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Drinking water

  1. Most Canadian households had municipally-supplied water (87%).
  2. Prince Edward Island saw the greatest increase in the proportion of households that had municipally-supplied water increasing to 61% in 2009 from 49% in 2007.
  3. Two-thirds of Canadian households reported they drank primarily tap water.
  4. The proportion of households that drank primarily bottled water dropped to 24% from 30% in 2007.
  5. The proportion of households with municipally-supplied water that treated it prior to consumption dropped three percentage points from 2007 to 51%.

Indoor water conservation

  1. Sixty-three percent of Canadian households had a low-flow shower head.
  2. Forty-two percent of Canadian households had a low-volume toilet.

Heating and cooling

  1. Almost half (49%) of the households with thermostats had ones that were programmable.
  2. Slightly more than six out of ten households (61%) that had a thermostat lowered the temperature during the winter while they slept.

Energy conservation

  1. Three-quarters of Canadian households reported having at least one compact fluorescent light.
  2. Sixty-four percent of Canadian households used a clothesline or drying rack in 2009.
  3. Energy audits had been conducted by 12% of Canadian households in 2009, with 91% having been conducted in the preceding ten years.

Indoor air quality

  1. The majority of households reported that the air quality in their dwelling was good (34%), very good (37%) or excellent (18%).
  2. Five percent of respondents believed that someone in their household had experienced a health problem that may have been caused by the quality of the air in the dwelling.
  3. Thirteen percent of households in Canada reported the presence of mould or mildew in their dwelling in 2009.

Radon awareness

  1. Forty-two percent of Canadian households had heard of radon, with three out of ten (30%) able to correctly describe it.
  2. Three percent of these households (excluding apartment dwellers) that had heard of radon reported that they had tested their dwelling for the presence of radon. Most of these households (78%) had conducted the testing within the last ten years.

Household hazardous waste

  1. More than half of the households that had expired or leftover medication (57%) returned the medication to the supplier or retailer for disposal.
  2. Most households (62%) took or sent their unwanted paints and solvents to a depot or drop-off centre.
  3. Thirty-six percent of Canadian households had unwanted electronic devices to dispose of in 2009.
  4. Twenty-two percent of Canadian households reported that they had dead or unwanted compact fluorescent lights to dispose of, of which over half (56%) reported they put their dead or unwanted CFLs in the garbage, while 24% reported they took or sent them to a depot or drop-off centre.
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