Calgary home prices decline:

Data Down 3.5% from a year ago in February

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald

  CALGARY — Calgary was the only major market to show a decline in year-over-year prices in a survey of homes sold more than once by the Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Index.

The index, which looks at six metropolitan areas in the country, is estimated using data collected from public land registries. All dwellings that have been sold at least twice are considered in the calculation.

In February, Calgary prices declined 3.5 per cent from a year ago.

On a year-over-year basis, prices were up 7.6 per cent in Halifax, 6.9 per cent in Montreal and Ottawa, 4.8 per cent in Vancouver and 3.4 per cent in Toronto.

On a monthly basis, prices dropped 0.5 per cent in Calgary, the fifth decline in the last six months.

Prices increased 0.3 per cent in Vancouver and 0.5 per cent in Montreal and Ottawa. They also declined on a monthly basis in Toronto by 0.1 per cent and in Halifax by 0.4 per cent.

Grass Recycling=Better Lawn

Grass-cycling is the process of recycling grass clippings by leaving them on your lawn. It saves time, reduces waste and leads to a deeper, healthier root system that increases your lawn’s resistance to disease, drought, and insects.

Grass-cycling improves lawn quality. When grass clippings are allowed to decay naturally on the lawn, they release valuable nutrients, add water-saving mulch, and encourage natural soil aeration by earthworms.

Grass-cycling saves time and work. A recent study in the United States found that 147 homeowners who quit bagging their clippings saved an average of 35 minutes per mowing. That’s an average of seven hours per season, or a day at the beach!

All lawnmowers can grass-cycle, no special mower is needed. For best results, keep the mower blade sharp and mow only when the grass is dry.

As a follow up to yesterday’s blog, the Town of Carstairs also recommends recycling your grass clippings: ‘Grass clippings are a free, high-nitrogen fertilizer. When clippings decompose, they release their nutrients back to the lawn. They contain nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous, as well as lesser amounts of other essential plant nutrients. When left on the lawn, clippings are rapidly brokendown into these nutrients, which are returned to the lawn. There’s no polluting run-off, no use of non-renewable resources, and no damage to soil, organisms or wildlife.’

For more information on grass-cycling, contact the Town Office (403.337.3341).

Carstairs Composts!

I was asked yesterday by a new customer what can be done in Carstairs with Grass clippings.  Carstairs offers a community composter at the recycling center in the industrial park.  The following information is taken from the Carstairs website:

‘The Town of Carstairs is committed to municipal sustainability and promotes safe and environmentally sound practices throughout the community. That includes promoting the value of composting.’

So, what is compost? Compost is made up of organic matter, microbes and nutrients. These can be used to condition and fertilize flower beds and vegetable gardens. This is just the tip of the iceberg. For more on composting, click the links provided here.
    Guide to Composting
    Winter Composting
    Feed Your Garden

In addition, the Town of Carstairs offers to its residents a composter free of charge, per civic address. Contact the Community Services Department for information. Working together for sustainability!

Don’t be a turkey

A few months ago I posted a blog about how to safely use and maintain a turkey fryer.  After this weekend, I became a little more leary about using one.  I was a little uneasy of the stability of the unit and the fact that I had to restrict my children from playing in the back yard for the entire afternoon for fear of them knocking over the vat of cooling oil while playing.  So I did a little research and it turns out that the NFPA is not to keen on them either.  Here is a post from their website.  This and other safety posts can be found at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1700&itemID=41092&URL=Safety%20Information/For%20consumers/Causes/Cooking/Turkey%20fryers

Turkey fryers
NFPA discourages the use of outdoor gas-fueled turkey fryers that immerse the turkey in hot oil. These turkey fryers use a substantial quantity of cooking oil at high temperatures, and units currently available for home use pose a significant danger that hot oil will be released at some point during the cooking process. The use of turkey fryers by consumers can lead to devastating burns, other injuries and the destruction of property. NFPA urges those who prefer fried turkey to seek out professional establishments, such as grocery stores, specialty food retailers, and restaurants for the preparation of the dish, or consider a new type of “oil-less” turkey fryer.”

