Oakvillegreen

August 18h Update: Issues Update on Incineration, Tree Cutting & Fluoridation, Board ...

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:25:04 GMT

In This Update:

Issues updates on Incineration, Tree Cutting/By Law
OCA Board Seeks Secretary
Early Bird Renewal for OCA Membership
OCA to host an All-Candidates Event on Oct. 12th
Oakvillegreen to kick-off its 10th Anniversary celebrations with Rick Smith
Motion regarding Water Fluoridation
Canadian Club 2010/11 Speakers Series

Dear Members and Friends:

Hello Everyone:

Just a note to update on what Oakvillegreen has been up to over the summer and to tell you about some upcoming events.

Incineration

I wrote a substantial letter to the Premier, and six other ministers, protesting Environment Minister Gerretsen’s support of incineration while he claims to be moving the Province to Zero Waste pointing out that’s it’s impossible to do both. Thirteen organizations around the Province signed on to the letter. We have had a response from the Premier who said that he had asked that Gerretsen get back to us. Now that Gerretsen has been ousted in the cabinet shuffle, we will have to start over with a new Minister.

Trees Continue To Come Down

Oakvillegreen is concerned about the continuing loss of mature trees in our neighbourhoods. We do not believe the current private tree bylaw is effective in preventing the diminishment of our urban forest, we don’t think rules around planting trees are good enough and we don’t think the Town’s Planning Department is doing enough to protect trees during development and redevelopment. We encourage any of our members who see mature trees coming down to take pictures and note the street address. We are documenting tree loss and will make protection of our urban forest a major component of our work over the next few years.

Oakvillegreen Is Looking For A Board Secretary

Sit in on Oakvillegreen board meetings, learn more about the group and take and distribute simple minutes – total volunteer time about 3 hours per month. If you are interested, please contact me at lizcdn@yahoo.com or call me at 905-562-3819.

Renew Your Membership On Time And Save Money

For the first time in five years, Oakvillegreen is raising our membership fee from $20 per individual membership to $25 and from $25 for a family membership to $30 but if you renew by the end of September you pay at the previous membership rates. Memberships must be renewed on the 30th of September every year. You can renew online at oakvillegreen.org (click “Join Us”) or you can mail in your membership (membership forms and the mailing address can also be found under “Join Us”). We appreciate your support and we look forward to seeing you in the fall.

Mark Oakvillegreen’s All Candidate Event On Your Calendars

On Tuesday, October 12th, Oakvillegreen will hold an All Candidates event so citizens can meet the candidates for Town and Regional Council and for the school boards. Just like last time, candidates will be grouped by Ward to make it easy for citizens to talk to all the candidates in their area. As well, there will be a Mayoral event and a Regional Chair debate, should another candidate file a nomination for the Regional chair position. The event will be held at the Galaxy 707, 475 North Service Road East (just east of Trafalgar) starting at 6 p.m. with the Mayoral debate at 8 p.m. More details on this event soon.

Help Us Celebrate Our 10th Anniversary!

This year Oakvillegreen is celebrating our 10th year of serving the Oakville community. To celebrate, we will be holding a special event in November with Rick Smith, of Environmental Defence, co-writer of Slow Death by Rubber Duck”. More details to follow soon.

Motion Regarding Fluoridation in Municipal Water

As we have mentioned in previous emails, Oakvillegreen has taken a stand against the fluoridation of water. We hope to pursue this over the next couple of years at both the Regional and Provincial level. We were pleased to learn that the Green Party has recently prepared a motion on fluoridation that they intend to pursue at the National level. We are reprinting it here because it touches so succinctly on the serious environmental and human health concerns of water fluoridation.

Motion Preamble:
WHEREAS fluoridation products such as hexafluorosilicic acid and sodium silicofluoride are toxic by-products scrubbed from the smokestacks of the phosphate mining industry, and less than one percent of treated water is actually ingested by people and the remaining 99 percent is discharged into the environment;
WHEREAS fluoride is not removed in sewage treatment and remains a toxic constituent of the effluent discharged by treatment plants to rivers and lakes, and background levels of fluoride in the Great Lakes exceed the Canadian Water Quality Guideline (CWQG) for aquatic species, and fluoride concentrations in sewage effluent are 5-10 times in excess of the CWQG. At these concentrations fluoride is known to be toxic to a variety of water species such as salmon, caddisfly, daphnia & others;
WHEREAS the use of drinking water to deliver medications is not medically or environmentally sustainable, and the use of unregulated, unapproved medications in drinking water, without a prescription or informed consent is medically and environmentally not sustainable, and the daily dose of fluoride cannot be controlled and health effects from fluoride are not monitored;
WHEREAS 97 percent of Europe does not use artificial water fluoridation products in their public drinking water supply, and 94 percent of the world's population does not use artificial water fluoridation products in their public water supply;
WHEREAS no statistical difference exists in rates of dental caries between areas that use artificial water fluoridation chemicals and those that do not (Statistics Canada);
WHEREAS the Green Party affirms that the precautionary principle should be used where there is evidence of potential harm in the absence of complete scientific consensus.

Motion Operative:
BE IT RESOLVED that the Green Party seeks to introduce and support legislation that will ban artificial fluoridation products in public drinking water.

