Young Vermicomposter Turns Entrepreneur

After attending a PRAMP vermicomposting workshop last summer, Alex Ross has become a serious vermicomposter.

Alex’s mom Jeanne Lawrence reports that “our worms are doing wonderfully and my nine-year-old has opened a business selling red wigglers, worm castings, worm kits, and natural treatment for fungus gnats.”

“We have eight kits running and they consume about one gallon of compost a day. We will be expanding soon to 10 kits,” says Jeanne.

Alex will be selling at the Fairview Farmers’ Market. Check out @rossredwigglers on Facebook!

New Video Shares PRAMP's Work with Community

AQHI Lantern in Grimshaw

PRAMP installed its second AQHI lantern in the community at the Grimshaw Muncipal Library in January. The lantern is an eye-catching indicator of local air quality and was designed by Alberta artist Dylan Toymaker.

When connected to the internet, AQHI lanterns respond to air quality station data by changing colour to represent the current Air Quality Health Index rating for the area. Each colour corresponds to a number between 1 and 10+ and ranges from blue, which indicates the lowest and safest level of air quality, to red, which indicates a very high health risk, particularly for people with certain health conditions.

PRAMP’s first AQHI lantern was placed at the Peace River Community Health Centre in late 2021. Two additional lanterns will be installed at locations within the community later this Spring.

PRAMP air quality data for the Peace River area is available at prampairshed.ca.

What is a Network Assessment and why is PRAMP doing one? Network refers to PRAMP’s air monitoring network, and as the word Assessment implies, we are conducting a study to determine whether the air monitoring network could be optimized to achieve the best possible outcomes. 

Air monitoring organizations typically conduct Network Assessments on a regular cycle (e.g., every five years) or when air quality has changed, industry activity has changed, or new air quality objectives have been established.

For PRAMP, a key driver for the Network Assessment is the regional air quality improvement over the past five years as a result of emission mitigation measures put in place by industry. In addition, PRAMP is taking over the operation of the air quality monitoring at the CNRL Peace River Complex and has been asked to consider incorporating Mercer (pulp mill) air quality monitoring in its network.

The Network Assessment will help PRAMP determine if there are possible changes that could improve the overall air monitoring program while still achieving its goal: Evidence-driven verification that air quality in the Peace River area is at acceptable levels and that emissions are being minimized.

Through a competitive process, a neutral, third-party company has been contracted to conduct the study and provide recommendations to PRAMP. The work will be done by scientists who are experts in air quality monitoring. Using data from PRAMP and other sources, they will determine our monitoring network’s ability to meet existing and emerging monitoring purposes or objectives. 

The results of the assessment will be provided to the PRAMP Board of Directors in the summer 2022. We are looking forward to sharing the results and learnings from this exciting project! 

Papermaking: A Fun Way to Recycle

In partnership with the Peace River Municipal Library, PRAMP has started presenting Papermaking Workshops for all ages.

Reducing waste by reusing old letters and junk mail keeps materials out of landfills and reduces the need for further processing.

Our workshops are a fun, easy, and creative way to learn a satisfying hobby. No two pieces of handmade paper are identical with many ways to enhance and personalize each one.

Once the paper is dry it can be used for cardmaking, drawing, painting, collage, or anything the creator desires.

Watch for more PRAMP Papermaking Workshops this summer.

Airsheds are well known in Alberta as the organizations that monitor ambient (outdoor) air quality, but there can be some confusion with terminology. The term ‘air shed’, later brought together as a contraction ‘airshed’, was first coined in 1967 in Robert Arvill’s seminal book Man and Environment:

“One of the interesting developments of recent years is the study of ‘air sheds’. These are zones, comparable to water catchments, which can be related to the general shape of the land. The air currents in such localities tend to come together and flow in such a way as to create a zone of distinct character. In some areas of consistent prevailing winds, there are well-defined air sheds, both in urban and rural territory.” 

In Alberta, the first use of the term was for the formation of the West Central Airshed Society (WCAS), which was a novel approach to monitoring and managing air quality. WCAS was formed as a non-governmental organization with governance representation from the two sectors that had been monitoring air quality – government and industry – along with representatives from the agricultural community. It was the latter sector that had expressed concerns around the determination of where monitoring was occurring, what was being monitored, and who could access the data. They wanted ‘a seat at the table’.

Of course, this idea flourished and today there are 10 Airshed organizations, that provide the backbone of air monitoring in Alberta with 87 stations and hundreds of passive and sensors sites. Alberta Capital Airshed is one of these 10 Airsheds. Airshed monitoring provides data for the Air Quality Health Index, regulatory compliance of emitters, provincial reporting toward the Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards, and a host of other uses by Airshed members and other stakeholders.