Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Pedestrians on Wellington want barricades to stay, others say scrap 'em

By Guy Quenneville, CBC News Ottawa, January 23, 2023

As Lisa Craig strolled along Wellington Street Saturday, she embraced the calm, car-free atmosphere.

"I've enjoyed wandering quite safely with no cars out on the roads," said Craig, who was visiting the nation's capital from St. Catharines, Ont.

Barricades have kept vehicles off the street in front of Parliament Hill ever since police cleared out the last of the Freedom Convoy protesters in February 2022.

But in a few days, city council's transportation committee will discuss whether to remove the barricades and reopen the area to vehicles.

Find the whole article here.

Grover: Pick your lane — let's get the basics of bus service right

By Neil Grover, Free Transit Ottawa, Ottawa Citizen Op-Ed

Ottawa transit is defined by neglect. The train breaks down, buses are painfully unreliable, and fares are far too high.

But no, it’s remote work to blame for low ridership. We’re told demand simply isn’t there anymore, as if bus riders are a set pool of users that can only shrink, never grow. OC Transpo has had three years to improve and redesign service to meet the needs of residents outside the 9-to-5 commuter pool. it has tried nothing and it’s all out of ideas.

Find the whole article here.

Winter Sowing: Growing native flowers from seed for free

By Christina Keys, Manor Park Chronicle, November 28, 2022

...At a local Manor Park event last December, I picked up many free seeds packets from the Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library. This “library” allows you to borrow seeds or seedlings for free with the hope that you will donate back seeds from the mature plant in future years.

Following their instructions, I grew hundreds, maybe thousands, of native perennials in a few dozen containers on my deck over winter. The steps were surprisingly simple and easy. Most native seeds need the cold of winter and the moisture of snow to germinate, a process known as cold stratification. This process breaks the seed dormancy; the seeds sprout when temperatures warm up in spring.

Find the whole article here.

Climate resolutions you can keep

By Tom Shoebridge, InsideOttawaValley, January 15, 2023

...However, resolutions that involve personal steps toward climate change are often very reachable. On top of that, they are free, simple and effective on several levels.

As individuals, we can only achieve so much toward stopping the climate crisis, but we can help ourselves by taking a number of baby steps and contribute to environment revitalization. These actions will also lead to some level of personal renewal.

Find the whole article here.

EVs are expensive. These city commuters ditched cars altogether — for e-bikes

By Adam Baird, NPR, January 14, 2023

Electric cars are seen as a key way to reduce climate change causing emissions — but they are expensive. The average price paid for a new electric vehicle towards the end of 2022 was over $65,000, according to Kelley Blue Book.

While running costs are typically lower than a gas-powered vehicle, there are tax, insurance and parking costs.

Lelac Almagor thinks there's a better way to ditch a fossil-fueled car.

... She takes her family almost everywhere by electric bike.

Find the whole article here.

 

Qui se soucie de l’environnement? Portrait de cinq «éco-types»

Par Emily Kennedy, Le Droit, Éditorial, le 9 janvier 2023

...Dans mon récent essai Eco-Types: Five Ways of Caring about the Environment, je présente les cinq principaux types de relation à l’environnement, ou «éco-types», que j’ai constatés durant mes recherches.

1.Les éco-engagés (Eco-Engaged) sont politiquement progressistes et dotés d’un capital culturel élevé.

Lisez l'article au complet ici.

Advocates want Ontario's carbon tax spent on renewables

By City News

In 2023, the government of Ontario is taking over the collection of carbon taxes from large industries such as steel mills, cement plants and car manufacturers, expecting to generate $2 Billion in revenue between by 2030.

How the government intends on spending that revenue, however, has yet to be determined.

Lana Goldberg, Ontario climate program manager with Environmental Defense, said on The Sam Laprade Show that extra revenue needs to be used to invest in renewables.

Find the whole article here.

Plante and Gauthier: Let's ensure we protect Ottawa's biodiversity

Stéphanie Plante and Michel Gauthier, Ottawa Citizen Op-Ed

...Midway through COP-15, Montréal Mayor Valérie Plante announced the Montreal Pledge, to which 47 major cities have now signed on, including Vancouver, Toronto, Windsor, Longueil and Gatineau. The pledge challenges cities to take 15 tangible actions (named for COP-15) towards preserving ecosystems. 

...one thing that should compel our nation’s capital to act on biodiversity is the reality that protecting nature is financially rewarding in the long term and contributes to our quality of life — something Gardens Ottawa has been promoting for more than three years.

Find the whole article here.

Brown: Why Ottawa should adapt a waste-to-energy plan

By David Brown, Ottawa Citizen Op-Ed, January 7, 2023

In 2019, Ottawa’s city council declared a climate emergency, arguing that urgent action is needed to reduce our city’s greenhouse gas emissions. A major source of emissions is our landfills, including the Trail Road Landfill that is in Ward 21, where I have the privilege to serve as councillor.

Landfills leach greenhouse gases, particularly methane, into the air, and harmful byproducts into their local environment; they are environmentally unsustainable. If the city is to take seriously its obligations to the environment, it must reduce waste and implement waste-to-energy incineration.

Find the whole article here.

The top three things you can eat to save the planet — and your wallet

By Marc Fawcett-Atkinson, National Observer, December 30, 2022

Replacing meat and dairy with plants can almost halve your environmental footprint and leave more money in your wallet. That's important when prices are on the rise: food costs grew more than 10 per cent in August, September and October of this year.

...Fortunately, it is possible to tackle both the climate crisis and high food prices at once. Here's how.

• Eat less meat (and dairy)
• Don't waste food
• Pick the little fish

Find the whole article here.

Lo: The case for 'on-demand' transit in Ottawa

By Martin Lo, Ottawa Citizen Op-Ed, January 4, 2023

When the pandemic arrived, businesses and industries adapted, some more drastically than others, to cater to the new realities and to ensure their survival and success.

One notable exception is OC Transpo.

...One solution is restructuring the network to shift its focus from suburban-downtown routes to community and neighbourhood routes. The other solution is on-demand transit.

Find the whole article here.

 

How climate change is causing more frequent warm winter temperatures in Canada

By the Canadian Press, City News, January 4, 2023

One extreme weather expert says mild winter temperatures — like the recent warm spell in Ontario — are becoming more frequent across Canada due to climate change.

Blair Feltman, head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo, says that although it’s hard to attribute individual weather events to climate change, the destabilization of the polar vortex caused by global warming is contributing to atypical extreme temperatures.

Find the whole article here.