There are over 3 million Canadian households that burn wood to heat their homes and for enjoyment, with people living in the country twice as likely as city dwellers to heat with wood. As a result, wood-heaters and open fireplaces are often major contributors to outdoor air pollution levels in cities and towns during winter.

In addition to a high level of particulate matter in wood smoke, emissions also contain carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrochloric acid, formaldehyde and other known carcinogens. The health effects of wood smoke exposure include increased respiratory symptoms, respiratory infections, asthmatic complications, and difficulty breathing.

It is recommended that individuals avoid burning wood in homes where less polluting heating alternatives are available. If you heat your home with wood, the following steps can be taken to minimize health and environmental effects:

• Never burn items that release toxic chemicals into the air, such as:
- plastics
- painted or treated wood
- particleboard
- plywood glossy magazines or newsprint
- foil or metallic-coated gift wrapping
- household garbage (diapers, plastic bags, etc.)
- rags or fabric made of synthetic materials
• Make sure your fire is getting enough air so that it burns hot and clean. A properly burning fireplace is hotter, produces less smoke and is more efficient.
• Don’t overstuff the firebox. Add smaller loads of wood more often with the air inlet open wide to keep the fire burning briskly.
• Let your fire go out at night. To reduce the level of wood-smoke pollution in towns and cities it is recommended that you do not burn your wood-heater overnight on reduced air flow.
• Burn seasoned firewood only. Unseasoned firewood releases less heat energy when burned, yet releases more smoke and contributes to hazardous creosote build-up in chimneys.

Canadians are pretty good at dealing with the ups and downs that winter can throw at us. We feed our resilience with input and ideas from others, like these tips when winter weather is expected;

1. Flip the Front Mat – turn the mat over, or bring it inside altogether before it starts to snow. After shovelling the entryway, simply flip it back for a clean snow-free surface.
2. Lift up the wipers when your car is unattended so they won’t get stuck to the windshield or accumulate excessive ice.
3. Bring the car snow brush inside at night, so you won’t have to clear snow with your hands just to get to it in the back seat or trunk.

"Education is what survives when what has been learned
has been forgotten."
~ B. F. Skinner

Do you suffer from dry skin in winter? Many Canadians do, but thanks to our resourcefulness, we also have some wonderful solutions to dealing with dry winter conditions and the damage winter can do to your skin, like these…

• Drink up! - Make sure to drink at least 8 glasses of pure water a day to keep your skin and body properly hydrated - more if you’re very active.
• Avoid caffeine, smoking, and alcohol - they act as diuretics and will dry you out!
• Limit hot water contact (long, hot showers and baths) during cold weather, since they dehydrate the skin. Warm showers and baths for a short duration are best.
• Add oil to your bath – such as almond, jojoba, olive, or hazelnut oil, after you’ve soaked for about 5 minutes, to seal in the moisture you’ve absorbed.
• Protect your skin from wind, sun, heat, cold, and dry office air. Apply a moisturizer before exposing your skin to these conditions.
• Increase Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) in your diet. Chow down on cold-water fish, walnuts, and flax seeds, all rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which can help replace moisture in dry hair and skin.
• Use a humidifier to restore healthful humidity to your dry home or office environment.
• Avoid harsh cleansers such as deodorant soaps and abrasives in favour of a moisturizing soap, soap-free product, or gentle, grain-based cleanser.

Was a diet part of your New Year’s resolutions for 2009? Calorie-wise Canadians have come to realize that watching what you eat is only half the battle and that watching what you drink can also have a huge impact on our weight.

But while attention to liquid intake can cut significant calories and help you attain your weight-loss goal, drinking only diet soft drinks may not be the best answer. Here’s why:

1. With 5 or fewer calories per serving, diet soft drinks are lower in calories than regular ones. But emerging research suggests that consuming sweet-tasting beverages, even those sweetened artificially, may lead to a higher overall preference for sweet things. That means sweeter (and more caloric) cereal, bread, dessert, etc.

2. With so few calories per serving, it would seem to make sense to drink nothing but diet soft drinks while dieting. But they are also 100 percent nutrition-free! So if you were to drink nothing but diet soft drinks, you would miss out on the healthy diet-minded beverages like water and herbal tea. 