Canadian Club 2010/11Speakers Series

The not-for-profit Canadian Club of Halton Peel is featuring a number of speakers Oakvillegreen’s members may be interested in hearing. They include:

. * Thursday, September 16 - Bridget Stutchbury, PhD, Professor of Biology & Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology, York University, Author of The Bird Detective, Investigating The Secret Lives of Birds (2010) and The Silence of the Songbirds (2007 - a Governor-General's Literary Award nominee)
. * Thursday, November 18 - Gerald Butts, President & CEO, World Wildlife Fund Canada
. * Thursday, April 14 - Lauren Baker, PhD, Director, Sustain Ontario - The Alliance for Healthy Food and Farming - Menu 2020: Ten Good Food Ideas for Ontario and Lorraine Johnson, Author of City Farmer: Adventures in Urban Food Growing.

All dinners take place at the Oakville Conference Centre (QEW & Bronte Road). Registration and cash bar 6 p.m.; Dinner 7 p.m. The 3-course dinners are priced at $30 members, $40 non-Canadian Club of HaltonPeel members and $15 students (subsidized). 12 month rolling memberships are available at $30 single, $55 family and $75 corporate.

To get tickets or for information about all the speakers this year contact Barry Wylie at 905-827-6302.

July 11th Update: Issues Update on Waste, Highways & the Election, Midnight Madness, ...

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:59:31 GMT

In This Update:

New video series for Oakvillegreen
Issues updates on Waste, Highways and the Municipal Election
Volunteers and visitors wanted for our booth at Midnight Madness next Friday
From Grey to Green: Urban Gardening Event at Whole Foods, July 17th, 10-11am
2nd Annual Environmental Awareness Day at Tim Horton's, Cross Ave., July 24th
Start your Saturdays with a trip to the Harbourside Organic Farmers' Market
Oakvillegreen t-shirts for sale

Dear Members and Friends:

Tree Re-Potting
Thanks to everyone who came out to Niagara and helped re-pot all our Bronte Oak seedlings. They are coming along really well, as are the 1,000 at the Earthgen nursery, and we look forward to the day when they can be planted around our community. For photos, click here.

New Video Series
Please take a moment to have a look at the two Oakvillegreen videos that can be found at http://vimeo.com/13179079. One is about the origins and impact of our Ground Breakers program and the other is about the battle to stop the paved pathway in Shell Park. Both were created by Oakvillegreen members Andy Stark and Julie Winfield of inPhotainment Technologies, Ltd. These two videos are the first in a series that will highlight various initiatives of Oakvillegreen or provide information on various environmental issues. We are deeply grateful to Andy and Julie for giving their time and talent to this project.

Issues

Waste

Incineration has again reared its ugly head in our Region after a Burlington Councilor Rick Goldring made a trip to Sweden and came back with a report to Council that included how they deal with waste with 47 sent to incinerators. Mayor Krantz of Milton was quick to make the suggestion that perhaps Halton should reconsider building an incinerator. Oakvillegreen fought long and hard to convince Council to put an end to plans to spend $800 million to build an incinerator at their landfill site on Bronte Road that would have incinerated 25% of the Greater Golden Horseshoe’s garbage.

We will be meeting with Councillors to once again present them with the negative financial, human health and environmental impacts of incineration ad to promote the policies and initiatives of Zero Waste. I also recently authored a letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty and six government ministers, that was signed by 13 groups from Ottawa to Brantford, that urges them to close the loophole that’s allowing new incinerators to be built and to get on with moving the Province to Zero Waste as Environment Gerretsen promised through the Waste Diversion Act Review. We’ll keep you posted on the issue.

Highways

Oakvillegreen will also be working with Councillors on how to address two new proposed highways that will have serious consequences for Halton’s recently created Natural Heritage System.

Municipal Election

Finally, this is a municipal election year and we urge all our members to get involved. Find out who the candidates are in your riding and lend your support to the best candidate. As president of Oakvillegreen for six years and as a newspaper editor for four years before that, I have seen good politicians and bad, those that were quite willing to let developers run roughshod over the community and those that were determined to give the community control over its development, politicians who value public engagement and politicians who pay lip service to it. I can’t say this strongly enough – this is a critical election and it is vital for citizens to get out there and support the best candidates. If you have never volunteered to help with a campaign before, do so now.

Oakvillegreen will give you a chance to meet all the candidates and hear from the Mayoral and Regional Chair candidates on October 12 when we host an all candidates event at the Galaxy 707. The school trustees will also be included in this event that allows you to meet all the candidates at one place and time. More on this later. To keep up with who’s registered to run go to http://www.oakville.ca/2010regcand-alloffices.htm

Events

Downtown Oakville's Midnight Madness

Friday, July 16th from 6pm-12

Celebrating 33 years of madness! This is Downtown Oakville’s largest retail event of the year! Midnight Madness draws a crowd of over 50,000 to enjoy a variety of community performers, bands and of course…great food! Experience live music on every block, strolling entertainers and the best buys in town. For more info, visit http://www.oakvilledowntown.com/whatsup/events.php

Volunteer or visit the Oakvillegreen booth! Please contact Jennifer at tree.initiatives@sympatico.ca if you can spend an hour or so helping out at our booth in front of Tommy Bahamas (just to the east of Town Square).

From Grey to Green: Urban Gardening Event

Saturday, July 17th from 10-11am

Whole Foods, Cornwall Rd.

Local experts will be on-hand to teach about sustainable, edible, urban gardening. Learn how to construct a raised garden and get answers on composting, mixing ornamentals with vegetables, late-season gardening and more! See you there with your garden gloves and questions - for more info, visit http://wholefoodsmarket.com/storesbeta/oakville/

2nd Annual Environmental Awareness Day

Saturday, July 24th from 11:30am-2pm

Tim Horton's, 111 Cross Avenue

Sponsored by Tim Hortons and The Oakville Chamber of Commerce
In Association with Kerr Village BIA and Home Depot CHILDREN’S WORKSHOP

Bring your old computer equipment and have it recycled.

