Cooler, pricier pavement easier on the atmosphere

July 31, 2008

Saanich is trying a hot new pavement product for the second time.

And it's really not all that hot, says Trevor Howells, a quality controller with Capital City Paving. That's cool, because the new method is easier on the evironment.

"There's reduction of emissions," Howells said. "We reduce nitrogen dioxide by – it varies – by about 58 per cent, carbon dixide is reduced by 46 per cent ... and sulphur dioxide by 81 (per cent)."

The lessened impact on the environment is the whole point and why the municipality worked with Capital City Paving to patch up a section of Arbutus Road almost exactly one year after paving Maplewood Road with warm mix pavement.

Warm mix has less greenhouse gas emissions than hot mix because it's cooler. The warm stuff reaches a temperature of 100-120 C, in comparison to hot mix, which reaches 140-160 C.

Less energy is required to heat it and less oil is used in the heating, Howells said. It also takes less time to pave, easing the time of congestion traditionally caused by road work.

Warm mix doesn't require cooling time before compacting. The lower temperature also poses less risk to paving crews. Warm mix, which is relatively new to the North American paving market costs more than hot mix

Churchgoers try hand as dumpster divers

By Roszan Holmen - Saanich News - June 24, 2008

Trevor Smith, Councillor Vicki Sanders, Reverend Karen Dickey
and Glenys Verhulst pick the garbage at St. Aidan's United Church.

Parishioners of St. Aidan's United Church slipped on rubber gloves, boots and old clothes to dive into the dumpster last weekend.

"It's a horrible thing to think about doing but it's the only way to find out what's going wrong," said parishioner and Saanich councillor Vicki Sanders.

The church's green committee set out to conduct an audit on the waste generated from church events, rental groups and thrift shop.

"We just had to bring attitudes of curiosity to the garbage," said Glenys Verhulst, who organized the dive behind the church at 3703 St. Aidan's St.

The goal is to reduce waste and save money on the garbage collection fee, currently at $108 per month.

After sorting through all the bags on large plastic tarps on Saturday, the team found that only one small bag's worth of trash belonged in the dumpster.

"We discovered that 97 per cent of the kitchen waste could have been diverted from the landfill," said Sanders. "It was unbelievable the amount of paper towels and coffee grinds."

Already a group of volunteers take some plastics and styrofoam home to recycle or to the mobile recycling depots. To catch more waste, the church is considering hiring its garbage collector to take away recyclables.

The church is seeking volunteers to compost kitchen waste for its garden. It's also looking into energy-efficient light bulbs and installing another bike rack.

"We do pretty well ... but we have a lot of space to grow," said Verhulst.

Saanich Carbon Neutral Donations Tax Deductible -- A First For Local Government

Can’t decide where to spend your Carbon Action Dividend? The District of Saanich just made it easier for its residents to make that call.

The new Saanich web-based Carbon Calculator allows residents to estimate their household carbon footprint, donate to a Saanich Carbon Neutral Fund and immediately receive a tax-deductible receipt for income tax purposes.

The first contributors to the Carbon Neutral fund were Municipal Councillors Vicki Sanders and Leif Wergeland, co-chairs of Saanich’s Joint Advisory Committee on Climate Change. Councillors Sanders and Wergeland displayed their Carbon Neutral Tax-Deductible receipts, June 26th, 2008 at the launch of the Carbon Calculator.

“Climate Change is happening and we need to reduce our carbon footprint, but in the meantime, it is important to offset our CO2 emissions.” Says Vicki Sanders, Chair of Saanich’s Environmental Advisory Committee.

The funds raised will be specifically dedicated to carbon-reducing projects within the District of Saanich.

“As far as we know, Saanich is the first municipality in Canada to create such a tax-deductible Carbon Neutral programme. We hope it will help us all to become much more aware of our carbon footprint.” says Saanich Councillor, Leif Wergeland, Chair of Saanich’s Planning, Transportation and Economic Development Committee.

The new calculator and receipt system will generate funds to supplement Saanich’s new Carbon Neutral Reserve Fund. $90,100 was placed in this fund in the 2008 Budget to offset the estimated 6,000 Tonnes of Co2 emitted annually by Saanich Municipal operations.

“There are so many carbon offset programmes out there, it’s easy to become confused. Many of them take your money and spend it to remote projects without clear financial accountability.

Saanich’s reserve fund will only support carbon-reducing projects within the District and all spending is subject to legislated audits and public disclosure. “That accountability and localized spending will be appreciated by our residents.” says Vicki Sanders.

