The Dirt On Indoor Composting

By Katie Bianchin
Education Development Officer
Burns Bog Conservation Society


http://www.wormdirtbynature.com/_/rsrc/1233514635253/Home/WormComposter.png

The Vancouver Landfill is the final destination for garbage from 45% of Metro Vancouver and it is located directly in Burns Bog. Last year alone over 1,250,000 tonnes of garbage were dumped into the Landfill adding another level to the seemingly endless mound.

Composting is an inexpensive and easy way of reducing up to 30% personal household waste. There are two main types of compost: indoor and outdoor. If you want to learn more about outdoor compost please click here. LINK TO (http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/solidwaste/grownatural/composters.htm) Indoor composting, also known as vermicomposting, is the perfect solution for apartment living, workplace or classroom settings, or for anyone who doesn’t have the space for a backyard system. This method uses worms to break down organic waste. The result: high quality soil. Worried about the smell? It is practically odourless! Click here for my simple 4 step process.

This is a great project for teachers or parents to do with children. Children have a natural curiosity about worms and this is a fun way to introduce them to the concept of composting and nutrient recycling.

Little maintenance is required after the initial setup. Just continue feeding the worms kitchen scraps. They eat almost all fruits, vegetables, tea and even coffee grounds. Do not feed your worms meat, dairy, grease or cooked grains like pasta and rice. Eggs shells are great for neutralizing a worm bin that is high in acidic foods (coffee, citrus and tomatoes). For a complete list of foods or trouble shooting you can download a copy of MetroVancouver’s Worm Composting Guide here.

When your worms have created enough castings, in other words, the bin is full of worm poop, feed the worms on only one side for a week. The worms will migrate to the side with food, allowing you to harvest from the other side. The castings will look like dark black soil. Rich in nutrients, the casings make an excellent addition to garden or potted plants.

If you have any questions please email into@burnsbog.org or use MetroVancouver’s guide to worm composting (http://www.metrovancouver.org/about/publications/Publications/wormcompostbrochure.pdf).

There are 4 simple elements:

Container
The container houses your worms. Anything from a Rubbermaid container to an old barrel makes a great container. I recommend a Rubbermaid 53 L. The container has a lid and handles; it is light, cheap, easy to drill and fits nicely under my sink.
1. If you reuse wood make sure there is no toxic paint or varnish as it will leech into your worm bin.
2. A shallow container is best as worms will not go lower than 20-30 cm.
3. If your container is covered drill ventilation holes in the upper half.
4. You could also drill holes into the bottom of the bin. If you do then you will need a collection bin underneath.If you decide to not put holes into the bottom you will need to make sure the bin stays damp, not wet, by aerating every week or so.

The container cannot be see-through as light will stress the worms. Do not use an aquarium as your container.

Bedding
Shredded newspaper or white paper makes perfect bedding.
1. Thoroughly wet the material. The bedding should be moist but not soaking wet. Make sure there are no pools of water at the bottom.
2. Check the moisture content of your bin once a week and add more water or more dry bedding accordingly. Make sure your bedding does not dry out as worms require moisture for respiration.
3. Once you get started the moisture from the food should keep the levels balanced by itself.
4. Be sure to turn the bedding once a week or so to aerate it.

Sand
Worms require sand or fine gravel to break down their food. Sprinkle a cup of sand into the bin. I raided a cup of sand from a local playground.

Worms
You need to get red wiggler worms as they are fast composters, prolific breeders and will live happily in the worm bin conditions.
1. You can get worms from a friend’s compost bin, from compost piles or you can call Vancouver Compost at 604-736-2250 to ask where you can buy local worms. You do not need many as they reproduce quickly. You can also order worms online and get them shipped right to your door. I purchased half a pound of worms from a local worm farm for $20. This is a one-time investment.
2. Dump the worms in your bin and they will burry themselves into the bedding.

Happy composting!

For Metro Vancouver's worm composting guide click the link below
http://www.metrovancouver.org/about/publications/Publications/wormcompostbrochure.pdf

People want their green space

Survey shows majority are against commercial development of agriculture land

The Burns Bog Conservation Society recently sent out a survey in response to the proposed commercial development at 10555 – 64 avenue at the 64th & Highway 91 interchange in Delta. The results indicating a mass objection to the plan, not surprising to the Society, will however cause some concern to developers. Hundreds of surveys were returned to the Society stating people’s opposition to the plan, in addition to their intention of bringing up such opinions to their local government officials.

