Go green : earth day 2016

THE FREE PRESS Thursday, April 21, 2016 13

go green ~ earth day 2016

EARTH DAY

EVENTS Friday, April 22, 2016

Seed Swap

Get ready to garden with the EcoGarden’s Seed Swap. Bring your own locally grown seeds to swap or bring money to donate for seeds that you take home. The Seed Swap will offer information about Seeds of Diversity, a resource of locally grown seeds and local growing information.

3-6pm at the Library

Kids Fun

Come on down to the Fernie Heritage Library for some serious fun. Get your face painted and make a button. Join in on a nature activity in the library garden. It’s all free, and it all happens from 3-6pm at the Library.

Soil Secrets

Learn all about soil with the Elk River Alliance. Participate in hands on activities and experiments using dirt to clean water. Family fun for all ages. 3-6pm at the Library

#trashbashchallenge

Kick off your day with the “Trash Bash Challenge”. Find an outdoor area that you love and take initiative to clean up your neighbourhood.

Grab your friends and family and get outside to make a difference.

Take a photo and post it to the Earth Day Fernie Facebook page, Facebook.com/earthdayfernie with hashtag #TrashBashChallenge.

With your post, include how many bags, how many people and how much time you spent cleaning up your neighbourhood. Prizes will be awarded for participation.

#getwildchallenge

Grab your camera or cell phone and become part of the ‘Get Wild Challenge’. Get outside, take some deep breaths, see the beauty and take some photos. Share your great photoops on Facebook.com/earthdayfernie hashtag #GetWild Challenge. Let us know why you love spending time in nature on Earth Day. Tell us how much time you spent outside and what you did. At the end of the day, visit our Facebook page to discover what others have done! You might get some great ideas - it’s all good clean FUN! Prizes will be awarded for participating in the Get Wild Challenge.

Silent Auction

Bid on a great selection of ecofriendly products and services. All proceeds to benefit the Wildsight

Elk Valley Branch. Bidding closes promptly at 5:30 p.m.

Toddler Time Storytime

Toddlers (ages 0-2) and their caregivers are welcomed to the Library for environmental stories, songs and fingerplays. 11:15-noon at the Library

Think Tank Cinema Films

View an amazing selection of Think Tank Cinema films that may be borrowed to view in the comfort of your own home. These inspiring environmental films were selected as part of the Think Tank Cinema series

Eat Local Challenge: Root Cellar Round-Up

Gather, Forage and/or Prepare a glimpse of what’s left from your 2015 harvest. Create a beautiful offering...in a basket, a meal, a glass jar, or otherwise to showcase how you extend the bounty of your harvest into the next growing season. Enter with LOCAL home grown produce or sourced in 200km. Entries accepted between 2:30-3:30 p.m.

Eco Speaker Series

Short & informative presentations & Q&As with knowledgeable experts on topics like: Winter Food Storage Food Security Bear Proof Communities Cold Climate Gardening & More!

Other Events

Wednesday April 20th EcoGarden Work Party Drop by the Community EcoGarden and lend a helping hand. No experience necessary. 5-7pm Thursday • April 21, 2016 Film - Haida Gwaii On the Edge of the World Celebrating National Canadian Film Day and Earth day with a free presentation of the stunning, award winning 2015 film by Charles Wilkinson. A special presentation hosted by the Reel Canadian Film Festival and Indie Films Fernie at the Arts Station.

Now till May 30th Peace Parks Perspectives Exhibit Visit the Fernie Museum to explore a photography exhibition by Norman E. Riley that explores the spectacular scenery of the International Peace Park.

By Tanya Malcolm

W

Pu llo Sec ut tio n

e’re not a high maintenance community. We enjoy the luxury of being on ‘Fernie Time.’ We rarely experience road rage, or massive lineups. There’s good people around every corner ready for a friendly exchange. We truly are a great little ‘Down To Earth’ mountain town.

