For 60 years RainSoft has been treating, testing water around the world. During the last 14 years I have been the Dealer here in Ottawa, Ontario. We sell/service all RainSoft water systems: Water Softeners, Reverse Osmosis Systems, Whole House Carbon Filters, Chemical Free and Chemical Iron & Sulphur Removal Systems, Sediment Filters, UV Light Systems and MOST IMPORTANTLY PEACE OF MIND! I have an A+ rating with the BBB and have won the Consumers Choice Gold Awards for 5 years in a row. This is a family run business and we especially care about the water you and your family drink and live with. www.rainsoftofottawa.com
LISTEN TO YOUR HEART ~ Mike Rowland, Film by Ruedi & Priska Abbühl Uploaded on Jan 29, 2011
Credit for this beautiful Emperor Penguin film goes to Ruedi & Priska Abbühl… And the Music … All glory goes to composer Mike Rowland from the album “My Elfin Friends,” who is currently compiling a book about the power of healing through music…I have the impression that to penguins, man is a different kind of penguin, unpredictable, occasionally violent, but tolerable company when he sits still and admires Nature and leaves it as he found it. ~Aetopus/AC
WHERE PENGUINS LIVE: Penguins do not live in the Arctic. They live on the shores of Antarctica and they also live in the south of Australia, New Zealand, America & Africa. The most northerly place that penguins live is on the Galapagos Islands which is near Ecuador in South America. Even though there is ice in Canada and the Arctic, penguins don’t live there or in the northern half of the world.
No other animal other than penguins can draw attention to the environmental damaged caused by oil and gas drilling (fracking and mountaintop removal), my reason for ending this video with the message “NO TO ARCTIC DRILLING!” ~Aetopus/AC Please see my previous blog, “Fracking Hell ~ A Catastrophe!”
Here is a great YouTube video, “Birth and March of Emperor Penguins“, from Nature’s Great Events – In the coldest part of the planet, Emperor Penguins breed and give birth to their young, only to begin a great march toward the coast.
I thought it would be interesting to check into the history of Mothers Day and also thought it would be nice to create a YouTube video with inspirational quotes on motherhood. I’d appreciate you watching it on YouTube and ‘liking it’. I dedicated my Mothers Day tribute to my amazing daughter who is the fabulous Mom of my 5 year old grandson and is my inspiration, ”my hero” and “the wind beneath my wings” ~ I hope you enjoy it and you are welcome to share with all the Moms near (or far) and dear to you.
EARLIEST HISTORY OF MOTHERS DAY: The earliest history of Mothers Day dates back to the ancient annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to maternal goddesses.The Greeks used the occasion to honor Rhea, wife of Cronus and the mother of many deities of Greek mythology. Ancient Romans, too, celebrated a spring festival, called Hilaria dedicated to Cybele, a mother goddess. It may benoted that ceremonies in honour of Cybele began some 250 years before Christ was born. The celebration made on the Ides of March by making offerings in the temple of Cybele lasted for three days andincluded parades, games andmasquerades. The celebrations were notorious enough that followers of Cybele were banished from Rome.
History of Mother’s Day in England: The more recent history of Mothers Day dates back to 1600s in England. Here a Mothering Sunday was celebrated annually on the fourth Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter) to honor mothers… Custom of celebrating Mothering Sunday died out almost completely by the 19th century. However, the day came to be celebrated again after World War II, when American servicemen brought the custom and commercial enterprises used it as an occasion for sales.
Mother’s Day in the United States: The idea of official celebration of Mothers day in US was first suggested by Julia Ward Howe in 1872. An activist, writer and poet Julia shot to fame with her famous Civil War song, “Battle Hymn of the Republic“. Julia Ward Howe suggested that June 2 be annually celebrated as Mothers Day and should be dedicated to peace. Anna Jarvis is recognised as the Founder of Mothers Day in US. Though Anna Jarvis never married and never had kids, she is also known as the Mother of Mothers Day, an apt title for the lady who worked hard to bestow honor on all mothers… The hard work paid off. By 1911, Mother’s Day was celebrated in almost every state in the Union and on May 8, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day in Canada: In North American country of Canada, Mothers Day is the most popular festival after Christmas and Valentines Day. Just as in USA, Mothers Day in Canada is celebrated in the second Sunday in the month of May. People pay tribute to their mothers on the day and thank them for their constant support and love. Here in Ottawa we have the Tulip Festival which coincides with Mother’s Day.