Currently zoned as agricultural land, this area has been proposed by EarthKing Investments Ltd. to be re-zoned to allow for retail, office and industrial spaces. The potential development has raised a lot of concerns amongst concerned citizens and environmentalists alike. The area is located within Burns Bog, a globally unique ecosystem and the “lungs of the lower mainland,” keeping massive amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere. It is also within close proximity to many residential neighborhoods. As the survey results indicate, many people are concerned about the increase in traffic, loss of green space, and destruction of the bog the development will inevitably cause.

“We have lived in the area for 18+ years and moved here because of the ‘green areas’ and do not want this property rezoned,” says Peter Jakes, a Delta resident. Peter is one of many area residents who strongly oppose the development. For them, it is a personal issue. As Deborah Jones says, “we taxpayers have spent a lot of money trying to preserve Burns Bog. It’s galling and tragic to see our huge environmental investment put at risk due to the greed of a few individuals.”

The people are worried. They are worried about the implications the development will bring. They are also worried that their concerns are not being addressed. As one survey respondent asks, “will the government ever get the message that Burns Bog is worth saving and that the people of this community want it (all of it) saved?!”

Though developers continue on with the application process for re-zoning, one thing is for certain: the land will not be re-zoned easily as many people have already banded together, taking action against the proposal. With passion, J. Baker concludes, “the land will not be given up without a fight.”

If you would like to have a say, write a letter to Delta Council. Be sure to also copy in Burns Bog Conservation Society. Visit http://www.burnsbog.org/ for more information.

Destruction of peatlands problem in Indonesia

Read about how lack of peatland protection in Indonesia is having a devastating impact on climate change. Below is a really interesting article found in the Vancouver Sun on November 20, 2009. Find it online at http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx

Peat is burning problem
Country is the third-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions

By Andrew Higgins

TARUNA JAYA, Indonesia — Across a patch of pineapples shrouded in smoke, Idris Hadrianyani battled a menace that has left his family sleepless and sick — and has wrought as much damage on the planet as has exhaust from all the cars and trucks in the United States. Against the advancing flames, he waved a hose with a handmade nozzle confected from a plastic soda bottle.

The lopsided struggle is part of a battle against one of the biggest, and most overlooked, causes of global climate change: A vast and often smoldering layer of coalblack peat that has made Indonesia the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States.

Unlike the noxious gases pumped into the atmosphere by gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles in the United States and smokebelching factories in China, danger here in the heart of Borneo rises from the ground itself.

Peat, formed over thousands of years from decomposed trees, grass and scrub, contains gigantic quantities of carbon dioxide, which used to stay locked in the ground. It is now drying and disintegrating, as once-soggy swamps are shorn of trees and drained by canals, and when it burns, carbon dioxide gushes into the atmosphere.

Amid often acrimonious debate over how to curb global warming ahead of a critical UN conference next month in Copenhagen, “peat is the big elephant in the room,” said Agus Purnomo, head of Indonesia’s National Council on Climate Change. Dealing with it, he said, requires that the world answer a vexing question: How to make protection of the environment as economically rewarding as its often lucrative destruction?

Carbon trading was meant to do just that by allowing developing countries that cut their emissions to sell carbon credits. But this and other incentives for conservation developed since a UN conference in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 have done nothing to protect Indonesia’s abused peatlands.

Less than a quarter of a century ago, 75 percent of Kalimantan — which comprises three Indonesian regions on the island of Borneo — was covered in thick forests. Gnawed away since by loggers, oil palm plantations and grandiose state projects, the forests have since shrunk by about half. Each year, Indonesia loses forest area roughly the size of Connecticut.
Fires, meanwhile, have grown more frequent and serious.

How dirt became so dangerous — and why reversing the damage is so difficult — is on grim display here in Central Kalimantan, inhabited by about two million people and a rapidly dwindling population of orangutans. Economic logic here is firmly on the side of those wrecking the environment.

