Judging by the number of food-related events that keep coming up in Ottawa, more and more people are interested in sustainable, local and healthy food options—and they have more support than ever. Here are some events taking place this week:

Sustainable Food for Thought

CUSO-VSO hosts a discussion on sustainable farming with panellists from Nigeria, Southeast Asia and Ottawa. It’s Tuesday, November 15, 7-9 p.m. at the Cube Gallery, 1285 Wellington St. W. Free (suggested donation $5). Information at http://www.cuso-vso.org/event/34054/sustainable-food-for-thought—-ottawa.

Resilient Kitchen Workshop

Also on Tuesday, November 15: a workshop on Kitchen Cupboard Medicine: Healing Herbs and Spices, with Transition Ottawa and Amber Westfall. Learn about treating minor ailments with common herbs and spices. 7-9 p.m. at the Beaver Barracks, 464 Metcalfe St. Free (but bring your own mug). RSVP; details at http://resilientkitchen.wordpress.com/workshops/.

Food for All – A Food Action Plan for Ottawa
Just Food has developed an exciting new community vision and plan for food in Ottawa, based on consultations about local food issues and concerns. The plan centres on building a sustainable local food system, ensuring everybody has access to good food and promoting health through food security and nutrition. Just Food and Transition Ottawa are inviting “everybody who eats” to a workshop to help make the plan a reality. It’s on Thursday November 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Ecclesiax Sanctuary, 2 Monk St. (one block from 5th Ave. and Bank St.) More information at http://transitionottawa.ning.com/events/food-for-all-a-food-action-plan-for-ottawa-justfood and http://justfood.ca.

Volunteers will be on hand to collect the e-waste in bins located at Osgoode Foodland on the Main Street in Osgoode.  Our hope is that people will go through their houses collecting computers, TVs and electronic items that are no longer working and bring them to be discarded. The school is paid for each bin they fill. This money will be used to help support programs at the school.

We look at it as an opportunity to clean the house, keep these often bulky items out of landfill and there is absolutely no fundraising required.

Osgoode Foodland: 5669 Main St, Osgoode, ON K0A 2W0

EwasteOPS poster

Written by guest blogger Denise Deby, who writes on local and global social and environmental issues.

In case you haven’t heard, the Council of Canadians, the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and Greenpeace Canada along with other organizations and individuals are calling on people to protest the tar sands industry with an action and rally in Ottawa on Monday, Sept. 26 on Parliament Hill. A planned sit-in and a solidarity rally at the Centennial Flame both begin at 10:00 a.m. (Organizers held a mandatory training session on Sept. 25 for people participating in the sit-in which is a civil disobedience action.) Be sure to check the Ottawa Action website for details if you’re thinking of getting involved or want to find out more.

Organizers say the action is necessary to send a message to the Canadian government that tar sands mining and other unsustainable forms of energy extraction like shale fracking are unacceptable – not only because of their harmful effects on people and the environment but because they extend our dependence on fossil fuels when we should be investing in alternatives. The Council of Canadians, for example, has called for a Canadian Energy Strategy based on principles of energy security and ecological sustainability.

The Ottawa Action follows the protest earlier this month in Washington, D.C. of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would transport oil from the Alberta tar sands to the U.S. Gulf coast. So far dozens of organizations have endorsed the Ottawa Action – including, for example, the Assembly of First Nations, the Dene Nation, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), Physicians for Global Survival (PGS) and the UK Tar Sands Network. Individual supporters include Bill McKibben (founder of 350.org), Gorden Pinsent, Graham Greene, Naomi Klein, Shirley Douglas, Tantoo Cardinal and Dave Thomas as well as scientists, First Nations leaders and other prominent Canadians.

You can also follow what’s happening through Ottawa Action on Twitter (@OttawaAction) on Twitter or Facebook (see OttawaAction.ca for details).

“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.)

What inspires people to do something about the environment? Often, it’s knowing what we can do to make a difference, and that we’re not alone in our efforts.