• Hot oil may splash or spill at any point during the cooking process, when the fryer is jarred or tipped over, the turkey is placed in the fryer or removed, or the turkey is moved from the fryer to the table. Any contact between hot oil and skin could result in serious injury. Any contact between hot oil and nonmetallic materials could lead to serious damage.
• A major spill of hot oil can occur with fryers designed for outdoor use and using a standas these units are particularly vulnerable to upset or collapse, followed by a major spill of hot oil. Newer countertop units using a solid base appear to reduce this particular risk. NFPA does not believe that consumer education alone can make the risks of either type of turkey fryer acceptably low because of the large quantities of hot oil involved and the speed and severity of burn likely to occur with contact.
• In deep frying, oil is heated to temperatures of 350 degrees Fahrenheit or more. Cooking oil is combustible, and if it is heated beyond its cooking temperature, its vapors can ignite. This is a fire danger separate from the burn danger inherent in the hot oil. Overheating can occur if temperature controls, which are designed to shut off the fryer if the oil overheats, are defective, or if the appliance has no temperature controls.
• Propane-fired turkey fryers are designed for outdoor use, particularly for Thanksgiving, by which time both rain and snow are common in many parts of the country. If rain or snow strikes exposed hot cooking oil, the result can be a splattering of the hot oil or a conversion of the rain or snow to steam, either of which can lead to burns. Use of propane-fired turkey fryers indoors to avoid bad weather is contrary to their design and dangerous in its own right. Also, moving an operating turkey fryer indoors to escape bad weather is extremely risky. Fires have occurred when turkey fryers were used in a garage or barn or under eaves to keep the appliance out of the rain.
• The approximately 5 gallons of oil in these devices introduce an additional level of hazard to deep fryer cooking, as does the size and weight of the turkey, which must be safely lowered into and raised out of the large quantity of hot oil. Many turkeys are purchased frozen, and they may not be fully thawed when cooking begins. As with a rainy day, a defrosting turkey creates the risk of contact between hot cooking oil.
• There is a new outdoor turkey cooking appliance that does not use oil. NFPA believes these should be considered as an alternative. NFPA understands that this appliance will be listed by a recognized testing laboratory.

NFPA continues to believe that turkey fryers that use oil, as currently designed, are not suitable for acceptably safe use by even a well-informed and careful consumer. Consumers may find packaging of turkey fryers displaying independent product safety testing labels. NFPA is familiar with the details of these test standards and does not believe that they are sufficiently comprehensive regarding the different ways in which serious harm can occur, and, in some cases, regarding the different parts of the turkey fryer that need to be tested

Book a Tee Time…not quite yet!

The Sun is shining and snow is melting and the Carstairs Golf Course is  “tentatively” set to open on April 28^th?

Did you know?: Carstairs Golf Club is a Member-owned Semi-Private Golf Club with a maximum of 500 Shareholders.  This beautifully maintained course is bounded on two sides by an architecturally controlled Estate home community (Stonebridge Glen).

They are celebrating their 50^th Anniversary – Celebration Tournament, July 9^th.   Check out the website after May 1^{st.  http://www.carstairsgolf.com/public/index.php}

If your bag is ready and you are itching to enter a tournament or two, the CGC will be hosting the following Charity Tournaments:

Daley  – Thursday, June 23^rd

CF Charity – Monday, July 4^th

Because We Care – Friday, July 15^th

Samaritans – Thursday, August 4^th

For more information check out their website http://www.carstairsgolf.com/public/index.php

Shed the winter weight

Couch to 5K – May 9 to June 13

Need a little help getting off the couch? Is your resolution to ‘become more active’ gathering dust? Maybe committing to a clinic with a set schedule, built-in camaraderie & loads of fun can help!

Each run will begin upstairs at the Memorial Arena.

Every Monday at 6:30 pm.

Each week there will be a topic discussed, such as nutrition, shoes, clothing, & injury prevention.

Couch to 5K prepares you for the Summer Solstice walk/run on June 21st.

Click here to register.

Calgary average house price increases over last year by 1%

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald

CALGARY — The average MLS sale price of a residential property in Calgary has increased slightly so far this year compared with 2010.

The Canadian Real Estate Association reported Friday that year-to-date, for the first quarter of 2011, the average residential price was $398,558, up one per cent compared with the first quarter of 2010.

At the national level, the average sale price for the quarter was $362,997, up 7.9 per cent from last year.

In Calgary, sales during the first quarter totalled 5,492 transactions, a decrease of 4.6 per cent from last year while sales across Canada dipped by 6.4 per cent to 103,906.

For the month of March, Calgary sales of 2,273 were down 7.1 per cent from March 2010 and the average sale price dipped by 1.7 per cent to $398,836 compared with last year.