Browse through green exhibits by local vendors and help us with a community clean up at 12:30. Entertainment provided by DJ Central and the Cheerleaders from Toronto Argonauts and Tiger-Cats! Register and enjoy music and a free bbq sponsored by M&M Meat Shops, including a free t-shirt, & cold drink. For more info, visit http://www.oakvillechamber.com/business-networking-events.aspx

Don't forget to visit The Harbourside Organic Farmers' Market on Saturdays!!

The Market has lots of new vendors and fresh cooking ideas from the Market Chef too!

The Market is located in Centennial Square, 120 Navy Street at the corner of Lakeshore Road. Infront of the Central Library Branch. The Market is open every Saturday through to October 30th
9:30 am - 2:00 pm.
New Website for 2010 Season! The Harbourside Organic Farmers' Market can be found online at www.oakvilleorganicmarket.com

T-Shirts, T-Shirts, T-Shirts!

New Oakvillegreen t-shirts are now available for $15 (members) or $20 (non-members). They are made by Ethica and are 100% Organic Cotton and made in Canada. Contact Jennifer at tree.initiatives@sympatico.ca if you are interested. A photo of the shirt is on our homepage.

June 9th Update: Renewable Energy, Women & Cdn. Politics, Organic Farmers Mkt. ...

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:03:48 GMT

In This Update:

Renewable Energy in the City meeting: June 16
Women and Canadian Politics: June 17
Halton Green Screens presents 'In Transition 1.0' on Thu. June 24
Bring your bags to Whole Foods' and support Oakvillegreen - hurry! only til July 4th
Harbourside Organic Farmers' Market opens June 19
Oakvillegreen t-shirts for sale

Dear Members and Friends:

Halton Enablers of Renewable Energy (HERE!) presents 'Renewable Energy in the City'
Wednesday June 16 from 7pm to 9pm
Town Hall, Oakville/ Trafalgar Rooms, 1225 Trafalgar Rd.

At this meeting, you will learn about renewable energy technologies and the benefits they offer, including reducing your environmental footprint, getting paid to sell clean energy to the grid, saving money by using solar energy to help heat your water, and efficiently heating and cooling your home using geoexchange systems. You will also hear about the potential for community members to buy into larger renewable energy projects.

HERE!’s Renewable Energy Technology Specialists, Graham Flint and Chris Braekevelt, will be the presenters at the meeting. Graham will speak about solar electric systems, including the popular MicroFIT program. Graham is an electrical engineer whose 10 kW ground-mounted solar PV system has recently been connected to the grid. Chris is a mechanical engineer with experience installing geothermal systems. Chris will address thermal technologies, including geothermal and solar thermal options.

Open to the public and free to attend. Co-hosted by Transition Oakville (www.transitionoakville.ca)
For more info, Email: here.office@gmail.com, Phone: (905) 299-2327, or visit http://halton.ourpower.ca

“WOMEN AND CANADIAN POLITICS”
Thursday June 17 at 7:30 pm
St. Aidan’s Anglican Church

Featuring a panel discussion on the participation of women in Canadian democracy.
BONNIE BROWN - Former member of parliament for Oakville
SHAILA KIBRIA - Community worker and activist
BARBARA CAMERON - Professor of political science at York University

St. Aidan’s Anglican Church, 318 Queen Mary Drive, Oakville (east of Kerr St. at Stewart. Accessible by buses #15 & #17). Welcome To All! Donations accepted
Organized by Canadians Advocating Political Participation (CAPP) Oakville - www.quipdujour.com/capp Contact: noprorogueoak@gmail.com or call 905-257-6756

Halton Green Screens movie: 'In Transition 1.0'
Thursday, June 24 at 7:00pm
Encore Cinemas, 171 Speers Rd. at Kerr St.

‘In Transition’ is the first detailed film about the Transition movement filmed by those that know it best, those who are making it happen on the ground. The Transition movement is about communities around the world responding to peak oil and climate change with creativity, imagination and humour, and setting about rebuilding their local economies and communities. It is positive, solutions focused, viral and fun.

For more information, please visit our website at www.HaltonGreenScreens.ca
Interactive discussion following film. Cost $5. Join www.meetup.com/ecopartners to receive upcoming movie notices.

Next time you shop at Whole Foods, remember your reusable bags!

Thank you to Whole Foods Oakville for selecting Oakvillegreen as their recipient of the One Dime at a Time program from April 12th to July 4th. The One Dime at a Time program provides an opportunity for customers to give back to their communities. At the register, customers who bring their own bags will have the option to receive a 10 cent per bag refund as cash back off their receipt or they can choose to donate it to the designated group for the Quarter…that’s us! For more info, visit Whole Foods.

Harbourside Organic Farmers' Market reopens on June 19th
Saturdays, 9:30-2:00 at Navy & Lakeshore

The Harbourside Organic Farmers' Market opens for its 2010 season on June 19th in the square in front of the Library on Navy Street. This year the market runs from 9:30 am to 2 p.m., every Saturday until October 30th. Enjoy in season local organic food. For more info, visit www.osfp.ca

T-Shirts, T-Shirts, T-Shirts!

A few updates and notes of thanks:

Thank you to Diane Green from Friends of Glenorchy for creating the submission for a Part II Order for the Burnhamthorpe Road extension and thanks to Diane Burton for delivering it directly to the Ministers office. We also appreciate BurlingtonGreen signing on to the document along with Friends of Glenorchy.

Thank you to our Board member, Margaret Kirwin for organizing, and all of the great volunteers & shoppers who came out to help make our 5th Annual Community Garage & Plant Sale a successful day and fundraiser!

