Speaker 1 (00:00):
This program was produced with a support of Storyhive creativity, connected by Telus. For more information, please visit storyhive.com.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Well, I'm in over my head. No one told me, trying to keep my footprint small was harder than I thought it could be. Tryin’ to save the planet. Oh, will someone please save me. Tryin’ to save the planet, oh will someone please save me?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Welcome to in over my head. I'm Michael Bartz. I want to take a few minutes at the top of this first episode to tell you a little about myself and why this show exists. Like most people I'm concerned about climate change and want to do my part to save the planet. But unlike most people I'm willing to drastically change my lifestyle to reach this goal. In 2016, I decided to downsize reduce my carbon footprint and I mean really downsize. I was going to attempt to live in an 18.5 square meter or 200 square foot. Off-Grid tiny house. Not only that, but I was going to build it myself. Now, my dad was a mechanic and a welder and taught me the value of working with my hands. But even with all my skills, this was going to be a huge undertaking. So I spent an entire year reading all the books, watching all the videos and learning as much as I could about building a tiny home.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Then in 2017, I started construction. It took four years and thousands of hours of measuring, cutting, nailing, screwing, gluing, welding, measuring again, staining, painting, and countless other tasks. It wasn't always easy, but in the spring of 2021, I finished the build. It has everything you might expect in a tiny home powered by solar, all off grid appliances, lots of storage, a bedroom loft, and yes, a composting toilet overall it's well-designed and so beautiful. I reached my goal of building an environmentally friendly home. However, I still wonder if living in such a small space is actually making a difference towards climate change. And when I think about the environmental footprint in every other aspect of my life, I feel overwhelmed. I feel in over my head, I don't want to feel this way, and I don't want you dear listener to feel that way, either. Ror me, knowledge is power.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
I didn't wake up one day and just start building my tiny home. It took so much learning, so I'm ready to start learning again. And I figured the best way to do it this time around is to talk to the experts. And it's just my luck. We have a ton of environmental experts right in Southern Alberta. So I'm going to chat with as many folks as I can separating the fact from fiction when it comes to climate change. This show is really about empowering you dear listener, because I truly believe that we can change this thing. If enough people are on board and do something and we have a shot, but that's the key, you have to do something.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
So I want you to commit right now to take you one small step today towards saving the planet. So repeat after me, I Michael, but say your name. I Michael, do solemnly pledge with the information I learned from in over my head to take action. Even if it's just one small thing today, together, we can save the planet. Okay. It sounds like you're ready to go. Let's get started. My guest today is Kathleen Shepherd. Kathleen joined environment Lethbridge as executive director in November of 2015. In that role, she has led implementation projects, such as reuse rendezvous, the small business energy efficiency program and seedy Saturday, Kathleen has more than 25 years experience working for nonprofit organizations in BC and Alberta welcome Kathleen to in over my head.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
How Are you? I'm great. I'm happy to be here. Great.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
So I'm going to ask you a whole bunch of questions. We're gonna have a good chat. So in over my head, so the reason I chose this title was because that's the way I feel sometimes when it comes to climate change, it's like, so I built an off-grid tiny home and I'm living in it. And, but I feel like is that actually making a difference? And so I think I'm going to talk to experts. I'm going to get some expert advice and I know a great place to start at Southern Alberta. So I thought I'd bring you on and chat. Great. Thanks. So do you think that reducing the sides of my house, like living in a very small house is actually impact my, my carbon footprint.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
I do think it does. And, and I think you know, you sort of think about it logically that if you have, if you're living in a smaller space, you just fundamentally have less space for less stuff. And that in itself isn't an environmental benefit. Right. we know that you know, when we, we love to, we all love to buy things, but if you can't bring as much stuff home, there's, that's positive from a carbon footprint perspective. I think there's also things like you know, the size of your home is related directly to the amount of energy you use. And so there again direct links to your carbon footprint.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Okay. And so, yeah, so less stuff and then less utilities and such as well. And so if, okay, so I've lived in a tiny home, right. But, and let's say someone who is listening, they don't obviously, I think most people probably don't live in a tiny
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Home. Right. And myself included. Right.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
So for those folks, like, so they, maybe they, they can't downsize me if they want to, but they're in a mortgage or they're, in a lease, or they just can't find a house that's really, really small. What can they do? What are some, some practical things they can do to reduce their carbon footprint in their house that they have.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Sure. And I mean, we, we all sort of know the, the basic things about, you know, turning off your lights and only running the dishwasher when it's full and all of those kinds of things. And those are all really great practical things. I think the place that I would really encourage people to start is to understand their energy use. And so that means, you know, taking a look at your energy bill, figuring out what is it that's causing your bill to be higher at different times of the year. And where are the things that you can continue to make savings? And so, you know, things like replacing your light bulbs is going to give you a small, a small amount. But then it's sort of looking at, you know, you're in a house you need to replace the refrigerator, let's say that's your time to try and take advantage of getting a more energy efficiency, energy efficient model and in improving your carbon footprint that way, reducing your energy usage. So it's not sort of you know, it was sort of wish that we could do these things where it was sort of, I'll do this magic thing and then it'll be done and I can then sort of move on from there. But the reality is it's a process and it's sort of about paying attention to the way you live your life and, and looking for ways you can continuously improve and get better.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Okay. so would you say that I talked about in my show saving the planet, so it's saving the planet about making those personal sacrifices?