Saanich Doles Out Enviro Awards

June 04, 2008 Erin Cardone

Solar power, engineered by a local company, is making the municipality’s infrastructure a whole lot greener. Carmanah Technologies will receive a Saanich Environmental Award Monday for its solar technology. Carmanah’s solar panels are installed on some crosswalk beacons in Saanich.
The technology allows the devices to operate independent from the power grid, using clean, renewable energy, says Coun. Vicki Sanders, chair of the Environmental Advisory Committee.
Three other businesses or organizations and three individuals will receive awards before next Monday’s council meeting.

Guy Dauncey will receive the Sustainability Award for his written and spoken works that “develop a positive vision of a sustainable future,” Sanders said. Dauncey is president of the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association, executive director of the Solutions Project, publisher of the EcoNews and author of 11 books.

This is the ninth year that the Environmental Awards have been doled out. People can nominate someone for an award every year. The Environmental Advisory Committee hopes to see more nominations for the next batch of awards. “We often get the same people year after year because they do such wonderful work,” Sanders said.

The award winners this year are:
Individual Citizen: Ms. Judy Spearing
Volunteer Organization: Mt. Tolmie Conservancy Association
Business/Commercial: Carmanah Technologies
Youth Group: Reynolds Green Group
Biodiversity: Garry Oak Meadow Preservation Society
Sustainability: Mr. Guy Dauncey
Long-term Environmental Achievement: Ms. Pam Sinclair

Battery recycling could be better

Saanich News
May 14, 2008

Coun. Vicki Sanders says the Capital Regional District needs to develop a better battery recycling system to make the process more convenient.
Recycling batteries is too inconvenient, says Saanich Coun. Vicki Sanders.

Only two per cent of household batteries are recycled, meaning 98 per cent are being thrown into the garbage, leaving open the possibility for heavy metals and chemicals to leak into the soil or water systems.

Sanders put forward a recommendation that Saanich council ask the Capital Regional District to provide a more convenient drop-off or pick-up system to make battery recycling more attractive.

“The options for battery disposal aren’t convenient, therefore explaining the large numbers ending up at the Hartland landfill,” Sanders said. “Convenient recycling is obviously the key to success.”

CRD-run Hartland landfill currently operates a battery recycling program. Most batteries that come in are automotive types, made of lead acid. There’s no on-site recycling for household-grade batteries, said manager of operations Tom Watkins, but those batteries are collected and shipped off-site for disposal.

Sanders said she’d like to see a regional movement for battery recycling, with several drop-off or collection sites in each of the 13 municipalities.

Keep Saanich beaches from going to the dogs

Saanich News - April 30, 2008

Terri Elston’s letter of April 9 compliments Saanich on its beaches but also raises the frustration of having to be on the lookout for people’s dog droppings on Saanich beaches. Dog restrictions are in effect on only a few beach locations: Cadboro Bay-Gyro Park, Lakeside Park, Cordova Bay Beach and Mount Douglas Park. Dog bag waste stations are provided in many of the parks and the Saanich bylaw makes it clear dog owners should keep our beaches clean for everyone.
Ms. Elston raises a challenge to all residents of Saanich to start now in the clean-up of beaches. This call to action is timely as it coincides with Pitch-In Canada Week, April 21-27. This is an excellent opportunity for residents of Saanich to show not only pride in the beaches but in their entire community.
Go to www.pitch-in.ca/pitch-in.php. Let’s show Canada that Saanich can pitch in.

Vicki Sanders
Saanich councillor

Saanich Earth Hour 2008 - A Great Success

Going dark a bright idea
By Erin Cardone - Saanich News - April 04, 2008




Saanich Councillor Vicki Sanders says Earth Hour 2008
was a success and hopes the event will be bigger and
better next year. Dunc Malcom/New staff
Saanich reduced its energy usage by three per cent during Earth Hour last week and Coun. Vicki Sanders is quite pleased.
“We did really well,” said Sanders, who promoted Earth Hour in the community as chair of Saanich’s Environment Committee. “It was incredible in that it was a real sleeper from the beginning.”
The three per cent reduction is slightly above the provincial average of two per cent, although some B.C. communities stood out in terms of their participation.
Data collected by B.C. Hydro between 8 and 9 p.m. March 29 showed North Vancouver and Port Coquitlam shut off the most lights for the symbolic hour last week, at seven per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively.
Out of the 19 B.C. communities where B.C. Hydro was able to collect data, Prince George showed the least interest in turning off its lights and heating, posting a 0.2 per cent reduction.
In the province, British Columbians switched off the equivalent of 2.5-million lights, saving 125 megawatts of electricity.
The Friday before Earth Hour (March 28), Sanders organized a prize draw at Municipal Hall to try get residents engaged. She wouldn’t say how many showed up (“We didn’t get lots of people”), but she did say that on March 29, her e-mail inbox was full of letters from people excited to participate.
“I’m already thinking about (next year),” Sanders said Tuesday.
“I’m thinking about getting the word out a lot sooner because it was a very short timeframe.”