Thanks to all of our members for donating to the plant sale. We were overwhelmed with your generous donations and there are some smaller plants still left over (sundrops, lily of the valley, etc.) that members are welcome to buy for a suggested donation of .50 cents to $1 per plant. If interested, please contact Diane dianeburton@eol.ca.

And I'd also like to thank and congratulate all of our current and past tree planters who have helped us at one (or more!) of our Ground Breakers tree plantings. We planted another 500 native trees and shrubs this Spring, bringing our total to over 10,500 since 2004! That's quite an accomplishment - way to go!!

On behalf of the Oakvillegreen Board, I'd like to express our sincere thanks to all of our members and friends who continue to come out and support our events and help 'fight the good fight' to keep Oakville a healthy, resilient community!

Liz Benneian

President

Oakvillegreen Conservation Association

Other News & Events:

May 27th Update: Stop Burnamthorpe Rd. extension, Garage Sale This Sat. ...

Fri, 28 May 2010 02:12:24 GMT

In This Update:

- Stop Burnamthorpe Road extension
- Tell all your friends about our Annual Garage & Plant Sale this Saturday
- Join Ground Breakers at our last Spring tree planting: May 29 at 1:00
- Free OakvilleConserves Energy Fair at Town Hall this Saturday
- Bring your bags to Whole Foods' and support Oakvillegreen
- Harbourside Organic Farmers' Market kick-off event on June 1
- New Oakvillegreen t-shirts for sale

Dear Members and Friends:

Oakvillegreen will oppose the Region's plans to extend Burnamthorpe Road across Sixteen Mile Creek and through some of Glenorchy Conservation Area's most Sensitive areas. Building another bridge over the Creek will destroy sensitive valley lands and disturb the creek bed.

Additionally, the 35 m-wide Regional road/bikepath/multi-use path will be built through:

- the widest section of an ANSI (area of Natural and Scientific Interest)
5 tributaries and two High Priority Protection Areas
- an area with both Species at Risk designations of Special Concern as well as NHIC tracked species at rank S2.
- a Sixteen Mile Creek tributary directly abutting an area of High Constraint Stream Corridor within the Glenorchy CA itself
- McCraney Creek and Fourteen Mile Creek, where it again bisects an area of High Constraint Stream Corridor near a Species At Risk of Special Concern, within the Glenorchy CA.
- in close proximity to the area’s largest remaining remnant of interior forest (proximity important because of impacts on bird breeding and bird and other animal mortality).

This project was already passed by Oakville's Council as part of Oakville's Transportation Master Plan so it will be an uphill battle.

Oakvillegreen objects to this road not only because of the environmental damage it will cause to the creeks and streams of Glenorchy, the disturbance to its wildlife and the precedent it will set for being able to ignore the supposed status both Natural Heritage System and Conservation Area designations give land but also because we believe we can’t keep planning for traffic the way we have always planned for traffic.
If we want to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, if we want people to start using more public transit, if we want our communities to become healthy and sustainable, we have to stop bulldozing roads everywhere. North Oakville was supposed to be designed to be higher-density and transit-friendly for the express purpose of avoiding all the unsustainable “costs” of planning as usual. But, pardon the pun, when the rubber meets the road, what we say we aspire to and what we actually do are completely at odds.

We request that both the Town of Oakville and the Region revisit this plan that was on the drawing board long before OPA 198 was finalized, before north Oakville’s NHS was confirmed and before Glenorchy Conservation Area was created.

We can and we should do better.

We may need the support of our members on this issue and will let you know how you can help in our next email.

Thanks for your continuing support.

Hope to see you this weekend at the Garage Sale. For more updates see below.

Liz Benneian
President
Oakvillegreen Conservation Association

Other News:

Tell Everyone about our Annual Community Garage & Plant Sale!

Town Hall parking lot
Saturday, May 29 from 8 a.m. to noon
Don’t miss your chance to support Oakvillegreen by buying a booth or volunteering for our Great Community Garage and Plant sale. It’s a great way to finish your spring cleaning, make a little money, it supports ‘reuse and recycling’ and it allows Oakvillegreen to keep going.

If you don’t want a booth but would like to help out, please contact Margaret Kirwin at mkirwin@247post.com. All kinds of help is needed on the day of the event. Another way you could help is by potting up and donating some of the plants from your garden. We still need a couple of volunteers so please let us know asap if you can help out, even for a couple of hours!

Click here to view our flyer for all the details and please feel free to forward it to anyone you think may be interested.

Come Plant a Tree with us at our last planting this Spring!

Please join Ground Breakers, Oakvillegreen’s tree planting group, at our last planting this spring! It’s a fun thing for families to do together and a great way for teens to earn their volunteer hours. All ages are welcome and everything needed for the plantings from shovels to gloves is provided. Feel free to bring your own though!
Sat. May 29 from 1-3:00: Lawson Park, SE Oakville (150 trees)
For more information please contact Jennifer McPherson at tree.initiatives@sympatico.ca

OakvilleConserves Energy Fair
Saturday, May 29 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
South Atrium, Town Hall, 1225 Trafalgar Road
The OakvilleConserves Energy Fair is your destination for green energy information, services and products! Check out energy exhibitors from across the region. Take the Power Pledge and Unplug Your Stuff to start lowering your electricity use and increasing your savings. Fill out a ballot to win an energy conservation gift basket - a $150 value! Visit great exhibitors! Free admission.
Green energy workshops: Solar Project: - 10 a.m.; Geothermal Project - 11 a.m.
For more information, visit http://www.oakville.ca/oakvilleconserves.htm

Next time you shop at Whole Foods, remember your reusable bags!
Thank you to Whole Foods Oakville for selecting Oakvillegreen as their recipient of the One Dime at a Time program from April 12th to July 4th. The One Dime at a Time program provides an opportunity for customers to give back to their communities. At the register, customers who bring their own bags will have the option to receive a 10 cent per bag refund as cash back off their receipt or they can choose to donate it to the designated group for the Quarter…that’s us! For more info, visit Whole Foods.