On April 22 Earth Day Fernie is celebrating the planet with the unique energy of our community in mind. Earth Day 2016 is a simple, educational & down to earth event designed to offer something fun for everyone.

Brought to you by Wildsight Elk Valley in partnership with the Fernie Heritage Library, and The Elk River Alliance (ERA). Earth Day Fernie celebrations will take place from 3-6pm at the library. You can attend the Community Eco Garden Seed Swap, the Eco Speaker Series: a line up of short presentations and Q&As on environmental topics, enter the Eat Local Challenge, Grab a free tree, learn Soil Secrets with ERA and so much more!

Wildsight members, Casey Brennan and Ayla Get all the event information at Wildsight.ca/ Bennett demonstrate the apple press in front of the elkvalley or connect with us on Facebook: Earth Wildsight Elk Valley Branch office.

Day Fernie. We hope to see you at The Fernie Photo by Wildsight Heritage Library on Earth Day April 22.

Kids + Dirt = Fun!

By Dawn Deydey

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lants have the power to change our lives. They allow the simple and therapeutic pleasure of working and caring for other living things. They play a basic role in providing clean air and serve as a nutritious basis for healthy living, and are uniquely effective teaching tools.

Gardening teaches our youth about the magic of harvest (where carrots actually come from and how tasty locally-grown vegetables really can be. Working with plants allows children to learn patience, responsibility as well as consequences of actions.

The EcoGarden offers multiple programs to help get kids outdoors and into the garden to renew the essential connection between them, plants, the food we eat and the environment through gardening.

• Little Sprouts is a free garden program for kids ages zero to six and their caregivers that runs at the EcoGarden on Thursdays from 9:30-11:30 in July and August.

• EcoKids Summer Camp is a week-long day camp for kids ages five-11, where kids EcoGarden camper, taking science into his own hands at get to spend a week outdoors explore, nature, the EcoKids Camp. science, art and more.

Photo by Dawn Deydey • Growing with Gardens is a school based program to support educators in bringing gardening into the classroom. Topics include seed saving, planting, vermicomposting and can be tailored to meet the needs of the classroom.

To learn more visit Ecogarden.ca or connect with the EcoGarden via facebook at Facebook.com/ communityecogarden

Elk Valley Tool Share

By Sandra Boer

S

pring is here, local produce is growing! How can you get the most out of the growing season and reap the benefit of locally grown foods without the cost of all the tools needed to do the job? Consider borrowing tools from the Wildsight Tool Share!

The Wildsight Apple Capture program has offered apple presses to the community for the past few years. The success of this program has led to an expansion to include other equipment such as a dehydrator, a smoker, a gas cook stove for canning and more.

Visit Wildsight.ca/branches/elkvalley/toolshare to see a full list of available items that you can book, or visit the Tool Share Booth at the Earth Day festivities on April 22nd.

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Make Every Day Earth Day Earth Day Fun Trivia Earth Day was first celebrated in: A) 1960 B) 1965

C) 1970 D) 1975

Which household appliance uses the most energy?

A) Refrigerator C) Dishwasher B) Toaster D) Washing machine Recycling 1,000 kg of aluminum saves enough energy to heat a/an ____________ for 10 years.

A) Typical home C) Corner store B) Elementary school D) Restaurant What household appliance uses the second most amount of energy (the first is the refrigerator)?

A) Hair dryer C) Microwave B) Clothes Dryer D) Computer The average Canadian home is illuminated by ___ light bulbs: A) 31 C) 51 B) 41 D) 61

Recycling 101 - The Basics

Medications Return

You can use ANY yellow bin in the East Kootenay. Here are some quick tips to remember when recycling in the yellow bins or Fernie blue bag curbside program: • All plastics MUST be clean and have a number between 1 and 6. That number must be in the triangular recycling symbol. If there is no number, it should go in the garbage if it can’t be reused.

