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May 31, 2013

Cycle, Recycle and Discover June 1-2, 2013

Posted by GreenLivingOttawa under arts and culture, building, flora and fauna, food, Ottawa, recycled, reuse
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Written by Denise Deby.

Wild Bergamot, Ottawa photo by D. Gordon E. Robertson, Wikimedia Commons

Wild Bergamot, Ottawa photo by D. Gordon E. Robertson, Wikimedia Commons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wild_Bergamot,_Ottawa.jpg

This weekend, June 1-2 2013, is jam-packed with fun events that also have an environmental angle:

The Fletcher Wildlife Garden is holding its Annual Native Plant Sale on Saturday from 9:30-12:30. As well as wildflowers for sale, they have lots of advice about what to grow to attract birds, butterflies and other creatures to your garden. For more information, click on the poster at
http://www.ofnc.ca/fletcher/
.

The City of Ottawa’s designated Give Away Weekend is on Saturday and Sunday. You can put used items marked “free” out at the curb, and let other people who can use them take them away. Check the City’s website for information on how it works and what to include and not include.

Several neighbourhoods are holding multi-family garage sales on Saturday. There’s the Riverview Park Community Wide Garage Sale,  the Manor Park Garage Sale, the Hintonburg Garage Sale, the Island Park Garage Sale and the Wild Wild Westboro Garage Sale. (OttawaStart posts a helpful list of sales and suggestions on where to find used stuff at
http://ottawastart.com/used.php
.)

This weekend is the annual Doors Open Ottawa. It’s a wonderful opportunity to visit buildings that are normally closed to the public, including heritage homes, artists’ studios, embassies, city and museum archives, churches and more. On the environment side, you can see how Ottawa’s water is purified and how our wastewater is treated, explore the University of Ottawa’s newest green building, tour an historic garden or learn about Canadian energy research, for example. The full list of buildings, and schedules, are at 
http://ottawa.ca/en/residents/arts-culture-and-community/museums-and-heritage/doors-open-ottawa-0
.

The Ottawa International Children’s Festival is delightful for all ages. As well as fun and funny performances, the Festival offers Let’s Talk Science learning programs, Otesha Project workshops, a Dynamic Maze and other activities that allow participants to explore their environment and themselves. The 100 Watt Earth Stage schedule includes short plays about animal rights written by Ottawa kids. There’s lots more, so check it out at
http://ottawachildrensfestival.ca/
.

Capital Vélo Fest runs this weekend. This annual celebration of cycling offers a Bike Rodeo, workshops, vendor and art displays, games like bike polo and bike jousting, a bike-powered smoothie machine and a Tour La Nuit “for riders of all ages and abilities” on Saturday. On Sunday, several communities will offer their own cycling events as part of Community Spokes. See the Capital Vélo Fest website for more details.

Happy first weekend in June!

Update:

Also on Saturday evening is the Ottawa Velo Vogue bicycle fashion show. Ottawa Velo Vogue’s aim is to promote cycling by demonstrating that you don’t need fancy clothing or equipment to ride. The show will feature bike-friendly clothes, accessories and bikes, and is a fundraiser for Cycle Salvation. It’s at 7 p.m. at Kichesippi Brewery. Details at velovogue.eventbrite.ca or www.ottawavelovogue.com.

On Sunday, there’s an open house at the Gatineau Park Visitor Centre in anticipation of GatineauPark’s 75th anniversary coming up in July. There’ll be nature walks, interactive displays on biodiversity, wildlife management and wilderness survival, birds of prey demonstrations, and food samples from local restaurants. It’s 9:30-4 at the Visitor Centre in Chelsea. Details at
http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/places-to-visit/gatineau-park/news/2013-05-28/gatineau-park-celebrating-75-years
.

Also on Sunday, the Brewer Park Community Garden is holding a community consultation on its plans for a Biodome Garden. The project, supported by the City of Ottawa’s Neighbourhood Connection Office, is to extend the growing season by creating a greenhouse-like space for producing food sustainably. The consultation is 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the Brewer Park Pool meeting room. Details at
http://brewerparkcommunitygarden.weebly.com/garden-news.html
.

 

April 20, 2013

Living Green Expo in Ottawa April 27-28, 2013

Posted by Green Living Ottawa under building, clothing, energy, fair trade, flora and fauna, food, health, household, Ottawa
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Guest post written by Jill Sturdy, Coordinator, Living Green Expo.

Banner courtesy Living Green Expo

Image courtesy Living Green Expo

Join us for an exciting new event coming to Ottawa!

Discover Sustainable Healthy Living

Living Green Expo
April 27 & 28, 2013, 10am – 4pm
Ottawa Convention Centre
Downtown at 55 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa

Living Green Expo will provide an exciting opportunity for residents of the National Capital Region to discover sustainable healthy living through local companies offering products and services offering environmental stewardship and health and wellness.

Features over 125 exhibitors, thought-provoking presentations, an eco-fashion show, a children’s fun zone, and the announcement of the winners of the Home Sweet Home Student Challenge, a competition to design Rick Mercer’s green “granny flat”.

It’s easy to get to Ottawa Convention Centre, located in the heart of downtown–take a bus, bicycle, walk or drive (or even canoe down the canal!).

Admission is by donation and proceeds collected will be donated to Ecology Ottawa and Canadian Organic Growers (Ottawa–   St.Lawrence – Outaouais Chapter).

For more information visit www.livinggreenexpo.ca.

