kar0ling

 Re Winnipeg Free Press Apr 2 “Get charged this summer: What to consider when shopping for a battery powered mower” by Laura Daily Here’s a two alternative suggestions to Laura’s advice. Don’t buy a new lawn mower.  How much time do you actually spend mowing your lawn? How frequently does that overlap with when your neighbours mow theirs? Instead of buying your own mower, work out a strategy with a neighbour(s) to share use of one machine. You might want to invest collectively in a new machine to simplify the ownership and expenses math, but unless the lawnmower spews out an extra special amount of toxic fumes, chances are the “greener” choice is to use up an existing machine before buying a new one.  Get rid of your grass.  Lawns create insect deserts. There are a great number of species of bugs, birds and beetles that exist unnoticed to us until they are gone, unable to perform their vital functions of pollinating and nutrient recycling. An expanse of one non-n...

The City of Winnipeg is offering a workshop by a Living Prairie Museum expert on putting native plants in your yard. I took that as my inspiration to finally write to Great West Life (now Canada Life Co) about all the grass on their property.  It’s only a Facebook comment, so it likely won’t go anywhere, but a letter or email would be totally ignored, whereas this comment is available to the whole wide world and might just inspire a few random “likes” to show I’m not the only human who thinks this.  We all have a responsibility to do what we can  to mitigate the coming climate change crisis.  As an insurance company, Canada Life Co., you are aware of how this will affect your bottom line as people suffer more ailments due to heat waves and polluted air due to increased forest fires.  The vast swaths of grass around your buildings in Winnipeg, particularly the north lawn along Broadway which no one ever walks on, offer Canada Life Co the opportunity to be a res...