My environmental passion is lowering mine and my family's carbon footprint by making small lifestyle changes. 

Since the pandemic, my children and I are very into recycled art, games, and other things. We have made a ball game, a Barbie doll closet, a bouquet of flowers, pencil holders, flash card holders, vases, and more out of boxes, egg cartons, cans, and condiment bottles. 

It is so important to support local organizations and businesses, Local businesses are the heart and soul of communities. The more of them that stay in business and thrive, the more the community stays together and thrives. They are often the ones that help and support individual community members when the need arises. We need them to come back when we are knocked down.

It's so great to know the difference and what everything really means. I feel more educated to save some of my $1,500 each year, as well as buy smarter form the outset. :)

This doesn't surprise me, except when I think about how much my whole neighborhood of 21 houses could save a year! We could build a neighborhood in-ground pool if we saved this money. That would be fun!! :) 

I have a family of squirrels living nearby. I watch them run back and forth on the fence many times per day. Today I learned more about them: They are an alien species - Eastern Squirrels living on the Vancouver Island. They are not good for our Garry Oaks because they typically damage the nut when they bury them, preventing them from germinating; They may spread disease to and squeeze out our native Red Squirrels. We are trying to contain them to the Southern Island by controlling their habitat. That is done by not having mixed forests that would attract them and put them into contact with the Red Squirrels. 

It is amazing the trouble that can be caused simply by moving a wild animal!

Most of our food requires pollinators. Without them, our diet becomes less diverse. This could lead to health problems as we decrease the variety of nutrients we consume. Nutrition is far more complicated than anyone has ever told us. 

One summer, I spent an afternoon photographing the different pollinators I saw in the wild blackberries growing at the back of our property. I later counted 8 different species of bee in my photos. In addition, there were 2 species that didn't stay still long enough for me to get a picture of them, one type of hornet, and several other types flying insects as well. The diversity of pollinators really impressed on me how wonderfully made our world truly is!

Four years ago, I moved into a suite in a house situated on 5 acres, backing onto wild space. I shared many photos of my new outdoor surroundings with my family. My mother said "what about the inside? What does that look like?" I said "I don't live inside - I just sleep there." I've found that the more time I spend outdoors engaged with my surroundings, the less time I have for things like TV and video games. I am much more interested in the things that I do, and feel more accomplished at the end of the day. This disconnection from the natural world may be contributing to the high levels of anxiety and depression we see in society today.

I check my Hydro usage once or twice a month and compare my usage to similar homes nearby. I am consistently below the average. Once or twice in the past 16 months I had above-average use. Typically this happens in the winter if we forget to turn the heat down at bedtime. This reminds us to be vigilant about checking. Our nightly checklist is: Lights, Oven, Heat, Computers. Calling them out as we check reminds all members of the household to check each night - thus increasing the chances that someone will remember to do it tomorrow night!