Home & Country (Spring 2007)

              Alberta Women’s Institutes
R eports received for my educational Convenership have been interesting and covered various
subjects.
A school received a grant for a video conferencing pilot project; financial support for
apprenticeship programs and a discussion on Afghanistan midwives; food and schools were very
informative. One group is investigating how senior homes are being planned as well as the transportation of seniors and
the handicapped along with estate planning.
An area of importance is paying attention to personal wellness with healing touch, osteoporosis, monthly health
subjects and physical activity of children and teenagers all topics of study. SAIT has opened a diagnostic imaging centre.
What do we do about undesirable chemicals, toxins that are in our environment, food and body?
Retaining historic photos, farm safety, children studying the effects of flooding, names of cyclones, water dam-age,
ghost towns in Alberta, Uranium City, and a documentary from Wings over Canada were subjects of study. Aids in
India, citizenship, environment, foster child in Bolivia, donations to a Women’s Shelter, special project at schools, guiding
teenagers, and a speaker on the problems of abused women were interesting topics too.
Members canvas for the Cancer Society, supply baby quilts for On Eagle’s Wings, take care of buildings, gardens,
cemeteries, work with seniors, hold festivals, assist at schools, and help children assist the community. Fundraising was a
fall bazaar, rummage and bake sales as well as groups donating Christmas gifts to the needy. We observe Remembrance
Day and help by catering to various community groups, teachers, seniors and many others. Trips to museums, Sundre &
Stockman’s Memorial Foundation gave some an outing. We observed International Women’s day, WI week, Branch An-niversaries,
and Founder’s day.
Some of the Roll calls were: outside of Canada my choice of a country to live in; what to be thankful for; what
to hope for; favourite recipes; how to keep your mind alert; tell a story in connection with Alberta’s 100 year celebration;
elementary school memories; medical discoveries; Easter bonnets; personal life story, childhood photo, something old,
antique of special value to the owner, favorite book, memories of the war years and customs of our heritage. wi
R ecycling is very important for our environment. A fifth of our garbage is being recycled and
you will be amazed where it is turning up!
Canadians recycle 22% of our garbage. Canadian waste management companies bring in
$ 4.1 billion a year. Sales of recycled products bring in $ 336 million a year. It costs much less for a
producer to use recycled rather than virgin materials. For example recycling a metal can uses up to
95% less energy than extracting it from virgin sources.
Recycled plastic ‘ lumber’ is being used to make playground equipment, decks and light weight outdoor furniture.
What about that T- shirt you are wearing? It could be made from recycled soft drink bottles! It takes about fourteen 600ml
bottles to make an extra large T- shirt. The plastic is chopped into small flakes, cleaned of contaminants, melted and made
into fibres, which are spun into yarn or other materials. They also use it for the fiberfill in sleeping bags using 85 bottles
that might have lasted 700 years before degrading in the landfill.
Ford of Canada used recycled pop bottles to make door padding, trunk trim, covers for accelerator pedals and
industrial carpets. Eighty percent recycled parts are used in some models of car. General Motors has also increased the
amount of recycled materials it uses in new cars.
Paper still comprises more than one third of all garbage. Almost half of all paper is recycled in Canada.
Our paper mills import 2.2 tonnes of recovered paper from the USA each year!
Recycled tires spend their retirement supporting national sports! At more than fifty of our country’s playing
fields, including Toronto’s Rogers Centre, Edmonton’s Clark Stadium and B. C. Place Stadium field turf is used, which is
an artificial surface created from spent tires, up to 40,000 of them per field. This innovation is low maintenance and easier
on player’s bodies than other surfaces. Field turf also contains rubber from running shoes. A program in Toronto called
‘ reuse- a- shoe’ accepts old running shoes of any make at Nike and specialty stores. The program already exists in the USA
and overseas. About 50,000 of these shoes helped surface a new sports complex in the Toronto neighbourhood of Malvern,
featuring a running track, basketball court and soccer pitch.
While amounts of garbage are increasing, we threw out 760 kilograms per person in 2002; recycling just
one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours! Recycling one tonne of newspaper can save
seventeen trees. While we might need to work on the ‘ reduce and re- use’ part of recycling it is now a way of life to take
the time and effort to sort our garbage. It is one part of our life that is helping our planet be a little greener and a little
healthier. wi
Education and Culture
Titia Piera, Convener
Environment and Conservation
Myrt Graham, Half- way Grove WI and Gloria Coates, Convener