This past Saturday I attended Social Capital Ottawa, a conference bringing together people using social media in Ottawa. It was a great opportunity to meet other Ottawa bloggers and Twitterers “in real life,” and to learn more about using social media effectively. (Sessions covered everything from writing to selecting social media tools, using social media for social change, making sense of social media metrics and more.)

One of the main observations I came away with is that with Ottawa’s social media users, the whole really is more than the sum of the parts. That is, bloggers, Tweeters and Facebook users – although using social media for different purposes – aren’t just putting stuff out there for others to read; they’re creating conversations, connecting people – and building community.

Glen Gower of Ottawa Start, who gave the conference’s keynote address, said a couple of things that stuck with me. One is that blogging and Tweeting enable people to channel “collective community energy,” which Ottawans have been doing for a long time, just in other ways. Another is that people in Ottawa, through their use of social media, are building our city.

This got me thinking about the people who are helping connect those of us who are concerned about Ottawa’s environment – using blogs and Tweets to share ideas and challenges, and to encourage us to inspire each other:

• Individuals blogging about living sustainably (like The Mindful Merchant, The No Plastic Project, Unstuffed, Eco Mama, Experiments in Efficiency, Family Transition to Resilience and Living Lightly, After the Harvest), reconnecting with nature (Dandelions and Concrete), or being a green consumer (Heartfelt, Ecochick);
• People and groups using blogs, Twitter and other social media to raise awareness and advocate for the environment (e.g. @EcologyOttawa, @ottriverkeeper, Virtual Nonsense, @SouthMarch, The Champlain Oaks) and to help envision a sustainable city (Transition Ottawa, Spacing Ottawa).

(These examples are the tip of the iceberg, so to speak – please share others you know of.)

Building Ottawa as a community of people living sustainably takes more than a few social media tools. But people using these tools help us learn and share what’s possible.

Have plans June 8-13? Why not celebrate Rivers to Oceans Week

The UN’s World Oceans Day is June 8, and Canadian Rivers Day is June 12. It might seem odd to celebrate Oceans Day here in Ottawa – we’re not exactly a coastal city – although we’re rich in rivers. Of course, it’s all the same water; the water in the ocean today might one day be in Ottawa’s rivers, in the water we drink or the food we eat, or in us.

Perhaps to make the connections more explicit, the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) suggests celebrating Rivers to Oceans Week. CWF reminds us that as Canadians we’re responsible for one-fifth of the world’s fresh water as well as the world’s longest coastline.

So how to mark it? Well, CWF is hosting a screening of a 45-minute documentary film, 100 Days, followed by a discussion with the film’s director, Brett Rogers, on Monday, June 13 at 7 p.m. at the Canadian Museum of Nature. 100 Days relates the journey that Rogers and others took along the Yukon River on a homemade raft. According to Roger’s website, the film “celebrates the spirit of adventure, the kindness of strangers, and the often dark realities of life in the north” on “one of the world’s greatest, big wild rivers.”

On rivers closer to home, the Ottawa Riverkeeper suggests heritage river rafting with OWL Rafting on the Ottawa River on June 10-12 or a heritage paddle on the Gatineau River on June 12. (If you’re interested in the Ottawa Riverkeeper, you can attend their Annual General Meeting on June 16 at the Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre in Britannia Park, 2805 Carling Avenue, 7:30-9:00 p.m.; or check out their project to document the state of the Ottawa River starting July 4.)

If you’re motivated to express your ideas about what’s special about your local body of water and why it’s worth conserving, you can submit a one-minute video to CWF’s Water’s Worth It! video contest by June 20.