Harbourside Organic Farmers' Market reopens on June 19th & Kick-off the Season on Tuesday, June 1st from 6 - 8pm

Come out for a fun time of organic, local eats and drinks (including wine and beer) to support the second season of the Harbourside Organic Farmer's Market. Local chefs, food growers, and producers of local beer will be on hand to provide samples made with fresh, local organic produce. Last year's event had over 100 people enjoying the food, the drink and the great company! This year we're at the Coriander Green restaurant, 342 Church St. (between Reynolds and Allan). Only $30 a ticket

T-Shirts, T-Shirts, T-Shirts!

New Oakvillegreen t-shirts are now available for $15 (members) or $20 (non-members). They are made by Ethica and are 100% Organic Cotton and made in Canada. Contact Jennifer at tree.initiatives@sympatico.ca if you are interested.

April 20th Update: Garage Sale, Tree Plantings, Earth Day events, Power Plant Buffer Bill and ...

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:12:06 GMT

Hello Everyone:

Thanks to all our members who turned out for our party celebrating the 5th Anniversary of Ontario’s Greenbelt. What a great night – fabulous venue, wonderful food, lots of community leaders from around the Greater Golden Horseshoe – I think a good time was had by all. A big thank you as well to Nicola Lee for all her hard work in organizing the event. Excellent job! Photos will be posted on the website soon.

Upcoming Events:

Our Big Annual Fundraiser: The Community Garage & Plant Sale is Coming Up
Town Hall parking lot
Saturday, May 29 from 8 a.m. to noon

Don’t miss your chance to support Oakvillegreen by buying a booth or volunteering for our Great Community Garage and Plant sale. It’s a great way to finish your spring cleaning, make a little money, it supports ‘reuse and recycling’ and it allows Oakvillegreen to keep going.

If you don’t want a booth but would like to help out, please contact Margaret Kirwin at mkirwin@247post.com. All kinds of help is needed on the day of the event. We are especially looking for someone with lots of plant/gardening experience who could help with the plant sale. Another way you could help is by potting up and donating some of the plants from your garden.

Click here to view our flyer for all the details and please feel free to forward it to anyone you think may be interested.

Celebrate Earth Day’s 40th Anniversary by Planting A Tree
First Planting of 2010: Thursday, April 22 - 3 pm to 5 pm at Bronte & Rebecca

Please join Ground Breakers, Oakvillegreen’s tree planting group, at our two remaining plantings this spring. It’s a fun thing for families to do together and a great way for teens to earn their volunteer hours. All ages are welcome and everything needed for the plantings from shovels to gloves is provided. Feel free to bring your own though!

The dates and times for our spring plantings are:

Thu. April 22 from 3-5:00: Bronte Creek behind Ridgeside Lane (Rebecca &
Bronte), (75 trees); Parking available in Christian Science Church

Sat. May 1 from 10-12:00: Oakhaven Pond (Third Ln. & Pine Glen) (200 trees)

Sat. May 15 from 10-12:00: Algrove Park, NE Oakville (100 trees)

Sat. May 29 from 1-3:00: Lawson Park, SE Oakville (150 trees)

For more information please contact Jennifer McPherson at tree.initiatives@sympatico.ca

Halton Green Screens movie: Taking Root
Thursday, April 22 at 7:00pm
Encore Cinemas, Kerr & Speers

TAKING ROOT weaves a compelling and dramatic narrative of one woman's personal journey in the context of the turbulent political and environmental history of her country. Raised in the rural highlands of Kenya, educated in the United States during the 1960s civil rights era, and the first female to receive a PhD in East Africa, Maathai discovered the heart of her life's work by reconnecting with the rural women with whom she had grown up. Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, a grassroots organization encouraging rural women to plant trees.

Cost is $5. For more info, visit www.haltongreenscreens.ca

Living Earth Day Everyday: Celebrate Earth Day's 40th anniversary with the Town of Oakville!
April 22, 2010 from 6-9 p.m. (workshops start at 7 p.m.)
Town Hall, South Atrium, 1225 Trafalgar Road

There's no better way to celebrate Earth Day in Oakville than by learning how to live greener every day! For details, click here.

Other News:

Join C4CA on April 22nd to support the Power Plant Buffer Bill!

You can help support Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn’s Private Member’s Bill to require buffer zones around gas-fired power plants.

On April 22, Citizens for Clean Air (C4CA) wants to fill the Ontario Legislature Gallery for the Bill’s Second Reading debate.

That way, the Premier and every MPP in Ontario – as well as the Queen’s Park Press Gallery – will know we’re serious about stopping the plant.

After all, this location makes no sense. Of all the gas-fired power plants in Ontario, it would be the smallest site, the closest to people – and the largest! There couldn’t be a worse combination of unique factors.

Bill 8 - Separation Distances for Natural Gas Power Plants Act, 2010 -- would prohibit the construction of a natural gas power plant unless the plant is at least 1,500 metres from any land zoned for residential purposes or any land on which an educational facility, day nursery or health care facility is located.

If it becomes law before approvals are final for the proposed Oakville plant, it will not be built.

Register today at www.C4CA.org to attend the Second Reading and plan to arrive at the steps of the Ontario Legislature at 1 p.m. on April 22.

