After a relatively quiet start to 2012, Ottawa is seeing quite a few environment-related events on its horizon. Coming up next: winter biking, organic farming and sustainable seafood.

Ottawa Winter Bike Parade, Sunday January 22

Citizens for Safe Cycling invites everyone to Ottawa’s first Winter Bike Parade. The parade will go from Laurier and Percy to Ottawa City Hall along the Laurier Avenue bike lane, with free apple cider at the end of the route. In the words of the organizers, the aim is “To show that Ottawa bikes in winter! And that it can be fun!”

All the Dirt: Reflections on Successful, Cooperative Organic Farming, Monday, January 23

Just Food and USC Canada present a reading and discussion with Robin Tunnicliffe, farmer and one of the authors of All the Dirt. The book tells of Tunnicliffe’s experience as a small-scale farmer and local food distributor. 7 p.m., Ottawa Public Library Main Branch Auditorium; free admission (book available for purchase).

Café Scientifique on Sustainable Seafood, Friday, January 27

The Canadian Museum of Nature is hosting a Café Scientifique, Dessert and Documentary Night on “Is eating seafood ethical and sustainable?” Resource people are Dr. Melissa Marschke, Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa’s School of International Development and Global Studies, and Joshua Bishop, Owner/Worker at The Whalesbone Oysterhouse and Sustainable Retail Oyster and Fish Store. The evening includes a screening of The End of the Line, a documentary on ocean overfishing. 6:30-10:30 p.m., $25 ($20 members, students, volunteers); reservations needed.

Stay tuned for more upcoming events (and let us know of any).

Two of my favourite things—the environment and comedy—come together on Sunday, November 20, 2011. The Ottawa Region Chapter of the Canada Green Building Council and Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club are hosting Green Building Hysteria, a “relaxing evening that will make your belly hurt (from laughing) AND advance Green Buildings.”

The Ottawa Region Chapter is a non-profit corporation that promotes green buildings in Ottawa, Gatineau, Eastern Ontario, and Western Quebec. What’s particularly appealing is that the Yuk Yuk’s event will support the Third Annual Ottawa EcoLogical Student Green Building Design Competition. This friendly competition pits teams of students along with young professionals against each other to come up with innovative building designs. In the third annual competition, scheduled for March 2012, participants will design a sustainable Community Health Hub for Ottawa Community Housing and the Carlington Community Health Centre.

An event that supports green buildings, community health and well-being AND is fun—what’s not to like? The bill includes Insensitivity Training, Alex Wood and Matt Carter. It starts at 8 p.m. at Yuk Yuks, 292 Elgin St. Tickets $10 advance, $12 at the door.

The people at Apartment613 have lots of good ideas, but this time they’ve outdone themselves. They’re making November “Support Local” month in Ottawa. And they’re talking not just local food but also local musicians, artists, restaurants and businesses.

They’ve set up a series of events throughout the month—a list too long to replicate here but do check out their website. Some examples:

• The Ottawa Craft Crawl – a series of craft shows (various dates and locations) that include natural, hand-made and local crafts, starting with Urban Craft at the GCTC on Nov. 5;
• Homemade, all-natural ice cream by Pascale and watercolour art by Doug Wilkinson at Octopus Books, Nov. 10;
• Ef Magazine’s Swapalooza Clothing Swap at Bowich – Best Organic Sandwich, Nov. 18;
• Beer and ‘Za at Kichesippi Brewery with The Flatbread Pizza Company, Nov. 19;
• Postcards from Ottawa at Raw Sugar Café – write to your friends and family telling them how great Ottawa is, Nov. 26.

You can also let Apartment613 know if you have ideas for other events (email editors [at] apt613 [dot] ca with “Support Local” in the subject line).

Some ways to get out into the forest this fall:

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society-Ottawa Valley is holding a Nature Hike on Sunday, October 30, 2011 at Forêt La Blanche, one of southern Quebec’s last remaining old-growth forests. Meet at 1:00 p.m. at the interpretation centre, Forêt La Blanche ecological reserve, 300 chemin Saddler, Mayo, Quebec (about 10 minutes north-east of Buckingham on route 315). The easy 3 km hike is happening rain or shine and will take about 2 hours including stops. A portion of the fee ($5 adults, $3 children) will be donated to CPAWS-OV, which has been working to protect the La Blanche Forest. Contact ov-outreach (at) cpaws.org or call 613-232-7297 to arrange car-pooling if you need or can offer a ride.

