Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

When it comes to waste diversion, this condo building is setting the green standard

By Laurie Fagan, CBC News Ottawa, June 25, 2019

Of Ottawa's 1,700 or so multi-residential buildings, only about 500 currently have organics recycling programs, according to the city. The overall waste diversion rate among condo and apartment buildings hovers at a dismal 17 per cent.

On Tuesday, the city's environment committee is expected to endorse a series of recommendations aimed at reversing that trend, including asking the province for money to help landlords absorb the cost of setting up waste diversion programs.

Some buildings are already leading by example.

The Hom, a 12-storey, 115-unit condo building on Champagne Avenue S., was built in 2013. Unlike buildings of a similar size, it has no garbage chute. Instead, half a dozen wheeled green bins share a ground-floor room with larger recycling bins and garbage dumpsters.

A tale of 2 subways: Comparing Ottawa's LRT to Montreal's Metro

By CBC News Ottawa, June 25, 2019

Ottawa's 13-stop, 12.5-kilometre Confederation Line has been under construction for more than six years and missed four deadlines.

More than 50 years ago, the City of Montreal managed to build a complex, 26-stop subway system — including a connection below the St. Lawrence River — in less than five years, on time and on budget.

So how was Montreal able to pull off a project twice the size, and do it in less time?

Complaints over new water bills surge

By CBC News Ottawa, June 25, 2019

The City of Ottawa is getting an earful about its new water billing system.

Under the new structure, which took effect April 1 along with a five per cent rate increase, a portion of the water bill is still based on consumption, but it also includes a fixed charge that's not based on usage.

In the past, the bill was based entirely on how much water the customer used.

• New Ottawa water bills mean you pay even if you don't use

City staff argued the new system is a more equitable way of covering the cost of maintaining and upgrading billions of dollars worth of water and sewer infrastructure.

But many customers who used to see lower bills because they use less water are crying foul.

Turtle lovers hatch plan to protect roadside nests

By CBC News Ottawa, June 25, 2019

It's egg-laying season for freshwater turtles in the Ottawa area, and that means a team of reptile lovers from the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) is hard at work.

For the past two years, the group has hunted for adult female snapping turtles and Blanding's turtles in the act of laying eggs at the side of the road.

(...)

The team has to act fast: One night last week they marked the location of an egg-laying turtle, left for a few hours to collect the eggs from two other nests, and when they returned, a raccoon had eaten every single egg.

Another LRT train derails at Belfast Yard Social Sharing

By Joanne Chianello, CBC News Ottawa, June 26, 2019

A second LRT train derailed in as many months at Ottawa's Belfast Yard storage and maintenance facility, but neither the city nor the consortium building the Confederation Line will provide any information about the incident.

A train came off the tracks sometime early Monday morning, CBC has learned. A similar incident occurred in early May.

• LRT train derails at Belfast Yard
• No LRT by Canada Day, city confirms

But unlike the last time, when city officials held a news conference on the sidewalk across the street from the yard, the city is now refusing to comment on what exactly what went wrong, or whether the train was damaged.

Barber: How do we make Ottawa truly safe for cyclists and others?

By Shawn Barber, Ottawa Citizen, June 24, 2019

We need to talk. We need a conversation about the real facts of cycling and pedestrian safety in this city. Where are the real problems? What are the realistic, evidence-based options to make our streets safer?

Centretown is unique among Ottawa neighbourhoods, with more than 50 per cent of residents walking or cycling to work each day. In contrast, the city average is barely 10 per cent. That’s a lot of people crossing busy intersections every day on bikes, on foot, in motorized wheelchairs, or while pushing strollers.

Like the cyclist who lost his life on May 16 on Laurier Avenue, all are vulnerable to being hit and killed or seriously injured by cars and trucks of every size. These dangers are only going to get worse as our urban core becomes home to ever more people and the interactions between people and vehicles multiplies.

