Making your pool 'go green' (that's green as in environmentally "green") will not only save the environment from unnecessary damage. it will save you money, improve the comfort and conve- nience of your pool and give you the satisfaction of knowing you have done something significant to help the environment. Swimming pools normally have a negative impact on the environ- ment in several ways. The most common source of pollution from pools comes from the regular use of chemicals in the pool, such as; chlo- rine, bromine, algaecides, condi- tioners, clarifiers, scale removers. sequestering agents, floculants, etc. These chemicals don't simply dis- appear after they are poured into the pool, they react - their properties By ANDREW J. McKFMNEY Special to the Beaver Earth Day Clean-up of0akville Park SmithKline Beecham and Munn's Public School have joined forces to launch a major environmental project to revitalize Oakville Park, a 30-acre woodlot located between Sixth Lind and Trafalgar Road, bounded by Upper Middle Road on the North and McCraney Boulevard on the South. A coalition of community groups (including Parks and Recreation, Munn's School Halton Police Services, Block Parents, General Wolfe High School, Sheridan College, the Halton Board of Education and area residents) have developed some initial plans to clean up, restore and develop the resources of Oakville Park to make it an inviting, safe area The "cleanup" phase will be launched on Earth Day, Thursday April 22nd by 450 students of Munn's School and General Wolfe High School from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Then, on the morning of Sat., May lst (rain date: Sun., May 2nd), an army of 200 or more community volun- teers will converge on Oakville Park to complete the cleanup, meeting at General Wolfe parking lot at 9 a.m.. 'Go green Hours: Monday - Wednesday 9:30-6 p.m. Thursday 9:30-7 p.m. Friday 9:30-9 p.m. Saturday 9:30-5:30 p.m. Sunday 12-4 p.m. 323 CHURCH ST., UNIT 18, OAKVILLE RECIPIENTS OF IBM PLATINUM AWARD FOR SALES AND SERVICE MM 5111 m ITWi!i MIME. (MKHLE 0hThRt0 uu Nf " K) 8116775 LfiEEiiiliijir AInfmgALM "The source for your computing needs" Office Computer Supplies & Accessories 349 Lakeshore Rd. E Oakville, Ont. 845-6201 - tiMi Fr, gNiesiiltiih ST, .LAWRENCE CEMENT 2391 Lakeshore Road West Mississauga, Ont. HELP TO CLEAN UP OUR CORNER OF THE EARTH 844-1889 (416) 822-1653 UHIUEHSHL 08TH PRODUCTS 2163 6TH LINE 338-3459 635 4TH LINE 842-4233 change - and most are filtered out by the pools filtering system. (It should be noted that some of the by-products of chlorine and bromine are suspected of causing cancer.) When the filter is cleaned the chemicals are flushed away. Do they disappear? No, they pollute the environment. They may be dumped into a storm sewer which empties into a river, which flows into a lake. Perhaps a lake from which the city draws its water. Some of those chemicals may come right back to your house in your drinking water! So what can you do to reduce this chemical pollution? "No things. J. Don 't waste pool chemicals by careless or improper use. Read the instructions, maintain the cor- rect pool water PH and total alkalin- ity to assure the maximum effec- tiveness of the chemicals used. 2, Keep your pool clean. Dirty pools require significantly more The "restoration" phase will involve the refur- bishing of the trail system that Criss-crosses the woodlot; the reconstruction of exercise stations that are strategically located throughout the woodlot; and the replacement of a main bridge that crosses Morrison Creek which runs one half kilometre through the centre of this wooded area. The "development" stage will focus on the revitalization of Oakville Park as an educational and recreational resource. A sub committee of educators, professional foresters. and business- man have begun to plan a two-year process to develop educational programs and resources which schools throughout Oakville could use in the study of a woodlot. Recrbational activities, including jogging, cross-country skiing, Orienteering, and cross- country running are also being considered, A ___ Residents and interested groups in Oakville are encouraged to join in this community effort to reclaim and revitalize this natural resource, Oakville Park. For further information contact Catherine Dickson, SmithKline Beecham. 829.. 2030 or Joan Stein at 844-9919 are filtered out ing system. (It at some of the chlorine and EARTH DAY IS #1 IN OUR PRIORITY FOR OUR FUTURE 'S SAKE Environmental awareness is an issue of concern in the hairdressing industry as with all factors of our lives. At Bob-R-Shop we are committed to providing top quality service while remembering our environment. 'ltllill-lllllllllllllllllllllllll 4 LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU IN OAKVILLE Our retail department offers bio- degradable, non-animal tested products. Infect, bring back your bottle for a "Jill and we'll give you a tl.00 dutount ms om: is tttMita) on M000. atttdlttttttqt. andmttstottMsMm9atttsinttotttntskaMSatrt' COLLEGE PARK PLAZA 338-6465tiililt .llIllll-lllqllllllllllillllllllllllll ROYAL LEPAGE OAKVILLE MISSISSAUGA 844-7354 Asking our readers to recycle their newspapers helps to save the environment. We Know Home Match Works 467 Speers Road, Oakville 845-3824 Carrier Your Hair and thirEiiviiiririhcnt t with backyard pool Le..'