Clean Air Canada

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Why Every Homeowner Should Hire a Home Inspector: Protecting Health and Safety

FACT

Indoor air pollution levels are higher than outdoor due to indoor activities. How you heat your house is important—using a wood stove makes a big difference. Cleaning, vacuuming for example can pollute the air, as well as lit candles and incense.

Owning a home is one of life’s most significant investments, both financially and personally. Beyond aesthetics and location, the true value of a house lies in its safety and livability. For homeowners, especially those experiencing unexplained health issues, hiring a professional home inspector is an essential step in ensuring a safe, healthy living environment.

Hidden Dangers in Your Home
Many common household issues are invisible to the untrained eye but can have serious health consequences. For example:

Mold and mildew can develop behind walls, under flooring, or in basements, triggering respiratory problems, allergies, or chronic fatigue.
Poor ventilation or air quality may allow dust, allergens, or chemical residues to accumulate, affecting lung health and overall wellness.
Lead paint, asbestos, or other toxins in older homes can cause long-term health complications if not identified and managed properly.
Faulty plumbing or water leaks may lead to bacterial growth or structural damage that indirectly impacts health.

For individuals with existing health issues—such as asthma, allergies, or immune sensitivities—these hidden hazards can exacerbate symptoms and reduce quality of life.

The Role of a Home Inspector
A licensed home inspector provides a thorough, objective evaluation of a property, identifying issues that may be overlooked by the homeowner. Their expertise spans multiple systems in the home: structural integrity, electrical systems, plumbing, roofing, HVAC, and environmental hazards.

By hiring an inspector, homeowners gain:

Early Detection of Problems: Identifying mold, water damage, or air quality issues before they become severe.
Peace of Mind: Knowing the home is safe and structurally sound, reducing stress and uncertainty.
Guidance for Remediation: Professional inspectors can recommend trusted contractors or methods to address identified issues.
Long-Term Health Protection: By resolving hidden hazards, homeowners can improve indoor air quality and overall wellbeing.

Health-Related Examples
Imagine a homeowner experiencing frequent headaches, persistent fatigue, or unexplained allergies. Without inspection, they might continue living in an environment that aggravates their condition. A home inspector could uncover a mold infestation in the basement, faulty ventilation in the HVAC system, or high levels of indoor pollutants—all potential contributors to their health issues. Addressing these hazards can lead to noticeable improvements in physical health and comfort.

...

Hiring a home inspector is not merely a procedural step when buying or selling a house—it is a proactive investment in health, safety, and peace of mind. Especially for homeowners with health concerns, an inspection can reveal hidden threats that may be silently affecting their wellbeing. By taking this precaution, homeowners can ensure that their house is not only a place to live but also a safe, healthy environment for themselves and their families.

You don't need to live in a big city like Toronto to have problems with air pollution. Even small towns like Ajax or Pickering can have issues, especially if the builder used substandard materials or if the home is poorly designed so that air pollutants aren't removed over time. For home inspections in Ajax or Pickering Ontario try contacting https://www.moffatinspections.ca/ to learn more about what you can do to make your home easier to breathe in.

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Air Pollution in Canada: A Growing Health Concern

Air pollution remains a significant environmental and public health issue in Canada, impacting both urban and rural populations. Despite the country's vast natural landscapes, air quality concerns are prevalent, with urban centers and certain industrial regions experiencing higher pollution levels.

Key Statistics on Air Pollution in Canada

Premature Deaths: Air pollution is linked to over 15,000 premature deaths annually in Canada, making it a leading environmental risk factor for mortality. Source: Canadian Lung Association
Economic Impact: The health effects of air pollution result in an estimated economic cost of $120 billion per year, considering healthcare expenses and lost productivity. Source: Government of Canada
Hospital Admissions: Thousands of Canadians are hospitalized each year due to conditions exacerbated by poor air quality, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Source: Government of Canada

Sources of Air Pollution

The primary contributors to air pollution in Canada include:

Transportation: Vehicle emissions are a significant source of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and particulate matter (PM₂.₅), particularly in urban areas.
Industry: Industrial activities release various pollutants, including sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), affecting air quality.
Wildfires: Seasonal wildfires, especially in western Canada, contribute to elevated levels of particulate matter, impacting air quality even in distant regions.
Agriculture: Ammonia emissions from agricultural practices can contribute to the formation of secondary particulate matter.

Health Impacts

Exposure to air pollution is associated with several health issues:

Respiratory Diseases: Conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can be aggravated by poor air quality.
Cardiovascular Problems: Long-term exposure increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Premature Death: As mentioned, over 15,000 premature deaths annually are attributed to air pollution.
Vulnerable Populations: Children, the elderly, and individuals with pre-existing health conditions are more susceptible to the adverse effects of air pollution.