Critical Town Meeting on Drive-Thrus
Monday, May 10 at 7 p.m.
Oakville Town Hall, 1225 Trafalgar Road

Oakvillegreen is passing on a notice from a citizen’s group that has been fighting a drive-thru in their area. Oakvillegreen is opposed to drive-thrus as they cause unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions, as they can pose a danger to pedestrians depending on how they are located and because they noise the ordering machines generate are disturbing to neighbours – in general we do not believe they make a community more “livable”.

Current guidelines require that a Drive Thru is at least 15 meters from a residence (45 feet) – closer than your next door neighbour.
We want the By-Law to be passed at 60 meters, similar to Mississauga’s existing By-Law. The Drive Thru Industry is doing their best to stop us from getting this reasonable distance between their businesses and our homes. If the By-Law is passed in industries favour, don’t be surprised if a drive-thru pops up in your neighbourhood when you least expect it.
If you agree that this is counter-productive to the “Livable Oakville” that we are trying to maintain, you must make your views known on or before Thursday, April 15, 2010.
Email or deliver a letter to the town planner contact, Ramona Boddington (Town of Oakville, Planning Services Department, P.O. Box 310, 1225 Trafalgar Rd. Oakville ON L6J 5A6) rboddington@oakville.ca

Email your mayor, Rob Burton rburton@oakville.ca or his office mayor@oakville.ca
Email the entire council. Find them at http://www.oakville.ca/council.asp
Here’s an example of what you could say.
I am writing to express my disapproval of creating a By-Law that will allow a Drive Thru business to be built even closer to a family’s home that the 15 meters currently dictated by the existing guideline. I request that the Town of Oakville make a Drive Thru By-Law of 60 meters distance from residential homes matching Mississauga’s existing By-Law.

For more upcoming ecoevents, join www.meetup.com/ecopartners to receive reminder emails!

March 30th Update: Come and Connect networking event, Tree Plantings, EcoFest & More

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:32:02 GMT

Hi Everyone:

Tree planting time! We will be adding another couple thousand native trees and shrubs to Oakville this year bringing the number we’ve planted to almost 12,000. Please have a look at the Ground Breaker dates listed below and let Jennifer know if you can help with any of the plantings or if you have teenagers who are in need of volunteer hours.

Also, please take a look at the attached/linked information about the Come and Connect workshop that the Town of Oakville is running to bring environmental, cultural and faith-based groups together on Saturday, April 10. If you would like to participate, please email Julia Ford at Julia@weconserve.ca as soon as possible.

What we’ve been up to:
Last weekend I did an Organize To Win Seminar for a number of groups in the Elora area and in April I will be doing the same in Guelph. Easter weekend I will be meeting with people in Brantford who are concerned about that community’s plans to build an incinerator. Jennifer and I have also been meeting with a number of schools and working on a youth engagement plan and Diane and I are meeting with the Region about the Burnhamthorpe Road extension that will cut through Glenorchy Conservation Area.

We also had a great celebration last Tuesday at the 3rd Annual Urban Forest Awards! Visit our webpage featuring the award recipients, event photos and links to all of the entries.

http://www.oakvillegreen.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=69&Itemid=67

I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the 5th Anniversary of the Greenbelt party this Thursday!

All the best,
Liz

Upcoming Events:

Come and Connect! A special networking event for cultural, faith-based or environmental groups in Oakville
Saturday, April 10th from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Do you work with environmental, cultural or faith-based organizations? Are you interested in expanding your network? Would you like to explore new working relationships and connect around issues that!affect the Oakville community?
Then we want you to come and connect with us!

The event will be held from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Oakville Town Hall, 1225 Trafalgar Road. Please RSVP to Julia Ford by email at julia@weconserve.ca or by phone at 416-533-1635 x2.

For more info and the registration form, visit our page.

The dates and times for our spring plantings are:

Thu. April 22 from 3-5:00: Bronte Creek behind Ridgeside Lane (Rebecca &
Bronte), (75 trees); Parking available in Christian Science Church

Sat. May 1 from 10-12:00: Oakhaven Pond (Third Ln. & Pine Glen) (200 trees)

Sat. May 15 from 10-12:00: Algrove Park, NE Oakville (100 trees)

Sat. May 29 from 1-3:00: Lawson Park, SE Oakville (150 trees)

For more information please contact Jennifer McPherson at tree.initiatives@sympatico.ca

10th Annual EcoFest
Saturday, April 17 and Sunday, April 18

If you are interested in volunteering at our Oakvillegreen booth, please contact Jennifer at tree.initiatives@sympatico.ca.

Burlingtongreen hosts Special Event to Celebrate Earth Day's 40th Anniversary
Sunday, April 18 at 7:30pm (Doors open at 7pm)
Port Nelson United Church: 3132 South Drive, Burlington

This inspirational event will feature performers and musicians honouring Margaret Atwood’s “Payback” - a written parody of the famous Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol” but with an environmental twist. In the final chapter of her book, she presents a modern–day Scrooge encountering the spirits of Earth Day Past, Present & Future. The focus of the piece is on the environmental issues that are facing our planet today, presented in a humourous but pointed manner. Tickets $15 in advance.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.burlingtongreen.org/bg-events

Other News:

Rainbarrels For Sale!

Oakvillegreen has partnered with Hamilton-based, Rainbarrel.ca, to offer premium rainbarrels at a low cost as its spring fundraiser. Only $45 per barrel, no limit. Cheques payable to Oakvillegreen. Orders will be delivered to the Town Hall parking lot for pick up between 9 - 11:00 am on Sat. May 1st. Tell your friends!

