This year’s 16^th North Grenville Sustainability Fair

continues the tradition of presentations on a range of topics to help with your budget, your well-being and the health of our planet.  Join us on Sunday April 27^th in the Urbandale Theatre, at the North Grenville Municipal Centre, as they are offered hourly between 10am and 3pm.  Fair admission and presentations are free.

• 10 am Nature Journaling – Meredith Luce 
• 11 am SaveON Home Renovation Savings program – Chris Weissflog
• 12 pm All things EV – Jeff Knapp 
• 1 pm Air-source heat pumps – Tim VanderMeer 
• 2 pm Naturopathic summer first aid – Dr Shawn Yakimovich ND

Meredith Luce will launch our series at 10am, sharing the joy and benefits of nature journaling.  You’ll learn how to focus your senses, be present in the moment, and grow your curiosity to develop an appreciation for nature and a connection with your surroundings.  Nature journaling promotes mindfulness, can facilitate community connections, improve your artistic eye, and — most importantly — contribute to citizen science and environmental stewardship.  Meredith’s workshop will give you a deeper understanding of the mindset and principles of nature journaling along with a handful of spring journaling activities to do in your own back yard.  At the cost of a pencil, some paper and your time, nature journaling could bring you deep reward and gratification.

The 11am presentation will explore what’s in Ontario’s new energy retrofit incentive program.  The SaveON Home Renovation Savings program is different to previous provincial and federal energy retrofit programs by what is offered and how it is administered.  Incentives cover heat pumps, solar electric panels and batteries, heat pump water heaters, plus envelope upgrades like air-tightening and insulation, but some come with big caveats.  Chris Weissflog, a local renewable energy and building efficiency proponent, will review the various incentives, explain how to engage with the program to get the incentives, and share opinions on when they might be advantageous or not.

At noon, Jeff Knapp will explore all things EV.  Jeff has driven many EVs since 2017 and will discuss a range of topics such as how they compare to combustion engine vehicles, range, charging, planning trips, towing, regenerative braking, and one pedal driving.  He’ll also bust the myths that continuously show up in social media.  Jeff will compare costs with traditional vehicles – purchasing, insurance, energy, maintenance, warranties – to show how the total cost of ownership compares.  You’ll also learn terminology and which aspects of EVs are important to know when doing your research.  It will be good preparation for the Fair’s own EV show in the arena.

Tim VanderMeer will deliver the 1pm presentation focusing on heat pumps.  Recent government incentive programs have encouraged homeowners to consider retrofitting their homes with air-source heat pumps.  There have been dramatic improvements in their effectiveness so that they can perform well in our cold Canadian climate.  In many cases they can provide significant and efficient heating and air conditioning while delivering real energy cost savings.  Tim is a local HVAC designer who specializes in energy efficient homes and has hands-on construction experience.  He will explain how heat pumps work, their relationship with the building envelope, and how they can be adapted to a range of homes.

Our presentation lineup culminates at 2pm with Dr Shawn Yakimovich ND, who will prepare you for the upcoming season with a seminar in naturopathic summer first aid.  Dr Shawn is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor, in practice since 2006.  He founded Kemptville Naturopathic Clinic in 2010 and has been providing holistic family medicine to our community ever since.  Dr Shawn’s talk –”Naturopathic Summer First Aid” – will cover 10 natural remedies for common acute summer situations that you will be able to immediately put to use with your family.  The presentation will discuss effective herbal and homeopathic remedies for poison ivy, wounds, infections, Lyme disease, food poisoning and more!

 Join us on Sunday April 27^th at the North Grenville Sustainability Fair to learn how to live a more sustainable and healthy lifestyle, and how to potentially save money retrofitting your home.