The Bay of Fundy tides are so dramatic that they are considered the highest tides in the world – a phenomenon that occurs nowhere else on the planet. 200 billion tons of water flow every single day!!!
“Bay of Fundy | Tides | New Brunswick, Canada“, uploaded Jun 4, 2009. Come to the Bay of Fundy and watch the highest tides in the world and then, six hours later at low tide, you can walk on the ocean floor. In July 2009, the Bay of Fundy was named as a finalist for the New 7 Wonders of Naturecontest that ended in November 2011. It was not chosen as a wonder. The highest water level ever recorded in the Bay of Fundy system occurred at the head of the Minas Basin on the night of October 4–5, 1869 during a tropical cyclone named the “Saxby Gale”. The water level of 21.6 meters (70.9 feet) resulted from the combination of high winds, abnormally low atmospheric pressure, and a spring tide.
Bay of Fundy: Canada’s New7Wonders of Nature Finalist, uploaded on Aug 6, 2010
The Bay of Fundy, rivaled by Ungava Bay in northern Quebec, King Sound in Western Australia, Gulf of Khambhat in India, and the Severn Estuary in the UK, it has one of the highest vertical tidal ranges in the world. The Guinness Book of World Records (1975) declared that Burntcoat Head, Nova Scotia has the highest tides in the world:“The Natural World, Greatest Tides: The greatest tides in the world occur in the Bay of Fundy…. Burntcoat Head in the Minas Basin, Nova Scotia, has the greatest mean spring range with 14.5 metres (47.5 feet) and an extreme range of 16.3 metres (53.5 feet).”
In the following YouTube video you’ll see both high and low tides featured as the camera captures the panoramic expanse – ‘An afternoon over the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada. Featuring Cape Split, lighthouses, and the highest tides in the world, published on Aug 17, 2012.’
Nature Works LLC, a solely-independent division of Cargill, is the first company in the world to produce packaging that is 100 per cent compostable.
Made entirely from field corn, NatureWorks PLA is a food packaging resin that uses an annually renewable resource that doesn’t compromise the earth’s’ ability to meet the needs of tomorrow.”
It’s like using food to carry your food – or your water – as is the case with BIOTA Spring Water.YouTube video: HowStuffWorks Show: Episode 1: Corn Plastic, This clip from the HowStuffWorks show on the Discovery Channel discusses the use of corn to make plastic. Plastic made from corn is biodegradable, carbon-neutral and edible. Could corn plastic revolutionize the plastics industry?
The items shown in the collage below are just a very few of the manyproducts that are made from this corn resin- amazing!YouTube video: Corn to Plastics, – Corn is showing up in places you would have never expected. A company in Columbus is making plastic film from corn. Our Ohio visits Plastic Suppliers to learn more about this new technology.
The technological process of producing the plastic is essentially the same as producing petroleum-based plastic. “Instead of oil-based carbon, we start with a sugar-based carbon from corn,” said Tucker. The technology is especially important to the bottled water industry in the shadow of a recent study by William Shotyk of Heidelberg University in Germany, whose research on bottled mineral water shows that the plastic containers release a deadly toxin called antimony into the water the longer it is stored.
“The NatureWorks bottle is what is referred to as a ‘barefoot resin,’” said Tucker. “There’s nothing to leach and the bottle doesn’t change the makeup of the water.” But just because the bottle is made from food doesn’t mean you can eat it. BIOTA cautions on its website, under frequently asked questions, that because the bottle is a plastic product, it’s not recommended that the containers be consumed.