Local botanist Martha Webber offers Families in Nature walks to help families discover nature and the outdoors. The walks take place on the first Sunday of each month from October through May in and around the South March Highlands. For information contact Martha at marthagw (at) gmail.com.

If you prefer to set out on your own, trail maps and information are available via the National Capital Commission’s redesigned website for Greenbelt trails, Gatineau Park trails and other paths and parks. There are still some great fall colours to experience.

You can also support Ottawa’s forest heritage by purchasing a work of art by one of 14 local artists during an online auction October 22-31 to benefit the South March Highlands. Proceeds will be split between the artists and South March Highlands–Carp River Conservation Inc. which is working to protect the South March Highlands and the Carp River floodplain.

It’s food, glorious food in Ottawa for the next couple of weeks. It’s harvest season, and October 16 is World Food Day, resulting in some appetizing as well as thought-provoking events locally.

World Food Day Forum

USC Canada is hosting a World Food Day Forum called From Field to Fork: Building a Better Food System. It’s on Thursday, October 13 and features a great line-up of speakers: journalist, activist and Locavore author Sarah Elton, chef and 42 Fine Foods owner Susan Jessup, and organic farmer and National Farmers’ Union leader Colleen Ross. 7 p.m. at St. Paul University Amphitheatre, 223 Main St.; free admission.

At 6 p.m., before the Forum starts, there’ll be a Marketplace where people can try local cheeses and fair trade beverages, check out Octopus Books’ display, and meet representatives of Just Food and Canadian Organic Growers. You can also register for a Seed-Saving Workshop taking place from 5-6 p.m. with organic farmer Daniel Brisebois from Le Ferme Coopérative Tourne-sol. For information contact jlaforge@usc-canada.org.

Food for Thought

Oxfam Canada is calling October 15-22 GROW Week – a week to celebrate food and encourage food justice and equitable access to food. On Thursday, October 13, Oxfam will host Food for Thought, a discussion about food and the international food system. Speakers include Lucy Sharratt, coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, and Courtney-Anne Craft from Oxfam Canada. It’s at the University of Ottawa, 7-9 p.m. at Café Alternatif (Simard Building basement). Contact oxfamuottawa@gmail.com for information.

Book Launch

Author and food system expert Pat Kerans will launch his book A Pessimist’s Hope: Food and the Ecological Crisis on Tuesday, October 18, 7-8:30 p.m. at the Ottawa Public Library, Main Branch. Kerans’ book sheds light on our unsustainable food system and how we might improve it.

Reel Food Film Festival

The Reel Food Film Festival is back. On Thursday, October 20, see Our Daily Bread, a film about Europe’s industrial agriculture, by Nikolaus Geyrhalter (Austria, 2006). (The organizers advise viewer discretion as some scenes are difficult to watch.) Then on Thursday, October 27, see Fresh: The Movie, by ana Sofia joanes (USA, 2009), a film about some of the people who are re-inventing the American food system, moving away from unhealthy and unsustainable food production toward healthier, sustainable alternatives.

Both films take place at the Ottawa Public Library Auditorium, Main Branch, at 6:30 p.m. Free admission ($5 donation appreciated); contact info@usc-canada.org for information.

Harvest Noir

Harvest Noir is billed as “Ottawa’s secret picnic feast and black tie dance party” – kind of a flash mob picnic in which attendees find out the location only just before the event. Guests bring their own picnic, with emphasis on locally-harvested seasonal fresh food; the evening will include a DJ and live dance music. Saturday, October 15 at 4 p.m. Admission $37 plus tax.

World Food Day – [insert your own event here!] – at your convenience

Another option: you can celebrate the UN’s World Food Day your own way, with a local twist. USC Canada suggests hosting your own event. They have tips for organizing things like a potluck supper using local ingredients and movie night, a seed-saving workshop or a local-food challenge. Similarly, Oxfam’s World Food Challenge suggests people share a meal by organizing dinners that use local, fair trade and organic food – they have a number of ideas and resources on their site.

Bon appetit!

In Ottawa we usually don’t make a big deal of internationally-designated days, but this year’s UN World Habitat Day on October 3 seemed significant. The theme: Cities and Climate Change.

According to UN-HABITAT, the world’s cities are responsible for up to 70 per cent of harmful greenhouse gases. Transportation using fossil fuels and industrial activity are particularly significant sources of urban greenhouse gas emissions.