• All plastic grocery/shopping bags can be recycled -- even if they don’t have a number on them. This is the only item that can be recycled if it doesn’t have a number. All other plastics must be numbered • Styrofoam CANNOT be recycled in the yellow bins/blue bags -- even if it is marked with a number 6. The only depot for styrofoam is Cranbrook Bottle Depot.

• Tin cans should be well rinsed with labels removed, if possible.

• Cardboard should be flattened to save bin space.

• All paper products can go in the yellow bins (and Fernie’s blue bag program) -- including hard and soft cover books. Foil covered or waxy papers (like milk cartons or foil greeting cards) cannot be recycled.

Unused and expired medicines can be returned to pharmacies participating in the Health Products Stewardship Association.

Paper, cardboard, tin

The average Canadian uses 36,000 L of water each year for: A) Showers C) Laundry B) Dish Washing D) Toilet Flushing Composting can reduce your household waste by: A) 10% B) 25%

cans, grocery bags and plastics #1-#6 go in the

C) 50% D) 75%

yellow bins in the RDEK

Answers: C; A – Refrigerators use about 11% of a household’s total energy consumption; A - Recycling 1,000 kg of aluminum saves the equivalent of 10,000 L of gasoline; B; B; D - the average toilet uses about 19 litres per flush; C.

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and the City of Fernie’s blue bag program.

What to do with Packaging Multi-Materials BC is a non-profit stewardship organization that oversees the new product stewardship program for printed paper and packaging. Their only depot in the East Kootenay is the Cranbrook Bottle Depot. They take paper/cardboard products, aluminum and tin*,glass, styrofoam*, and plastic packaging (including film/wrap*). *Some items in these categories are not accepted in RDEK yellow bin program

Visit http://recyclinginbc.ca/program/can-recycled

Where to Take Used Paint All paint and aerosol paints in the Elk Valley should be taken to the Fernie Bottle Depot.

Paint containers must be sealed and clearly labeled. If paint cans are dried out and there is no liquid left, the cans can go in the garbage.

More info at: www.regeneration.ca

What’s accepted: All prescription drugs Non-prescription medication Herbal products Vitamin and mineral supplements Throat lozenges

In BC, over 50,000 kg of unused or expired medicines are

What’s NOT accepted: Cosmetics, skin care products Disinfectants/cleaners Contact lens solutions Sunscreen/suntan lotion Mouthwashes and toothpastes

Batteries & Cellphones Both your alkaline and rechargeable batteries are recyclable, as are cellphones.

From AAA to odd size batteries (like the ones in your portable phone), batteries can be recycled in many communities around the region.

The drop off locations for old batteries and cellphones in the Elk Valley include: City of Fernie Fernie Aquatic Centre Canadian Tire & The Source - Fernie

collected each year

For more information, visit www.call2recycle.ca

Fluorescent Lights Can Be Recycled

Proper disposal of medicines is important. Check dates on medications today - and call your local pharmacy to see if they are participating in the Return Program.

LightRecycle is the BC residential light recycling program. Accepted products include incandescent lights, LED’s, compact fluorescent and tube fluorescent light bulbs.

For more information visit www.healthsteward.ca.

The recycling program is for residentially generated lights only.

Recycling Your Old Electronics

There are currently three LightRecycle Depots in the East Kootenay: Fernie Home Building Centre 300 Manitou Road

The “environmental handling fee” you pay on electronics in BC are managed by Encorp and a wide range of electronics are accepted for recycling.

Cranbrook Home Hardware 1901 McPhee Road

The electronics recycling depot for the Elk Valley is: Fernie Bottle Depot 1291 Ridgemont Avenue, Fernie Phone: 250-423-2009 They accept a wide range of electronics, including: • Televisions • Computers & peripherals (keyboard, mouse) • Monitors • Fax machines • DVD/VHS players • Scanners

Cranbrook - Skyway Distributors Ltd 304 NW Slater Road For more information, visit www.regeneration.ca

• • • • • • •

Stereos, MP3 players & docking stations Speakers Earphones Microphones Telephones Discman, walkman Radios

Small Appliance Recycling The Fernie Bottle Depot also accepts small appliances for recycling, including: • Blenders • Bathroom scales • Microwaves • Ironing boards & irons • Food Processors & mixers • Portable fans & heaters • Bread Makers • Automatic toothbrushes • Coffee Grinders • Electric razors • Clocks & timers

Learn More About Earth Day Earth Week is a great time to think about what each of us can do to make a positive difference. Reducing, reusing and recycling really add up.

