Rethinking Lifestyle

We have had an interesting couple of weeks. First our water heater burst late on a Friday afternoon, and then the gas went off following the pipeline explosion.

Wendy Stueck recently published a disturbing article in The Globe and Mail entitled, “B.C. Steps Up Battle with ‘Nightmare Bacteria’ Cluster.”

Last week the TV news again showed us dramatic pictures of burning railway oil tank cars, this time near Plaster Rock NB.

How much interest do you get on your savings at the bank? Currently the Steinbach Credit Union is paying 1.9% on regular savings and the Royal Bank 1.1% on their ‘high’ interest account.

About 25 years ago one could buy strychnine, a very potent poison, to control skunks and gophers.

I’m a keen CBC radio fan, and was listening to ‘Spark’, as Nora Young interviewed Ben Faulk who runs a design business called Rural Homesteading in Vermont USA.

As I write this post, the national news is full of the ice/snow storm in eastern Canada – the effect of the storm on the power grid and mobility.

I’m pretty impressed with the news coming out of Boulder, Colorado. They have decided to form their own municipal utility and end their relationship with Excel Energy.

Many readers will no doubt already be concerned about the environment. Hopefully this Rethinking Lifestyles column will encourage more people to join ‘transitioners’ in considering what we humans are doing to our planet Earth.

Today I read with some dismay about the latest plans from the energy companies in Alberta. Plans for the largest man-made lake district on Earth have been submitted to the provincial authorities, for the flooding of abandoned tar sand mines with a mix of tailings and fresh water.