Actions for Wellness

10 Things You Can Do For Wellness on the Saanich Peninsula

1. Go with your flow.  Organize your day to maximize the time your free time, and minimize the time you spend driving.  The weather is warming up, pump up your bike tires, dust off your rollerblades.  Exercise helps you to feel great, and sleep well.  Walk your children to school with a neighbour; you might just make a new friend.

2. Protect and conserve our water supply.  Wash your car on the lawn (be sure to use a biodegradable, earth friendly soap) empty drinking glasses into houseplants, collect rainwater for keeping your garden healthy during the hot summer days.  If you must water your garden, keep to the water restrictions, and try to water in the early morning or late evening where the day is a bit cooler and your water won’t evaporate too much. Also, this prevents your plants from getting burnt due to the reflection from the sun through the water drops.

3. Weed out invasive species like Ivy, Daphne, holly, and broom.  These plants choke out our trees and other native species – don’t let them breed and spread themselves into our wild areas.
   
   

   Ivy	Daphne
   Holly	Broom

   
   

4. Seed native species in your flower and veggie gardens, be aware of invasive plants.  Salal, kinnikinnick, red-osier dogwood, and elderberry are great native plants for birds. Check out the CRD website for gardening tips and links to gardening classes such as Gaia College Organic Gardening classes.
   
   

   Salal	Kinnikkinnick
   Red Osier Dogwood	Elderflower

   
   

5. Go for extreme recycling!  Many of the recyclable products that are not accepted in your blue box can still be recycled.  Return your rigid, soft and foam plastics as well as many electronic devices to a mobile recycling depot.  Take a peek at http://www.pacificmobiledepots.com/locations.php  for a complete list of accepted items and pick up/ drop off schedules.  They are at 1903 Mt. Newton X Rd. every 4th Saturday of the month, from 9 a.m. to 12noon.  There is a small fee charged for their services. 

6. Support Product Stewardship.  BC is the leader in North America when it comes to returning materials back to producers.   Bottles, Paint cans, computer parts, cell phones, medications, batteries, etc., can all be returned at convenient locations.  See http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/recycling/ and http://www.rcbc.bc.ca/

7. Yard waste and food waste can be composted, you may choose to compost in your own yard, or have a company pick it up for you.  Ron’s Disposal Inc., http://www.ronsdisposal.com/  or www.refuse.com will pick up your yard and kitchen waste.  Communitycomposting.ca will also provide a clean bin for your use, and return a 20lb bag of composted soil if you would like for your garden.  http://www.communitycomposting.ca/. Keep our air clean by sticking to the burning bylaws and dropping off yard waste at your municipal depot.  The schedule may be found on the CRD website.  There is no burning after May. http://www.crd.bc.ca/waste/organics/yardwasteoptions.htm

8. Buy local products.  This stimulates our local economy, gives us dollar power, and keeps our community productive.  Check out your local farmer’s Market or look for local produce in you grocery store.  Be aware of what you are purchasing…… where is the product originating from, where is the packaging from, what happens to the product and packaging when you are finished with it?  Can it be reused or recycled; is it made from recycled product already?

9. Create social capital.  Volunteer at local events, such as Creatures of Habitat ☺.  Explore your interests and build a stronger community. http://www.creaturesofhabitat.ca/

10.  Keep an eye out for American bullfrogs, they are an invasive species and feed on our ducklings, as well as anything else that fits in their mouths.  They can grow to be 20cm long, are usually heard in the evenings where their voices can carry about 1km.  You can email for more information to BCFrogwatch@victoria1.gov.bc.ca, or look on www.elp.gov.bc.ca, for Environment, Lands and Parks.