.,',.,.,,.) HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING chemicals to keep bacteria and algae down. Using an automatic pool cleaner will keep the pool water cleaner, thereby reducing the pool's chemical requirements and make maintaining the pool much less work, (and more enjoyable). Pool blankets should be kept on the pool when it's not in use. Blankets help keep dust, bugs and other materials which increase the need for chemicals, out of the pool. J. Consider using a new Canadian invention called the “Zinc-O-Lator." This device places a small amount of zinc into the pool water. Zinc, when used with a small amount of chlorine or bromine, kills algae very effectively. The "Zinc-O- Later may allow you to reduce the amount of chlorine or bromine you maintain in your pool by as much as 80%. You won't find the "Zinc-O. Lator" in pool stores, or in pool ser- vice operations, because they want LIMITED BURLINGTON HAMILTON 335-3359 ds‘UIE I. 5llll tfiir,N ll Ili ()AKVlLlJi BliAVll IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO PARTICIPATE you to buy chemicals, from which they make a lot of money. (Note: Zinc is a very common metal in the environment and is considered to be environmentally benign. It is used in many skin medications. burn ointments. sun blocks, etc.) The second area where pools have a significant negative impact on the environment is in energy use. Every pool needs a pool pump, Ten years ago most pool pumps were 1/2 horsepower. Now most pool pumps are 1 +1/2 horsepower. This causes a terrible waste of electricity. Most pools 20'x40' and under will be very well served by a good 3/4 horsepower pump, even if there is an automatic power cleaner and a solar system on the pdol, A l+l/2 horsepower pump actu- ally consumes about 3 horsepowers' worth of electricity costing about $.19 per hour ($.085/kwhr). If the pump is operated 24 hours per day To Celebrate Earth Day, See the earth /‘- ‘.- as you 've never seen tt before, without i4};- boundaries, place names, clouds, the pure "'"'CCi,a, rp, - '. clean natural new from 520 miles in space. 's'bc%t,t,s-ir, "or'. The perfect inspiration for Earth lovers everywhere! Available as . POSTERS q WALL MURALS q JIGSAW PUZZLES . COFFEE MUGS PO. BOX 63006 OAKWLLE 842-3232 Recycling an item is better than disposing of it, but remember recycling is the third thing to do on this list. Every effort to reduce and re-use should be considered in combination with recycling Pat McEwen McEwen Waste Management Learning Can Be Fun! ( /tfttnt ", 47: cr4 illustration by Catherine Dickson) Maple Grove siil,1tie, Oakville 338-66 where pool gative impac in energy use trieity. A '5/4 horsepower pump would use about $273 worth. If there 3/4 horsepower pump is put on a timer to shut it off at night, it might only cost $137 per season, and reduce the wear on the pump. It is better to oversize your filter to get a better filtering action, than to oversize the pump.he same purpose. The biggest potential energy user on a pool is the heating system. It is not unusual for an average sized pool to require as much heat in an average season as an average sized house requires to stay warm during an average winter. All pools (except indoor pools and totally shaded pools) get some heat from the sun. This is free and does not pollute the environment. Solar blankets will significantly improve the period of time the pool is comfortable, while reducing chemical consumption at the same time. TYPES OF HEATERS Gas/Propane heaters, when prop- erly tuned and maintained burn their gas well and produce mainly carbon dioxide and water vapor. (Propane has more trace gases such as methane). The problem is that carbon dioxide is known to be the main cause of the "Greenhouse" effect, which may be having radical effects upon our weather. An aver- age pool requires about $500 worth of natural gas per average season when maintained around 82° F with a pool blanket. For each $100 worth of natural gas burnt, approximately 1 1/2 tons bf carbon didxide is ere ated! This is totally unnecessary. Electric heat pumps have been on the market about six years now and from an environmental point of view it would be best if they disap- peared soon. Electric heat pumps are twice-cursed environmentally. First for the fact that they use large amounts of electricity (contrary to their claims) and for the fact that they use CCFCs. CCFCs are one of ' Brio . Geosalan' T Make The Difference BUILDS F OR TOM ORROW'S DREAMS Waste Reduction Plans Environmental Policy Analysis Our Drivers The Power to Empower no ttttttttttt _r l3 me. 844-2033 FUTUREKIDS 2155 Dunvegan Ave. Oakville "Prompt courteous 24-hour service" 338-6033 the chemicals wh away at the ozone higher levels of ultr reach Earth, Ultra known to cause skin crop yields, cause c kinds of other envii age. The electric he facturers will claim kinds of other environmental dam age, The electric heat pump manu facturers will claim that their unit: are sealed, but the leading cause o failure in these types of units i: CCFC leakage or loss. You can vir tually guarantee that when the uni breaks down or is replaced am junked, that the CCFCs will escap into the atmosphere. failure in these types of units is CCFC leakage or loss. You can vir- tually guarantee that when the unit breaks down or is replaced and junked, that the CCFCs will escape into the atmosphere. The operation of a solar pool heating system does not cause any pollution. A properly sized solar system will extend the swimming pool season 4 to 8 weeks over the season available with a pool blan- ket. If you are going to heat your pool, solar is the way to do it, Professionally installed solar sys- temsmight initially cost more than either a gas heater or an electric heat pump, but as they cost nothing to operate, require virtually no maintenance, last for a long time, and when replaced can be com- pletely recycled, they are the best buy economically and environmen- tally. In summary it is possible to operate and enjoy a warm comfort- able clean pool with very little impact on the environment. In fact it may have a net beneficial effect if your environmentally-friendly pool keeps you at home and off the road with your decidedly environmental- ly-unfriendly car! Andrew J. McKegney, C.E.T., is president of Solar Evaluation Services Inc., Oakville, 844-1116, long-time member of the Solar Energy Society of Canada (I4 years) International Solar Energy Society of Canada, International Wildlife Association, Pollution Probe, and founding member of the Energy Action Council of Toronto. Mt North Service Rd. W. Unit DMD COMMERCIAL POINT [bu-mm 00ml th. l 'th Uni, 847-KIDS 847-5437 whit ll dyer, ca violet li am iole tracts, an m causing rt mm ht lu of to all