For more information please contact Jennifer McPherson at tree.initiatives@sympatico.ca or visit www.rainbarrel.ca

WANTED: 1 acre plot to rent for growing organic veggies. An Oakville couple is looking for anyone who can spare an acre or so to rent for growing organic vegetables • water available• within 30 minute drive of Oakville. Please contact Carrie Ann at 5435carrie@grindstonedesign.ca

For more upcoming events, visit our website www.oakvillegreen.org or join www.meetup.com/ecopartners to receive reminder emails!

Oakvillegreen Board, Mayor Burton and MPP Kevin Flynn congratulate this year's recipients of ...

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:44:13 GMT

Oakvillegreen Conservation Association and the Town of Oakville hosted the Mayor’s Third Annual Urban Forest Awards on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010. This year, local tree heroes who fought to preserve and expand our urban forest were honoured along with local businesses, schools and individuals who created healthy urban forest habitat through landscaping. Our winners from the Arts Contest and Grade 6 School Poster Contest were also recognized. View the media release.

To view the contest photos, paintings and posters, click here.

Click here to view the photos from the awards celebration!

March 17th Update: Please let us know if you can attend these special events

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:33:55 GMT

Special - Members Only Event
Oakvillegreen hosts the Mayor’s Urban Forest Awards
Tuesday, March 23rd from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Oakvillegreen is hosting our 3rd annual awards event that focuses attention on our critical urban forest. This year we will be honouring local tree heroes who have fought to preserve and expand our urban forest as well as acknowledge local businesses, schools and individuals who have created healthy urban forest habitat through landscaping. As in previous years, local photographers and artists who have captured the urban forest in pictures, poems, paintings and short stories will also receive recognition.

Unfortunately, since the south Atrium will be closed due to construction this event will be held in Council Chambers and in the North Atrium where there is limited seating. We would like to accommodate as many of our members as possible at this event so if you are interested in attending please notify Jennifer at tree.initiatives@sympatico.ca and, once attendance by honourees has been confirmed, she will let you know if there is still seating available.

Halton Green Screens in collaboration with Oakvillegreen presents the film:
Blue Gold — World Water Wars
Thursday, March 25th at 7 p.m

First 40 guests get in FREE! Sponsored by Oakville Smart Centre (see website for details: www.HaltonGreenScreens.ca)

Based on the ground-breaking book by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke, Executive Produced by Mark Achbar (The Corporation) and Si Litvinoff (The Man Who Fell to Earth), narrated by Malcolm McDowell, BLUE GOLD: WORLD WATER WARS sheds light on the world’s rapidly approaching water crisis and suggests that wars of the future will be fought over water, as they today over oil, as the source of all life enters the global marketplace and political arena.

Interactive discussion to follow with award-winning president of Oakvillegreen, Liz Benneian

Location: Encore Cinemas (Oakville Mews – north side Speers Road just west of Kerr St.)
Cost: $5. For more information, please visit the website at www.HaltonGreenScreens.ca

Canada at 150 – Halton Rising To the Challenge Workshop
Saturday, March 27th

Halton's leading thinkers will be attending the "Canada at 150" conference to discuss the issues that matter most to Canadians and Halton residents. This conference will feature webcasts from Montreal in addition to a vibrant and interesting panel right here in Halton. From at 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Sheridan College in Room G404. Any Oakvillegreen members wanting to attend some or all of the days event should contact Matt at canada150@gmail.com

Panelists include:
• Rob Burton (Mayor of Oakville)
• Wendy Schau (Milton Town Councillor)
• Dr. Jeff Zabudsky (President - Sheridan College)
• Brent Fullard (Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors)
• Anna Macquarie (Canadian Association of Community Living)
• Dr. Blake Poland (Community activist and Oakvillegreen Board member - environment, health)
• Dave Rogers (President - Transformative Energy Group)
• Ian Carey (Forest Ethics)
• Kurt Koster (President - Burlington Green)
• Joanna Matthews (Halton Multicultural Council)
• More to be announced

Moderators
• Paddy Torsney – former MPP Burlington, VP Capital Hill
• Jan Mowbray – Town Councillor, Milton

Schedule of Events:

* 8:30 to 9 a.m. — Coffee and Webcast of Keynote with David Dodge from Can150 in Montreal
* 9 to 9:30 a.m. — Welcome and Introductions
* 9:30 to 11 a.m. — Real Life Issues for Canadian Families: How Do We ‘Care’?
* 11:15 a.m. -12:45 p.m. — Energy, Environment, Economy: Growth and Responsibility in 2017
* 1:15-2:45 p.m. — The Creative and Competitive Economy
* 2:45 – 3 p.m. — Closing Remarks

Special - Members Only Event
Halton Multicultural Council Workshop for Environmental Groups in Oakville
Tuesday, March 30th from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

You are invited to a workshop the Halton Multicultural Council will be hosting for environmental groups in Oakville to deepen their understanding of growing cultural and faith-based communities. The workshop will begin with a short presentation on the changing demographics in Oakville.

There will then be a series of guided discussions, led by trained Cultural Ambassadors provided by the HMC. These discussions will provide environmental groups the opportunity to ask questions about what the needs and interests are in the Cultural Ambassadors’ communities that are relevant to their work. The outcome of this workshop will be a better understanding of baseline demographic and cultural information, as well as some insight on how to include diverse communities in environmental action in Oakville.

The workshop will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Oakville Town Hall, 1225 Trafalgar Road. Dinner will be provided. Please RSVP to Julia Ford by email at julia@weconserve.ca or by phone at 416-533-1635 x 2 by Friday March 26th.