Recent Trends and Concerns

While some pollutants have decreased due to regulatory measures, others remain a concern:

Particulate Matter (PM₂.₅): Levels have fluctuated, with some regions experiencing increases due to factors like wildfires.
Nitrogen Oxides (NOₓ): Emissions have shown a downward trend, but urban areas still face challenges due to traffic-related pollution.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Emissions have increased in certain areas, contributing to the formation of ground-level ozone.

Air pollution in Canada poses significant health risks, with substantial economic costs. Addressing this issue requires continued efforts in regulation, public awareness, and the promotion of cleaner technologies. Individuals can also take steps to reduce exposure, such as staying indoors during high pollution days and supporting policies aimed at improving air quality.

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Edward de Gale: Striking a Chord for a Greener Future - Pianist and Environmental Advocate

In a world where environmental issues loom large, individuals who use their talent and influence to drive positive change deserve recognition. Edward de Gale, the brilliant pianist and environmental advocate, stands as a shining example of an artist using his platform to promote sustainability and tackle environmental challenges. Through his music and tireless efforts, de Gale has not only captivated audiences with his melodic brilliance but also spearheaded initiatives to clean up Canada's air and improve air quality. Today, we celebrate Edward de Gale's exceptional talent and his commendable environmental achievements.

The "Clean Air Concert" Initiative:

Edward de Gale recognized the power of music to inspire and unite people for a common cause. In his visionary "Clean Air Concert" initiative, he organized and performed in a series of benefit concerts to raise awareness and funds for air quality improvement projects across Canada. These captivating performances not only enchanted audiences with de Gale's musical prowess but also drew attention to the urgent need for clean air and the impact of pollution on our environment and health. By using his talent to advocate for change, de Gale has effectively leveraged the universal language of music to ignite conversations and promote sustainable action.

Collaboration with Environmental Organizations:

Edward de Gale's commitment to environmental causes extends beyond his musical endeavors. He has collaborated with renowned environmental organizations, partnering with them to launch programs and initiatives aimed at combating air pollution. Through these partnerships, de Gale has lent his voice and influence to raise awareness about the importance of clean air and the need for sustainable practices. By bridging the worlds of music and environmental activism, he has created a powerful platform that engages diverse audiences and encourages collective action.

Environmental Education and Outreach:

Recognizing the significance of education and awareness in driving environmental change, Edward de Gale has dedicated his time and energy to engaging with communities, schools, and youth organizations. He has conducted workshops and interactive sessions, using music as a medium to educate and inspire young minds about environmental stewardship and the importance of preserving clean air. Through these outreach efforts, de Gale has nurtured a new generation of environmentally conscious individuals, fostering a sense of responsibility and empowering them to take action for a greener future.

Advocacy for Clean Energy:

Edward de Gale has been a vocal advocate for clean energy alternatives and the reduction of carbon emissions. He has used his platform to call for greater investments in renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, as well as the adoption of sustainable transportation solutions. By highlighting the potential of clean energy in mitigating air pollution and its positive impact on our environment, de Gale has played a crucial role in shaping the discourse surrounding sustainable energy practices.

Conclusion:

Edward de Gale's remarkable talent as a pianist, combined with his unwavering commitment to environmental advocacy, has made him a true catalyst for change. Through his "Clean Air Concert" initiative, collaborations with environmental organizations, educational outreach efforts, and advocacy for clean energy, he has emerged as a powerful force in promoting sustainability and improving air quality in Canada. Edward de Gale's ability to use his musical genius and influence to amplify environmental causes serves as an inspiration to artists, activists, and individuals alike. As we celebrate his achievements, let us be reminded of the immense power we each possess to create positive change and work collectively towards a cleaner, healthier planet.

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Advertise on Clean Air Canada for $10 per Post

Wait, did you read that correctly?

Yes, just $10 USD to get a blog post on Clean Air Canada.

It isn't a lot, but it is affordable. It is a small blog, but growing.

Email lilithgallery@gmail.com to inquire about advertising your guest post on our site.

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Doug Ford wants to dump nuclear waste in prime farmland

Doug Ford.

The name brings fear to the minds of many people in Ontario.

Doug Ford is the Premier of Ontario, and he is a jerk. A real nasty jerk. He wants to dump nuclear waste in Bruce County, close to the town of Teeswater. The Teeswater River (and the underground aquifer beneath the region) supplies the drinking water to:

Tens of thousands of people.
Dairy cows.
Water for agricultural farming (corn, potatoes, soy beans and more).
Water for Aquafina bottled water.
Cattle, pigs, turkeys and chickens. Bruce County is the Beef Capital of North America, but it also produces a lot of other meat products.