So cities are big contributors to climate change – but people in cities are also affected by the consequences of climate change, like flooding. And cities are, arguably, a big part of the solution.

The City of Ottawa has said municipalities can play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In Ottawa, transportation and buildings’ energy use each account for 40 percent of greenhouse gases, with the remaining 20 percent from the waste sector. The City has had a climate change management plan to address these. But there’s a long road ahead of us.

One of the problems is that climate change here isn’t that obvious, so it’s easy not to think much about it. But the City says our hottest days are getting hotter and more frequent, and declining air quality is a big concern. In 2005 the City recorded 290 deaths and 750 hospital admissions attributable to air pollution, and projected increases in these numbers over the next 25 years. Climate change is affecting our health, changing our environment and costing us in many ways.

Individual action helps – people riding bikes instead of driving, choosing locally-grown food when possible, and turning down thermostats. We need more from all levels of government, though. And we need to be talking about it a lot more.

I think this is happening. Just last week, for example, we had the Ottawa Action to Protest the Tar Sands, a Museum of Nature screening of the film Carbon Nation, and – if you happened to attend the Kickass Talks for CARE on October 2 – Ottawa’s Richard Weber sharing evidence of climate change from the Arctic.

There’s another event coming up this week. It’s part of the System Change Not Climate Change initiative launched by the Council of Canadians’ Climate Justice for People and the Planet campaign to build awareness and inspire people to find alternatives to climate change. Members of Transition Ottawa are hosting a presentation and discussion about what system change means and how environmental and social justice are linked. The event is on Thursday, October 6 from 7:30-9:15 p.m. at 2 Monk St. (one block from 5^th Avenue and Bank St.) in the Glebe; RSVP at http://transitionottawa.ning.com.

It seems daunting, even impossible, to do anything about climate change. But groups and movements like Transition Towns, System Change Not Climate Change, and Worldchanging and its successor are coming up with solutions that are feasible yet retain what’s best about our cities. Check them out when you have the chance.

Interpretive Programs in Gatineau Park

Oct. 1 and 2, Gatineau Park will run an interpretive program called Follies of the Fall Forest at 12:30 in English and 2:30 in French at the Gatineau Park Visitor Centre, Chelsea. The 2-hour program is free, led by a naturalist, and includes a guided trail walk.

Café scientifique at the Canadian Museum of Nature

The Canadian Museum of Nature is holding a “Café scientifique” on Friday, Sept. 30 from 6:00-10:00 p.m. The Café includes a dinner and a screening of the documentary Carbon Nation, described as a climate change solutions movie even for those who don’t believe in climate change. According to the film’s website, it’s “an optimistic, solutions-based, non-preachy, non-partisan, big tent film that shows tackling climate change boosts the economy, increases national & energy security and promotes health & a clean environment.” Following the movie, environmentalists Bruce Yateman and Bernie Couture will lead a discussion about the feasibility of having a small carbon footprint. Tickets $35 ($28 for Museum members). Register in advance at 613-566-4791.

If that’s not enough, it’s also a good time of year to check out a Farmers’ Market or go for a hike and enjoy the start of autumn.

“What could the Peace and Environment Resource Centre become?”

It’s a question that Ottawa’s Peace and Environment Resource Centre (PERC) is asking. PERC is inviting anyone with an interest in the environment, peace and social justice to meet on Thursday, September 22 2011 to explore what PERC does – and what it could do. The session will take place from 6:30-9:00 p.m. at St. Giles Presbyterian Church, First Street at Bank.

PERC has been promoting social justice and the environment in Ottawa for years. It’s a volunteer-run, charitable organization that raises awareness, links groups and individuals working on similar issues, offers a resource library, and provides alternative media coverage of social and environmental matters. It publishes a print newspaper, the Peace and Environment News (PEN), 6 times a year – recent issues have covered sustainable energy, food, green business, mining and human rights, and more. The PERC website offers news, highlights from the PEN and links to other resources.

PERC provides a forum for groups and individuals to keep in touch and informed on important issues, thanks to a core of dedicated people who keep it going. Still, PERC’s board, staff and volunteers are thinking ahead. They’re opening up the discussion to get people’s thoughts on what PERC could be. The public meeting is a great opportunity to have some input. (They can always use volunteers year-round, too – see their website for details.)