Living Green Expo is presented by the Ottawa Convention Centre, and has a number of generous sponsors that helped make the event possible including terra20, the City of Ottawa, Mediaplus, St. Joseph Communications, Ottawa Business Journal, Metro News and AVW-Telav. The event will also be Bullfrog powered, using 100% green electricity.

* * *

Green Living Ottawa also received a guest post on the Living Green Expo from Barbara Moore, a local green activist, a small sustainable business owner (EcoOttawa.com will be an exhibitor at the show) and a member of Ottawa Local Motives, which contributes to several sustainable events in Ottawa, including The Living Green Expo. Thanks, Barbara.

 

November 22, 2012

Supporting Solar: The Ottawa Renewable Energy Cooperative

Posted by Green Living Ottawa under building, energy, Ottawa
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Written by Denise Deby.

Photo by Mojo Mike (Mike Baker) on Flickr Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/pixor/3605306968/

The Ottawa Renewable Energy Cooperative (OREC) offers a way to get involved in supporting solar energy—whether or not you’re able to install it where you live.

Anyone who’s a resident of Ottawa can invest with OREC to spread solar power to buildings in Ottawa. OREC is a co-op, so members jointly own renewable energy projects that OREC finances. The projects earn revenue through contracts with the Ontario Power Authority under its Feed-in-Tariff program. In its short (two-year) existence, OREC has installed solar systems in housing co-ops in the city and is negotiating some commercial and institutional contracts. If you can’t invest, you can volunteer with OREC or lease them roof or land space.

You can find out more at OREC’s website. As well, Ottawa writer Jen Lahey has a great explanation of how OREC works in her Urban Hippie column at OttawaMagazine.com.

OREC’s Annual General Meeting is on Thursday, November 22, 2012 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Centretown United Church, 507 Bank St. (at Argyle).

 

October 25, 2012

Green Home Reno Tour, Saturday Oct 24, 2012

Posted by Green Living Ottawa under building, climate change, energy, household, Ottawa, waste reduction, water
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By guest blogger Roger Senecal a real estate agent in Ottawa. Roger is a LEED Accredited Professional and an Accredited Green Agent with the National Association of Green Agents and Brokers.

There’s a unique event this Saturday October 27th in Ottawa – a Green Home Reno Tour. EnviroCentre has organized the Green Home Reno Tour to showcase several older homes where targeted renovations have resulted in improved comfort and significant energy and cost savings. The tour will be of interest to people who own or are thinking of buying an older house, those planning renovations, and any homeowners interested in increasing the resale value of their home. As well, it will be of interest to contractors who want to share their existing sustainable renovation practices, or learn more about what others are doing.

The day is planned to include site visits, networking, a trade show and a delicious meal. The cost is $20 per person, which includes the bus transportation and meal. Envirocentre collaborated with the Social Planning Council of Ottawa and Tucker House to organize this unique tour.

The schedule:

9 AM:  Registered participants meet at City Hall for coffee and snacks

9:30 AM:   Bus departs for first destination

Noon:  Refreshments served

2:30 PM:  Afternoon meal at Tucker House, followed by trade show

4 PM:  Bus departs for Ottawa, arriving just in time for dinner.

Here’s the link to register. Hope to see you there!

Green Home Reno Tour

 

July 30, 2012

Green Roofing in Action: Ashbury College Outdoor Classroom

Posted by Green Living Ottawa under 100-mile, building, energy, flora and fauna, Ottawa
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Guest post by Mark Borland of Godfrey Roofing Inc, an Ottawa roofing contractor specializing in environmentally-friendly roofing solutions.

As the trend towards environmental awareness continues to grow – both in Ottawa and around the world – many businesses and institutions are looking for new and innovative ways to incorporate green space into their facilities. One of the most popular ways to do this is by installing a ‘green roof,’ where a normal building rooftop is transformed into a garden, providing benefits to both the building’s owners and the environment.

Ashbury College, one of Ottawa’s most innovative private schools, decided to take green roofing to a whole new level by transforming 3,800 square feet of rooftop into an outdoor classroom. There were several objectives of this new green roof: to involve students in the planning & implementation of an environmentally-conscious project, to create a green space where students could read and learn in an outdoor classroom, to replace an aging roof with one that would last longer and lower the school’s energy bills, and to reduce the school’s environmental impact as a whole.

In general, green roofs offer many advantages over traditional roofing systems. There are substantial savings in the cost of heating and cooling buildings that boast green roofs (sometimes up to 50%). Green roofs lengthen the life span of the structural underlay that supports them by as much as two fold, meaning less rubble ends up in local landfills. And each new green roof installed in Ottawa helps to reduce urban heat island effect – a climate condition that is potentially life threatening. Green roofs improve air quality, and reduce storm run-off by absorbing precipitation.

And let’s not forget about the daily benefits to students and the nearby community, either: a rooftop that was previously forgotten is now a pleasant new green space for students and staff to enjoy.
The new garden roof area at Ashbury College is separated by a custom built walkway over four quadrants of the green roof. The four quadrants are made up of a wildflower flower bed, a groundcover flower bed, a grass and fern flower bed, and a vegetable flower bed. The system installed is a high quality modified bitumen roof system with traditional green roof components built above. This rooftop oasis will become one of the first outdoor classrooms in Canada, and will be maintained and planted by the students.

Clearly, Ashbury College is one of the first Ottawa institutions to embrace the benefits of green roofing – hopefully more businesses will follow suit, making our city a healthier, greener, more pleasant place to live.

 

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