Perhaps the best way to celebrate is by taking action. What’s good for our local rivers is pretty much the same as what’s good for the world’s oceans, or our wetlands, or other bodies of water. In fact, suggestions from the Ottawa Riverkeeper, CWF and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans are similar:

• Learn more about your waterway, and use it – we humans appreciate and protect what we know and understand;
• Conserve water: use a rain barrel, low-flow toilets and showerheads, drink tap water rather than bottled water;
• Garden using native and drought-resistant plants;
• Reduce household pollutants from cleaning products, eliminate pesticides;
• Dispose of trash and hazardous waste properly, reduce waste by recycling and composting, purchase products with less packaging;
• Participate in shoreline or beach clean-ups, help monitor water quality, volunteer;
• Spread the word about the importance of rivers and oceans.

This weekend, June 4 and 5, 2011, you’ll find lots of activities with an environmental twist taking place in Ottawa.

For family-friendly activities, you can’t beat the Ottawa International Children’s Festival. It always offers a variety of amazing live performances but this year it includes an initiative to help children envision ways to address climate change. The Climate Change Project: Children’s Forests of the Future allows visitors to experience drama and music performances, create their own art, and see creations by Ottawa students in collaboration with professional artists and climate change scientists. The Festival takes place June 1-5 at Lebreton Flats Park on the grounds of the Canadian War Museum.

If you’re gardening, or hankering to, then the Fletcher Wildlife Garden’s Annual Plant Sale is for you. You can learn which native plants will attract birds and butterflies to your yard while eliminating the need for sprinklers, fertilizers and pesticides. The sale is Saturday June 4 from 9:30 am-12:30 pm at Fletcher Wildlife Garden on the east side of Prince of Wales Drive south of the Arboretum (take a stroll around the Garden while you’re there).

If you prefer to do spring cleaning, you can participate in Ottawa’s Give Away Weekend on Saturday June 4 and Sunday June 5. Check the City’s website for suggestions on what kinds of household items to set out at the curb for people to take away for free. Or, donate your stuff to the South March Highlands-Carp River Conservation Inc. group which is taking part in the Island Park Drive Yard Sale on Saturday; contact Andrea Prazmowski at praz@magma.ca to donate items. If you haven’t had your fill of garage sales following last week’s Great Glebe Garage Sale, you can find other opportunities to reuse and recycle stuff by checking Ottawa Start’s garage sale postings at http://twitter.com/#!/ott_garage_sale or other recycling suggestions at http://ottawastart.com/used.php.

If you’re hooked on cycling after Bike to Work month in May, you can keep up the momentum with the first ever Capital Velofest. Established by Capital Vélo Fest Inc., a non-profit corporation that hopes to inspire people to ride their bikes more, the Velofest will include a “bicycle rodeo” at Ottawa City Hall on Saturday June 4 from 11 am-4 pm offering a bike display and demonstrations, bicycle polo, bike parts jewellery making, seminars on bike safety and maintenance, and more. The Velofest includes a Tour la Nuit from 7-11 pm.

Last but not least, this weekend’s Doors Open Ottawa offers a chance to visit private and public buildings that are not normally open to the public. It includes several sites that are environmentally noteworthy, like the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre (800 Green Creek Dr.) that treats Ottawa’s wastewater, or the green-roofed CD Howe Building at 235 Queen St. New to Doors Open Ottawa this year is the Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation’s Beaver Barracks at 464 Metcalfe St., billed as “the greenest rental building in Ottawa” with “the largest residential geothermal exchange system in Canada” as well as low-flow fixtures, a green roof and secure bike parking. You can also visit several LEED-certified buildings including the Huron Early Learning Centre at 24 Capilano Dr., Ottawa’s first LEED-certified child care centre, the new OC Transpo Industrial Garage at 745 Industrial Ave., and the Ottawa Paramedic Service Headquarters at 2465 Don Reid Dr.
Let us know if you have any other suggestions for the weekend!

• Cell Phones
• Computers
• Hard Drives
• Laptops
• Mice / Keyboards
• Monitors
• Printed Circuit Boards
• Printers, Scanners & Copiers
• Servers
• Server Cabinets
• Telephones
• Wire and Cable

Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Time: 8:30 a.m.  –  3:00 p.m.