BIOTA spring water bottle, uploaded on Jul 6, 2007 – the environmentally friendly packaging.
Here’s an interesting footnote to wrap up this blog:However the usage of PLA corn bottle involves some drawbacks also. It is obvious that the production of PLA corn bottle or any other bio plastic would necessarily involve devoting vast acres of land for producing crops used in the manufacture of plastic products rather than food. It cannot be overlooked that plants also use energy in the form of fuel, water and other resources. Besides, transportation also adds up to a lot of fuel consumption. Being disposable they add to the waste generated and cannot take the place of reusable products which are more environmentally friendly. http://www.innovateus.net/content/what-pla-corn-bottle
IMPORTANT TO NOTE:“The technology is especially important to the bottled water industry in the shadow of a recent study by William Shotyk of Heidelberg University in Germany, whose research on bottled mineral water shows that the plastic containers release a deadly toxin called antimony into the water the longer it is stored.”This is another very important reason for everyone to realize the dangers of bottled water – not only to our health, but to our precious environment.It would be a very wise investment for you to consider a Reverse Osmosis water treatment system, such as the Rainsoft Reverse Osmosis system offered by us.
Eternally Pure Water Systems, Inc.
5450 Canotek Road, Unit 66-67
Ottawa, ON K1J 9G5
Telephone: 613-742-0058
Mon. – Fri. 9:00 – 5:30
Simple secrets to a happy life . . . What a special treat to find another truly inspiring video from Simple Truths – “Finding Joy ~ Simple Secrets To A Happy Life” ~ sublime!!! Naturally I want to share it with all of you.
When life brings complications, it helps to remember that happiness is simple. With its beautiful pictures, uplifting quotations, and inspiring tone, ‘Finding Joy: Simple Secrets to a Happy Life’ will put a smile on your face when you need it most. So, today, take three short minutes to watch this movie. Your heart will thank you for it. Music – “Capture The Moment” by David London, uploaded on Jan 5, 2009 by Hafiz.
A difficult choice to make, but the following are a few of my favorites:
Nothing happens …but first a dream.
~ Carl Sandburg
The heart that gives, gathers.
~ Marianne Moore
Change your thoughts and change your world.
~ Norman Vincent Peale
The only things that stand between a person and what they want in life are the will to try it and the faith to believe it’s possible.
~ Rick Devos
Sometimes in the winds of change we find our true direction.
~ Author unknown
Joy is the light that fills you with Hope, Faith and Love.
~ Author unknown
To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.
David Viscott
Link to Simple Truths site where you’ll find an impressive selection of inspiring books. Many of these books also have an accompanying video which you can preview. Simple Truths offers frequent book sales. This may be the next one I order for gift-giving.
Once again I hope that you enjoyed the video and will find joyful inspiration in many of the quotes, and of course share with others. Have a great weekend everyone.
“The future is in the hands of those who explore… and from all the beauty they discover while crossing perpetually receding frontiers, they develop for nature and humankind an infinite love.” ~ Jacques Cousteau
We have a great opportunity to watch an incredible video created by Alexandra Cousteau – YouTube Sep 13, 2012. I hope you find this to be as educational and entertaining as I did.
In 2010 and 2011 Oceana partnered with SeaLife Conservation and their eco-research sailboat, the Derek M. Baylis, and the Monterey Bay Sanctuary to explore and document Monterey Bay and other incredible West Coast ocean habitats with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and camera ~ “FATHOMS DEEP – Protecting the Seafloor”, narrated by Alexandra Cousteau.
“Mankind has had an affinity for the ocean since our earliest beginnings. Near or far, the ocean draws us in. The longer you stare at the ocean, the more you take in its wonder. The deeper you go, the more you appreciate its complexity. Landing on the soft substrata of the sea floor is like arriving on another planet. It appears flat and barren, but in fact, it is teeming with life.”