For example, Hadrianyani, the firefighter in Taruna Jaya, also has another job: He clears peatland of trees and scrub for cultivation — a task done most easily by burning.
Across Kalimantan, logging and palm oil companies deploy formidable economic, and real, firepower against environmental activists trying to protect the fragile peat. On a recent afternoon in Lamunti, a desolate Central Kalimantan settlement crisscrossed with fetid canals, the rival camps faced off. On one side of a wooden barrier at the entrance to PT Globalindo Agung Lestari, an oil palm estate, stood a dozen or so out-of-town environmental activists with a bullhorn. On the other side stood company security guards, local police officers and Indonesian soldiers with automatic weapons.

Estimating carbon emissions from deforested peatland is a highly complicated and inexact science. Even when not burning, dried peat leaks a slow but steady stream of carbon dioxide and other gases.

In 2006, according to Wetlands International, a Dutch research and lobbying group, Indonesia’s peatlands released roughly 1.9 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide — equal to the combined emissions that year of Germany, Britain and Canada, and more than U.S. emissions from road and air travel.

Highway Pollution and its Devastating Impacts on Local Communities

From http://www.greenandsave.com/green_news/green-blog/highway-pollution-its-devastating-impacts-local-communities-5382

By Adrian Martinez, Project Attorney, Southern California Air Team, NRDC, Santa Monica Posted on Thursday 12th November 2009


A new study about the staggering impacts of highway and ship pollution was released by a team of scientists and academics, including some of the most pioneering researchers on issues of health related impacts from degraded air quality. The study provides a localized look at the impacts of air pollution, especially from freight facilities. Using the health indicator of childhood asthma, the study examines how much proximity to traffic and pollution from ship emissions drive asthma incidents. The communities chosen were Long Beach, an area that has long been on the front lines of the battle to protect community health from the massive quantities of air pollution spewed by the nation's two largest ports (the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach), and Riverside, a community that has become home to sprawling warehouses that serve as magnets for thousands upon thousands of diesel trucks rumbling through this community each and every day. The results of this study should be a wake-up call to the enablers of massive freight expansion who don't deal with all the negative consequences.

Rob McConnell, principal investigator on the study and professor of preventative medicine at the USC Keck School of Medicine, noted recently that:

The traditional approach to estimating the burden of air pollution-related disease has markedly underestimated the true effect...Our results indicate that there is a substantial proportion of childhood asthma that may be caused by living within 75 meters (81 yards) of a major road in Long Beach and Riverside. This results in a much larger impact of air pollution on asthma symptoms and health care use than previously appreciated. This is also one of the first studies to quantify the contribution of ship emissions to the childhood asthma burden.

In fact, NRDC, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, the Coalition for a Safe Environment and the Endangered Habitats League are currently mired in litigation against the Environmental Protection Agency, the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the Southern California Association of Governments on the issue of protecting the 1.5 million near highway residents in the Los Angeles area from harmful air pollution impacts. Read more about that effort here.

The study also found that 21% of all asthma incidents in Long Beach were caused by the contribution of nitrogen dioxide levels from ships. As shipping interests have fought relentlessly against efforts to clean up their filthy engines and fuels over the decades, this fact becomes even more disturbing.

This study reminds us that unfettered economic exploitation of an area can have immense consequences on local health, including our most important populations--children. Freight and public health protections can coincide, but we need to end the industry obstructionism and lack of forward thinking that is currently infecting our decision-makers. Efforts such as pushing forward with alternative transportation systems championed by the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and the South Coast Air Quality Management District's push for electrification of our rail lines are the types of efforts we need to keep moving forward. Highway widening projects (e.g. the proposed 14 lane expansion of the I-710 and the State Route 47 project, which creates a new diesel highway in the City of Wilmington) that ignore these near-highway communities should not be given so much attention.

All in all, the study ended with some very useful commentary on the application of the results of this study. It stated--

Our results demonstrate that the burden of asthma prevalence and exacerbation caused by traffic proximity can be substantial in communities with large numbers of homes in close proximity to major roadways. There is an urgent need for more detailed evaluation of the health consequences both of large-scale transportation infrastructure development and of port-related air pollution in areas that already have a high burden of disease associated with air pollution.
This should provide a call to action for all transportation planners that seek to expand freight facilities (e.g. the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, the California Department of Transportation, and other agencies). Agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the California Air Resources Board, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District must also implement policies to protect these most vulnerable near-highway communities from the deleterious impacts of air pollution. Business as usual is not working, and if we are going to expand, these projects must embrace modern low pollution technologies. If we fail in this respect, our future generations will end up spending too much time sucking on inhalers and in the hospital instead of schools. This is an untenable result.

