with his labour.

Ramon, the owner of the recycling company, has been very interested in switching his vehicles to bio-diesel, so we facilitated a meeting with our local bio-diesel guru and good friend, Brian, who went to Sayulita a few months later.

The discussion has begun on how we can help bring recycling and bio-diesel to the hamlets of Mexico. Hopefully we will figure something out soon.

Cowichan News Leader Column

2009-03-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

This is Aaron's piece that was part of the Best in Environmental Writing win - our trip to Mexico was in December '08.

From where I’m sitting — a sun-soaked patio on a loping hillside dotted with banana trees and coconut palms, a siesta-shrouded town lazily swinging to my right while red-backed tourists frolic in a frenzy of holiday excitement on the pristine beach below — it’s easy to imagine a winter vacation to Mexico is nothing short of positive.

The town of Sayulita, sitting humbly on the Pacific coast just north of Puerto Vallarta seems a dream away from life in Canada, where my focus of late has been on trying to reduce my personal environmental impacts and contribute to a sustainable community to call home.

My partner, Katie Harris, and I spend our days riding our bicycles to pick up recycling from businesses in Cowichan, a service now keeping more than three tonnes of waste out of the landfill per month using emission-free transportation. Building on that success, we have recently begun servicing apartment complexes and stratas, businesses and residences to collect organic materials.

As individuals, a couple months back we joined Cowichan Carbon Busters to examine ways to reduce our personal environmental impacts even further, and have in eight short weeks managed to reduce our carbon footprint by 60 per cent.

Yet here we are in the middle of winter in Mexico, eating tamales off Styrofoam plates, and sipping cervesas from glass bottles we know are destined for the landfill. We’re so fresh off the plane the heavy weight of jet-fuel derived carbon emissions makes it hard for full relaxation to occur.
There’s an environmental cost to everything we do and flying puts us all in debt.

Travel was a big focus of Carbon Bustin’ discussions and no one could agree on what justified flying the friendly skies. Was it to visit a sick mother? Maybe it was a chance to skydive? Or does making your way around the world starting programs to combat climate change mean it’s OK to recline your seat and enjoy a pack or two of pretzels?

The answer, unless we want to get into some serious stone throwing from inside our glass greenhouses, is to leave that choice up to the individual.

It may seem like a conclusion of convenience coming from a sinner with sand between his toes, but laying charges from atop a holier-than-thou pedestal hurts the cause, making eco-novices turn red instead of green, embarrassed to be caught trying the wrong approach.

While there’s no doubt those who do nothing are in need of goading and engagement, pointing fingers is divisive and counter-productive.

In Sayulita, a small group of like-minded individuals have for the past year been introducing the concept of recycling, a tall order in a country where taco stands cover their plates with plastic bags to avoid washing them.

I had the chance to help out during one of the pickups and work alongside two extremely passionate guys — Ramon and Octavio — so eager to make a difference they tore open fly-riddled garbage bags to look for cardboard, plastic and aluminum among the dirty diapers and rotting food.

These two have no time to lay judgment or be indignant that storeowners don’t recycle — they are too busy trying to educate and explain the concept in general, something we at home take for granted.

In Canada, we sometimes find ourselves discouraged with the slow moving mechanism of change.

Octavio and Ramon deal with it by forgetting about the actions of others and getting down to action themselves.

If each us do a little bit, we’ll see a difference. It’s a million small accomplishments that will lead to the biggest change.

No, we weren't knocked off our bikes...

2009-03-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

...nor lying in a ditch somewhere, nor lost in the blowing sands of Africa, trying to find the much-famed, much-sought after Bicycle Tube of Tutankhamun. (Legend says it was made from the molted skin of a magical serpent of the Nile and can never be punctured.)
Simply put — we've been busy.

And now we're back to bloggin', with reams to report.

To start:

Carbon Bustin':

The Cowichan Carbon Busters finished the course, each member reducing their carbon footprint substantially. Guy Dauncey then got to work revising the program to an eight-week course and has since been trying to gather ten more groups to pilot the new curriculum, with the intent of getting it to the masses after that.

On a side-note, Cowichan News Leader Pictorial reporter Peter Rusland, who had written a series of five stories on the successes and failures of the Carbon Busters was named a top-three finalist in Environmental Writing for his work at the BC Yukon Community Newspaper Association's Ma Murray Awards.
Rusland also entered the series, along with a year-end column on Carbon Bustin' written by reporter-cum-recyclist Aaron, in the national Canadian Community Newspaper Association annual awards and the duo won Gold for Best Environmental Writing.

Recycling, Mexico Style:

Towards the end of December the Recyclists hopped a plane and flew to Sayulita, Mexico, where we took part in the year-old recycling program. Aaron got the chance to cruise around with Ramon and Octavio, the two workers who picked up the recycling on a daily basis. Photos here.
It was a bit of a different experience but one we'd like to continue to be involved in.

