3.5.9     Home Maintenance

 

3.5.9        Home Maintenance

Safe cleaning methods

____1.    Is the home equipped with a built-in vacuum for cleaning with minimum dust disturbance?
____2.    Is cleaning done with a damp cloth and damp mopping?
____3.    For hard water or heavy soiled clothes, do you add 125 ml (1/2 cup) borax or 75 ml (1/3 cup) baking soda to the wash water?
____4.    For diapers and baby wear, do you wash them in hot water with detergent and 125 ml (1/2 cup) borax or baking soda and leave for two hours?
____5.    Do you deodorize a rug or broadloom by sprinkling liberally with baking soda, leaving it at least 15 minutes and vacuum thoroughly?
____6.    Do you use a furniture polish made of a mixture of 30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil with 15 ml (1 tbsp) white vinegar and 1 litre (4 cups) of water?
____7.    Do you clean upholstery using a mixture of:
                *    90 ml (6 tbsp) soap flakes            *    30 ml (2 tbsp) borax
                                    *    500 ml (2 cups) boiling water
then cool, shake and apply suds with a soft brush or cloth in a circular motion on a small area?
____8.    Do you wash your windows with a solution of 10 ml (2 tbsp) vinegar and 1 litre (5 cups) of water?
____9.    Do you clean sink drains with boiling water containing 60 ml (1/4 cup, or 4 tbsp) of baking soda and 60 ml of vinegar?
____10.    Do you clean sinks and counters with a solution of water and baking soda?
____11.    Do you clean oven with a solution of water and baking soda; pour salt onto fresh grease spots, and wipe them clean minutes later?
____12.    Do you use a mixture of 250 ml (1 cup) of borax with 125 ml (1/2 cup) of baking soda as your automatic phosphate-free dishwasher detergent (Borax, or sodium borate, is used as a degreaser, deodorizer, mild antiseptic, and water softener)?
____13.    Do you use a mixture of borax and water to clean and deodorize garbage pails?
____14.    Do you clean the inside of the refrigerator with 45 ml (3 tbsp) baking soda dissolved in warm water?
____15.    Do you clean rug and carpets by sprinkling cornstarch on dry spots to absorb dirt and grease and, after 5 minutes, vacuum thouroughly?
____16.    Do you use baking soda as scouring powder (works for cleaning the toilet bowl, removing greasy fingerprints, cleaning tub and sink, etc.)?
____17.    Do you use cornstarch as bath powder, and do you add 50 ml (1/4 cup) baking soda to your bath water?
____18.    Do you use baking soda to clean coffee and tea stains from china mugs?
____19.    Do you use baking soda to brush your teeth?
____20.    Do you use criteria for evaluating cleaning products such as:
                *    non-aerosol  and minimally packaged          *    non-poisonous
                *    non-toxic        *    non-corrosive            *    inexpensive        *    all-purpose
            *    re-usable (e.g., plunger, hair trap, cleaning cloths, etc.)
 
Sub-section %    =    Total number of points for the subsection     x     100%
                           Total number of questions for the sub-section               5

Section 3.5.9   Assessment Scoring

3.5.10    Environmental behavior when you are outdoors

 

____1.    Do you make sure not to throw garbage of any kind when you are outdoors?
____2.    Do you carry out everything that you brought into the wilderness on your camping trip?
____3.    Do you use a camp stove (they save wood)?
____4.    Do you wash yourself using biodegradable soap, and wash dirty dishes, clothes in a dish pan and not in a lake, stream or river?
____5.    Do you avoid disturbing wildlife?
____6.    Do you use a biological toilet at your cottage place as an alternative to septic tanks for human waste?
____7.    Do you avoid motorized sports such as skidooing, trail bike riding, and speedboating in favour of less polluting activities such as cross-country skiing, hiking, sailing, canoeing, walking, bird watching, wildlife photography, animal study, or stargazing?
____8.    Do you help out by picking up any litter left by others?
____9.    Do you participate in organized litter clean-up campaigns?
____10.    At the movies, do you read the magazine published by the theatres and do you put it back on the stand for someone else to use it?
 
