Grand things have been happening at Kinark during the last little while. There are some new additions to the Sustainable Living Centre(SLC) building including a beautiful bathroom ceiling built by Bob and Donelda. We had our plumber Chris Harrison fix and improve our rainwater plumbing system.
I've planted a voluptuous vegetable garden with the gracious help of the previous SLC intern Stephanie Hall. We planted tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, celery, Swiss chard, sweet onion, spicy basil, thyme and celeriac. Our garden will be used for educational purposes and makes an excellent edible demonstration of sustainable living. Rain water that overflows from the main collection tank goes into an outdoor rain barrel that feeds water by gravity to a soaker hose that waters our veggies.
We learned that the Annualized Geo-Solar heating system (which pumps hot air from the ceiling under the SLC into a two metre deep insulated trench) is an experiment that did not meet scientific standards. The technology has been disproven and does not significantly change the temperature of the building in the winter months. It does however cool the building slightly in the summer by removing heat from the hottest part of the building. This is one example of how the Sustainable Living Centre is participating in the study of experimental technologies and their practicality for a sustainable future.
The Kinark staff (Kristy, Jamie & Jesse) and Out to Learn educators (Irene & Rick) are now in full swing of the Climate Change education program with five grade five classes already successfully completing a full day of fun activities and lessons. There will be another six classes before the school year ends and then we will be changing gears to make the program fun for families that participate during the summer.
Here's hoping for happy happenings!
Messy Jesse the Intern