We buried (err, crushed) a friend:

After 14 years of good, reliable (oh, how rosy memories can become) companionship, Katie's Jetta decided to pack it in. It is likely now numerous Japanese vaccuum cleaners or maybe a robot. That'd be kick-ass!

We own a B100-runnin', WVO-luvin' truck:

Finally, we have a place to hang our gun rack...oh, wait a second...
It may not be the newest vehicle, nor the quietest, and the way it fills the street with the smell of burnt fries when we fire it up can at times be embarrassing, but it can haul stuff...like bikes, and organic waste, and gumboots.

Our trailer project landed us in Montreal:

For a whirlwind four-day getaway, we were flown to Montreal to talk Sustainable Transportation and met some incredible people, working on incredible projects. The syrup was flowing, the Habs were scoring, and we realized Duncan may just not be the centre of all things urban as we once thought. There's more to culture, apparently, then the bacteria we throw in our homemade yogurt...who knew?

Black Tie Affair:

In March the Recyclists were recognized in the Cowichan business community with a Black Tie Award for Best Home Based Business. We were shocked, and honoured, and extremely pleased to be involved. We were also proud to be recognized the same evening as our friends and commercial organics clients Lance and Liz of Craig St. Brew Pub who won Business Achievers. Needless to say the celebrations centred around local brew.

Solar Thermal Workshop:

The Carbon Busters organized an information workshop to get the word on Solar Thermal out to the masses. More than 200 people showed up to learn about the technology and 77 signed up to switch their homes to Solar hot water.

From now on, hopefully we will be able to keep a more regular update going.

Please stay tuned.

Week Four: Keep It Warm (and Cool)

2008-10-20T19:31:00.000-07:00

Looking around the room in our Carbon Bustin' circle, bathed in the glow of our own infinite wisdom and sheltered by the warm blanket of greenhouse gases, we decided to merge weeks four and five together. We collectively agreed we have no time to waste.
Carbon bust we must we cussed.

Week four is about keeping yourself and your home a decent temperature without using energy, week five about changing the way you heat your home.
Seems like they go together like a toque and a sweater.

Of course, it is never a straight sell when it comes to comfort, and there are always those who feel the cold more than others.
And not all of us can figure out ways to move carbon-free to warmer climes, although we may try and try and try.

So looking around our apartment, what could we do to make our home a more comfortable temperature without sparking up the old gas fireplace?

Well, the first thing we did was take off our shoes and socks.

If stripping off your toes clothes seems counter intuitive to warming yourself, fear not— You aren't the only traveller feeling lost on the path to carbon neutrality.

The baring of our soles led us to find a steady stream of cold air blowing through the living room along the floor, straight through one door and out the other.
Identifying the places where the cold gets in and the heat escapes is the first step — plugging it is next.

So high on our list of things to do, right up there somewhere between getting a new pair of socks that doesn't have holes and moving to a beach in Mexico, is keeping the cool breezes blowing outside by weather-proofing our place.

Well, it might be just below moving to a beach in a Mexico. We'll have to see how motivated we get.

The Accidental Vegan

2008-10-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

One of Guy Dauncey's favourite statistics is the following: a vegetarian using a car for transportation has a lower carbon footprint than a meat eater riding a bike.

His point is not that vegetarians are weak from lack of protein and can't muster the strength to pedal; he's saying that compared to car emissions, eating meat is a bigger contributor to greenhouse gases.

This is due to the high methane production expelled from cows, the fertilizers used to grow the feed for the cattle and the large amount of land needed to grow meat versus vegetables.

The only real question is — where on a bike do you hang your gun rack, beef boy?

As Katie and I are mostly vegetarian — we empathize with Buster Lynn's friend who believes that for Thanksgiving, turkey becomes an honorary vegetable — we wanted to test ourselves with veganism and eliminate any cattle-connection we had.

Katie has dabbled in the past and survived on a diet of rice, crackers and ketchup. Our goal was to actually eat food we enjoy — not that ketchup isn't an enjoyable staple — and eat vegan for two days.

I've got to admit, it wasn't as easy as we thought it would be.

When we look in our fridge dairy stares back at us. Yogurt, cream for coffee, eggs and the biggest contributor, cheese.

For me, the first day was easy. I didn't eat until 1 p.m., then had an apple. Then I cooked beans and rice for dinner and didn't have ice cream. It was a case of accidental veganism.

When Katie and I actually concentrated on eating differently and not taking my initial approach, it was an exciting endeavour. (Imagine dying from starvation because you tried to be vegan. I can see my epitaph now: No cow, he said. And now? He dead. )

It took an effort in planning to find meals that didn't include dairy, but for our two days of veganism we were looking forward to experimenting with new recipes. We pulled out the vegan cook books and went to work. We had nut loaf, salad, and some other stuff. — to be honest, I can't remember all we ate. Maybe dairy is responsible for helping the memory.

We had vegan treats from the Community Farm Store's Corfield Cafe, which we are fortunate enough to live close to.

The hardest thing was realizing how much we depend on dairy for making our meals tastier. We often take dairy-free food and sprinkle it with a touch of animal product to enhance the overall flavour: brown rice with butter, vegan chili with grated cheddar cheese on top, or Katie's biggest weakness - cream in her coffee.

It would be easier for us to be vegan with better planning, and even more so if we never brought dairy into the house. We'd have to find something else to put on rice though (could shrivelled raisins take the place of creamy butter? or how about simply dirt?).

Week Three: Wake up to Green Electricity

2008-10-05T10:11:00.000-07:00

If stumbling around in the dark, stubbing toes, cursing loudly and spending hours upon hours fumbling blindly trying to find a matching pair of socks is considered good for the planet, call me David Suzuki.

With militant fervour I wander through the apartment flicking off lights, unplugging cell phone chargers, toasters, etc. You wouldn't want to be on a life support system in our house unless your mechanical lung had a hand crank — I'd unplug you faster than you could say "You're out of my will."

When it comes to obvious conservation techniques, we like to think we're doing our part.

Of course, we have a long way to go.

With just two windows in the apartment, both on the same side of the building, we keep fans on to keep air circulating. This contradicts energy conservation, and makes life even more exciting — not only is it dark, there's the loud apocolyptic noise of industrial strength fans to throw your senses into turmoil.
We tend to bang around, crashing even harder than the American housing market.
(And you thought it was because I cycle a lot that my helmet is always on my head.)

As you can see, the aim this week was to focus on our electricity useage.

Because there are just two of us, we have a small fridge — 8.8 cubic feet (in layman's terms that's three zucchinis, 12 apples, a jug of soy milk and two-and-a-half cases of Heineken). We also have an apartment size deep freeze, a computer, a t.v., vcr, dvd player and three lights we use regularly.

Following this week's reading, I started turning off the power cord to the t.v., vcr, and dvd when not in use, and unplugging the laptop at night.

We, like any new age, new wave, just-stumbled-out-of-a-dark-cave-and-stopped-burning-coal environmentalist, have changed our lightbulbs.

But I can't stop thinking who really cares?

Yes, electricity, especially that produced from coal-fired plants, can have an impact on carbon output and the environment. And yes, using only renewable energy like wind or solar is ideal.
But religiously unplugging a cell phone charger will save something like $0.25 worth of electricity a year.

Take that, global warming!

Carbon Buster Jon was kind enough to point out to me that the personal electronics sector is one of the fastest growing consumer areas in the world, so if each person unplugs, it amounts to a lot.

I guess it will make a difference. And it does make sense to me to me to be responsible for our energy and only use what we can generate ourselves or through sustainable means.

It seems like a decent goal to have.

Week Two: Change the Way You Eat

2008-09-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

Week two had us take a close look at our eating habits.

And while Katie’s suggestion that I should add the words “chew” and “napkin” to my vocabulary is, umm, appreciated, I think Dauncey intended we think about the carbon cost of our eats.

The majority of the shopping we do is for organic food at the Community Farm Store, the hub of all things healthy in the Cowichan Region. We buy local cukes grown by Cindy, we buy our eggs from Mary and her mom at the Farmers Market every Saturday, and we buy peppers from Providence Farm.
If we can buy something that was produced locally, we do.
Still, much of what we eat carries a heavy carbon cost thanks to the transportation and packaging. Things like noodles for our stir-fry, rice, ketchup, sugar — the list goes on and on.
In an attempt to cut down on carbon costs, for a few months now we’ve been trying to avoid tropical treats like bananas and mangoes and avocadoes. (I actually made zuke-a-mole, a zucchini-based substitute for guacamole. The recipe swore you couldn’t tell the difference. The recipe lied.)
During the summer when local fresh fruit is abundant, it’s no problem.
But winter is fast approaching and the local fruit is running low.

Not being versed in the technicalities of homesteading, one of our plans was to resurrect the art of “putting up”. We bought the Ball Blue Book, the bible of food storage. We were given all the equipment we needed to get started by generous Dee in Mesachie Lake through the Cowichan Valley Recycle site — a big ol' pot, a canning rack, a whack o’ jars. All we needed was some lids, some fruit, and apparently a lot of spare time.
First we canned cherries. For hours upon hours upon hours we washed, we pricked, we boiled, we sweated…At the end, we had four quarts of cherries. Four pathetic quarts!

