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Hearthmakers Invites Applications for Board Membership!
Hearthmakers Energy Cooperative is a Kingston-based not-for-profit organization that provides services and programs to improve the environmental sustainability of Eastern Ontario homes, businesses and communities. Our focus is on energy efficiency and groundwater protection.
Our activities are diverse. We conduct residential and
commercial energy efficiency audits to support the federal ecoEnergy
program and provincial/municipal electricity conservation programs;
provide advice and inspection for the maintenance of residential wells;
and offer community outreach and education about stormwater management.
(For more information, please visit us at: www.hearthmakers.org.)
We
are seeking two individuals interested in serving the community to
replace board members who have served one or more two-year terms. The
board is willing to mentor younger members who are new to working on a
board.
Personal characteristics of board members might include:
- A commitment to energy efficiency, conservation and ecological sustainability;
- Knowledge and/or experience in finance, law, marketing, business/social enterprise development or municiple affairs;
- An appreciation for the role of corporate governance;
- A constructive, cooperative and thoughful approach to problem solving that fosters a positive working relationship with other board members.
Board experience would be an asset, but is not required. The typical time commitment is three to five hours per month, which includes preparation for, and attendance at, board and committee meetings. Occasionally, members with specific skills may volunteer to support the Executive Director when their experience is relevant to the issues or projects of the day – but this is not a mandatory expectation of the board member’s role.
Interested? Please call our Board Chair, David Crane at 613-767-3626, or email davidecrane@hotmail.com, to discuss this opportunity.
Back by Popular Demand: Build your own Pet Waste Composter!
Please join Hearthmakers at 99 York St next Saturday, October 22nd for a fun and interactive workshop: Build your own Pet Waste Composter! Workshop starts at 1:30 and is free!
At this workshop, you'll build the initial components you need for your very own composter, then you'll leave with all the items you'll need to install the composter on your property!
** call to register, as spaces are limited. 613-547-8122
Why compost pet waste?
Pet waste, specifically from dogs, is 5 times more toxic than that of humans or animals with predominently vegetarian diets. When it rains, pet waste left behind by owners washes directly into the storm sewers and into our lakes and streams.
This results in bacteria such as E.coli and nutrients such as nitrogen to overload the bodies of water. We all know that E.coli can make you sick, but isn't nitrogen a good thing? Especially for plants and gardens? It's an ingredient in fertilizer, correct? Nitrogen is a fertilizer ingredient, but too much of a good thing turns out to be a bad thing. If pet waste is left on your lawn for too long, you'll notice that it actually burns the grass on which it sits - effectively killing plant life. Nitrogen, as a nutrient, is great for plants, including those that live in the water. Too much nitrogen, a nutrient overload, in a lake or stream, can cause algae blooms. Nutrient overloads provide food for the algae, allowing their population to explode. The algae can overwhelm the body of water, blocking out sunlight and oxygen for other organisms.
So come out to our workshop this Saturday, August 13th and do your part to reduce runoff pollution in Lake Ontario and the Cataraqui River.
Call Hearthmakers Energy Cooperative and ask for Liz Cooper to register (csr@hearthmakers.org)
Enjoying the fruits of the RAIN program - clean lake water!
RAINScaping @ Home - Pictures and information
Hello all!
Finally, some pictures from our RAINScaping at Home workshop (August 20th 2011)! Also, click here to download a document which covers most of what we learned in our workshop. Written by the workshop facilitator, Peter van Vliet. Peter's company, Village Water Services, run with his business partner, Barb Danielewski, is available for rainscaping consultation and design. Please visit their website for more information.
The pictures!
Peter explaining how to do a percolation test in our soil; finding out how long it takes for water to drain through soil is the first step in building systems to manage your storm water runoff.
Brooke with a measuring tape - to calculate the amount of water running off your roof, you've got to measure it first!
More measuring!
The workshop moves inside!
It's like actual school! We learned a lot....
And back outside to check out the unattached rain barrel... not doing anyone any good!