Sub-section %    =    Total number of points for the subsection     x     100%
                           Total number of questions for the sub-section               5

Section 3.5.10   Assessment Scoring

3.5.11    Environmental behavior at work

 

____1.    Do you use the stairs instead of the elevator for short trips?
____2.    Do you help and encourage your employer and fellow employee to follow environmentally safe practices in the storage, use and disposal of hazardous wastes at the work site?
____3.    Do you encourage your employer to purchase and, if appropriate, to manufacture environmentally friendly products?
____4.    Do you encourage your employer to start an organized paper recycling program?
____5.    Do you minimize paper wastage by using both sides of sheets of paper and by re-using large mailing envelopes?
____6.    Have you asked your employer, or union, to organize car pools?
____7.    Do you inspect gasoline, heating oil or chemical storage tanks at your worksite, and look for leaks, and report them immediately?
____8.    Do you act as an environmental protector at your worksite and if your employer or co-worker are acting environmentally irresponsibly, do you contact your nearest Environmental Protection Office?
____9.    Do you turn off lights when an area is unoccupied?
____10.    Have you re-scheduled evening cleaning to times when the lights are on anyway because the area is in use, or to daylight times, such as weekend day, when the area is unoccupied?
____11.    Have you eliminated unnecessary outside lighting (parking areas, signs, entrances, facades, walls, and landscaping)?
____12.    Do you use only necessary safety and security lighting?
____13.    Have you installed efficient ballasts (some ballasts may draw over 15 watts of power when the fixture is switched on; some ballasts use much less power)?
____14.    Have you installed energy-efficient solid state dimmer switches, timer switches, lower ceiling fixtures, artificial lighting?
____15.    Are you using energy-efficient motors?
 
Sub-section %    =    Total number of points for the subsection     x     100%
                           Total number of questions for the sub-section               5

Section 3.5.11   Assessment Scoring

3.5.12    Environmental behavior in your yard

 

____1.    Do your water your lawn and garden only when absolutely necessary?
____2.    Do you water during the coolest part of the day (before 10 am, or in the evening), and on non-windy days to reduce water loss by evaporation?
____3.    Do you use sprinklers that deliver large droplets in a flat pattern rather than sprinklers that throw the water high into the air (to avoid wastage and evaporation)?
____4.    Do you place your sprinklers and hoses carefully  so that water does not land on driveways, sidewalks, or streets?
____5.    Do you make sure not to overwater (lawn and garden soil cannot store water for long)?
____6.    Do your overcut grass (keep it around 6.5 cm high; taller grass holds water better)?
____7.    Do you use layers of grass clippings or wood chips around plants, shrubs and trees to hold and retain water?
____8.    Do you use chemical-free methods and products instead of using chemical products in your yard?
____9.    Do you remove insects such as spider mites, aphids, and mealybugs from your plants, bushes and trees by hosing them off with a strong burst of water?
____10.    Do you wear gloves to remove insects such as lilac leaf miners, leaf rollers, colorado potato beetles, and spruce budworms off your plants (best done in the morning)?
____11.    Do you dig out weeds by hands?
____12.    Do you hoe your garden regularly to control weeds and keep them healthy?
____13.    Do you avoid keeping old bags, baskets, and other rubbish in your yard as they can provide homes for insects?
____14.    Do you get rid of slugs by placing flat boards near your plants, and then later lifting the boards and destroying the slugs?
____15.    Do you use insecticidal soaps to dislodge or suffocate insects?
____16.    Do you use pesticides as a last resource and do you use degradable natural products?
____17.    Do you store pesticides in tightly closed and waterproof containers and in secure, well-ventilated places that are out of the reach of children and pets?
____18.    Do you apply only the amounts of pesticides specified on their labels, and apply them only to the appropriate plants and areas?
____19.    Do you make sure never to use pesticides near wells, streams, ponds, or marshes?
____20.    Do you make sure never to use pesticides to eroded areas (rain may carry them to streams, rivers, lakes, etc.)?
____21.    Is your septic tank system working properly (malfunctions would show as bright green spots in your lawn; puddles of sewage on your lawn; soft, spongy sections of ground; sewage odour in your basement)?
____22.    Are you making sure not to grow shrubs or trees near your septic tank system (their roots can clog drain lines)?
____23.    Do you contribute to slowing down the greenhouse effect and reducing carbon dioxide air pollution by planning and looking after as many trees as possible in your yard (they absorb CO2)?
____24.    Do you make sure not to use salt to melt ice on your sidewalks or driveways, or to kill weeds (salt can be very harmful to the environment)?
____25.    Do you make sure not to use preserved wood or old railway ties near vegetable garden (rain can wash chemicals out of the wood and into the soil)?
____26.    Do you use a push mower instead of a gas or electrical mower?
____27.   Have you called your electric utility if you have a tree growing into or around a power line?
____28.    Do you have lifesaver outlets (they will sense a ground fault in an extension cord for instance) to protect your outside electrical outlets?
____29.    Do you make sure not to use power tools, hedge trimmers, extension cords, or lawnmowers outdoors when it is raining, or when the ground and vegetation are wet?
 
