St. Albert had the seventh largest dip in power use in Alberta last weekend when it powered down for Earth Hour, says the city’s power provider.
St. Albert Place and the Alberta Legislature both went dark last Saturday as part of Earth Hour. The annual event, which is organized by the World Wildlife Fund, asks people to shut off all non-essential lights for an hour to raise awareness about climate change. This year’s event took place from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on March 26.
St. Albert residents used about 1.7 per cent less electricity during Earth Hour than they did during that same hour on March 19, says Kevin Haslbeck, spokesperson for Fortis Alberta. That’s a savings of 4,100 kilowatt-hours — enough to power 68,000 60-watt bulbs or 4,500 homes for an hour, or six homes for a month. (One home uses about 650 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month.) “That’s quite a bit of energy being saved in that one hour.”
St. Albert saw the seventh biggest dip in energy use in Fortis Alberta’s service area, Haslbeck says, saving more energy than Blackfalds, Ponoka and Sylvan Lake. The city trailed Didsbury, Carstairs, Drayton Valley, Olds and Irricana. Crossfield cut its power use by 7.8 per cent and nabbed first place.
Most communities were a little lower than last year in terms of energy savings, he continues — St. Albert managed a 4.2 per cent reduction in 2010. Lower temperatures and a televised hockey game last Saturday might have encouraged people to use more power this Earth Hour, he speculates.
It could also be due to lower participation. An Ipsos-Reid poll released Friday found that just 39 per cent of Albertans participated in Earth Hour, down from 46 per cent last year. Those who participated did more to save energy, however. Three per cent more Canadians (83 per cent) turned off their appliances, for example, while seven per cent more (64 per cent) turned off their TV.
Earth Hour next falls on March 31, 2012. See earthhour.org for details.
Eco-awareness can help gardeners make the world a better place to live, says a local greenhouse owner.
Jim Hole, co-owner of Hole’s Greenhouse & Gardens, will give a talk on cool green living today at 3:30 p.m. at the Northlands Farm and Ranch show.
“Gardening is part of the whole green world,” he says and has become a way for people to support the environment. Homegrown vegetables used to be all about cost and taste, for example, but now they’re also about reducing greenhouse gases, urban runoff and imports. “People are realizing their gardens can be more than just ornamental.”
Hole says he plans to talk about new gardening trends that benefit the environment, such as rain gardens. Most rainfall washes off roofs into rivers, he notes, which washes all the gunk and chemicals on the sidewalk into our sewer system. Shunt your downspout into a garden, and you can water your plants, filter rainwater and slow the flow of water downstream.
Another trend is green roofs, which have started popping up in Edmonton. Planting grass or other hardy plants on roofs gives them better insulation, Hole says, which means cooler summers and warmer winters inside. It also slows the speed of urban runoff and provides homes for bees and butterflies. “There are tonnes of benefits to it.”
The Lois Hole Hospital for Women now has one and Hole’s will get one in the near future.
Gardeners should also keep an eye out for biochar, says Hole, which is now showing up in greenhouses in Saskatchewan. Biochar is created when farmers cook crop residues at high temperatures, creating ash and gas. The gas can be burned as a low-emission fuel, while the ash can be used to add organic matter to the soil. “It’s an almost perfect sequestration of carbon.”
The Northlands Farm and Ranch Show wraps up this April 2 at the Edmonton Expo Centre. Visit farmandranchshow.com for details.