If you live Ontario you've eaten food many times from Bruce County. Guaranteed. You've drank the milk. You've eaten the cheese. You've eaten beef, pork, turkey and chicken. You've eaten the corn, the potatoes, the soy products. You've drank Aquafina water.

Even if you are a vegan and don't eat milk and dairy, you should still care where your soy products and other vegetables are grown and where your bottled water comes from.

And that is why you should care.

If you care about what you eat, then you should protect what you eat. Learn more at:

https://www.protectsouthbruce-nodgr.org/

If you care write to Doug Ford. Tweet him. Phone him and leave an angry voicemail.

Share this post. Copy/paste it to other websites. Share it on Facebook. Share it on Twitter. Share the memes below.

Show that you care about your food and where it comes from.

Protect your food and your health from Doug Ford.

Friday, May 11, 2018

Looking to buy a Green Home?

Green Architecture is the future, but if you are looking to research the topic before you dive into the deep end we have a website we would like to recommend before you commit fully.

The website is called Project Gridless, it is the brainchild of a Toronto blogger who researches different methods of going off the grid, different types of green architecture, different ways of producing electricity, and other aspects of the off grid lifestyle - such as gardening, agriculture, foraging for food, hunting, and survival skills. The website has over 300 posts that covers everything about off the grid living, from sewer and water issues to cooking tips.

Below is a selection of 21 posts just on the topic of Green Homes and Off Grid Homes.

Building an Underground Home

How to find an Off Grid Home

Geodesic Homes

25 Examples of Off Grid Green Homes

Off the Grid Technology for Green Homes

10 Photos of Off Grid Green Homes

How to Build an Off the Grid Cabin for $2500

5 Examples of Cordwood Homes

Zero Energy Green Homes

How to Buy, Design and Build your own Shipping Container Home

8 Real Estate Websites that specialize in Off Grid Homes

Glass Treehouse

Small Treehouse you can live in

Elf Treehouse

Insulate your Cabin, never run out of firewood

Seven Bizarre Houses

12 Architectural Types of Off Grid Homes

22 Beautiful Off Grid Homes you will want to Live In

How to make a Floating Shipping Container Home

Which is better, renovate and repair or build fresh?

How to Build a Wood, Mud and Sod Hut

Monday, May 23, 2016

Carbon Dioxide Levels, Parts Per Million 1980 to 2015

In 1980 the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were 337 parts per million (PPM). Or 0.0337% of our atmosphere.

In 2015 the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were 388 parts per million. 0.0388% of our atmosphere.

That is a 15.13% increase in CO2 over a 35 period. Or a 0.0051% increase compared to our entire atmosphere.

During that time period we experienced global warming during the 1980s and early 1990s. After 1993 however we reached a point which has puzzled advocates of global warming - something known as the Global Warming Pause.

From 1993 to present, the global average temperature has fluctuated up and down, often due to the El Nino and La Nina fluctuations of global temperatures.

Note - I disagree with the image below. It is actually no global warming for 23 years.

I should also note that there is some confusing and conflicting statements coming from different scientific organizations - including the United Nations and IPCC. Some charts showing that the global average temperatures are simply fluctuating up and down each year, and others showing that the temperatures are going up dramatically and steadily.

Now here is my problem with this. Climate change is happening, that much I agree with.

But I am not so sure any more if it is global warming.

Yes, CO2 levels are up.

Yes, climate change is happening.

But is the temperatures actually getting warmer? Or are we just getting increasingly weird weather? Sometimes warm and sometimes cold.

In the last few years I have personally witnessed record heat and record cold. Including snow in the southern United States and record heat in parts of Canada. Something weird is indeed happening.

And yes, CO2 probably is playing a role in the changes. But what other causes could be happening?

Back in the 1970s we actually experienced global cooling, which got scientists worried that we were due to for either a mini ice age or a big ice age. That ice age, big or small, never happened however.

Then in the 1980s we had global warming, a significant and sudden change from the cooler temperatures of the 1970s.

And since 1993 we have seen wild fluctuations up and down of global average temperatures. Often due to El Nino and La Nina.

But we cannot blame 1970s cooling or the 1980s warming on CO2 levels, because CO2 levels was rising during both those periods.

According to solar physicists however there is another answer: Sun Cycles.