 
Sub-section %    =    Total number of points for the subsection     x     100%
                           Total number of questions for the sub-section               5

Section 3.5.12   Assessment Scoring

Section 3.5.13   Environmental sustainable community development

 
 

A Sustainable Home and community Development will include the following parts:

* Health care system,     * Educational system,     * Seniors'care,     * Food chain, nutrition,     * Population growth,     * Farming communities,     * Parks,     * Psychological, biological, genetics and evolution,     * Spiritual pathways,     * Entertainment,     * Quality of life, customs and beliefs, information access, communication, aesthetics,     * Decent housing, suitable community services,     * Pollution, waste,     * An atmosphere of social justice,     * Family stability,     * Religion,     * Infrastructures and facilities, land planning,     * Juvenile crimes, gangs, drugs, illiteracy,     * Socio-cultural and political influences, multi-culturalism, laws,     * Anthropological, Aboriginals, Natives.

Essential elements of an adequate urban and rural development:

a) suitable community facilities and services;
b) decent housing and health care;
c) personal security from crime;
d) educational and cultural opportunities;
e) family stability;
f) efficient and safe transportation;
g) land planning;
h) an atmosphere of social justice;
i) aesthetic satisfaction;
j) responsive government subject to community participation in decision-making;
k) energy conservation and energy efficiency are part of the decision-making process and made part of the community design;
l) the application of the 4 Rs is integrated in the community design;
m) community businesses, working areas, play areas, social and cultural areas, education areas, and training areas;
n) the use of renewable energy sources, central heating where possible, and cogeneration of electricity are made part of the community design when possible;
o) the form of community development integrates concepts such as cooperation, trust, interdependence, stewardship, and mutual responsibility;
p) promote self-sufficiency in all areas such as energy, garbage, food and sewage disposal;
q) rely on locally-produced goods.

For a community to be sustainable there has to be a general social and economical well-being throughout the community. Health is the basic building block of this well-being. Health is created and lived by people within a community: where they work, learn, play, and love. Health is a complex state involving mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, social and economical well-being. Each community can develop its own ideas of what a healthy community is by looking at its own situation, and finding its own solutions. Health promotion generates living and working conditions that are safe, stimulating, satisfying and enjoyable. To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, a community must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change with the environment. The overall guiding principle for the community is the need to encourage reciprocal maintenance, to take care of each other and the environment. The important part of the thinking in both community health and ecological sustainability is the need to find a sense of community as a crucial aspect of healthy individual development.

A Sustainable Community Development Code should be developed to keep contractors in line and is a complement to the Building Code. Land use should encourage higher residential densities throughout the urban area and especially in areas closer to transit services. We would see more mixed uses of property and mixed land uses. Rigid zoning of land should be abolished. Sustainable suburbs would render development along city's edges affordable, environmentally friendly, and would be the sites of interactive and diverses neighborhoods. Building designs should make it easier for people to work at home. Community designs should make it easier for residents to start up a small business, and carry on their trades. The local community organization itself should find it easy to start up a small business, and carry on its trade. Communities should become more stable, self-reliant, and self-sufficient in all areas such as energy, garbage and sewage disposal, and food. People should take responsibility of their built environment, and communities should become environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable.

Transportation has deeply changed the cultural melting pot of cities and community living. Transport of passengers and goods could be made more efficient, safe, and economical through a "use pay" system to cover costs of the transportation networks and pollution abatement. Cities should require an environmental impact assessment and public review to be conducted whenever there is a need for new transportation links, development or river crossings. Transit is critical in mitigating environmental degradation so, today, ridership levels are high; services should be closer to people and their work places; 'clean' technologies and alternative fuels should be well in use; and policies and strategies should be in place to discourage the use of the car and need to commute, and encourage the use of transit, walking and cycling.
 