This year, you can sign the 25th Anniversary Earth Flag, and pledge to make every day Earth Day and commit to reducing your carbon footprint.

Join Earth Day Canada’s #Rooting4Trees campaign and help plant 25,000 legacy trees for Earth Day 2016 • • •

Download #Rooting4Trees posters and website tools Plant or pledge a tree to celebrate Earth Day Sign the Earth Flag to show your support! www.earthday.ca

Find complete list and more info at: www.regeneration.ca

For more information, contact the RDEK at 250-489-2791 or 1-888-478-7335

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THE FREE PRESS Thursday, April 21, 2016

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Saturday, April 22, 2016

Soil Secrets

By Lee-Anne Walker, ERA Executive Director

S

oil is the thin skin that covers the Earth and is all that separates us from life and lifelessness. Even though it is critical to life, we generally treat this fragile, loose, soft material covering the ground, just like dirt!

Soils are more than dirt. Soils are a mixture of minerals from the mountains, air, water, and living and dead organisms. Soils grow plants and these feed almost all life on this planet.

So what are five secrets contained in soil and how are they essential for Elk Valley residents this Earth Day? 1. Soils are made up of living and dead things. A teaspoon of good farm soil contains upwards of billions of Students explore soil secrets at Fernie Secondary School (2015). bacteria, not to mention bugs, fungi, Photo by Ayla Bennett nematodes, worms, feces, roots, rotting plants, minerals, water, air …..

2. Soils are alive. Like you and me soils are born and have a life story. In the Elk Valley soils were born after the glaciers retreated some 10,000 years ago. When you are digging look at the soil profile from the side. Colourful layers give us clues of changes over time. Did you know the orangey clays in the Elk Valley are evidence of accumulated fine sediment from Glacial Lake Elk dammed by debris at the south end of the valley? Glacial Lake Elk filled the Elk Valley when the glaciers retreated and the melt water was trapped behind a terminal moraine near the tunnel. It was so deep that it flowed east out the Crowsnest Pass! Living things poop, die and decompose and their remains add slowly to the thin skin growing all the trees and plants you see out your window.

3. Soils are unique depending on the ingredients and soil-forming factors. Locally soil starts with key ingredients unique to our geology, climate and length of time. Rocky mountains ingredients are generous bits of limestone, sandstone, shale and coal. Add water from snowmelt and abundant spring rains to the surface and let it seep down. Mix in bacteria and fungi to break down dead plants and recycle nutrients. Cold winters and warm summers over 10,000 years regulate the cooking temperature and time. VOILA, beautiful, diverse plants over the landscape!

4. Soil is more fun when you add water. Kids are mesmerized by soil and water squeezing it through their pudgy toes or forming it into mud pies. In nature soil spaces hold moisture storing it like a giant sponge, slowly releasing it into the environment over time. Where do you think the water in our local creeks and rivers comes from when all the snow has melted and it is hot and dry in the summer?

5. You are soil. Every cell in your body is nourished from plants growing in soils or animals that ate plants.

Through time, civilizations rise and fall by how well we treat our soils. So one last secret this Earth Day: save our soils; save ourselves.

Visit the Elk River Alliance Soil Secrets table at Earth Day Elkriveralliance.ca

Seed Love

By Mary Cosman

“….become like me.

Slave to a springtime passion for the earth.

How love burns through the putting in the seed On through the watching for that early birth When, just as the soil tarnishes with weed, The sturdy seedling with arched body comes Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs.”

