Saturday Stuff-It Chronicles #3: The Elephant Shingle Conundrum

Before the chilled rainy day reared its wet head we were meant to spend the day replacing our roof.  Difficult to believe that less than nine years after the last re-roofing of this home and already the shingles have cracked and peeled back.  Apparently even 25 year shingles now only survive 10 years.

As I imagine (and as I see other bins around town brimming over with heavy shingles after they’ve been chucked from roof heights) the massive amount of waste from this endeavour I feel a deepening sense of remorse.

What alternatives are there?

Sheet Roofing:  Sheet roofing costs about 3x the price and lasts about 50 years.   Get ready from some math (simple, simple math as this is moi speaking after all!) … So you save the cost of 2 roof changes and 4 dumps of roof shingles, nails, etc.  A bundle of shingles weighs about 70 lbs and I believe our roof needs about 60 bundles = 4200 lbs.  An Asian elephant weighs about 10,000 lbs so saving those 4 roof changes would be about 2 elephants worth of shingle weight waste diverted from the dump.

Green Roof:  This would be my roof of choice.  I envision romantic images of Scottish roofs where sheep graze or the ones on BC’s Gulf Islands, visited eons ago when I was young and had a kayak-friendly body that didn’t mind sleeping amongst other fellow ultimate-frisbee-team members on cold gravel in a wet tent…

 

But there’s so much more to it than just clumps of oxygen- producing grass and happy, fat lambs.

Advantages include: reduced energy costs  (“According to Environment Canada, lowering the inside temperature by one degree Celsius would reduce electricity demand for cooling systems by five percent. In winter, heat loss is reduced to a certain extent too” proofinghttp://www.city.waterloo.on.ca), a better use of previously-wasted space and even sound-proofing!

So why not this roof on our current home?  Cost.  Estimates tend to range around $5-10 per square foot, depending on your choice of “extensive” (hardier plants such as sedums that require little maintenance) or “semi-intensive” (weeding and watering required).  Cost to make our roof green?  $8500 - $17,000.  And as romantic as these roofs are, they aren’t quite so elementary as random jettisoning soil and grass seed atop your home.  Needed are several layers.

 

http://www.greengarage.ca

But WAIT!  Another alternative awaits….

Diaper Roof:  A Canadian company (go, Canada, go!) called Knowaste is, in an alliance with the British government, recycling diapers and feminine hygiene products into roof tiles.  “Over half million tonnes of waste from disposable diapers is generated in Britain every year. An average British baby uses 6,000 before being trained to use the potty.”  Knowaste is recycling around 36,000 tonnes of diapers. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/the-good-earth/Britain-to-recycle-diapers-into-roof-tiles/articleshow/9969372.cms

 

 

So, dirty diapers, dirty elephant, or dirty roof?  What shall it be???  If the rain stops you might catch me outdoors changing pachyderm diapers (or atleast half-a-pachyderm)...