I decided to retire my Toro Personal Pace self-propelled gas mower after learning about the emissions that gas mowers produce.

Here's an interesting fact:
"Testing found that operating a typical gasoline mower with a four-cycle engine produced as much [Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons] (PAH) as driving a modern car about 150 km or about 95 miles. This means that unless you drive more than 95 mph, your mower actually produces more pollution per hour than your car!" Not to mention, the concentrated dose of several types of pollutants experienced by the mower operator.

Needless to say I was on the lookout for a zero emissions mower that was battery powered; I didn't want to deal with long cords. I narrowed it down to either a Neuton Battery Powered Mower or a Black & Decker Cordless Mulching Mower. The Black & Decker cordless mower had the added benefit of being an energy star product. The other difference was the cutting path; the Neuton product was only 14 inches while the Black & Decker product cut 19 inches.

Home Depot was having a summer sale and they had recently marked down their Black & Decker cordless mower from $449. They also price matched Walmart and I got the mower for only $386 ! Home Depot also carried the HomeLite 22" cordless mower which was listed at a much lower price of $349 (compared to $449).

Over the weekend I assembled the Black & Decker mower and it was as easy as taking the mower out of the box and unfolding the handle. The mower weighs about 80 lbs which is about 20 lbs less than my other gas mower. It is small and compact and comes with a full 2 year warranty. It's also got a sleek, aerodynamic look.

I read through the instruction manual and noted that it takes approximately 9 hours to fully charge the battery. Black & Decker went as far as to include tips on mulching and maintaining the lawn. By keeping the grass 2.5 to 3 inches and mulching it every time, mowing the lawn becomes a breeze.

Yesterday, I took the mower out on the lawn. My biggest concern was the life of the battery. My back yard is about 1/3 of an acre and that's the maximum size that the mower recommends. I adjusted the height to about 3 inches using their one touch height adjustment system and mowed the lawn in less than an hour!

There are other benefits over the gas powered mower as well. For one, my ear drums didn't take a beating; it was so much quieter. It's also easy to start without the need to do multiple pulls. The cordless mowers are less powerful than the gas mowers but if you maintain your yard it shouldn't be a problem.

I'd recommend the Black & Decker Cordless Mulching Mower if you are thinking of reducing your emissions and going green.

I think I'll retire my edge trimmer next !

Our deck gets a lot of sun in the afternoon and the outsides of the house are pelted with the heat. We have cellular blinds on the way for inside insulation but we needed a solution for the deck itself that would also absorb some of the heat from reaching the inside of the house.

We decided to go with bamboo shades that we would mount on the outside of the deck to keep the sun from the side of the house that would also let us use the deck in the afternoon.

Bamboo shades of course are made from bamboo which is a rapidly renewable resource. In fact it can grow as much as 3 feet per day. It is a great alternative to using wood (which isn't as easily renewable); also it is easy to clean and insulates very well.

We went down to Rona and got a few of them. They had sizes ranging from 36 inches to 96 inches in length and 72 inches in height.

They were extremely easy to mount; we needed a wood surface, measured, drilled a pilot hole and screwed in the hook then mounted the bamboo shades on them.

I was surprised at the difference these blinds made. Not only was the deck bearable now, the inside of the house was much much cooler.

We finally got a chance to test out our front-load Frigidaire Affinity washing machine and dryer set that we bought from the Brick. While removing the shipping components and plugs I noticed that the drain hose was slim and compact; this of course makes sense because front-loaders use less water so there's less water to drain. There will be no more overflowing due to the force and amount of water.

My wife threw in the first load and we were both surprised at how quiet it was; also there were no vibrations and we could see that it wasn't using alot of water through the glass see-through door. We used Sunlight high-efficiency (HE) detergent which limits the excess suds and is made to clean in low water levels; the Sunlight product is 100% phosphate free and contains biodegradable surfactants. The Fridigaire models are also energy star products which will save on our utility bills.

Needless to say we were both very impressed.

Frigidaire also provides a service contract that can extend the 1 year factory warranty to 2 additional years for a total of 3 years with no worries about repair bills. They also have a replacement coverage where you get a brand new washer/dryer if they can't fix yours.

We were on a mission last night to find blinds for the home and to get tips on making the windows more energy-efficient.

Our stops included Sears and Home Depot. The staff pointed us towards cellular honeycomb blinds which maximizes energy efficiency and insulates the home fairly well. They come in single, double and triple cell arrangements which provide different levels of insulation and light transmission. Chelsea at Home Depot indicated that depending on the supplier, installation times can range from 12 to 19 days. Both places offer free in-home consultation though. I think we are definately leaning towards these shades.

Other options include bamboo roll-up blinds (as a easily renewable resource) and Home Depot also has energy film that has 99% UV Rejection, 85% Light Transmission, 65% Solar Heat Rejection. It can help you save up to 12-18% of annual energy costs but they are recommended for single pane windows.

