What is an Ecological Footprint?

An ecological footprint is a measure of the demands humans place on nature. The ecological footprint measures what we consume from nature, for individuals, organizations, cities, regions, nations or humanity as a whole. It shows how much biologically productive land and water we occupy to produce all the resources we consume and to absorb our waste.

Where is Canada at?

The average Canadian consumes 7.25 hectares of land and sea to sustain our current life needs and wants. That means it takes 7.25 hectares of land and sea throughout the world to support each Canadian. York, Calgary and Edmonton have the highest municipal footprints while Greater Sudbury and Niagara Regional Municipality have the lowest. Footprints range from as low as 6.87 hectares/person in Greater Sudbury to a high of 10.33 hectares/person in York Regional Municipality. The primary difference is due to consumption expenditure levels and the kind of energy we consume to power our lifestyles.

According to the most recent (2002) international comparisons, the average Canadian has the third largest ecological footprint in the world. Unfortunately, the planet only has 1.9 hectares of nature (productive land and sea) available to meet the needs of each person. That means that Canadians are consuming a disproportionately large share (almost four times!) the Earth’s natural capital capacity.

What about London?

In 2004 London’s ecological footprint was estimated at 6.96 hectares per person. To find out your own Ecological Footprint see http://www.myfootprint.org/.

Source: “Ecological Footprints of Canadian Regions and Municipalities” Prepared by Anielski Management Inc., September 2004

TREA's Pesticide-Free Kit
TREA has created a Pesticide-Free Kit that is available online at http://www.trea.ca/pesticides.htm. Refer to it for more ways to control pests and care for your lawn and garden in a eco-friendly way.

London’s Pesticide By-Law
London’s Pesticide by-law states “No person shall apply or cause or permit the application of a pesticide within the boundaries of the City of London.” With a number of exceptions including: swimming pools, golf courses, farms, and human health issues. The by-law comes into effect on September 30, 2008. See our information for ways of maintaining a healthy lawn without the use of chemical pesticides.

Chemical-Free Lawn Care

There are things you can do to create a beautiful lawn without the use of chemicals. Try to abandon the expectation of an astroturf garden as species variety in a natural lawn is inevitable and healthy. Ideas include:

• Ants - To keep ants out of your house, plant pansies or herbs (mint, marjoram, lavender, fennel) around the outside of the house - inside, ants can be repelled by leaving pieces of lemon rind and drops of lemon juice in infested areas - to kill ants you can place a bait of honey and boric acid, or in the case of carpenter ants, peanut butter and boric acid - fresh camphor or sage will keep them out of closets
• Crickets - Mix molasses and vanilla extract or lemon juice in water as bait - also plug up any holes in the house where they are getting in
• Fruit flies - they are attracted to light, darken the room and leave a crack in the window or door to let fruit flies escape - alternatively, use a lamp to attract them and then capture them with the vacuum cleaner
• Houseflies - Sticky flypaper is still a good way to catch houseflies and it is non-toxic - you can repel flies by hanging up fresh hazel or tomato leaves, or by growing marigolds near the doorway
• Spiders - Leave them alone, they play an important role in controlling other household pests

In the garden, you can get rid of the anthills by sprinkling them with eggshells, red pepper (not cayenne), bone or blood meal, talcum powder, wood ash, sulphur, coffee grounds or diatomaceous earth. Also try pouring salted or soapy water over the hills or placing tomato leaves or walnut leaves on top the nest to repel them. To prevent ants from getting into a tree, wrap strips of cloth smeared with natural resin (tanglefoot, for example, is available at garden centers) around the trunk.

Composting

Composting is the breakdown of organic material by soil micro-organisms. Almost 30% of our household waste is organic and, therefore, it can be composted, diverting a significant amount of material from the landfill. The finished compost is an excellent fertilizer for the garden or house plants.

The simplest way to compost is in an open pile. Leaves are easily processed this way. But for kitchen wastes that may attract fruit flies and other insects, it is a good idea to enclose your compost pile and prevent odours. You can build a container or purchase one from various hardware stores.

To start composting, begin with a layer of soil and carbon-rich (usually brown) material (leaves and newspapers). Spread a layer of nitrogen-rich (usually green) material on top (grass clippings and vegetables scraps). These two types of organic waste need to be balanced in the pile. To aerate compost pile, you should turn the material with a shovel or special aerating tool. The more often you turn the pile, the faster the compost will form. You should always bury kitchen wastes in the pile so that there is no odour.

Anything you compost needs to be in small pieces. Shredding leaves and plant material and chopping kitchen waste will increase the speed of the composting and avoid matted layers.

Visit TREA'S demonstration site at 1017 Western Road to view various composters. Check TREA'S website for composting how-to workshops.

Compostable materials include:

Kitchen wastes -

Troubleshooting

What to do when the compost pile…
..…smells bad
There are too many fruit and vegetable scraps, not enough air, or the material is too wet. Aerate the pile and add dry soil, leaves or shredded newspaper to absorb moisture. Coffee grounds can deodorize the compost pile.
..…is dry and will not heat up
Add water to dampen the material.
..…is wet and will not heat up
There is not enough nitrogen in the pile. Add nitrogen-rich materials such as kitchen scraps or grass clippings.
…..attracts fruit flies and wasps
Kitchen scraps have been left uncovered. Cover the scraps with a layer of dirt or leaves.
..…attracts animal pests
Cooked food or meat wastes have been added. Try to avoid adding these items, and make the container inaccessible to animals.

London Composts

London Composts is a unique partnership of environmentally minded London businesses, non-profit organizations and local government working collectively to raise awareness of composing in the London community. Please contact Anne Boyd City Co-ordinator of Waste Diversion Programs for more information.

Vermicomposting

If you like the idea of composting but have never gotten started because you live in an apartment, don't create enough waste to bother or don't like the idea of trudging through the snow in the winter to get to your composter, then vermicomposting may be for you.

What is Vermicomposting? This alternative to backyard composting uses red wriggler worms to compost organic waste. This is particularly good for kitchen wastes, and can be done indoors throughout the year.

A pound of these hungry little wigglers will consume also a pound of food waste each and every day! The worms live in a box or bin in bedding that is most often made primarily of mulched newsprint.

How does it work? The worms will eat just about any food scraps from the kitchen. Cut the food into smaller pieces first. It's a good idea to avoid meat and bones, fresh onions and garlic, fatty or spicy foods. Egg shells, in particular can be a problem and should be dried and crushed finely first.

Special vermicomposting worms called "Red Wrigglers" can be purchased locally from Annelid Cycle (see www.annelidcycle.com or email info@annelidcycle.com).

Make your own vermicomposter:

On average, each Londoner generates 1.1 kms of residential waste per day. Much of this is managed by various City programs including Blue Box, leaf and yard materials collection, composting, scrap metal and electronics recycling. The City continually looks to new innovations given the Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s 60% diversion target for municipalities by December 2008. 40% of our household waste is diverted from landfill but it is estimated approximately 60% of our Blue Box recyclables are captured with the remainder being sent to the landfill.

Source: London’s CLEAR Network – Solid Waste Management Report http://www.clear.london.ca/Solid_Waste_Mgmt.html

Many recycling strategies can be employed to reduce waste. The curbside program is an important visible part of our community's waste processing. It is important to remember, however, that recycling alone will not solve our waste problem. In addition, some recycling processes can produce as much air pollution as garbage incineration. It is, therefore, still essential that we make an effort to reduce the amount of waste that we produce by purchasing goods with little or no packaging.

The City of London has a 4 container (bag) limit for residential garbage collection.

Local businesses that recycle materials:

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