Wikipedia web site has a lengthy bio on Alexandra Phillipe Cousteau, the granddaughter of world famous French explorer and filmmaker Jacques-Yves Cousteau: “A member of the third generation of the Cousteau family to devote their lives to exploring and explaining the natural world, Cousteau first went on expedition with her father, Philippe Cousteau, when she was four months old, and learned to scuba dive with her grandfather, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, when she was seven. She grew up traveling the globe, developed a passion for adventure and learned firsthand the value of conserving the natural world. Of her father and grandfather, Cousteau says, “The best example they gave me was the importance of living a life of consequence, value, and meaning. I honor their memories by creating a legacy of my own in speaking out for the preservation of our blue planet and all its waters.”
Exploring Oceans: Overview, video by National Geographic, Uploaded on Mar 16, 2009. The ocean produces 70 percent of the Earth’s oxygen and drives our weather and the chemistry of the planet. Most of the creatures on Earth live in the sea. But our knowledge of the ocean is far outstripped by our impact on it.
Researchers have compiled a database of images and data collected from the Antarctic seafloor during various expeditions to the frozen continent… Many of the images in the collection were taken at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, the large bay nestled in the frozen continent’s coast from the Antarctic Peninsula east to the Coats Land region. Some examples of the strange creatures that thrive on the bottom of the chilly ocean surrounding Antarctica - photo credits: Julian Gutt, Alfred Wegener Institute:
Shell-less Snail ~ Clione (Clione limacina), is a shell-less snail known as the Sea Butterfly. This snail is also known as the Sea Angel that swims in the shallow waters beneath Arctic ice.
Antarctic Ice Fish ~ Even in the chilliest water, life can thrive. Ice fish, like the one seen here, have a natural antifreeze chemical in their blood and body fluids that allow them to survive frigid water temperatures.
This is an invasive king crab (Neolithodes yaldwyni) from the Antarctic shelf waters.
These predatory king crabs will cause a major reduction on seafloor biodiversity as they invade Antarctic habitats.
Ice Fish ~ This Antarctic fish… has no red blood cells or red blood pigments. This makes the fish’s blood thinner, saving energy that would otherwise be needed to pump the blood around the body.
This picture shows hydrocorals also known as sea fans – various colonial marine hydrozoans of the order Hydrocorallinae, having a limestone skeleton and thus resembling the true corals.
Cold Crustacean ~ This shy-looking critter is an inhabitant of Antarctica – first found during the research vessel Polarstern’s ANTXXIII-8 cruise. This the arthropod is about 1 inch long and can be found near Antarctica’s Elephant Island.
The Pink Lady ~ Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) plays a key role in the food webs of the South Ocean. In fact, these tiny crustaceans have developed many biological rhythms that are closely connected to large seasonal changes in their environment.
Big Red Shrimp ~ A giant Antarctic amphipod measuring 4 inches (100 mm) long. These red shrimp can be found off the Antarctic Peninsula.
Sea Pig ~There are actually several different genera and species of “sea pigs” (members of the family Elpidiidae) Not all of them live in the deep-sea, some of them live in Antarctic waters.
Antarctica: The Hunt for Killer CApr 5, 2013 rabs, published on
… For millions of years, the animals of the Antarctic sea floor have evolved in splendid isolation, with essentially no predation pressure from the crabs, sharks, and bony fish that control marine communities everywhere else in the world…Antarctica: The Hunt for Killer Crabs documents a voyage of scientists from around the world to try to get a glimpse of what could be a new killer on the sea bottom. Join them on their journey to find this new predator and see what may lie ahead for the animals that already live there.
The following excerpts are taken from: FIRE AND ICE: What happens when you tamper with ice? By Steven Willard – CanadianWater Treatment magazine, Mar/Apr edition, 2006.
Ottawa’s Ice Dam Busters – Human Planet, Rivers, Preview – BBC One -uploaded on Feb 24, 2011 When the frozen river starts to melt and large ice blocks start forming a dam, it’s time for extreme measures to avoid flooding in the Canadian capital.