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Absolutely. And I think he, you know, I mean, saving the planet is sort of one of those lovely catch phrases, but you kind of have to have to drill down to what that means in your life personally, because, you know, you, you started off by saying that you've, you've done this thing and now you feel really overwhelmed. And I think that's a really con common feeling for, for people at all stages of sort of a sustainability journey, if you will that the problem seems really, really big and the, and the role you play seems really, really small. And so what's the right, the right action. And, and I would argue there is no one perfect right. Action. The action that you take that is, it's something new that something in addition to what you're doing now is the right action.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Okay. That's good to know. Because yeah, I feel like, like you want to make these changes, but you feel like maybe it has no impact. Right. But, and I'm, I'm hoping that, that it does.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Yeah, absolutely. And, and, you know, I mean, I think what you've done with the tiny, tiny houses is something that's the right choice for you. And, and, but it's, as you say, not going to be something that's going to work for everybody. And so everybody sort has to find their own their own path, if you will. And that can be liberating because you have lots of choices also could be kind of scary and overwhelming because there's not a lot of guidance and things get complicated really, really quickly, you know? And, and so you're sort of like is, is recycling the right choice or is it just sort of a band-aid solution? Or should I be doing this other thing? And, and how do I know where to start and where to go? And so, yeah, lots, lots of people feel that way, I think.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
And I think you can go down the rabbit hole of like researching certain things and how is this used and is that effective and things like that. So do you think that, is there a way you could automate those things or are there are like tried and true things that, that work that you can just do in your life and not have to think about so much?
Speaker 4 (10:26):
I mean, I do think and, and I think I did do a little bit of sort of homework before we chatted today about tiny homes, because I, it's not something I was intimately familiar with. And one of the things that the research shows is that people who commit to tiny homes then start to see benefits from adopting other lifestyle choices. So there's sort of this cascading effect where you have a tiny home, so you, you probably buy fewer things. You're more conscious about what you're, you're buying. You're probably you know, buying sustainable food and, and some of these other, these other things. And so I think that happens in other situations too, where once you sort of start becoming aware of your energy use, for example then you're more likely to kind of extend that action and extend that understanding into new and different, different ways to take action.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Yeah. And for me, like, obviously I'm taking on this big project and really living in a very unconventional way, but I also see it as, as like a personal challenge. Right. And I think for me, it's a lot about framing and it's like, if it's not about sacrifice and oh, I can't do this, I can't do that. Maybe you just don't do this and you don't do that. And like you said, as you do one thing, then maybe you want to try something else in it and it builds, and it leads to other things which we tell you is a good thing is what would be a way to sustain those things.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Sure. I mean, one of the one of the really tricky things is this all sort of comes down to human behavior in a way. And, and human behavior is not always as straight forward as we might like. And the example I always use is, you know, we all know that we should eat our vegetables. And, and there's guidelines that we all know about how many we should eat and all the rest of it, but we don't always. And so it's not about knowledge, it's about building a habit. And the same is true with these behaviors, right? It's about building the habit of you know, using your reusable mug or using less water or all of those things. And so it takes time to build those habits. And we sort of have this tendency to you know, the minute we backslide, we, we decided we've failed and therefore, since we failed, we're just not doing it anymore. Whereas that's not really how habits work, you know, you, you repeated and then occasionally you, you will fail, but you keep doing it. And eventually it just becomes part of part of your life. And I think that's true with big changes and with small changes too.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
And would you recommend that people kind of automate that, like you have the example of buying energy, efficient appliances, cause then you don't really have to think about it, right. You don't have to do something every day, you know?
