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THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, ApRil 16, 2009 8 Distributed to every home in Acton and area, as well as adjoining communities. 373 Queen Street East, Unit 1 Acton, Ontario l7J 2N2 email: thenewtanner@on.aibn.com Mike OLeary Frances Niblock Angela Tyler Rebecca Ring Publisher Editor Ted Tyler Hartley Coles Editorial Contributors Advertising and Circulation Composing Marie Shadbolt Ken Baker Tracey Gardner By Angela Tyler Editorial with Hartley Coles (519) 853-0051 Fax: (519) 853-0052 Every effort will be made to see advertising copy, neatly presented, is correctly printed. The publisher assumes no financial responsibility for typographical errors or omissions in advertising, but will gladly reprint without charge that part of an advertisement in which an error may occur provided a claim is made within five days of publication. All articles, advertisements and graphic artwork appearing in The New Tanner is copyrighted. Any usage, reproduction or publication of these items, in whole or in part, without the express written consent of the publisher of The New Tanner is a copyright infringement and subject to legal action. like many other residents of this area, this editorialist switched his incandescent light bulbs to spiral fluorescent bulbs several years ago when they appeared. They promised a saving of up to 75% in hydro used and a longer life as well. it was the green thing to do, saving Ontario money generating electricity and the planet, too. How could we be so na? it turns out now that the actual sav- ings on your hydro bill from these spiral creations is only about 17% as opposed to the old incandescent bulbs. And, say the experts, the best time to use the spirals is in warm weather because they give off little or no heat. Thats the rub. When we replaced the old incandescent bulbs we removed a source of heat during cold weather and had to jack up furnaces to make up for the heat loss. This meant we used more oil, gas or any other fuel to heat our homes, which in turn meant leaving a much larger carbon footprint on our planet than the old incandescents did. its surprising that it took a few years for this kind of information to surface especially because it makes so much sense. Of course, if we remove one sort of heat in the home, and want to stay warm, then we have to replace it with another. Theres been a big improvement in the spiral bulbs since they first appeared. This writer never thought they lived up to their advertis- ing, using only 13 watts to replace a 60 watt bulb. Now the newer ones seem to give more light and theres less eye strain. However, in this ones estimation they still dont rank with old incandescents, but if we are helping save the planet by using them, when we can, were all for them. The lesson here is we need to be more careful about some of the claims made about the green way to go. Hockey cHAllenge: Proceeds from the 5th Annual Hockey challenge between Halton Regional Police and Acton High School Students, generated donations of $225.75 to the Acton Salvation Army and $50.00 along with 94 pounds of food to the Acton Food Bank. Here in the picture are (left to right) constable Maureen Andrew(organiser), owen coulighan (grade 8 MSB), carol clark (Treasurer - Acton Food Bank), Doug Thompson (AHS - Team coach), Major Margaret locke (Acton Salvation Army), kyle Slama (grade 8 - MSB), Shawn Brown (AHS - Team manager), carolyn Reist (Vice Principal MSB). - submitted photo Spiral mania Shop locally...rah, rah, rah! Continued on Page 12 Someone once told me that when you write an opinion col- umn you need to have broad shoulders because not everyone will agree with you and some people who will tell you it in writing. On more than one occasion i have received letters either ad- dressed to me personally, or as letters to the editor. i dare to even relive the column i did on same sex marriages. i thought the support and lack thereof would have died down after a few weeks, however after a few weeks, i thought the lack thereofs were ready to tar and feather me, then run me out of town. in the end it doesnt really matter to me whether people agree with my thoughts or even like what I write. I just find it flattering when people tell me they have read what i wrote. However, what i dont like is being wrongly accused of something. This happened last week when i received a let- ter addressed to me personally from the Economic Officer of the Town of Halton Hills. You may or may not know that the Town of Halton Hills, along with the local B.i.A.s have a Shop local campaign where they are encouraging people to choose to shop locally first. Upon reading the letter, i be- came mad. Alright, mad just didnt describe it. i was livid and it wasnt pretty. in the let- ter the development guy scolded me for not being a cheerleader of shopping locally and noted I can have a strong influence on the spending patterns in our community. He continued by suggesting i remember this when writing my column. Where did this transpire from you may wonder. it all came about because a few weeks ago, when i wrote about my memory loss for Earth Hour and in tell- ing the story, i mentioned about a field trip to Costco, in one small paragraph. i mentioned that i hated going there, espe- cially on a Saturday and didnt mention if i bought anything. Because of this one itsy-bitsy paragraph, the development guy thinks that you, the reader, will in a furor, tear off to the nearest Costco and start spending. What made me so furious was the accusation of me not being a shop local cheerleader. Dur- ing those moments of fury when i repeatedly read the letter to fellow co-workers, they all had the same reaction. The develop- ment guy got the wrong person with these accusations. TURneD oFF AnD Won: Acton resident Iain Brennan was one of three winners of the $500 prize package sponsored by Halton Hills Hydro. The contest was part of the earth Hour campaign the first 100 people to register their Earth Hour participation on the website had their names entered into a draw. The prize included solar lights, retractable clothesline, energy meter, digital timer, free programmable thermostat and installation, energy efficient CFL light bulbs and a reusable water bottle. Traci Gardner photo