____1.    Do you support organizations that work to protect and improve the environment?
____2.    Are you a member of a local environmental or conservation group and made a financial donation to such group?
____3.    Do you write letters to the editor of your local and provincial newspapers to make your views on environmental issues known?
____4.    Do you write letters to the presidents of companies to:

            *    express your views about their polluting practices;
            *    praise them for their environmental responsibility; and
            *    encourage the manufacture and sale of environmentally safe products?
____5.    Do you attend meetings and present your views when governments hold public consultation meetings or public hearings in your area on environmental issues?
____6.    Do you look out for pollution occurrences or offences and report them to government officials?
____7.    When voting during elections, do you consider the environmental views, positions and practices of the candidates?
____8.    Do you join neighbourhood litter and pollution clean-up days or weekends?
____9.    Do you participate in a neighbourhood recycling program?
____10.    Do you plan environmental education events such as having experts make preservations and give talks?
____11.    Do you celebrate Canadian Environment Week (the first week of June) and other environment week in your own area?
____12.    Does your community has adequate programs for reducing the use of hazardous materials, recycling them when they are used, and disposing of them properly when recycling is not possible?
____13.    Are CFCs from refrigerators and air conditioners being disposed of safely and properly in your community (they are usually recycled but recycling means that someday, sooner or later,  these chemicals will make it to the ozone layer and destroy it)?
____14.    Does your community have any program that help households and businesses improve the use of these chemicals efficiently?
____15.    Does your community have adequate programs for preventing water pollution?
____16.    Does your community promote and support a Sustainable Home and community Development?
____17.    Does everyone in your community have access to safe drinking water?
____18.    Is the water distribution system properly maintained so that no pollution leaks into it and so that no water is washed through leaky mains?
____19.    Have you writen or called your alderman to congratulate him/her for expanding the municipal composting program to compost leaves?
____20.    Do you participate in an effort to initiate curbside recycling within your community?
____21.    Do you participate in an effort to organize household hazardous waste collections within your community?
____22.    Does your community have an adequate program that helps households and businesses improve their energy efficiency?
____23.    Is anyone in your community actively promoting renewable energy sources (sun, wind, hydro power, etc.) to households, businesses, and institutions?
____24.    Is anyone actively encouraging your electric utility to invest in renewable sources?
____25.    Is the local government doing all it can to use energy efficiently in such areas as street lighting, government building, transportation?
____26.    Are land use decisions, zoning and other regulations adequately sensitive to their energy-use implications?
____27.    Is the air pollution in your community coming from motor vehicles and are there adequate programs to reduce this source?
____28.    Is air pollution in your community coming from business and industry  and are there adequate programs to reduce these sources?
____29.    Is air pollution in your community coming from wood burning and other residential sources and are there adequate programs to reduce these sources?
____30.    Is air pollution in your community coming from outside the community and are there adequate programs to reduce these sources?
____31.    Are there adequate programs to reduce your community's per person garbage production (aim at producing less than 100 kg per person per year)?
____32.    Has your community created an adequate recycling program?
____33.    Are there adequate programs to reduce your community's per person water use?
____34.    Does your community have any programs that help households and businesses improve their water use efficiency?
____35.    Are there adequate programs in your community for preventing water pollution?
____36.    Is the maintenance of the water distribution system in your community adequate enough so that no pollution leaks into it, and no water is wasted through leaky mains?
____37.    Are there adequate programs to decrease your community's per person energy use?
____38.    Are there adequate programs to decrease your community's per person transportation energy use?
____39.    Is public transport adequate in your community and are there programs being created to propose better planning to your municipal government?
____40.    Are there safe biking routes and other support for non-motorized transportation in your community and are there programs being created to propose better planning to your municipal government?
____41.    Is their support for working at home and is zoning make it easy for people to live near their place of work?
____42.    Is zoning and other regulations aimed at creating more self-contained cluster of stores and offices that reduce the need for car travel?
____43.    Are there adequate amounts of, and protection for, open space and wildlife habitat in your community?
____44.    Is the use of toxic chemicals (agricultural, garden, and lawn chemicals, etc.) adequately regulated in your community so that they do not harm the complex web of life in and around your community?
____45.    Are there activities set-up in your home and community to make everyone aware of their energy habits: length of showering, amount of water used to brush teeth, electric toothbrush or regular toothbrush, reusable or disposable containers for lunch, etc.?
____46.    Do you talk to your alderman about expanding the public transit system?
____47.    Do you talk to your alderman to ensure that all future property development is designed to maximize energy requirements (such as windows oriented to make use of passive solar energy; appropriate landscaping to reduce solar heat in summer; ect.)?
____48.    Do you talk to your alderman to provide incentives for car-pooling and public transit use?
____49.    Do you participate and support the 'Household Toxic Round Ups' in your community where hazardous wastes are collected, classified, and segragated for treatment or recycling?
____50.    Do you participate and support the Great Drug Round Up where old, unused and outdated medications are collected and disposed of by the authorities?
____51.    Do you participate and support the Oil Recovery Program where used oil, including gear, engine, transmission, and hydraulic oils are disposed of at participating service stations?
____52.    Do you insist from your municipal government to minimize the impacts of transportation routes on the natural environment during the planning and construction of transportation and urban developments?
____53.    Do you insist from your municipal government to consider environmental factors in the decision-making process for community development?
____54.    Do you insist from your municipal government to practice energy conservation by upgrading city-owned buildings and purchasing and maintaining fuel-efficient vehicles?
____55.    Do you insist from your municipal government to use environmental and economic information for making decisions about new developments?
____56.    Do you insist from your municipal government to incorporate economic and environmental factors in its operations such as solid waste management by:

