Category: household

Three Things to Do for the Environment This Weekend in Ottawa

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Household items curbside marked “free” for Give Away Weekend in Ottawa – D. Deby photo

Here are three ways you can incorporate environmental action into your activities this beautiful spring weekend:

Take Part in Give Away Weekend

Clear your clutter, recycle household items that might be useful to others, and find free treasures. During Give Away Weekend, people are invited to set out unneeded but usable items at the curb, marked “Free,” for others to take. The City of Ottawa website has tips on what and how to share your stuff and how to dispose of items that aren’t picked up.

Enjoy Community Outdoor Events

This weekend brings a variety of community outdoor festivals, plant and art sales, which provide a great way to spend some time outdoors while supporting local. There’s Westfest, an amazing annual free festival of music, art and more. The juried New Art Festival is on in Central Park in the Glebe. A great place to buy heirloom organic plants for your garden is at Greta’s Organic Gardens’ sale on Sunday, Jun. 9. You can find fresh produce and local food items at one of Ottawa’s outdoor markets. There’s a plant swap at the Ottawa Farmers’ Market at Lansdowne on Sunday, Jun. 9. And check out the new pedestrian plaza on William Street in the ByWard Market!

Help Clean Up Flood Debris

The City of Ottawa is urgently seeking volunteers to help clean up sandbags and other materials from sites of flooding. The City’s website has details on how to get involved.

Great Glebe GREEN Garage Sale 2018

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Great Glebe GREEN Garage Sale – image courtesy Ecology Ottawa

It’s almost time again for the Great Glebe GREEN Garage Sale. The GGGGS happens on Saturday, May 26, 2018 as part of the Great Glebe Garage Sale.

Ecology Ottawa, which organizes the Great Glebe GREEN Garage Sale, is looking for volunteers. Here’s a message from Léna Ndoye at Ecology Ottawa:

(français suit)

The biggest garage sale in Ottawa is coming back to the Glebe! This year, we are continuing last year’s resounding tree giveaway success, which was the single largest one-day distribution of trees Ottawa has ever seen! The saplings will be available for free (or by donation), to be planted around the city and thus strengthen Ottawa’s urban tree canopy. To be able to make these saplings available to everyone during the garage sale, we need lots of volunteers!

SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2018, 8am-4pm – 640 Bank Street (at Clemow Avenue) – Boston Pizza parking lot

We are currently seeking:

  • Help the day before to set up tables and tents + organize material for the tree giveaway (Friday, May 25)
  • People with vehicles to help transport the trees, volunteer kits, and other items to the site (May 25 and 26)
  • Lots of help at the actual event : people to give away trees, to have a booth about it, to run the bakery sale, to paint kids’ faces, to take pictures and plenty of other help (Saturday, May 26)
  • People to clean up the space (May 26)

Get involved in one of the year’s most fun and exciting events. Learn more and sign-up to volunteer today at https://ecologyottawa.ca/events/annual-events/garage-sale/.

// Le plus grand vide-grenier d’Ottawa et son lot de joie et de bonne humeur reviennent dans le Glebe ! Écologie Ottawa sera là pour la plus grande distribution d’arbres jamais effectuée à Ottawa. Pour s’assurer que l’événement se déroule pour le mieux et afin de pouvoir distribuer tous ces jeunes arbres, nous avons besoin de nombreux bénévoles afin d’assurer différentes tâches.

SAMEDI 26 mai 2018, de 8h à 16h – 640 Bank Street – le parking Boston Pizza

Nous sommes actuellement à la recherche :

  • Des personnes avec une auto pour pouvoir amener sur place les arbres et et le reste du matériel (25 et 26 mai)
  • Des personnes pour nous aider la veille à installer les tables et tentes (vendredi 25 mai)
  • De beaucoup d’aide le jour de l’événement : des gens pour distribuer des arbres, pour tenir un stand à ce propos, pour gérer la vente de pâtisseries, pour peindre le visage des enfants, pour prendre des photos et plein d’autres choses (samedi 26 mai)
  • Des gens pour nettoyer l’endroit (26 mai)

Venez-vous engager dans un des événements les plus plaisants et excitants de l’année. Apprenez en plus et devenez bénévole aujourd’hui sur https://ecologieottawa.ca/more/evenements-annuels/vente-debarras/.

Old Home Earth Day Event 2018

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Here’s an opportunity to celebrate Earth Day while discovering more ways to green your home and energy use: the Old Home Earth Day Event on Saturday, Apr. 21, 2018 brings organizations, businesses and the public together for a free fair on reducing your carbon footprint and living more sustainably.

Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-op, the Ottawa Tool Library, Nugrocery and EnviroCentre are among the groups on hand. The day includes free workshops, exhibits and a DIY space. Topics include improving home energy efficiency, renovations, sustainability through transportation and food choices, and more.

This second annual Old Home Earth Day Event is organized by the Glebe Community Association’s Environment Committee along with SMARTNet Alliance, the Peace and Environment Resource Centre, Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-op and Bullfrog Power. OHEDE takes place at the Glebe Community Centre (175 Third Ave.) on Saturday, Apr. 21 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Thanks to the Glebe Environment Committee for the information and images.

Gifts that Won’t Cost the Earth

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Image via Pexels Creative Commons Zero (CC0) https://www.pexels.com/

If, like me, you’ve been too busy with life to focus on seasonal pursuits (or blog posts–sorry about that), here are some earth-friendly (and local!) gift ideas that you can still find before the holidays.

The Maple Leaves of Kichi Makwa, a children’s book by local Algonquin elder, poet and storyteller Albert Dumont, addresses themes of nature, respect and support, and is written in Algonquin, English and French. Find it at Singing Pebble Books, online, or from the author.

Escape from the Museum! is a mystery-adventure set in the impressive Canadian Museum of Nature, offered in collaboration with Escape Manor, that would make a fun gift for kids or adults alike. Groups can choose from two themes: “Back to the Fossils,” involving time travel to help some lost dinosaurs, and “Framed,” investigating a heist of specimens from the Mammals Gallery.  It’s an opportunity to explore the museum’s collections and spaces while solving challenges before the time runs out. (Escape Manor offers escape adventures at several other locations including Diefenbunker, downtown and at their Hintonburg location.)

These days it’s possible to find plenty of eco-friendly, locally crafted items around town that would make thoughtful gifts. One place to check out is Maker House. They have wall hooks made from fallen branches by Not Mother, a window planter made from reclaimed wood marked “less stuff more life” by Grains of Truth, and a framed vintage Ottawa map print, hand embroidered with a red heart, by Sadie & June, as well as much more. Plus, if you buy from Maker House during December, they’ll donate 2% of the sales to Parkdale Food Centre through the #craftchange program.

For more green gift ideas, see our past posts on Thingless Giving, A Gift of Reading, Gifts that Give Twice and Greening the Season.

Seasons greetings!

Written by Denise Deby.

Give Away Weekend June 2017

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Arrow by MoneyForCoffee on pixabay CC0 Public Domain https://pixabay.com/en/arrow-sign-direction-free-image-964733/

Here’s an opportunity to get rid of things you no longer use but are still in good condition.

Give Away Weekend happens Saturday, June 10 and Sunday, June 11, 2017 in Ottawa.

You can put used household items, furniture, books, toys and other good stuff out at the curb, marked with a sign that says “FREE,” and people can come by and take what they need.

Be sure to take back any unclaimed items and recycle or dispose of them appropriately.

Find out more on the City of Ottawa’s website.