This excerpt from Robert Frost’s poem, Putting in the Seed, beautifully describes the passion we gardeners have for the seeds we depend on.

The Fernie Community EcoGarden has been holding spring seed swaps annually since 2006. We are now visioning a new program for creating a Seed Bank in Fernie that would be accessible to gardeners year-round. It would be stocked, just as our seed swap event is, with seeds grown by gardeners in the Elk Valley from favourite and heritage varieties that have adapted to our climate.

In recent years the global food system has focused on an ever-narrowing selection of food varieties. Many time-tested and reliable varieties have been neglected, and they are becoming harder to find. Today we only grow about 10 per cent of the food varieties that are actually available to us, dangerously reducing the genetic diversity of our food supply. Consolidation in the seed industry by large agrochemical companies is further reducing our ability to access and grow a diversity of food crops.

Stop by the EcoGarden Seed Swap tables at the Library on Earth Day to learn more about seed biodiversity, accessing locally grown seeds, and how you can become involved with growing and preserving locally grown seeds.

Saving the Planet with Gratitude

By Tanya Malcolm

E

very year Earth Day comes around and I think of ways I can give back. How can I reduce my carbon footprint? Where should I pick up garbage? How many trees should I plant? It’s an inspiring feeling, and I’m glad Earth Day exists as a reminder to ask myself what I can do for our planet. As Earth Day approaches this year, my thoughts have shifted, I’ve been thinking about what our planet gives me.

Every morning when I wake up, I open the curtains, greet the day and pause. The beauty I am surrounded by never ceases to take my breath away.

It’s my ‘daily deep breath reminder’. Every day, this moment reminds me I’m alive. Every day this moment fills my cup. Every day in this moment I find gratitude.

This Earth Day I’m going to plant a tree, pick up trash, and get outdoors with my family. I’m also going to bring the gratitude I have for the beautiful, deep breath reminding, environment that surrounds me into my day, and into my life. Leading with gratitude is a simple way to cultivate patience, compassion, satisfaction and creative expression. Gratitude diffuses frustration with one thought. One thought...I am grateful for this moment. Gratitude means you are being open to learning more about yourself, yet simultaneously makes you a leader. Right now our planet needs more leaders - Earth Keepers saving the planet one deep breath at a time.

To be thankful is to be at peace, and I think that is what the Great Mother Earth truly wants for us. Please join me this Earth day, in not only giving back to our planet, but also thinking deeply about what she gives you. This Earth Day take a moment, and a deep breath and say...

Thank You.

Food Forests

By Dawn Deydey

Food Forest site being prepped by reGenerate Design in Forest Lawn, Calgary, AB. Photo by reGenerate Design

I

s it possible that humans can design and plant a garden that functions as a forest, providing us with food and medicine while becoming largely self-maintaining and helping regenerate the environment?

It is! This doesn’t involve a group of gnomes running around the forest fertilizing, weeding, and watering… so how do forest systems perform this “work” all on their own?

Put simply the answer is that forests are interconnected ecosystems where the needs of the various members of the ecosystem are met by what the other members produce, allowing the system to take care of itself.

Much like natural forests, food forests build healthy soil, sequester carbon, harvest and store rainwater, and provide a multitude of habitats that benefit birds, insects, and other wildlife, all while providing humans with locally grown, organic food.

The Wildsight Elk Valley Branch recently brought Lindsay Meads and Luke Kimmel from reGenerate Design in Calgary to host multiple Food Forest events where residents learned how to create a garden that looks remarkably like a forest.

Although this type of garden looks remarkably like a forest, it isn’t exactly a forest… It’s an intelligently designed edible forest garden aka food forest that is modeled after natural forest ecosystems – making it more resilient, low maintenance, sustainable, and beneficial to the surrounding environment than conventional gardens, landscaping, and agriculture.

Check out the next Wild Ideas event hosted monthly at Infinitea by the Wildsight Elk Valley branch. Join the Wildsight Elk Valley Facebook group to learn more.