On July 30th, 2008, we demolished the 92-year-old house at 9805- 84th Avenue.

The awesome power of the trackhoe was immediately apparent, as it effortlessly tore through the front wall of the house. Given that we can dispose of such a huge (historically speaking) building in such a short time, it’s going to be a while before it becomes worth it properly recycling these buildings. Hmmm, should we spend 300 person hours and very little fuel taking this house apart, or should we spend 15 person hours and burn off 300 litres of diesel? It’s a no-brainer, really.

Not to get all political on you are anything, but that’s why a carbon tax like the one proposed by Stephane Dion is such a great thing. It would make the human labour in the above question cheaper, and the diesel fuel more expensive (okay, not in Dion’s version, but a true carbon tax would affect diesel and gas). Then, the weeks of effort that I put into saving the materials in the house would make more economic sense.

Here are some more pictures of the trackhoe doing in two hours what I couldn’t do in two months:

Sad to see the old girl go, really. A lot of memories were made there. We just don’t have the luxury of keeping her going though. Not anymore.

(cross posted at www.greenEdmonton.ca )