Tuesday 26 February 2013

EcoSask News, February 26, 2013

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Athabasca Sand Dunes, Feb. 28/Mar. 26
If you’re interested in camping and hiking on the Athabasca Sand Dunes, join Greg Fenty and Melanie Elliott at the information sessions on February 28 and/or March 26.

Forestry Farm Birding, Mar. 3 
Join Greg Fenty and the Saskatoon Nature Society on March 3 from 1:30-3:30 pm as they look for winter songbirds at the Forestry Farm. Warm up afterwards with Georgia the Porcupine.

Environmental Book Club, Mar. 12
The Saskatchewan Environmental Society’s book club will be discussing Eaarth by Bill McKibben at 7 pm on March 12.

Energy Efficient Building Standards
The Government of Saskatchewan is holding a series of consultations on building standards for energy-efficient homes. They will be in Saskatoon on February 25, March 22, and April 10. The full consultation schedule and background information is available online.

Community Garden Conference, Mar. 23 
CHEP’s one-day conference on community gardens will be held on March 23. Presentations include: design considerations for a community garden, school gardens, how to start a community garden, community gardening in Regina, recruiting and maintaining volunteers, and growing food in Canada: perspective from a new Canadian. Contact Gord Androsoff at gord@chep.org to register.

Creating the Prairie Xeriscape
Sara Williams will be launching her new book, Creating the Prairie Xeriscape, at Seedy Saturday on March 9. The book provides a complete guide to planning, designing, and maintaining a water-conscious garden and includes a reference section of ideal plants.

Product Redesign
All our products will need a redesign if we are to become an environmentally-conscious society. For example, 8-10 billion plastic hangers are manufactured every year. Ditto has produced two alternatives: a paper hanger made from 80-100% post-consumer waste with vegetable inks and environmentally friendly adhesives or a more durable PET plastic hanger numbered 1 for recycling.

Ditto’s CEO says, “We see a huge market creating beautiful products that are intelligently designed so that their end-of-life is engineered into the product. We don't see consumption going down any time soon. That means it's up to the industrial designer to design products responsibly.”

Clean: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing
In Clean: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing, Michael de Jong introduces 5 natural products that will clean just about anything – baking soda, borax, lemon, salt, and white vinegar – and provides dozen of tips on how to use them.

Importance of Urban Farming
Five reasons why urban farming is the most important movement of our time: renewed local economies, environmental stewardship, focus on local politics, revolution of health and nutrition, and flowering of community interaction.

Interesting Reading
From Poop to Power: The Story of Biogas
Naturalized Parks in Residential Areas: Pay Attention to Education and Borders
Golf Clubs: Practising Environmental Stewardship
Canada Heading for Bitumen Cliff: An Economic and Environmental Trap
Stormwater Management: Plants and Trees More Effective than Gravel

EcoSask News is a weekly round-up of local news and events. Email us if you have items you would like us to include. Additional upcoming events can be found on our Calendar.

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