Ecodriver, Unfriendly Critters, Water Footprint – GC News #642

642: 4 August 2009 – Published by Green Communities Canada

WALK 21. Jacky Kennedy, director of Green Communities Canada’s Walking programs, and Mandy Johnson, consultant for Canada Walks, are workshop speakers at the 10th annual international Walk21 Conference in New York City, 7-9 October.

LOW-INCOME NIAGARA. Green Venture will provide energy retrofits to 100 Niagara homes under an agreement with Enbridge Gas Distribution. The service is being provided free to qualifying low-income gas customers. Green Communities Canada is providing program support. Contact Green Venture,1-866-540-8866, x 14.

ECODRIVER DURHAM. Durham Sustain Ability launched its EcoDriver webpage and program on 16 July with coverage from local community paper, Rogers Television and SNAP Ajax/Pickering. … Think Outside the Car Sustainable Transportation contest runs until 31 August. Businesses and residents are invited to share ideas on how to improve sustainable transportation and highlight their sustainable transportation actions … 50 drivers participated in a Tire Pressure Clinic on 18 July.

TOTALY WIRED. See Greater Sudbury Environment Network Earth Day Festival’s photostream, video and blog.

ECODRIVER PLUS. Windfall Ecology Centre provided local car dealers with 150 leads from people interested in trying a hybrid car during Windfall Ecology Festival last June … Elora Environment Centre’s EcoDriver webpage is up!

UNFRIENDLY CRITTERS. ACAP Cape Breton, in cooperation with Project UFO (Unidentified Foreign Organisms) coordinates Aliens on the Beach Surveys to census invasive species in estuarine and coastal habitats … ACAP Cape Breton’s Green Tips for Summer include how to make your own DEET-free bug spray.

WAGE SUBSIDY. ECO Canada offers funding up to $12,000 for junior-level positions for post-secondary graduates through the Environmental Youth Corp. (EYC) internship program.

FUNDRAISING. Blue Avocado article shows how an individual raised over $1,000 in three days for a good cause on Facebook.

WATER FOOTPRINT. Household water use accounts for 6% of the water we consume; products we buy account for the other 94%, says Mother Jones’ article.

FERTILIZERS. Urine is a top-rate fertilizer, says book Liquid Gold: The Lore and Logic of Using Urine to Grow Plants. One person’s yearly output contains enough nutrients to fertilize up to a tenth of an acre of fruits and veggies … Sulfuryl fluoride is 4,780 times as potent a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide, according to US Pesticide Action Network, yet it is pending approval to sterilize soil in US farm fields.

SOLAR COOKING. Suncookers come in all forms and shapes, and some are DIY.

JOBS. Canadian Business for Social Responsibility, Senior Corporate Social Responsibility Advisor. Toronto, due 28 August.