We all invent things in our heads: "I which I had a gadget that would?." Then every once in a while we discover that someone has invented it.I live in Montreal. Winter is cold in Montreal and we are familiar with outdoor electrical outlets all over to keep our cars running. I always wanted an...
Rust is actually the oxidization of metal and we usually want to either remove the rust from the metal itself, or remove stains that the rust left in rugs and other materials.There are a wide variety of cleaners on the market for cleaning off rust, some of which are very toxic and often remove mu...
Most paint removal or building cleaning is either done with harsh solvents or harsh blasted granules like sand. The solvents are not good for the environment, and the sand can remove important outer layers on materials like brick.We visited a cleaning/stripping company in Toronto, Ontario called...
Many of you have certainly heard of the beautiful Butchart Gardens in Victoria B.C. As you can imagine, when I visit a place like that I want to see more than just the flowers. So, David Clarke gave me a tour of the hidden side of the gardens: where their water comes from. What may surprise yo...
The National Building Code of Canada, the basis for most building codes in the country, requires mechanical ventilation in all new housing because it is now recognised that our modern energy efficient homes must have the possibility of good through ventilation beyond opening windows.There are man...
Therisa Timan from Pittmetals B.C. wants to know what to do with her old paint cans. How do you handle paint waste responsibly?If you dump solvent wastes like paint and paint thinners down the street drains, they usually go straight into the lake or rivers. If you dump it down the household dra...
Composting is a valuable part of our efforts to eliminate waste -- it can be called 'waste diversion' because it keeps organic waste out of the landfills and even turns it into valuable fertilizer. The end product is essentially "soil on steroids".In this TV episode, we took a look at three diff...
I remember when low flow shower heads were first introduced they made a lot of noise and gave lousy showers. They certainly have come a long way and have become the standard shower today.One very important step in water conservation is simply to become aware of how much water we use. The first ...
Sometimes water conservation can be helped a bit simply by knowing how much water we use -- awareness. Water Watch is a little water meter, one for the garden hose and another for the shower head, that measures in either litres or gallons. In my household it has already cut down on the water wa...
How do you get floor boards or cabinet making lumber from old growth trees without cutting a single tree out of the old growth forests? You pull it up off the bottom of the Ottawa River and its tributaries and mill it at "Logs End" near Bristol, Quebec.Those where the major waterways where the b...
