Home Energy Retrofit Program

To help homeowners save energy, save money and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Ontario government has created the Ontario Home Energy Retrofit Program. The program provides homeowners with grants of up to $5,000 for home energy improvements.

Finding Alternatives to Plastic Water Bottles

Environmental activists are encouraging people to find alternatives to bottled water — and water bottles. Most of the price of a bottle of water goes for its bottling, packaging, shipping, marketing, retailing and profit. Transporting bottled water by boat, truck and train involves burning massive quantities of fossil fuels. More than 5 trillion gallons of bottled water is shipped internationally each year. Just supplying Americans with plastic water bottles for one year consumes more than 47 million gallons of oil, enough to take 100,000 cars off the road and 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, according to the Container Recycling Institute.

The message is clear: Bottled water is “good” water, as opposed to that nasty, unsafe stuff that comes out of the tap. But in most cases tap water adheres to stricter purity standards than bottled water, whose source—far from a mountain spring—can be wells underneath industrial facilities. Indeed, 40 percent of bottled water began life as, well, tap water.

Most disposable water bottles (e.g. – Evian, Dasani, Aquafina, etc.) are made of PET plastic. According to the American Recycling Institute, only 14% of these bottles are recycled. Most of the PET bottles end up in litter or trash where they can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade, filling our landfills and injuring wildlife.

PET is a petroleum-based plastic. Manufacturing and transporting bottled water (especially from distant countries such as France and Fiji) unnecessarily burns fossil fuels – approximately 1.5 million barrels per year according to the NRDC.

Does using a reusable water bottle make sense financially?

Yes, dollars and sense! The EPA strictly regulates the quality of tap water and according to the NRDC, bottled water is neither purer nor safer than tap water in most communities. In fact, many of the leading bottled water brands (Aquafina, Dasani, etc.) are sourced from municipal tap water. Assuming you drink 1 liter per day, you'd spend $500-$1,000 in bottled water a year.

Check out these link for getting your own safe reusable water bottle

Klean Kanteen: www.kleankanteen.com/



Swiss Engineered Water Bottles: http://www.mysigg.com/



Thermos: http://www.thermos.com/



Voss: http://www.vosswater.com/



for babies Born free: http://www.newbornfree.com/

What is actually one tonne of CO2?

CO2 (carbon dioxide) is an achromatic, non flammable, inodorous and nontoxic gas, that makes up to about 0,003% of the earth's atmosphere.

How can one imagine a tonne of this gas?

To illustrate graphically, one tonne of CO2 correlates to the volume of a 10 meter wide, 25 meter long and 2 meter deep swimming pool!

The average family home generates 6 tonnes of CO2 per year. It is estimated that approximately 30% of our home energy is wasted, which means we could save 2 tonnes of CO2. Here's a few things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint.

• Eat meat-free meals every other day. Vegetarian food requires much less energy to produce.
CO2 savings = 487 pounds

• Park the car for 60 days this year. Walk, cycle, or take public transit.

CO2 savings = 917 pounds

• Switch from hot to warm or cold water for every load of laundry.

CO2 savings = 600 pounds

Total = 2,004 pounds (one tonne)

• Switch two standard light bulbs to more efficient fluorescent bulbs.

CO2 savings = 1,000 pounds

• Replace the current shower head with a low-flow model.

CO2 savings = 300 pounds

• Turn the thermostat down two degrees for one year.

CO2 savings = 500 pounds

• Cut vehicle fuel use by 10 gallons in 2007.

CO2 savings = 200 pounds

Total = 2,000 pounds (one tonne)

• Replace the 20-year-old fridge with an energy-saver model.

CO2 savings = 3,000 pounds

• Send out one fewer 30-gallon bag of garbage per week.

CO2 savings = 300 pounds

• Leave the car at home two days per week this year.

CO2 savings = 1,590 pounds

• Recycle aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastic, cardboard and newspapers.

CO2 savings = 850 pounds

Total = 5,740 pounds (almost three tonnes!)