If a car, a bus and a bike all left Billings Bridge for the Canadian Museum of Civilization at the same time, which would arrive first?

It’s not a riddle or a math problem – it’s Ottawa’s Bike-Bus-Car Challenge, and it took place on Friday, Sept. 16 during morning rush hour, with the bike, bus and car all starting out at 7:45 a.m.

The bike won. Bike rider Eric Kunstadt arrived at the Museum at 8:25 a.m. The car followed at 8:35, and the bus at 8:48. (By not taking their cars, points out Ottawa’s Envirocentre, the bus riders saved $13 for parking plus the costs of gas, insurance and maintenance – not to mention their lower carbon emissions).

The Bike-Bus-Car Challenge was the kick-off to Sustainable Transportation Week, happening September 16-22 in Ottawa and Gatineau. The aim of Sustainable Transportation Week is to get people using healthier and eco-friendlier alternatives to car commuting, like biking, walking, taking the bus or carpooling.

The week’s events include

• a sold-out Breakfast Conference on “Sustainable Mobility” with speakers from Ottawa, Gatineau and the U.K. on Wed. Sept. 21;
• “Car Free Day” on Thurs. Sept. 22, where people in Ottawa and Gatineau are encouraged to try out cycling or another sustainable transportation option;
• a “Bike Museum” featuring unusual bikes (you can contribute your own) and a display on the evolution and significance of the bike on Thurs. Sept. 22 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. outside Ottawa City Hall.

As well, Gatineau’s Sustainable Transportation Week included Park(ing) Day on Sept. 16 and a rally on Sept. 17-18.

This week also saw the launch of Right Bike on Sept. 17 during the Taste of West Wellington festival (which included a very colourful bike parade). Right Bike is a community-supported bike share program established by Causeway. Starting in 2012, Right Bike will offer 30-40 bikes for short trips at 3-4 stations along Wellington and Richmond through Wellington West and Westboro. I can hardly wait!

Let us know how you get around Ottawa and Gatineau this week, and happy sustainable travelling.

If you were in the right place at the right time on Friday, September 16, you would have seen an unusual sight: green spaces where parking spots are normally found.

In Ottawa’s Byward Market and in downtown Gatineau, groups turned empty metered parking spots into parking-spot-sized parks, play areas and even a restaurant.

It was all part of PARK(ing) Day, an annual event where citizens change metered parking spots into temporary parks to raise awareness about the urban environment. PARK(ing) Day started in 2005 when the design studio Rebar in San Francisco decided to convert a single parking space into a public park for two hours – until the meter ran out – to draw attention to the tiny proportion of downtown public space devoted to non-vehicle use. The idea spread, and in 2010, individuals and groups in 183 cities in 30 countries participated in PARK(ing) Day.

I decided to scout out PARK(ing) Day locally. In Gatineau, I found groups occupying several parking spaces along Promenade du Portage and Rue Laval. They included Le Conseil régional de l’environnement et du développement durable de l’Outaouais (CREDDO) which had set up a games zone, and Réseau Vélo-boulot and Action vélo Outaouais whose “bike shop” offered minor adjustments for passing bicycles. Équiterre’s parking spot featured a local food stand and a blend-your-own-smoothie-using-bike-power station. Vivre en Ville’s busy rectangle had live music and a sushi restaurant at one end, and badminton equipment at the other. La Ville de Gatineau and Société de transport de l’Outaouais (STO) each had an information “booth” on their spots. Gatineau’s PARK(ing) Day was clearly an officially-sanctioned and -promoted part of the city’s Sustainable Transportation Week.

In Ottawa, PARK(ing) Day had a more modest presence, but was still powerful. Architecture and design group YowLAB’s “Impromptu Playground” had transformed one parking spot in the Byward Market into a grassy area with colourful seating, potted flowers and a play space complete with baby (and watchful adults). Sarah Gelbard of Impromptu Playground explained to me that they had put money in the meter for the parking spot and would move the site around as necessary.

Let’s hope PARK(ing) Day grows. It’s not just about alternatives to cars, or making cities more fun (although it does that too); it asks us to think about how we allocate public space in cities, and who participates in those decisions.

As a result of PARK(ing) Day, San Francisco has begun to grant permits to individuals, organizations and businesses to create public parks or “parklets” for up to a year in parking spots. What about it, Ottawa and Gatineau? How can we integrate the principles of PARK(ing) Day in urban design and planning here?