Going green at the cottage
By Diana McLaren • Bankrate.com

Cottages are in the news these days. The real estate section boasts vacation properties for sale with more amenities than most homes: large-sized dishwashers, central vacuums and even soundproofed rooms -- plus, lots of entertainment and communication devices for work and play.

In the same breath are stories quoting worried cottagers about falling prices, rising taxes and ever-increasing gas costs for getting back and forth to jobs in the city.

Ontario's Chief Energy Conservation Officer Peter Love says that while some people have cottages with all the bells and whistles, and others prefer older abodes reminiscent of simpler times, the motivation to cottage is the same.

"There's an inbred sense of nature and wonder and wilderness in Canadians new and old," says Love, "and these are the people who want a cottage to get back in touch with nature." From there, it's a short leap to talking about environmental issues. "With over half a million cottages across Canada, cottagers can make a very positive environmental impact," says Love.

For cottagers who lower their carbon footprints, there are savings to be had.

Nature's way
Brenda Baker is one of the nature-loving brand of cottagers. When she and her husband, Dave, retired early from teaching, they used an inheritance to build a cottage on a northern Ontario acreage they had owned for many years. When their children were young, the land was a campsite. Today, a three-bedroom cottage has replaced the tents, but a sense of camping still prevails.

"The big things at a cottage are power, including refrigeration, and water," says Baker. "We don't have hydro power, but we've made a very affordable system using solar panels with a small generator for backup situations."