* * * This post originally appeared on NRDC's Switchboard.


Adrian Martinez serves as a project attorney for The Natural Resources Defense Council’s Southern California Air Team in Santa Monica, Calif. NRDC is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the environment, people and animals. NRDC was founded in 1970 and is comprised of more than 300 lawyers, scientists and policy experts, with more than one million members and e-activists.

Learn More About the Gateway Project

Looking to learn more about the Gateway Project? There are many options available!

1.
Come on a bus and boat tour to see for yourself the devastating impact the South Fraser Perimeter Road will have. A group concerned about the effects of this massive contruction project have organized an informative tour this Friday, November 20, 2009 to show others the side of the story so many people are sadly not yet aware of. Tour to begin by bus at the Ladner bus loop at 9:45am. Then at noon from the New Westminister dock, the tour will continue by boat. Tour will last approximately 5 hours so please pack a lunch. Cost is $70 per person. Space is limited so please contact Anita Den Dikken at 604.948.0138 to confirm or to get more information.

2.
Pre-Copenhagen UBC Forum on Gateway and Ecological Impact - Monday at 5pm
A Gateway to What?!?Climate Changing Development and the Impacts on Life in our Region
A Forum at UBC that will:
a) Explore the Gateway Program: an estimated 10 billion dollarproposal of extensive highway and port expansion, happening right in our own backyard that would drastically increase global warmingemissions
b) Evaluate the potential environmental impact of this project,particularly upon crucial ecosystems of the region, including BurnsBog: the ‘lungs of the Lower Mainland’
c) Investigate alternatives to Gateway, with an emphasis uponsustainability and smart planning.
Guest Speakers:Ben West (Wilderness Committee), Pamela Zevit (Biologist), Michael Barkusky (impact on Fraser River), Patrick Condon (urban design)
When: Monday November 16th 5pm - 7pm
Where: UBC Student Union Building (SUB) 205
Why: To better understand the cause and effect of climate changing activity in our back yard
Cost: Free
Organized by Poli Sci 449 and the Wilderness Committee

3.
Attend A UBC Forum that intends to. . .
• Inform about the Gateway Program: an estimated $10,000,000 provincial proposal of extensive highway and port expansion, happening right in our own backyard
• Evaluate the environmental impact of such an expansion, particularly upon crucial ecosystems of the region, including Burns Bog: the ‘lungs of the Lower Mainland’
• Investigate alternatives to Gateway, with an emphasis upon sustainable development and city planning.
Guest Speakers: Ben West, Pamela Zevit, Michael Barkusky, Patrick Condon
Monday November 16th, 5:00 - 7:00 pm
UBC - SUB Room 205
Price: Free!
For more info visit the Facebook event invitation here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=200401728091&ref=mf


For more information about the Gateway Project visit
http://www.gatewaysucks.org/
http://www.thereisanotherway.com/
http://wildernesscommittee.org/gateway

2010 Burns Bog Gala

Celebrate British Columbia's environmental successes at the 2010 Gala hosted by the Burns Bog Conservation Society. Enjoy in a magical evening of live music, fine art, local and organic cuisine, and inspirational speakers to recognize some extraordinary people who help keep our planet healthy.

The Burns Bog Conservation Society is proud to announce that the annual Celebrating Women and the Spirit of the Cranes Gala has been changed to the Burns Bog Gala. This development has made the Gala more inclusive and for the first time recognizes both men and women who have contributed to the environmental movement. The 2010 event will be held at the stunning BCIT Aerospace campus in Richmond. The night will feature entertainment, a recognition ceremony, art exhibition, silent auction and an elegant dinner buffet.

Gala venue: BCIT Aerospace Centre

Nominations are now open. If you know someone who exemplifies a community leader, eco-artist, green business professional, environmental educator or successful young environmentalist please nominate them by clicking here.