Not to be deterred, we soldiered on. We canned peaches, pickled cukes and zukes, and made plum jam. We also found a small freezer that was looking for a new home (Thanks to CV Recycle again) and froze cherries, peaches, strawberries, plums, green beans, etc…
We imagine the energy costs of running the freezer are likely quite high, but we think they must be lower than the costs of buying the fruit and vegetables in the store during the winter. If we’re wrong, we’d love to know.

Another of the ways to reduce carbon output involved growing our own food. Our plot at the Jubilee Community Gardens has been a prolific provider of beans, zukes, strawberries, tomatoes, peas, lettuce, potatoes, chard and chives all summer and we’ve saved as much as we could, but we didn’t know what to do for the fall and winter.
One of the Busters, Lynn, passed on a list of fall planting times to us which has proven to be extremely helpful.
Since the group met, we’ve planted garlic, endives, kale, Ethiopian wheat, barley and cauliflower, which means we should have leafy greens into the winter and some good treats early in the spring.
We still need to bury some beets and turnips, and to look into some bush beans.

There’s so much that can be done when it comes to food just by taking the time to think about our eating habits before we buy those things we’re used to buying.
And there really is nothing better than eating something fresh from your own garden.

PS. One of the treats of meeting with the Cowichan Carbon Busters once a week is getting to sample desserts, which each member takes a turn making. Last week, Kathleen made the suggestion we try to make the desserts out of as many local ingredients as possible.
With a shortage of flour produced on the Island, it’s been near impossible to find a totally local recipe. If anyone has suggestions, please let us know.
I’m going to try meringue made with local honey and eggs, baked and topped with local strawberries.
Either that or Zuke-late mousse. I’m sure no-one will be able to tell the difference…

Week One: Calculate our Carbon Footprint: 6.1 tonnes CO2 per year

2008-09-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

When Katie and I joined Carbon Busters, we figured this was going to be a breeze. How big could our carbon footprint be?
We spend our days picking up other people’s recycling on our bikes. We live in a 600 square foot apartment and are vegetarians. We don’t take long, expensive flights around the globe (we have the desire to, just currently not the means). And we don’t have a brood of heirs spending our savings on iPods and other forms of luxury, biding their time on our dime before taking over our empire. Our footprint should be tiny.
By our estimations, we figured we’d actually be cooling the climate just by waking up in the morning.
To butcher a line from Tina Fey, it turns out our confidence was disproportionate to our looks, abilities and grip on reality.
While our passion for recycling makes the job worthwhile, we likely won’t be able to retire until we’re well into our 90s, so Katie has a second job in Victoria. It’s recently increased from two days a week to four, which means a weekly commute of 500 kilometres.
It’s true we own an older VW Rabbit that runs of 100 percent ethical Bio-diesel made from waste vegetable oil right here in the Cowichan Valley. But it’s also true Katie drives a gas-powered Jetta because frankly, it has more comfortable seats and can make it up the Malahat without being passed by cyclists and pedestrians. And at 4 a.m. in the morning when she’s generally commuting, speed and reliability are fairly important attributes.
So while her commute means we can put food on the table, it also accounts for 60 per cent of our carbon footprint.
The other 40 percent is generated through an inefficient gas-heated central boiler that keeps our strata’s four residential and five commercial units heated and with a steady stream of hot water, and through our dairy eating habits.
None of these issues contributing to our carbon footprint seems insurmountable.
For Katie’s commute, we plan to sell both cars and buy a diesel Jetta and run it off bio-diesel and straight waste veggie oil.
Finding a solution to our heat and hot water needs may take some research, but the technology exists to reduce those costs substantially.
And we’ve already started buying more local, organic dairy then we did in the past, which incidentally turns cheese from a good food to a great food and makes a person feel guiltless about eating ice cream.
Working toward carbon neutral will be a challenge, but not impossible.

To calculate your carbon footprint visit www.zerofootprint.net and navigate to the personal carbon calculator.

PS. I have to admit, I have a bit of a soft spot in my liver for imported beer, imported wine and tequila. And while this fondness for fermentation from afar has a positive affect on my dancing abilities, it has a negative affect on my carbon footprint.
So, in an effort to be more environmentally friendly, I pledge to look for local wines and spend more time at the local brewpub. Consider this my gift to the planet and to your children’s future. Cheers.

Cowichan Carbon Busters

2008-09-25T09:49:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday, September 17, Katie and I and nine other households in the Cowichan Valley began meeting as the Cowichan Carbon Busters. Our mission — to reduce our household carbon footprint.

During the next 10 weeks we will follow the steps laid out by environmentalist Guy Dauncey to reduce our carbon footprints.

By the end of the course, we should all have in place a fairly extensive plan to reduce our carbon footprint during the next few years.

It will be easier for some of us than others, but for all it will be a learning experience.

Hopefully you can follow along and find some of the tips we learn useful in reducing your own footprint.

Aaron