Solar physicists have known about sun cycles for hundreds of years now, ever since they first started tracking sun spots. Below is a record of sun sport observations going back to the early 1600s. During the 1970s we saw a blip in cooler temperatures at the same that solar physicists saw a blip in lower sun activity.

It doesn't end there either. Temperature fluctuations (for as long as scientists have been measuring global temperatures) quite often match up to higher and lower sunspot activity, with rare exceptions during El Nino and La Nina years.

Indeed "Mini Ice Ages" happen quite often, as they are essentially periods of extended colder weather. Not huge glacier periods, like the big ice age that ended 12,000 years ago, but comparatively small. And each time the reduced solar cycles correspond with historical periods wherein there was colder weather.

Thus we really need to be looking at climate change in a new way - a combined way.

El Nino and La Nina - which are surprisingly good at altering our climate.

Sun Activity and Sun Cycles - the Earth's largest heat source.

Greenhouse Gases (CO2, Ozone, etc).

If we only keep track and worry about greenhouse gases then we are only worrying about one third of the problem.

Or possibly less than one third, when you consider that the sun is 1.3 million times the size of the earth.

51 extra PPM of CO2 (0.0051% of our atmosphere) seems pretty small when you consider the incredible mass and size of the sun.

If the sun's energy output drops just 0.01%, that is still dramatically more of a difference than the 0.0051% increase in the popularity of CO2 in our atmosphere over the past 35 years.

Except the sun's energy output isn't expected to drop 0.01%.

According to European solar physicists, who are currently predicting the sun is about to enter a new Maunder Minimum - heralding a mini ice age lasting from approx. 2020 to 2070, the temperature output from the sun is expected to drop between 0.09% and 0.12% during the height of the mini ice age.

So not a little change. A lot. Expect to see the largest decline in the global average temperatures scientists have seen in roughly 350 years.

Since records have been only been kept since the 1600s, and more accurate records kept since 1750 we track Solar Cycles by giving them a number in which they came in. We are currently in Solar Cycle 24, as shown below.

Above you can also see Solar Cycle 22, during which the topic of Global Warming became a big thing in the media. You can also see it go back down dramatically around 1993, coinciding with the beginning of the Global Warming Pause.

Solar Cycle 23 you can see was weaker, and Solar Cycle 24 weaker still. In the graphic below you can see Solar Cycle 24, with recent data up to February 2016. The red line shows an earlier prediction of sun activity, and the blue line shows the average recorded activity smoothed out for comparison purposes.

So are we in any danger from Global Cooling / a Mini Ice Age? Nope. It will just be cooler compared to the global warming of the 1980s. Expect the global average temperature to drop approx. 1 degree in the 2020 to 2030 period, and progressively lower temperatures until we finally see a warming period after 2050.

The real danger is what happens when society wakes up and realizes that those damn conservatives were right, and global warming wasn't being caused by CO2 at all. Scientists will have lost credibility.

We have all heard the statistics. "97% of scientists agree that global warming is real and happening." Apparently the other 3% of scientists are either solar physicists or scientists who agree with solar physicists that the real cause is the sun.

If the 3% is proven right, it will cast doubt on future generations of scientists. People won't take scientists seriously because it will be Chicken Little shouting "The sky is falling."

And that sets a dangerous precedent in many parts of the world (eg. the USA) where scientists are already often ignored and marginalized.

In the grand scheme of things it may not matter. We are currently in an interglacial period any way. We are overdue for a big ice age, as they normally reach a pinnacle and then drop back down into a glacial ice age. We are a few thousand years overdue.

Friday, January 8, 2016

Veganism and Environmentalism???

Saw a post on Facebook earlier today talking about how veganism is better for the environment and claiming that 'you cannot be a true environmentalist if you eat meat'.

My response...

So what???

Do you honestly think omnivores CARE what PETA and vegans think about vegans claiming that they are not true environmentalists? They don't. They don't care one bit. Asides from feeling insulted, of course.

If vegans really want to stop people from eating meat they are going to have to declare war and start killing all the omnivores. Because otherwise nothing is going to change. Meat is here to stay regardless. It is permanently engrained as part of religions, traditions, family gatherings, holidays and social expectations.

Thus unless they are planning to get rid of Christmas, Thanksgiving, livestock farming as an industry, all social activities that call for eating meat - and kill all the omnivores - then the way people eat is not going to change.

And honestly, I am tired of vegans trying to force their "food religion" on to other people. Because that is really what it is. They believe animals have souls and that we humans have souls too. Here is a news flash for you: NONE OF US HAVE SOULS. When we die, we just die. There is nothing afterwards.

They need to take their "food religion" and shove it up their organic free-range pesticide-free cruelty-free assets.

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