A Penny Saved, Sister Cities and Waterprint – GC News #666

666: 1 February 2010 – Published by Green Communities Canada.

WELL WATER. Information Provider Workshop (IPW) on private well stewardship was held at Six Nations Polytechnic, Ohsweken, 27 January.  Register for future IPWs … Road salt contaminates a family’s well water in the Muskokas.

SUSTAINABILITY CONSULTANT. Durham Sustain Ability acts as consultant for the municipalities of Brock, Scugog and Uxbridge’s integrated community sustainability plan … Durham resident examines his family’s vision for sustainability for 2010.

SEEDLILNGS SALE. ecoPerth offers tree seedlings for sale this spring. Seedlings are bare root and range in size one to two feet: $2.25 a tree or $20 for a bundle of 10 of a single species. Pick up is 1 May.Order now.

TRICUCLE. Green Communities’ Projet Tricycle, an active school travel initiative for Ontario Francophone communities, recently received much media attention: two articles in L’Express de Toronto, an article in Sudbury’s  Le Voyageur  and a radio interview with project manager Gabriel Sirois on Toronto’s Radio Canada ‘Grands Lacs café’.

ECODRIVER. “We should invent a Global Positioning System (GPS) that screams, "Turn me off, I’m idling and wasting your fuel!" writes Peterborough Green-Up columnist Matt Higgs in a column about ecofriendly driving habits that save fuel.

SCHOOL TRAVEL WEBINAR. Jacky Kennedy, Director of Canada Walks, discusses the benefits of school travel planning, how to sell STP to local stakeholders, and make it work in rural areas. ByCullbridge Marketing and Communications with support from Transport Canada. 23 February … See Off the Right Foot,  Manitoba’s Active and Safe Routes to School Program newsletter: Clean Air Day poster contest, freebicycle mechanics course for teachers, School Travel Planning Pilot project.

VOLUNTEER POWER. Clean Nova Scotia takes part in The Power of the Hour initiative that incites businesses, non-profits, individuals, schools, and community groups to volunteer two millions hours in 2010.

SISTER CITIES. EcoSuperior presents regarding Lake Superior protection to Duluth Sister Cities International, which promotes global understanding with sister cities in Japan, Russia and Sweden.

YOUTH CONTEST. Young Reporters for the Environment is an international writing and photography contest for ages 12-18. See how Young Reporters can be integrated into the classroom, Due 15 April.

NOMINATIONS SOUGHT. Green Toronto Awards gives recognition to the people, organizations and companies leading the way to a cleaner, greener Toronto. Due 12 February.

BUILDING GREEN. Environmental Defence’s Greening Canada’s Buildings report looks at land use, water efficiency and resource conservation, and grades provinces, territories and federal government on their achievements. “While considerable progress has been made when it comes to building greener, particularly in the area of energy efficiency, none of the jurisdictions received higher than a C.” 

WATERPRINT. The Water Footprint Network looks at direct and indirect volume of freshwater used to produce goods and services. See waterprint calculator and presentation kit … Greywater Actionencourages conserving and reusing household water for outdoor plants … Freshwater scarcity threatens farm productivity and drains local treasuries, say US scientists.  Drought conditions are raising concern among corporate users.

A PENNY SAVED. School board saves $20,000 and 300,000 kilowatts of power a year by switching off school computers five hours earlier

RECYCLING 101. Vancouver Now United We Can distributes $2 million a year to hundreds of homeless and low-income people working as dumpster divers (binners) to recover recyclables … Green Bag Ladygives away handmade shopping bags and record use of the bags worldwide.

JOBS. City Green Solutions, Office Operations Assistant. Victoria, BC, due 5 February … Rideau Environmental Action League (REAL), Store Manager/Marketer. Smiths Falls, due 22 February … Toronto Green Community, three positions: Program Coordinator and Communications and Outreach Coordinator, both due 12 February and Garden Programs Coordinator, due 11 February … Resource Conservation Manitoba, Event Coordinator/ Active and Safe Routes to School. Winnipeg, no due date …Toronto Environmental Alliance, Toxics Campaigner. Due 16 February … Credit Valley Conservation Authority, Freelance Creative Services Assistant. Due 8 February.