So last year (summer 2007, I think) we had a new smart meter installed by Toronto Hydro-Electric. It hasn't actually affected anything yet, but soon (as of Nov 1, 2008 according to this website, but I've since found out that was the incorrect date) we'll see the different rates for different times of the day. Here's a screenshot of the high/medium/low rate times from the site:
So as a money saver and an attempt to put less strain on the grid when most of us are, I've gotten into the habit in the past month or 2 of putting a load of laundry into the washer right after putting the boys to bed (no, not every night) and into the dryer (yes, I hang laundry to dry in the summer but until the basement is no longer a construction zone it's the dryer in winter) when I go to bed. We have always run the (full) dishwasher (without heat-dry) when we go to bed.
Now I'm going to go off topic (to this post) and have a little rant here:
The City of Toronto has decided that they are in fact adding plastic bags to their recycling program but ONLY plastic grocery and retail bags. I understand that they can't trust that every citizen is going to be as responsible as we are and actually wash out and dry every milk bag they use but why bother recycling the bags that are the easiest to avoid (bring your own bag) and the most commonly reused (if only to line people's garbage and green bins)? They're also going to get retailers to start charging for those bags as of June 1, 2009, so that will reduce usage as well...
Arrrgh! So now I have a basement full of non-recyclable plastic bags that have to be slowly added to my extra small sized garbage bin...
Now the good news:
A little follow-up to our gift-free party: It was a great success! Our four year old was very happy and had a great time at the party and understands the significance of the Unicef gifts. The parents of the kids were really happy and involved their children in selecting the gifts. One parent even bought the "Gifts of Magic" for most of their Christmas gifts!