3. There remain some concerns over aspartame, the low-calorie chemical used to give diet soft drinks their flavour. Some animal research has linked consumption of high amounts of the sweetener to brain tumours and lymphoma in rodents. Reported side effects in humans include dizziness, headaches, diarrhea, memory loss, and mood changes.

Bottom line: Diet soft drinks do you no good, and they might be doing you harm.

Enabling the Microsoft Window XP Mouse Snap-To feature will automatically move your mouse cursor to the default button on any dialog box that appears on Windows. This feature saves time by eliminating the need to move your cursor to the "Ok" button each time a dialog box appears.

To enable this feature;
1. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Mouse icon
3. In the Mouse Properties window click the Pointer Options tab and check the "Automatically move pointer to the default button in a dialog box" option.

From tittles to ump’s undies, here are a few weird and wacky facts to start the new year off with. Did J’a Know…

• The Eiffel Tower is 15 cm. (6 in.) shorter in winter.
• The international telephone area code for Antarctica is 672.
• The province of Alberta is free of rats.
• Niagara Falls have receded approximately 11 km. (7 mi.) over the last 10,000 years due to erosion at the base of the shale cliffs.
• If you keep a goldfish in the dark room, it will eventually turn white.
• The dot that appears over the letter "i" is called a “tittle”.
• Spam filters that catch the word Cialis will not allow many work-related e-mails through because that word is embedded inside the word "specialist".
• There are estimated to be 200 million insects for every person on earth.
• A Portland State University student designed the Nike swoosh and sold it to Nike for $35.
• In Liverpool, England, topless saleswomen are legal - but only in tropical fish stores.
• The world's smallest winged insect is the Tanzanian parasitic wasp - smaller than the eye of a housefly.
• If you stretch a standard Slinky out flat it measures 27 m. (87 ft.) long.
• All major league baseball umpires must wear black underwear while on the job - in case their pants split.
• The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.

Squirrel-Proof Bird Feeder – It always amazes me how many different birds we see around the backyard at this time of year since we installed the feeder. And with all the various birds come their colours – like a rainbow in the winter. But those darn squirrels are at it again. So we had to resort to ‘one ingenious solution’ found on this site.

Teach Your Kids Skiing Tips – Skiing is so popular lately. It’s great to see people out enjoying the season rather than inside in front of a screen. This site has some excellent tips for teaching your child to ski – so they too can enjoy this sport for a lifetime.

Natural Moisturizer Recipes – If you’re like me, you hate the idea of always using chemicals on your already tender ‘winter skin’. Check out the recipes for ‘All Natural Homemade Skin Moisturizers’ on this site. I found the dry skin type recipe ideal for me.

Community Supported Agriculture – This site has really good general info about joining a CSA – Community Supported Agriculture program. Better quality veggies, supporting local farmers, great prices! Sounds enticing, doesn’t it. Check out the concept, then search for a CSA in your area.

Here is a neat way to make full use of your soap bars. When bars of soap get worn down and awkward to hold, rather than throwing them out, collect them in the foot of an old pair of pantyhose.

Keep this ‘soap bag’ close at hand and add to it as bars wane. Then when you have enough, tie the end to close it off, and you have yourself a homemade loofah.

This is also a handy way to use up those other-than-ideal smelling holiday gift soaps and hand-crafted ones that tend to collect over the years.

Bird Treat Recipes – Angelica, age 8, says, “I love to see the chickadees and the other birds in my backyard in the winter. They are so beautiful! So Mommy and I are making them some special treats she found on this website. We’re using really big pinecones for some.”

Winter Fun - Lawrence, age 10, says, “My brother and his friend are helping me build a snow penguin like I saw on this website. It has tons of things that you can do outside in winter. They all sound like fun.”

Learn to Play Bass Guitar – Bentley, age 12, says, “I’m playing bass guitar at school. It’s so cool! This site has lots of stuff for me to practice and learn. I want to play in a rock band.”

Make-up Tips – Renata, age 13, says, “I got some new make-up and I don’t want to look like some of the girls at school – make-up newbies! This site has lots of tips and suggestion that will make my make-up look more professional.”

“I told my wife that a husband is like a fine wine; he gets better with age. The next day, she locked me in the cellar.” ~ Unknown

“Man was predestined to have free will.” ~ Hal Lee Luyah

“Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, where the heck is the ceiling.” ~ Unknown

“Colour... it's just a pigment of your imagination.” ~ Unknown