By Doug
At our local mall recently, Sears had a special display focusing on eco renovations. They had representatives there from Union Gas handing out Free Energy Saving Kits, as well as independent energy consultant Gayle Lawlor (shown, right, holding a foam insulation on a pipe) demonstrating tips for making your home more eco-efficient.
For Sears’ part, they where [...]

OH HAPPY DAY!! Insulation is coming our way… just in time for Christmas!
Yes, it’s true… we have actually BOOKED a job for the eco-renovations; let the games begin!
On Dec. 17th a crew from Jerry’s Insulating Co. comes over to:

Inject Icynene Pour Foam (only used for plaster walls) into all four exterior walls of our main [...]

French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre famously wrote, “Hell is other people” (L’enfer c’est  les autres) which is, in my opinion a bit harsh. Or so I thought until I entered the wild-west world of contractor quotes!
The hellish task: Trying to get a uniform answer as to A) the best way to insulate the three levels of [...]

“No, we don’t do framing, nor batten-type insulation. No, we don’t knock through your knee walls, but we will create an attic hatch for you….”
That is just a sample of the different, sometimes conflicting information I’ve gleaned after visits from 3 insulation contractors in a 24-hour period. I took notes, and was guided by my [...]

My husband Doug wants us to sign up for the peaksaver program so we can become – as our local utilities company, Horizon, says – “neighbourhood power stars.”
So he calls them up and places an order to join the program which, in effect, does this:
Someone installs a $350 programmable thermostat – for FREE – at [...]

Love note left by my husband on the kitchen table this week:
“For the insulation guy we need a separate quote for each floor of the house
Upstairs
* Insulate the attic and side walls
* Install an attic hatch
* Fix and install attic ventilation as required
Main Floor
* Can any insulation be added to the walls on this floor?
* [...]

Betcha read this post title and thought, why can’t I find something that fun to do on a sunny, unseasonably warm weekend?
Well, maybe you’re just not reading the flyers that come with your bills. I didn’t used to, but this month I actually ripped open a Union Gas bill and found a booklet announcing this [...]

On top of all the green renovations we are doing, and energy-saving devices and practices we’re adopting, I’m looking into zero-VOC paints for the decorating jobs we need…. primarily touching up the hallway door that got scratched to hell this week when we bought a new sofa and tried to squeeze the old one into [...]

I just grabbed this CO2 Toaster Widget from CO2now.org It shows what carbon dioxide levels are right now on our planet, as well as what the CO2 has been and what it should be for our planet to be healthy.
This toaster serves to remind me that everything that my husband and I do to save [...]

I was doing research for a client of mine, and was blown away by all the great non-profit renewable energy associations in Canada, including:

Canadian Renewable Energy Alliance
Canadian Wind Energy Association
Solar Energy Society of Canada
Canadian Renewable Fuels Association
Canadian Energy Research Institute
Ocean Renewable Energy Group
Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance

My favourite website in a while – not just among [...]