Nationally, sales for March were down 6.6 per cent from last year to 45,960 but the average sale price was up 8.9 per cent to $371,286.

GE to build largest solar panel plant in U.S

Click here to watcha video on how panels are made....really cool!

A $600 million investment by GE into a state of the art solar panel plant may shape the face of solar technology for years to come. The manufacturing giant, already well-known for its contributions to other renewable energy sources, plans to produce enough thin film solar panels to power 80,000 homes per year.

 

GE’s thin film solar panel technology

Rather than produce traditional solar panels, GE created their own version of thin film solar panels. In a nutshell, the thin film solar panels place a layer of cadmium telluride in between two tiny sheets of glass to create a solar-enabled panel. Traditional panels that most people are familiar with seeing are actually made from silicon and other materials.

Because of the new technology and manufacturing facility designed specifically for its purpose, GE expects it will be able to churn out one solar panel every 10 seconds! Not only will GE be producing the thin film solar panels at a rapid rate, but they have also estimated that 100 m² of their new solar panels would generate enough renewable energy to power all of the U.S.

 GE’s renewable energy contributions

Most recently, GE was in the news for inventing a hybrid halogen/CFL/incandescent light bulb which can provide instant-on lighting while remaining energy efficient. However, GE is mostly known in the renewable energy industry for manufacturing and operating wind turbines. In fact, they have installed over 15,500 wind turbines across the globe, with more on the way.

Now, with their venture into creating the most technologically advanced thin film solar panels the world has seen (and manufacturing them at rapid rates), GE is truly making a significant impact on our renewable energy consumption, and cutting greenhouse gases

Top 10 Green Cars of 2011

Sure, It’s been a lot of fun over the years building sustainable homes, but what about the vehicles we choose for commuting, soccer practice shuttling, or grocery getting.  Here are ten vehicles you may want to consider that are a little kinder to our mother earth.

The top 10 green cars of 2011 were announced by KBB.com today, and included in the list are eco friendly vehicles from Ford, Fiat, Volkswagen, Honda, Lexus, Toyota, and more. Keep reading to see the full top 10 list.

10. 2012 Ford Focus

• 28 mpg in the city/38 mpg on the highway
• $19,000
• More information

 

9. 2012 Fiat 500

• 30 mpg in the city/38 mpg on the highway
• $16,000
• More information

 

8. 2011 Hyundai Elantra

• 29 mpg in the city/ 40 mpg on the highway
• $15,580
• More information

 

7. 2011 Volkswagen Golf TDI

• 30 mpg in the city/42 mpg on the highway
• $18,765
• More information

 

6. 2011 Ford Fusion Hybrid

• 30 mpg in the city/38 mpg on the highway
• $20,580
• More information

 

5. 2011 Honda Insight

• 40 mpg in the city/43 mpg on the highway
• $18,950
• More information

 

4. 2011 Lexus CT 200h

• 43 mpg in the city/40 mpg on the highway
• $29,995
• More information

 

3. 2011 Toyota Prius

• 51 mpg in the city/48 mpg on the highway
• $22,410
• More information

 

2. 2011 Chevy Volt

• 93 mpg equivalent (since it’s an electric car)
• $41,000
• More information

 

1. 2011 Nissan Leaf

• 99 mpg equivalent (since it’s an electric car)
• $33,630
• More information

Earth Day Quiz

Click here to go to site

Which household appliance uses the most energy?

A) Refrigerator

B) Toaster

C) Dishwasher

D) Washing machine

Answer: A – Refrigerators use about 11% of a household’s total energy consumption.

Take Action: Buy Energy Star endorsed refrigerators, which will use less energy and save you money. Also, make sure your refrigerator is set to optimal energy use temperatures (between 2°C and 3°C).

 

What country has the greatest number of coal powered generators?

A) Canada

B) Russia

C) U.S.A.

D) China

Answer: D – China requires a great deal of energy to power their rapidly developing economy. Unfortunately burning coal causes pollution.

 

“Phantom carriers” is a term used for electronic devices that:

A) Move from room to room

B) Continue to consume electricity even when switched off

C) Are really expensive

D) Are energy efficient

Answer: B – “Phantom carriers” are products that draw power 24 hours a day. Appliances that have a clock or programming displays such as coffee makers, DVD players, computers, printers, and stereos are considered phantom load carriers. 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off.