        *    implementing the blue box collection method for residential recycling;
        *    increasing the fee at the landfills; and
        *    encouraging recycling by everyone?

____57.    Do you insists from your municipal government to hire an independent environmental services company to conduct an audit of the municipal government's:

        *    organizational structure of its environmental management programs so as to ensure that environmental and economic considerations are included in the decision-making process, in development approvals, and in waste treatment; and
        *    environmental assessment process as it relates to the assessment of the environmental impacts of a development on the environment?
____58.    Do you insist from your municipal government to reduce air pollution by:
            *    developing a bicycle and pedestrian pathway system;
            *    endorsing programs to promote community-based initiatives to limit air pollution;
            *    construction a high quality transit system;
            *    developing air quality by-laws;
            *    limiting the installation and use of woodburning fireplaces; and
            *    promoting mass transportation as an environmentally friendly alternative to driving.
____59.    Do you insist from your municipal government that it limits its business dealings with businesses convicted of government offences?
____60.    Do you insist from your municipal government to promote water conservation and watershed protection in its dealings with institutions, businesses, and the general public by:

        *    building separate storm and sanitary sewer systems;
        *    utilizing a state-of-the-art sanitary sewer system able to disinfect wastewater (using ultraviolet light) and remove phosphorous, ammonia and nitrogen (using biological processes);
        *    invite waterworks customers to convert to a metered rate for billing;
        *    using wastewater sludge as a soil conditioner and fertilizer on agricultural land;
        *    educating citizens in discharging pollutants into the storm and sanitary sewer systems;
        *    prohibiting citizens in discharging pollutants into the storm and sanitary sewer systems;
        *    creating and enforcing soil erosion measures for land developments;
        *    creating and enforcing water conservation measures to reduce high consumption;
        *    monitoring for water quality in stormwater systems and identifying areas of concerns;
        *    controlling the discharge of industrial wastewater; and
        *    making environmental data available for research purposes and funding research on environmental topics of municipal interest?
____61.    Do you insist from your minicipal government to develop and support environmental education and public involvement programs such as:

        *    recycling hotline;
        *    household chemical clean up days;
        *    water conservation awareness days;
        *    leaf composting week;
        *    Christmas tree recycling;
        *    residential recycling;
        *    the Environment Week; and
        *    the paint exchange days?
____62.    Do you insist from your municipal government to support grassroots environmentalism to change our lifestyles?
____63.    Do you insist that your provincial government examine and evaluate all products on the market with respect to environmental considerations?
____64.    Do you volunteer to non-profit organizations to enhance the quality of life of all citizens in the community?
 
 
Sub-section %    =    Total number of points for the subsection     x     100%
                           Total number of questions for the sub-section               5


 

Section 3.5.13   Assessment Scoring