Net Zero Dundas

Pebble in the Pond

The concept of the pebble in the pond is an old one, but one that resonates with us. We believe that small changes can ripple outward and become larger. Those larger ripples are what change the face of our society, locally and globally. With climate change being the existential threat of our time we are proactively trying to learn more about how we can be part of the solution, and we wish to share it with others. We believe in being a pebble.

Many of our blog entries will be connected to the Live Net Zero contest and the challenge categories they have defined, and then some will be more general or miscellaneous. We are organizing them that way to simplify finding posts that are of more interest to you.

You can select a category here or dive in to the most recent posts as shown below. Even though some of the categories will be empty until that challenge period is active we want to show how the Live Net Zero organizers are approaching ways to reduce your household and individual emissions / carbon footprint—thanks for reading!

~ Commuting~ Home Envelope~ Heating & Cooling~ Electricity~ Holidays~ Home Improvement~ General

Growing Your Own Food Part of Battling Climate Change
by Jen Reid - 11 Sep 2023

I have never been an avid gardener. However, during the last school year, with a great deal of help from a wonderful parent and fabulous colleague, my grade ¾ class planted a garden. Frankly, I was amazed at the process and inspired by the enthusiasm of my students. We grew a variety of vegetables, and on the second last day of school we celebrated with a salad.

This inspired me to pay attention to my own yard in Dundas. Owen and I bought some vegetables and herbs from a local garden centre, and then we all cleared out some sunny spaces. Cameron dug in some manure, and then into the soil went the plants.

After years of purchased produce from the grocery store and the occasional farmers market, watching the vegetables grow was an almost mystical experience. Seeing how nurturing the soil is so important, and watching the plants take energy from the sun and convert it to food energy was amazing. It was a pretty wet summer here in southern Ontario, and the plants did not need any supplemental watering—they just grew.

We grew lettuce, and a shiny eggplant. Hundreds of cherry tomatoes, and dozens of beefsteak. Exactly twenty-one potatoes, and beautiful, curly kale. Basil, oregano, thyme, and dill. Several large cucumbers, and many, many large club-like zucchini.

The zucchini size and quantity has led me to embrace it like an Iron Chef mystery ingredient. In the last twenty-four hours I have made zucchini loaf, zucchini muffins, zucchini and potato fritters, and a baked zucchini-parmesan casserole. That’s a lot of zucchini, but I have loved every bite. I have recruited zucchinis in the fight against climate change. They are growing outside my door, I do not need to drive anywhere to get them, and they are feeding my family.