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, I think where you can get sort of those, those wins and do something that sort of takes care of itself. And you know, the example I'm, I'm gonna use as a big example. That's maybe not for everybody, but solar panels are a great example of that. You know, you, once you've made the investment and installed them, you, you never have to worry about them again. You never have to think about them again. They just sit out there and they generate energy and most places are doing them so that they're tied into the, into the grid. So you're not worried about batteries or anything, anything like that, they're just out there doing their thing. And so yeah, the more, the more things you can do, like that, that don't require sort of active management on your part or our wins, I think.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Mm. Yeah. And I think the with the solar panel example, I think maybe there might be a cost barrier, at least right now, there may be quite expensive, like with my tiny home, it's small enough that, that running, you know, a few panels, you can basically run all your, all your stuff. Right. with a full-size house, probably not.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Right. Yeah. Absolutely. And, and that is, that is a challenge for sure is that some of these things are investments. And so you have to think carefully about how you're going to bring those, those into your lifestyle and, and different things fit for some people and not for others and, and all of that. Hm.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Yeah. And I think not being discouraged or like, you know, feeling overwhelmed like I can is, is a good first step. And would you say even little things like turning the thermostat down a few degrees? Like, does that make a difference?
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Absolutely. Yeah. And I mean, that's a great example of something that, that now is so easy to automate because we have all these fancy programmable thermostats and things like that. And so once you get it set up, you don't have to think about it. It just, it goes ideally. And it goes down in the evening and warms up again when you're in the house during the day in the winter and does the opposite in the summer. And you, you hopefully shouldn't even really notice what's going on.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
And are there any sort of maybe subsidies for some of these more expensive things, if you want to replace your light bulbs, or if you do want to replace an appliance?
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Yeah. They're, they're a little hit or miss. And Alberta at the moment doesn't have an active program which is a bit of a shame because a lot of people really do look for those those sorts of incentives to make those decisions. And something as simple as a you know, a 10% off on a, on a fridge or a washing machine can, can really make a difference when people are, are deciding which one to buy. So yeah there, there have been in the past, I'm optimistic, there will be again in the future, but at the moment there aren't those incentives,
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Oh, that's, that's too bad, but hopefully there they'll come back or maybe we could get them back somehow,
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Maybe.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Yeah. Cause I feel like when with any kind of technology, right. But the more people are buying it, the more there's a demand for it, the price goes down, the technology gets better. Right. So I think the more people can, if they can afford it to buy energy efficient appliances or renewable energy, I think that the cost will go down. Wouldn't you say?
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Yes, absolutely. And that is something that has been consistently the case particularly with the big ticket items like solar you see substantial price decreases from what it used to be. And so that's, that's really encouraging, and there's no reason to think that that won't continue to a certain extent as well that the price continues to drop.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
And can you think of any other sort of small things that people can do in their homes to, to be more energy efficient?
Speaker 4 (17:14):
Yeah. I mean, there's, there's sort of th there's there's really, really basic things, right? Like one of the, one of the great examples is if you're a tea drinker, you don't need to fill the kettle all the way full and boil a full kettle. Every time you make a cup of tea, right. You, you just need to use the energy to heat the water that you need. And so it's sort of getting into that that mindset things like you know, the little mini convection are a great way to save energy from a cooking standpoint, if you're, if you're not someone who you know, cook big meals in an oven all the time having a smaller alternative that uses less, less energy is a great way to go. Yeah. clothes lines, you know, sort of going back to that kind of early, early technology, if you will are, are great ways to save energy too.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
So I think I want to switch gears a little bit and, and talk about environment Lethbridge and learn a bit more about them because maybe some people haven't heard about environment Lethbridge, they don't know about it. And I think they're up to some really cool things when it comes to environmentalist. And I think it's a great resource too, to feel like you're not in over your head. Right. So tell me a little more about environment Lethbridge.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Sure. So environment Lethbridge is a a nonprofit organization. It was established in 2012 and our mission is to inspire community action towards sustainability. So we're really looking for ways to engage people in taking the kinds of actions that we've, we've talked about. We try and go a little bit beyond the just education side and try and develop programs that actually get people doing things cause that's really where we want to be at the end of the day is having people moving forward on that journey. And what sort of programs do you offer? Sure. So some of I guess our, one of our longest standing programs is we use rendezvous, which is a city-wide free cycling event. Unfortunately COVID has kind of turned our scheduling upside down on that recently, but we look forward to bringing it back again in the future.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