Today's letters: On a new botanical garden, and the Westboro bus crash

By Suzanne Coulombe and Peter Anderson, Ottawa Citizen Letters to the Editor, June 26, 2019

Let’s get behind the botanical garden

Re: Let’s (finally) get behind a botanical garden for Ottawa, June 18.

Bravo, Randall Denley, for promoting the idea of a botanical garden in our city.

When visiting my daughter in Montreal, I would spend half-days in the wonderful atmosphere at the Botanical Gardens there.  To find this oasis of clean air and esthetic  appeal without having to drive out of the city presents a unique opportunity for both residents and tourists.

(...)Why a new botanical garden is a bad idea

As I wrote in the Citizen almost three years ago, the Central Experimental Farm’s original botanic garden still exists in the form of the Dominion Arboretum. Randall Denley offers almost nothing new in the debate.

Canadensis has attempted on multiple occasions to carve away the southeast corner of the Central Experimental Farm – effectively privatizing public land – ignoring that in Ottawa, our garden was always focused on trees. Even more so, the land Canadensis is eyeing would displace isolation breeding plots and land used to provide fodder to the Agriculture Museum’s herd. These would have to be squeezed on the remaining portions of the farm if displaced.

Flora Footbridge expected to be completed this weekend

By Luke Carroll, Ottawa Citizen, June 25, 2019

A major transportation infrastructure project will be completed before Canada Day, unfortunately it won’t be the LRT.

The Flora Footbridge, a $21-million project, is tentatively expected to open Friday at 5 p.m. according to Coun. Shawn Menard’s Twitter account.

“It connects our communities,” Menard said in a Twitter video. “It has been a long, long time coming.”

The 123-metre-long bridge will connect the Glebe and Old Ottawa East neighbourhoods, between Fifth Avenue and Clegg Street.

Do the Dew for a bleeding fish? An Ottawa biologist investigates the healing power of pop

By Andrew Duffy, Ottawa Citizen, June 25, 2019

A Carleton University biologist is putting to test the belief of an Ottawa River muskie guide who says that pouring Diet Coke on a bleeding fish can save its life.

Prof. Steven Cooke has launched the first scientific study of what has, in recent years, become a controversial tenet of fish first aid.

Advocates of the practice contend that the carbon dioxide in soda causes blood vessels in the gills to constrict and halt bleeding; critics call it dangerous pop science.

Cyclist, 18, charged and seriously hurt in Westboro-area crash

By Megan Gillis, Ottawa Citizen, June 25, 2019

An 18-year-old cyclist was charged with failing to stop at a red light after his bike collided with a vehicle at the intersection of Byron and Kirkwood avenues Monday night.

Paramedics said that the young man was taken to the trauma centre with head injury and a broken leg after the 10:30 p.m. crash.

His condition was initially critical but his injuries are not life-threatening, paramedics said.

Ottawa police said the cyclist faces a $325 fine, the same amount a motorist would be charged for failing to stop at a red light.

Traffic: Maitland 417 off-ramp closure starts July 2, cyclists' action at city hall

By Megan Gillis, Ottawa Citizen, June 26, 2019

If you’re car commuting downtown, watch out for cyclists doing a symbolic “human protected bike lane” outside city hall Wednesday morning.

They’ll be forming a human chain along painted bike lines until 9:30 a.m. on Laurier Avenue, where a cyclist died last month. Another cyclist died this week in a crash on Hunt Club Road.

The cyclists will be back for an afternoon shift there from 3:30-5:30 p.m.

All options being considered to keep trash out of the municipal dump as council digs into garbage policy

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, June 25, 2019

All possibilities are on the table to prevent heaps of trash from filling the municipal dump, with council’s environment committee taking a greater interest in how Ottawa residents generate garbage.

The city is developing its second solid waste master plan, which will be a 30-year strategy to divert trash from the Trail Road landfill and manage recycling programs.

It means the city could, after council approves the plan later this term, change the rules for residential garbage pickup as early as 2023.

Should the city decrease the maximum number of garbage bags allowed at the curb? Institute a pay-per-bag system? Fine people for not recycling or placing organic waste in their green bins?