First things first: the pros and cons

As I said in my first post, there are a lot of great aspects to condo life, as well as a number of drawbacks - just as with any living situation.  My goal here is to outline some of the key features of my experience so far, to give you a sense of the particularities of my situation, and so as to provide some context for future posts.

So let's get started!

The Advantages:

▫ shared facilities means someone else takes care of maintenance
Let's not underestimate the bliss of waking up to a snowstorm and knowing that someone else has already shoveled :)

▫ facilities and amenities than you might not otherwise have access to
While most apartment buildings have a pool and/or gym, I never would have had access to those
 kinds of facilities were I living in an apartment within a converted house (which describes most non-residence student accommodations in the city), so having those kinds of amenities is a definite plus for me.  They weren't really priorities for either A or I when we were looking for a place - honestly, I laughed when someone suggested that it might be nice to have a gym - but it's always nice to know that things are there if you change your mind!

▫ security
Our building is pretty well-equipped in terms of security, and that's another feature that I underestimated before moving in.  Although we're in a relatively safe part of the city, it's always nice to know that there's a security guard at the entrance and a security system for building access.

The Drawbacks:

▫ limited waste management services
I sincerely hope that my building is an anomaly in this regard, but waste management seems to be a big issue here.  To be fair, the building administration is doing a great job of encouraging residents to recycle wherever possible, and to educate everyone with regard to what can and cannot be recycled, but there's still a long way to go.  The city of Toronto is fairly progressive in terms of waste management, but because our building has a contract with a waste management company not affiliated with the city the rules that apply to our tower (and a number of surrounding ones) are quite different.  Recycling styrofoam, some plastics, etc.is possible for most city residents but not for us unless we drive them to a municipal facility, and forget about composting!  I attended our condo board's annual meeting to request collection of organic waste (i.e. green bins), and they very diplomatically told me that that was out of the question.  Apparently getting residents to recycle - or at least, not clog the garbage disposal - is enough of a struggle, so the idea of adding a new layer of complexity was laughable to them.  Yeah... that wasn't going to do it for me.


▫ no backyard or private lawn
This was, and continues to be, probably one of the hardest adjustments we've had to make - and it'll only get tougher once summer arrives!  A and I were pretty lucky to have grown up on sizeable properties in the suburbs, with huge lawns and, in A's case at least, gorgeous gardens.  Not having a backyard has meant that it's been just about impossible to find ways of composting, growing our own herbs and vegetables, having an outdoor cat, drying our clothing on a line... well, you get the idea.  This blog is largely all about our struggle to deal with that major hurdle.

I should mention that we do have a balcony, which makes a huge difference in terms of what possibilities exist for us.  We'll get to that shortly :)

▫ shared facilities
I know, I know - I just listed this as an advantage.  For all of its benefits it's also a disadvantage, though, since the fact that the facilities are shared means that it's more difficult to convince people to take simple steps like turning off lights and reducing resource use, especially when the facilities aren't even being used.  I realize that there may be safety and security concerns in play, but it's nevertheless something to consider (especially since condo residents pay a monthly "maintenance fee" to cover expenses such as utilities for shared facilities).

That's the big picture anyhow.  Obviously there are tons of other pros and cons that I haven't mentioned, but those are the ones relevant to our purposes here. 

So how do A and I deal with these hurdles?  Stay tuned - next I'll show you pictures of my expansion plans for the summer :) 

Hello there :)

Hello and welcome to my brand new blog - Green Without Grass :)

I'm C, a graduate student in philosophy in Toronto, Ontario.  When I moved to the city, I was excited to finally have the chance to live in my own place, but it was hard to find a one-bedroom apartment in a nice area that wasn't situated at basement-level (I need natural light!).  So, my boyfriend A and I opted to move into a condo.

That's where this story begins.

Condos are great, don't get me wrong!  But there are a number of things that I learned the hard way after moving in that I wish I had known before.  This blog isn't about all of those things, though; it's about a very specific subset of them.  Arguably the most significant thing I now know that I wish I had known before is how hard it is to be green in a condo. Or, at least, in this condo.

My aim is to post a few updates a week to let you know about my progress in my mission to be as green as possible despite the limitations of condo life (especially the lack of a lawn - hence, the name "green without grass").  It was also really be great to hear your feedback, as well as any tips and tricks you can offer :)  My ultimate hope is that this blog will help serve as a resource for others who are experiencing similar struggles, and in that way I would like to acknowledge, in advance, the huge debt of gratitude I owe to all present and future readers and contributors.

Before launching into it, though, a bit of shameless self-promotion... :)

A and I will be climbing all 1776 stairs (144 flights) of Toronto's CN Tower on April 16th, to raise money for the World Wildlife Fund.  If you would like to help me reach (or, better, surpass!) my fundraising goal of $150, please click here to visit my online donations page.  I will also be contributing 50% of the proceeds from my two Etsy shops, thepixie and petitchateau, to the cause.

Thanks in advance for your support!