We've also done a lot of work with small businesses and Lethbridge through the small business energy efficiency program where we've helped businesses assess their energy use and put together plans to improve their energy efficiency at their business locations. We host seedy Saturday every year, which is designed to promote gardening and local food. So we kind of run a gamut of programs are only, I guess, limitation if you will, is that we're focused entirely on the city of Lethbridge. So we don't do programming outside of that area. Mm
Speaker 3 (20:17):
No. Well, it is what it is, I guess.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Well, you have to put some boundaries somewhere, otherwise, otherwise it's take over the entire world.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
That's the plan, that's what we're doing. We have to save the planet, but I guess there is a website, right. People can learn things that who aren't just in Lethbridge.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
Yes. environmentlethbridge.ca is our website.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
And do you have a favorite initiative that environment Lethbridge has been a part of like over the years or now
Speaker 4 (20:43):
Favorite? I mean, I think two of the ones that I mentioned are my mom and my favorite Seedy Saturday. I love it's a, it's a great event. It sort of kicks off spring in my mind and people come out and they're excited to talk about seeds and gardening and local food and all of those things. So that one is near and dear to my heart. And the small business energy efficiency program. I love as well because small businesses are often really overlooked when it comes to sustainability. They don't really fall into the kind of big corporate initiatives that we sort of see. But they also often get left out of the initiatives that are targeted at residents and homeowners and things like that. So that one I I'm quite fond of as well. Okay.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
And these are still going on even with the current situation.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Yeah, Friday, Saturday. We did virtually this year, so it takes place at the end of March. The small business energy efficiency program is is not as active we're in between funders for that program at the moment. But we will bring it back as soon as we get more funding for the program.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
For sure. For sure. So if people want to get involved now maybe in something in Southern Alberta how would you recommend they get involved?
Speaker 4 (22:06):
Yeah, so I'm checking out. Our website is a, is a great starch. Reuse rendezvous is coming up probably in September. We'll, we'll have that again. And then we have various workshops and other things that go on throughout the year, so people can check our website or our Facebook page to get involved that way.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
That's great. I think I'll maybe zoom out a little bit and, and the reason I I'm doing this show, you know, talking about environmentalism it's specifically in Southern Alberta, cause I feel like that's not what we're known for. How do you think we can change that?
Speaker 4 (22:44):
Okay. You know, it's really interesting because yeah, I, I mean, I, I grew up in Alberta and I left to work in BC for a number of years and I've just come back within the last five years. And Alberta environmentalism can be kind of a dirty word in Alberta, but yet at the same time, there are a lot of people who really have a strong conservation ethic. You know, I, I, the, the people who are standing up to protect the Eastern slopes right now and things like that, there's there, there is a really strong passionate support for the environment, even if it's not sort of described in the usual environmental terms. But I think, I think it's people taking action and then sharing their stories in non-confrontational ways that really makes a difference. And certainly that's something we've tried to do with environment Lethbridge is to make it accessible to as many people as possible. So we, we're not an organization that's going to try and make people feel guilty. You know, we're not gonna try and shame people into you know, choosing, choosing the perfect action. It really is about trying to get people to an entry point that's comfortable for them and hopefully having them then look for other things they can do beyond that point. And I, and I think that's the way we need to have those conversations here in Alberta is to be as open and accessible as we can.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
That's great. Yeah. And, and I think that taking action is really important too, and having those good conversations and hopefully our conversations conversation was productive and inform some people and makes them want to take action. So thanks so much for joining me, Kathleen.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Thank you. And I'm excited to have been here for sure. Take care. Okay. You too.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Oh, that was my conversation with Kathleen. I think the biggest thing for me was all those little things do add up. That was great. And also living in a tiny house does make a difference. Whew, good thing. Right. Well, that's all for me. I'm Michael Bartz. Here's to feeling a little less in over our head when it comes to saving the planet.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
In over over my head was produced and hosted by Michael Bartz. Sound engineering by Rodrigo Henriquez. Original music by Gabriel Thaine special, thanks to Lisa Pruden and Jessica Gibson.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
This program was produced with a support of Telus.