Ice is a dangerous substance. History is filled with examples of the destructive power of ice, from glaciers of pre-history to the modern sinking of an unsinkable ocean liner… Often the destruction from ice can be so severe that action must be taken to prevent damage. The city of Ottawa did just this thing. Worried that the ice might form a dam and back up the spring run-off which would then lead to flooding of low lying areas, the city had a program in the spring of the year to cut up ice on the Ottawa River and blast it in to manageable pieces to prevent a build up of ice in the river; a program that eventually brought the City of Ottawa to Court in 1997.
You’ll realize the danger in ice blasting in the following YouTube video, “Winter Ice Break-up at Rideau Falls, Ottawa, Canada“. Watch at 3:30 into the video to see the blasting take place – unbelievable that they’d blast so close to the bridge where people are standing and a van is damaged by the flying ice!!!
Every spring since 1887 the city has blasted the ice of the Rideau and Ottawa rivers into small chunks so that they could be flushed easily and safely down the Ottawa River before the ice could pile up and act as a dam, above which flooding would inevitably happen. Downstream from Ottawa, Rideau Falls Generating Partnership operated a hydro-electric dam at the base of the Rideau Falls. In 1992, the City of Ottawa conducted their usual ice removal program and, as a result, chuckes of ice floated down the Ottawa river, over the Rideau Falls, landed at the base of the falls and piled up. The ice piles up as high as the drop of the Rideau Falls. In essence an ice dam had been created. The water built up behind this dam and quickly flooded the generating station causing considerable damage to the station and it ceased to generate power for some months. In 1996, the exact same events occurred with more damage to the station. Rideau Falls Generating Station sued the City for damages, and won.
On the face of it, this seems unfair. The City of Ottawa had done this work every spring for many years to prevent people from being flooded from their homes. The city could not control the pile-up of ice at the bottom of the Falls, which the Court even called “unnatural.” But riparian law is very strict: if you tamper with the natural flow of water (and ice for that matter), then you will be responsible tor damages created by your actions… The city also argued that the Ontario Municipal Act allowed a municipality the right to pas a by-law to control flooding. The court held that the by-law passed by the city would not relieve the city from responsibility for its actions. Simply put, the Municipal Act did not confer on the city a right to damage property. This case stands for a number of points of law. It confirms that the owner of riparian land has a right to the natural flow of water. Anyone who tampers with that natural flow needs to take actions to prevent damage, even to the extent of preparing for extraordinary situations. And finally, downstream lands cannot be sacrificed to save upstream lands.
The following shows just how destructive ice flows on the Rideau River can be:YouTube video, ‘Ice Flow Takes Out Dock – Rideau River’ Uploaded on Feb 23, 2009 ~ “An ice flow took out the end of our dock on the Rideau River near Ottawa, Ontario Canada. The dock was 78 feet long; it’s much shorter now! “
The following excerpts are taken from WaterCanada’s magazine article, “Breaking the Ice” – The trouble with implementing national wastewater standards in our country’s coldest climates, by Rob Jamieson and Wendy Krkosek
Managing sewagein Canada’s Arctic communities is very different than in the more populated southern regions of Canada. Arctic communities tend to have small populations of 100 to 2,000 people and many can only be accessed by air or by sea during the brief summer season. The cold climate and permafrost conditions generally prevent the use of underground pipes for transporting sewage from homes and buildings to a centralized sewage treatment plant. Therefore, people living in the Arctic often have to rely on a trucked system for water delivery and wastewater collection.Homes and other buildings are often equipped with two tanks: one for potable water, the other for wastewater. Drinking water deliveries and wastewater collection are usually conducted around every one to two days.
[Here is a very short YouTube video featuring the Sewage Lagoon and Windmills at Hooper Bay, Alaska, uploaded on Mar 18, 2010 ~ Temps +8F and 15 kt wind. 360 deg panorama of sewage lagoon and windmills, cemetery, and parts of Old Town.]