Location: 135 Michael Cowpland Drive, Kanata

To mark Earth Day – Friday, April 22 – the Kanata Environmental Network (KEN) is challenging people to do without plastics for a week.

Their “Earth Week Plastic Challenge,” in collaboration with Earth Day Ottawa, encourages people to reduce their use of plastics, especially single-use disposable products like plastic bags, coffee cup lids, plastic food packaging and styrofoam.

KEN explains why they’re holding the challenge: “The plastic we do use is eventually thrown out and fills our garbage dumps. Over time the plastic breaks down into microscopic bits that wind their way into the water ways, soils, and food chains.” Plastics that don’t make it into our garbage get into storm water drains, rivers, lakes and oceans where they’re a hazard to ecosystems, wildlife and human health.

Going plastics-free is tough. I have noticed, though, that after my family uses our recycling and green bins, there’s not much left – other than some plastic packaging. Time to reduce that.

KEN suggests checking out the No Plastic Project, a blog by Ottawa residents Melissa MacLean and Colette Stoeber, for tips on reducing plastic consumption and taking action to reduce plastic packaging.

KEN also invites people to check out and contribute stories and suggestions on the Earth Week Plastic Challenge Facebook site.

Also worth a look are Beth Terry’s site at http://myplasticfreelife.com/plasticfreeguide/. Beth Terry is a California resident who decided in 2007 that she’d stop buying any new plastic, and she’s led campaigns to get companies to reduce or recycle their plastic packaging. Vancouverite Taina Uitto blogs about how she’s ending her “sad, blatantly fake, and unwanted relationship with plastic” at http://plasticmanners.wordpress.com/.

More information on the problems with plastics and what we can do about them is available from the Plastic Pollution Coalition. (If you know of other resources please do let us know.)

KEN’s no-plastics initiative corresponds with Earth Day Canada’s 2011 “Give It Up” campaign. Give It Up suggests buying nothing new, cutting out toxic chemicals, eating a meatless diet, or turning off the TV and getting outside. According to Earth Day Canada, choosing healthier alternatives even for a short time can prompt us to think about the impact of our decisions over a lifetime. That’s where it starts.

And just for fun, here’s an inspiring video from Vancouver:

Plastic is Forever.

A city has a better chance of being green when its people are involved in decision-making. Here are some important opportunities to have your say in Ottawa’s environmental management:

Waste pickup

The City of Ottawa has reviewed its residential garbage and recycling program and is proposing to collect green bin organic waste weekly year-round, and other garbage every second week, with a special pick-up for diapers and incontinence products. (Blue and black box collection would remain as is.) The City says these changes will save approximately $9 million annually over 6 years and put fewer vehicles on the road (and maybe encourage people to reduce their waste). You can comment on the proposal at http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/recycling_garbage/waste_slr/index_en.html until midnight, April 6.

Transit changes

You probably know that the City of Ottawa is proposing changes to OC Transpo’s service following the approval of its 2011 Budget. The plan, which the City calls “network optimization,” calls for cuts to a number of routes. You can have your say about the proposals at one of several open houses or online at http://www.octranspo1.com/routes/2011_network_optimization before April 7.

NCC Greenbelt

The National Capital Commission (NCC) is holding its Board of Directors and Annual General Meetings on April 6 at NCC Headquarters, 40 Elgin Street (Room 324). Both meetings are public and residents and visitors are invited to attend. The Board meeting takes place from 9 a.m.-2:50 p.m. and will cover the Greenbelt Master Plan Review (including strategic statements and land use concept options), the Greenbelt Sustainable Agriculture Strategy, the Environmental Assessment Study on Future Interprovincial Crossings, and light rail transit (alignment approval). The Annual General Meeting at 7 p.m. will present the NCC’s work and enable the public to comment. People can also email their comments to questions@ncc-ccn.ca and watch the live webcast at www.canadascapital.gc.ca.

Having your say doesn’t necessarily take much time, and it can make a difference.