Home & Country (Spring 2008)

              Alberta Women's Institutes

WI is Alive in Five
Brenda Willsie, Director

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have been updating the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada Website with articles as I receive them from the branches. To date the only material that I have been able to place on the website is information gained at the council meeting in September. On November 30, 2007 I held my District Meeting in Drumheller. This meeting brought some good reports from the Constituencies and some rather unhappy news for some of our Branches. The Innisfail/Olds/Sundre Constituency are busy planning for a different type of Constituency event. They have decided to hold their handicraft day on April 25, and have their Constituency Conference on April 26. The Knee Hill Valley Constituency will continue holding their handicraft day and Conference the first weekend in April. The Wild Rose Constituency reported the decision of Westbrook and Bancroft Branches to disband. This leaves the issue of Jackson Branch being the only one left in the Wild Rose Constituency. Acadia Constituency also shared some rather sad news. Rush Centre Branch will be disbanding in March after the Constituency Conference and the Cereal Branch has decided to rest for 2008. On a happier note we have received one nomination for District Five Director and will continue to accept nominations until February 1, 2008. Keep an eye on Home and Country to find out who the new Director will be. Until Next Time

Environment and Conservation
Gloria Coates, Convener

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he Central Waste Management Commission (CWMC) is inviting the public to a series of open houses where the Plasco Energy Group project will give the public a chance to discuss the project and have their questions answered. Plasco has plans to construct a waste gasification plant in Central Alberta which will cost $90 million to $100 million to build. Construction is to begin later this year and they hope to begin accepting waste in 2009 producing gas for the energy grid in early 2010. To convert waste into energy, Plasco uses a patented application that combines a process of intense heat in a completely closed, controlled, and oxygen starved environment. This converts waste materials into clean synthetic gas which can be used to generate electricity. New gasification plants have no stacks and nothing goes into the air, land or water. The leftover byproduct can be processed as road aggregate. The plant is expected to process 200 tonnes a day and turn that into enough electricity to power 200 average sized homes for 55 days. The fifteen municipalities who are part of the CWMC had signed a Principle Agreement in October and must now sign a long term contract for 20 years.

Health Report
Maxine Allen, Convener

The Safest Way to Kill Germs

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ntibacterial liquid soaps that contain triclosan are no better at preventing infections than regular soaps. Unfortunately they may decrease the effectiveness of some antibiotics, according to a review of 27 soap studies at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. The bottom line, says lead author and assistant professor of epidemiology Allison Aiello, PhD, is skip products labeled antibacterial. So what's left? Here is Aiello's advice. 1st Choice Plain soap and water and scrub for 20 seconds, including under your nails and between your fingers. 2nd Choice Alcohol-based sanitizers with formulas containing 62% ethyl alcohol are ideal for on-the-go cleaning and don't contribute to antibiotic resistance. "Alcohol won't work well if there is visible soil on hands" says Aiello. Keep these products away from children as they may cause intoxication or poisoning if ingested. 3rd Choice Nonalcoholic sanitizer formulas containing benzalkonium chloride are favoured for children because of the lack of alcohol.

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