Want to get involved? We are currently looking for artists, performers, sponsors, volunteers and donations for this event. If you are interested in this fantastic opportunity please contact me at communications@burnsbog.org or phone 604.572.0373. If you would like to be a sponsor you can download the sponsorship package here.

For more information visit www.burnsbog.org/gala

Society President Calls for Your Help to Stop the South Fraser Perimeter Road

Dear readers,

I am Eliza Olson, one of the founders of the Burns Bog Conservation Society 20 years ago. Burns Bog has been classified as the only estuarine raised peat bog found in a Mediterranean climate. It is also considered the largest raised peat bog on the west coast of the Americas. Burns Bog was originally 10,000 to 12,000 acres (or 4000 ha to 4100 ha). In 2004 we were successful in getting about half of Burns Bog (2000 ha) placed under a conservation covenant. Unfortunately, this covenant is not being taken seriously.

The British Columbia Government is proposing to put a road through unprotected bogland right next to the conservation area. There are some areas where the road is planned, which according to one person who is familiar with the area says, they will have to go down 200 metres before hitting a clay bed for any stability.

Another problem is that the unprotected areas contain habitat for rare and endangered species. These include the Southern Red-backed vole. When it was discovered in 1999, it was the first time it had been seen in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia for something like 53 years! The loss of the forested area near the garbage dump is believed to have a negative impact on the small flock of Sandhill cranes. One observer believes that the road will cut them off from their traditional feeding areas and impact their ability to fool predators like the coyote by using the trees to deflect their calls and thereby fool the coyotes as to where they are.

In the 1970s Dr. David Bellamy, a renowned peatland expert, visited Burns Bog and thought that it was too degraded to survive. In 1995 when he returned at our invitation, he was delighted to discover that a great deal of the cutover bog was regenerating. He even went for a swim in a cutover created pond that had the red fuscum sphagnum growing on its banks.

In 1996, Dr. Bellamy invited me to attend the Peatland Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the keynote speaker and spent the last 1/2 hour of his speech talking about Burns Bog and the need to protect it.

Following the congress, resolutions were passed calling for Burns Bog to be either purchased or expropriated and declared a Ramsar site.

Now the future of Burns Bog is being threatened again. It is listed as an "area of concern" on the International Mires Conservation Group's website. http://www.imcg.net/.

In the last 20 years we have managed to change people's attitudes towards Burns Bog and peatlands in general in the Lower Mainland. Since we started, other peatlands in the area have been protected. Words like "lagg" and "acrotelm" and "catotelm" have become part of the vocabulary of local scientists and non-scientists alike. We have done this by producing educational material for elementary, secondary and post secondary teachers.

But it is not enough.

We are very small organization funded by individuals. We do not receive funding from the Federal, Provincial or local governments for our work.

Here are some websites for more information about the South Fraser Perimeter Road that we are fighting to move.
http://www.burnsbog.org/
http://www.thereisanotherway.com/
http://www.gatewaysucks.org/
http://www.livableregion.ca/
http://www.sunburyneighbourhood.ca/
www.wildernesscommittee.org/gateway
http://www.savedelta.ca/
www.stephenrees.wordpress.com/category/gateway

It is becoming increasingly critical that we receive international support to stop or change this road if we are to save Burns Bog for future generations. With the downturn of the economy, the federal and provincial governments are talking about approving such infrastructures as roads to stimulate the economy. The most recent approval of the Provincial government to remove farmland from the Agriculture Land Reserve to build the road, opposition from international sources is vital.

Dr. Catherine O'Connell of the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, believes that the building of this road places Canada in contravention of several international protocols, including the Convention on Biodiversity and Climate Change.

Peatlands are little understood in Canada and especially in British Columbia, as the focus has been on protecting the majestic forests while ignoring the Lilliputians of nature.

You can stop this. Contact your MP, educate others about what is happening, organize a demonstration, or donate to the Society.

Thank you for your consideration of this dire matter and I look forward to your support. I cannot put it more simply, I need your help.

Sincerely,

Eliza Olson
President
Burns Bog Conservation Society

Petition for Burns Bog to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site Presented to the House of Commons

On September 30, 2009 MP Sukh Dhaliwal presented the petition for Burns Bog to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site to the House of Commons. See the video here: