Beaver Creek Housing Cooperative

I am proud to announce that Beaver Creek is now a depot for Loft Market! Every Thursday between 3:45pm and 7:00pm you can arrange to have a bundle of fresh local produce delivered to Beaver Creek for pickup.

There are 2 different sizes and they have also added and option of a local/nonlocal box that includes some non local organic fruits.

This year they have included community bags at the depots if there is something in your bag you do not like. You can swap it out for something more to your liking. As always they include recipes that week for something new in your bag that maybe you aren’t sure what to do with.

I have been getting Loft Boxes since last year and have been really enjoying them and now will be able to walk down to our Community Centre to pick it up!

For more info check it out at http://loftmarket.ca/

“No amount of legislation or coercion can accomplish the well-being of society, as it depends on the inner attitude of its members.” — Dalai Lama

This is your invitation to come out and help plant baby trees and bushes. After submitting a proposal to the president of the University of Waterloo, we have been granted permission to:

Naturalize the Creek at Bearinger and Pinebush with indigenous species of trees and shrubbery.

If you and your family would like to take part in this exciting event, grab a shovel and meet us.

• Where: the corner of Bearinger and Pinebush
• When: next Saturday, April 17 at 9:30 a.m.
• Why: Our new trees and shrubs will provide food and shelter to wildlife that lives by the Creek.

We are inviting all members of Beaver Creek, as well as our Lakeshore neighbours, to come out and participate in this exciting endeavour.

Hope to see you there!!

Affirm the charter...

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Disposing of “e-waste” (computers and other electronic equipment) can be a big pain. The Region of Waterloo offers some alternatives. The first suggestion costs money, there are a handful of brand specific options, and the last option is to “arrange with other e-waste recyclers/refurbishers”.

One such e-waste recycler is The Computer Recycling Depot, a certified member of the Ontario Electronic Stewardship, is located just across the street from the Waterloo landfill site on the property of the History Hergott Ciderr Mill. They allow you to drop off an unlimited amount of phase 1 e-waste for free such as:

• Desktop computers
• Portable computers
• Computer peripherals
• Monitors
• Televisions
• Printing devices

Learn more about The Computer Recycling Depot at their website including hours of operation and information about their pick up program!

There are a handful of people at Beaver Creek that are really excited about LOFT: local organic fair trade. It is a local co-op that consists of farmers right in our own backyard. We are hoping to get enough interest in the local area to allow us to have a LOFT drop here at Beaver Creek. Just think, your order of fresh, organic, fair trade fruits and veggies delivered to Beaver Creek every week ready for you to pick up and enjoy. You can learn more at LOFTmarket.ca

Order options include:

• The Family Box ($37): Similar to last season’s box, this box will contain a variety of vegetables and fruits for a small family or two hungry adults.
• The Loft Bag ($25): This easy to handle bag will offer slightly smaller portions than the Family Box while still offering you an assortment of weekly fresh greens.
• The Heavy Box ($50): This box is heavy!! A new addition this season for those who love to cook with vegetables. If veggies are your staple then this box is for you.

If we have at least ten orders, LOFT will make Beaver Creek a drop depot. Please email me at Jonathan.Dietrichbeavercreek.coop if you are interested in placing an order for pickup at Beaver Creek.

Walking up to the garden plots early in the morning, before many others are up in the community, and finding other gardeners quietly enjoying the fresh morning in their gardens gives me much pleasure.

Some gardeners have had their plots offering up bounties of vegetables, fruits and/or flowers and herbs for many, many years while some of our newest members have been out in the spring, creating their own special place in our community garden.

We each have our own way of preparing the soil, planting, protecting the young plants, watering and nurturing our gardens.

I like how this shows our different personalities and the way we were shown. New gardeners are learning some old tricks from practiced folks and we all work to keep our plants healthy without using harmful pesticides. This is just another way that Beaver Creekers can stay near to nature and grow some tasty food.

I’m writing this article on Thurs. Feb. 19. I’m thinking about what games should be on the docket for March. Last week we had that lovely thaw; there were birds in the air, the light was different, the air smelled so moist and fresh. Today there’s snow on the ground again, and I don’t like it. No sir, is has me feeling downright grumpy. So I have decided that what I need for the March game night, and I hope this appeals to you, is a good night of hearty belly laughs. So I’m pulling out some party games…which will be:

A member passed forward this article from CBC which refers to a study showing that 1 in 5 people are spending half of their income just to put a roof over their heads.

"While there is some debate about using 30% of a household's gross income as the threshold to measure affordability, there is little debate about affordability when tenant household spend 50% or more of their income on housing costs," the study said.

The percentage of Ontarians who spent half of their income on rental accommodation has remained constant in the past couple of years.

That is a bad sign, the groups said, when you consider that Canada has enjoyed a strong economy during the same period.