In the majority of communities in the Canadian Arctic, the collected sewage is then transported to lagoons (or waste stabilization ponds) located on the outskirts of town. The lagoons are typically designed to hold a full year’s worth of sewage and are frozen for approximately nine months of the year. The lagoon contents thaw during the short summer season, which is approximately two to three months long. At the end of the summer, around early September, the water in the lagoon is pumped out into a natural tundra wetland, or directly intoa lake, a river, or the ocean… The main advantages of these types of systems, and the reasonswhy they are used in small Arctic communities, are they are simple to operate and maintain, do not require energy inputs, and do not use mechanical equipment that would be susceptible to malfunction and failure in extreme cold climates. The problem, however, is that while these types of treatment systems have been well studied and tested in temperature climates, very little research has been conducted on how they perform in extreme arctic climates. The impact of new regulations Environment Canada has recently implemented new Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations (WSER). The regulations include National Performance Standards (NPS) for municipal wastewater facilities, and specific timelines for upgrading facilities based on an environmental risk assessment framework. However, EnvironmentCanada has specifically acknowledged the challenges that remote, northern communities will face in complying with the WSER. It was recognized that little information exists on the performance of wastewater systems operating in Canada’s far north, and the risk they pose to human and environmental health (CCME, 2009). Therefore, the regulations do not immediately apply to wastewater systems located in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and north of the 54th parallel in the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. A five-year grace period (ending in 2014) was provided to conduct research on northern wastewater system performance, and to propose alternative effluent quality guidelines….
In response to the impending federal wastewater regulations and the need to identify cost-effective approaches for sewage management, the Government of Nunavut and Dalhousie University have developed a long-term research program focused on municipal wastewater management in Nunavut. The goals of the five-year project, currently in its third year, are to characterize the performance of existing lagoon and wetland wastewater treatment systems in Nunavut, assess the risks these systems pose to both human and environmental health, and identify and test strategies for improving the performance of passive treatment systems in Arctic climates. This work is also meant to provide the information needed to develop appropriate wastewater treatment standards for northern regions…
To address this issue, Dalhousie University has collaborated with the Nunavut Research Institute to establish a water quality laboratory in Iqaluit. The lab is equipped to analyze for all primary wastewater parameters, and is also used to provide training to students enrolled in the VThe research conducted to date has produced some very interesting results. The unique summer arctic climate, where some communities receive up to 24 hours of sunlight, can have a number of advantages.
For example, extended daylight can stimulate a tremendous amount of algae growth in sewage treatment lagoons. These algae populations are capable of adding considerable amounts of oxygen to the lagoons through photosynthesis, which helps facilitate biological treatment processes. Trying to understand and harness the natural processes that occur within lagoons and tundra wetlands will be key to predicting and optimizing the performance of these systems.
As these types of “open” treatment systems are heavily influenced by environmental factors such as ambient temperature and solar radiation, it will also be important to understand how their performance may be influenced by climate change. Initial findings also indicate that the characteristics of the water bodies which receive the treated effluent must be carefully considered in the establishment of appropriate treatment standards for the Arctic.
Interesting factoid for you all–did you know Canada is has more kilometers in distance North-South than East-West…..
WHERE PENGUINS LIVE: Penguins do not live in the Arctic. They live on the shores of Antarctica and they also live in the south of Australia, New Zealand, America & Africa. The most northerly place that penguins live is on the Galapagos Islands which is near Ecuador in South America. Even though there is ice in Canada and the Arctic, penguins don’t live there or in the northern half of the world.
No other animal other than penguins can draw attention to the environmental damaged caused by oil and gas drilling (fracking and mountaintop removal), my reason for ending this video with the message “NO TO ARCTIC DRILLING!” ~Aetopus/AC
The more recent history of Mothers Day dates back to 
(the 40 day period leading up to Easter) to honor mothers… Custom of celebrating Mothering Sunday died out almost completely by the 19th century. However, the day came to be celebrated again after 
The idea of official celebration of 