The reviews have been good: "This film keeps out drafts and conserves heat in winter, to save money and conserve energy."

We were shopping for washers and dryers for our rental suites and we made our way to the Brick. We were looking for a decent set for our renters without going broke in the process.

The rep in the laundry area directed us towards front-load washers and explained how they could save us money in the long run and at the same time help us be environmentally responsible. He pointed out that front-load washers use 40% less water and if we did warm water washes then we would save on the electricity bill as well. Also, the washer/dryer sets that they carried were energy star products which would lessen our energy consumption. Not only that, apparently the front-load washers are gentler on your clothes so your clothes will last longer. 

Our only concern was that we had heard of stories of mildew problems with front-load washers but the rep told us about special high-efficiency (HE) detergent made specifically for front-load washers which creates less suds.

We were sold on getting the Affinity model from Frigidaire.

I had a chance to meet with Scott Wade, the owner of Green Futures Zero Emmision Lawn Care, who came out to assess my lawn. I was interested in how he ran his lawn care business without any emmisions and what his pricing structure was like.

Scott explaned that he ran his operation without using a single drop of gasoline in his equipment. He uses a reel mower, battery powered trimmer and other manual powered tools to take care of his client's lawns. It takes him a bit longer to get the job done but his prices are very good. He enjoys his work and loves that he is running a green business whose goal is to make 'Kelowna greener, one lawn at a time'.

He says that people love the idea and won't shy away from giving him business in the future. He is actively recruiting clients.

Give him a call at 469-2549 or email him at scottwade@live.ca

I received a visit from Garry Klammer, a franchise owner of Turf Logic in Kelowna the other day for a free consultation on my lawn. He is a walking knowledgebase of lawn care tips and advice.

I had met him earlier at the Mayors Environmental Expo and he provided us with tips on mowing the lawn properly and watering in a responsible manner.

He told me my soil was in good condition and so was my yard. He advised that I should think about getting slit-seeding done in patches where grass was missing along with aeration and provided me with a quote.

He also told me to get a moisture measuring device from Rona that would help me determine the moisture levels of the lawn so that I can water only when necessary.

I was looking at getting embroidering and silkscreening of the EscapePollution logo done and I approached Dog's Ear for more information. I spoke with Al who is the franchise owner in Kelowna and he seems to be a very nice guy. He explained the embroidery and silkscreening processes and provided me with a quick qoute. I sent him my logo and he printed off a sample for me to approve. 

I was in the market for various styles and found out that they carried eco-friendly clothing. In particular they carry the Ash City clothing line which uses eco-friendly fabrics and recycled materials.

I ordered a 'his' and 'her' lightweight recycled polyester jackets for my wife and I. The jackets have reflective piping on them which was perfect for my wife who rides a Honda Jazz Scooter.

The embroidering looked great on the jacket and Al worked hard on getting it done quickly for us. We have ordered a few other items and no doubt, we'll be ordering bamboo and/or soybean apparel in the near future.

My wife got a visit from Gerry Mitzel of Kelowna Insta Print one day in her office and he gave her a business card with shiny metallic lettering. She was really impressed and brought me the card and explained how it could be incorporated into our logo.

I was in the process of getting a new set of business cards printed so I called Marina over at Kelowna Insta Print for a quote. I sent them a copy of my card and they printed a high-quality proof for me to sign-off on. I talked with Jamie Robertson of Cutting Edge Concepts who quoted me a price which was very good and he explained that the shiny lettering is actually hot foil printing and it has a 2 week turnaroud time. I had a meeting in the next few days so I decided to print off a few hundred temp cards before I ordered the set with the foil prints. It turned out that I needed to modify my card design as well for the foil print technology and Jamie walked me through the conversion process.

I got a call from Marina the next day indicating that my temp cards were ready for pickup. I can't wait for the foil printed version.

 

I'd been in the market to get decalling done on my Ford Escape Hybrid and I noticed a 2008 Mazda Tribute with decalling for Beyond 50 Magazine. I approached Laurel D'Andrea who works in sales as she was leaving the parking lot and asked her about the sign on her vehicle. It was exactly what I was looking for, it was perfect.

She said she got it done at Access Signs and I took down the information to give them a call.

I called Dena who manages the place, and got some info on how to get my logo and Hybrid ready for the window printing. She was helpful in getting me started; she instructed me to get the logo in vector form and to send it to her for a quote. Along the way, I ran into a file size problem because my logo was around 100 MB and so email service provider would handle that. Dena pointed me to YouSendIt.com which allows you to send up to 100 MB files via email.

Dena provided me with a quote and made me an appointment to bring in my SUV. She took measurements beforehand to get the sizing right and we talked about logo placement on the windows. She used a process called die-cutting and got the logo put on in less than an hour on the day of the appoinment. She even gave me a ride home while the decalling was being done (although she doesn't do that regularly).

My Escape looks great and I've got many compliments about the logo.