I have a funny article about composting...

[endora968]

from Canada's "The Globe and Mail" that I read over the Summer.

It's called "I am trying to be green...but live without my air conditoner?"

If anyone is interested, I will retype it here.

Cheers,
endora968

Scroll down to read.......

[Cougar]

I would like to read it, but to have you go through the trouble of retyping it seems a little selfish. Is there a way to get it in e-format?

[kpickell]

It's online, but you'd have to pay $5 to read it: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040806/FIRSTCOL06/TPEnvironment/
I'd be interested in reading it to, but don't want to make you type it or pay for it.

[dirtysole]

another interested party... if it's free. but again, don't type it unless you are board. reeeeeealllly board. :sealed:

[cyberactivist]

Why can't you copy and paste it if you can read it online? Or do you only have the print edition?

[endora968]

The Article As Promised....

I bought this paper when I was in Canada over the Summer, so it won't cost me anything.

I logged on to the Globe and Mail's website and was shocked to see they were charging for each article! Those Pirates! Ah well, ya' gotta make a living.

This article really tickled me, and I think it reflects some common struggles of trying to be green. Toronto has a "green bin" program starting this Fall. I am so envious! I wish we had something like that here.

Okay..here goes..remember to set your "brain setting" for Canada (the metric system etc..) ha ha If anyone knows the temp. conversions, feel free to pipe in.

I thought this had some great ideas for discussion. Canada seems to have it together!

I am trying to be green, but live without my air conditioner?
The First Timer
written by Michelle Osborne
Featured in The Globe and Mail Aug 6, 2004

It's not easy being green-especially in this weather. The heat(in August) is thwarting my efforts to be an environmentally friendly homeowner, and despite all my best efforts, I've been forced to run the air consitioner virtually non-stop since mid-July.
I was warned about high energy bills, and the effects central air conditioning has on the environment. The Toronto Environmental Alliance suggests keeping your thermostst set at 27, as that temperature is supposed to be the comfort threshold, it says.
I tried, I really did. At first, when the weather was a tolerable 22, it was easy. But after two sleepless nights of hot, humid conditions, we turned the thermostat back to 21 and even 19 at night, if necessary.
Selfish behavior, I know, but you haven't experienced my wrath when I am sleep-deprived.
Tim ( I guess we are all supposed to know that Tim is her husband...not the mailman?) and I are used to apartment living, where most of the time, the air conditioning is running non-stop. I know we are not alone in this- most of our frineds in high rises do the same thing. Ashamed as I am to admit it, when we got power back after the blackout last Summer, the first thing we switched on was the air conditioner.
Living in a house means having to treat the Earth a little better than you did when you were a nameless tenant in the downtown core. There are more rules and regulations that you must follow, resourses you have to pay for outright.
Mandatory recycling is a new concept for Tim and me. We recycled most of the time in our apartment, but not to the same extent we have to now.
We separate plastic and paper, and remember to cut our cardboard boxes to the exact dimentions and tie them up. It took us about two months of garbage collection to finally get it right.
We tried composting, since out house came with a receptacle. In theory it's a great way to make fertilizer for your garden, but the reality is that it's a pile of rotting garbage that requires you to turn it regularly so it biodegrades properly.
Tim had a run-in with a moth the size of his hands a few weeks ago while emptying some garbage into compost. The moth was obviously on the defense, and seemed to have sprayed a liquid about the consistency of mustard onto Tim's foot.
We call it the Moth Mustard Incident. We haven't opened the composter since.
We pay for water and electricity now, which was included in the apartment rent or condo fees. Suddenly it doesn't seem like a good idea to have a bath twice a day or leave the TV, three lamps and the computer on when we leave in the morning.
We have made efforts to use environmentally friendly cleaners and bug repellents, but doing so requires a significant amount of legwork. Big-box(discount?) stores stock the toxic pesticides, but not much else. The Internet has been the best source for solutions to bug problems, but it took some searching.
I', still open to doing what we can do to help the environment, and I'm sure we'll eventually go back to composting, especially when Toronto's Green Bin Program begins in the Fall.
But I'll be damned if I give up my air conditioner.

Ta-Da!
There you have it.
Cheers!

[Cougar]

Thanks, Endora.

[endora968]

"The Moth Mustard Incident" We refer to it at home all the time, so I knew I had to share.

[Skylark]

Maybe I'm just weird, but this article wasn't THAT funny to me. The moth incident had a cute visual, but has she really stopped composting since that time? If so, that's sad, not funny.