Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Province bringing recycling to more communities and expanding list of blue bin items

By InsideOttawaValley, June 3, 2021

Following extensive consultations, the Ontario government is improving blue box recycling by expanding service to more communities, standardizing the list of materials that can be recycled across the province and saving municipalities money by making producers of products and packaging fully responsible for the cost and operation of the program.

“Producers and municipalities have been advocating for an enhanced, producer-led Blue Box program for over a decade and I’m proud that our government has finalized these improvements,” said Jeff Yurek, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

Find the whole article here.

 

Lanark County purchasing bike repair kits to encourage bicycle-friendly businesses

By Ashley Kulp, InsideOttawaValley, June 1, 2021

Lanark County is keeping its wheels turning when it comes to promoting cycling.

The latest initiative involves the purchase of up to $2,500 worth of bicycle kits for local businesses who wish to join Ontario By Bike and receive recognition as a bicycle-friendly business. The county’s economic development committee supported the venture at its May 26 meeting.

Joining Ontario By Bike is free but to be registered as bike-friendly, businesses face some requirements including a bicycle repair kit.

Find the whole article here.

 

Buckles: The future of trees in Ottawa is bleak unless we act

By Daniel Buckles - Op-Ed-Ottawa Citizen, May 27, 2021

...Trees are the most cost-effective and uplifting way to reduce the “heat island” effects of life in the city. But what is the future of trees in Ottawa? Unfortunately, it is not looking good, despite a new tree bylaw meant to protect the urban forest canopy. The reasons are complex, but at their foundation they touch on the human tendency to sleepwalk into ecological disaster, and a lack of political leadership.

...The experience of intensification in Ottawa has been dismal, however, and particularly disastrous for trees. Infill in mature neighbourhoods routinely fails to protect trees, even when the tree is not removed for the project. 

Find the whole article here.

 

 

Federal government will pay up to $5,000 if you make your home more energy efficient Social Sharing Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Email

By CBC News

The government of Canada is launching a new program today that offers Canadians grants of up to $5,000 to pay for energy-saving home upgrades.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan rolled out the Canada Greener Homes Grants program today — worth about $2.6 billion over seven years — to help homeowners upgrade heaters, install solar panels and replace windows and doors.

Find the whole article here.

Future of Ottawa: Green Spaces with Robb Barnes

By Robb Barnes, Apartment613, May 25, 2021

Green space in Ottawa is at a crossroads. This year we’ll see the passage of the city’s new Official Plan, a major policy and land use plan which will shape Ottawa’s urban form to 2046 and beyond. We have a major opportunity here to protect our tree canopy, provide better access to parks and other green spaces, and to hold the line on further urban sprawl.

The challenge we’re facing today, which will only intensify in years to come, is about how to successfully balance green space protection with development.

Find the whole article here.

 

 

Vanier residents protest $2.9M tax break for Porsche dealership

By CBC News Ottawa, May 26, 2021

As Ottawa city council gets set to vote on a controversial $2.9 million tax break for a Porsche dealership in Vanier, some residents are voicing opposition to the move.

..."Vanier is a welcoming community. It's a community for everyone. This isn't a community of millionaires. It's a community of average people who want to see our main street filled with businesses that we would use in our daily lives," said Laura Shantz.

Find the whole article here.

Today's letters: Vanier deserves a better plan than a new Porsche dealership

Ottawa Citizen Letters to the Editor, May 22, 2021

...How can we affirm that a subsidy to a luxury car dealership will improve the community of Vanier in any way, shape or form? Dealerships are not an appropriate use of land on an artery in Ottawa’s urban core, let alone subsidizing this type of business.

Montréal Road was designated as a “traditional main street” and any city investments should be targeted towards achieving that goal, not taking us further us from it (the Salvation Army project comes to mind). A Porsche dealership will bring nothing to the community of Vanier and certainly doesn’t bring us any closer to an attractive, active and vibrant main street that all Ottawans would be proud of.

Find the whole article here.

Voracious caterpillars threatening Ontario's trees

By Hallie Cotnam, CBC News Ottawa

They're only about four to six centimetres long, but gypsy moth caterpillars are a massive threat to Ontario's forest cover.

Scientists are warning that 2021 is shaping up to be a bumper year for the invasive species, brought to North America around 1860 by a French entomologist who hoped to cross-breed them with silkworms. 

The good news is that landowners can help battle the bugs using burlap and soapy water.

Find the whole article here.

Restaurants Gain from Pedestrian-Only Streets, Study Finds

By Bloomberg News, May 18, 2021

As America’s cities begin to reopen, a new Yelp analysis is putting economic weight behind calls to make the temporary “slow streets” that many cities put in place during the pandemic a permanent feature. 

“A survey of 43 member cities of the National Association of City Transportation Officials found that 22 were planning on making COVID-era traffic changes permanent, while 16 more were considering it,” reports Bloomberg CityLab.

Find the whole article here.

 

 

Egan: Cyclists on NCC paths runneth over. Ding-ding! Watch out

By the Ottawa Citizen

There’s been an explosion of cycling during the pandemic, to the point you can barely buy a bike in this town, for love nor money.

And I know where most of them are — on the “multi-use” path along the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway, about to run me over. At least it feels that way.

....The good news, I suppose, is nobody has died. The other bit of good news is that the NCC has apparently heard the message loud and clear.

It has a new “Capital Pathway Strategic Plan.

Find the whole article here.

Ontario adds 15 plants and animals to species-at-risk list

By Emma McIntosh, National Observer, May 11, 2021

The independent panel that assesses species at risk in Ontario has marked two subtypes of lake whitefish as extinct and uplisted the red-headed woodpecker, which is now considered endangered.

The Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario, or COSSARO, also made 15 additions this year to its tally of plants and animals at risk.

...The new endangered species on the list are Gilman’s Goldenrod, shagreen and toothed globe snails, the black ash, the rare white-rimmed shingle lichen, false-foxglove sun moth and downy yellow false foxglove. 

Find the whole article here.

COVID-19 or not, climate change can’t be ignored

By Tony Coté, InsideOttawaValley.ca, May 14, 2021

“Atmospheric terrorism” is what one of Canada’s foremost climatologists calls it. Others say global warming or climate change, and some even suggest we are just in a normal cycle of weather.

...Also chugging along is a relatively new group in Lanark County with about 200 members — Climate Network Lanark.

Simply speaking, CNL is here to connect, co-ordinate, facilitate and support collaborative efforts and actions by and for the community to address the impact of climate change.

Find the whole article here.