Month: September 2011

Upcoming Eco-Events in Ottawa

Green Living Ottawa

Written by guest blogger Denise Deby, who writes on local and global social and environmental issues (which covers just about everything, really).

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.

Ottawa Action to oppose the Tar Sands September 26, 2011

Green Living Ottawa

 

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?

Green Living Ottawa

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

“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.)

Sustainable Transportation Week 2011 in Ottawa

Green Living Ottawa

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

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.

Park(ing) Day in Ottawa-Gatineau

Green Living Ottawa

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

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?