Special - Members Only Event
Oakvillegreen hosts 5th Anniversary of the Greenbelt event
Harbour Banquet and Conference Centre on the Lake in Bronte
Thursday, April 1st

Join environmental leaders from around the province and from Halton Region for an evening that celebrates the 5th Anniversary of the creation of Ontario’s Greenbelt. Wendy Mesley, reporter, documentary filmmaker and co-host of Marketplace, CBC Television's award-winning prime-time investigative consumer show, will be the guest speaker. Enjoy VQA wine from the Greenbelt and hors d'œuvres. The event is free but space is limited. Please contact Nicola Lee at nlgreenbeltevents@gmail.com if you and your guest are able to attend.

10th Annual EcoFest
Saturday, April 17 and Sunday, April 18

Don’t miss this two-day event sponsored by the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights. Connect with green businesses and groups at the Glen Abbey Recreation Centre 1415 Third Line. Visit the Oakvillegreen booth and attend our workshop on green living on Sunday at 11:30!
Cost $5/adult; $2/student, senior. For more info go to www.haltonecofest.ca

A reminder that Saturday, March 27th is Earth Hour - please turn off your lights at 8:30 for an hour!

For more upcoming events, visit our website www.oakvillegreen.org or join www.meetup.com/ecopartners to receive reminder emails!

March 9th Update: Oakvillegreen members invited to special events

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:34:44 GMT

Special Members Only Event
Oakvillegreen hosts the Mayor’s Urban Forest Awards
Tuesday, March 23 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Special Members Only Event
Oakvillegreen hosts 5th Anniversary of the Greenbelt event
Harbour Banquet and Conference Centre on the Lake in Bronte
Thursday, April 1

Special Members Only Event
Halton Multicultural Council Workshop for Environmental Groups in Oakville
Tuesday, March 30th from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

You are invited to a workshop the Halton Multicultural Council will be hosting for environmental groups in Oakville to deepen their understanding of growing cultural and faith-based communities. The workshop will begin with a short presentation on the changing demographics in Oakville. There will then be a series of guided discussions, led by trained Cultural Ambassadors provided by the HMC. These discussions will provide environmental groups with the opportunity to ask questions about what the needs and interests are in the Cultural Ambassadors’ communities that are relevant to their work. The outcome of this workshop will be a better understanding of baseline demographic and cultural information, as well as some insight on how to include diverse communities in environmental action in Oakville.

The workshop will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Oakville Town Hall, 1225 Trafalgar Road. Dinner will be provided. Please RSVP to Julia Ford by email at julia@weconserve.ca or by phone at 416-533-1635 x 2 by Friday March 26th.

Other Events

Climate Change, Cap N’Trade, Ecological Debt
Saturday, March 20

John Dillon, Economic Justice Program Coordinator at KAIROS and distinguished author of "Power to Choose" (1981) on Canada's energy policy, and "Turning the Tide: Confronting the Money Traders" (1997) will be the featured speaker from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30p.m. at St. James Anglican Church, 137 Melville St Dundas off King St., near corner of Market and Melville, parking at rear. Small group sharing led by leaders of 350.org, Dundas in Transition and Eco Churches of West Hamilton.

Free of charge, all are welcome, refreshments will be served. For more information please contact Laura Martin 289-313-0741 or Sue Carson 905-304-3682 Sponsored by: Hamilton/Burlington KAIROS Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives & IDEA Burlington (Interfaith Development Education Association)

10th Annual EcoFest
Saturday, April 17 and Sunday, April 18

Don’t miss this two-day event sponsored by the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights. Connect with green businesses and groups at the Glen Abbey Recreation Centre 1415 Third Line. Visit the Oakvillegreen booth and attend our workshop on green living!
Cost $5/adult; $2/student, senior. For more info go to www.haltonecofest.ca

A reminder that Saturday, March 27th is Earth Hour - please turn off your lights at 8:30 for an hour!

Feb. 23rd Update: Hanlon Creek Defenders, 400-Acre Plan, Clean Jobs & More

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:31:25 GMT

An Oakvillegreen Special Event:
Meet the Hanlon Creek Defenders
Thursday, February 25

At dawn one day last summer in Guelph, Ontario, 60 people walked onto an industrial construction site and set up a temporary home, complete with a composting toilet, strawbale first aid tent, lookout tower and kitchen. Within hours, work on Guelph’s much opposed 675-acre Hanlon Creek Business Park, that would destroy the area’s last stand of old growth forest and the habitat of threatened wildlife, was shut down. Find out what happened next when you meet the Hanlon Creek Defenders from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the Oakville Room at Oakville’s Town Hall, 1225 Trafalgar Road from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Please feel free to invite friends to this special event.

Update: New 400-Acre Conservation Area Plan Approved

The Board of Conservation Halton has approved a plan for the creation of the Glenorchy Conservation Area, a new 400 hectare nature preserve in north Oakville. The lands that form Glenorchy were saved from development because of Oakvillegreen’s advocacy and the work of Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn. While the Province retains ownership of the land, Conservation Halton will manage the land. Its master plan focuses on restoration and enhancement of the natural environment with limited trails for recreation and education.

The plan complies with the lands designation as part of Oakville’s Natural Heritage System. Oakvillegreen attended every meeting on the creation of the new Conservation Area and provided much input. We thank all our members who contributed to the public hearings into this plan and we look forward to working with Conservation Halton in restoring Glenorchy to its full potential. As well, we thank Oakville MPP and previous ealy board members of Oakvillegreen for their unstinting advocacy to preserve this area for future generations.

Tell our Politicians that You Want Clean Energy Jobs

Please take a moment to tell the party leaders in Ottawa that you want them to pass a clean energy jobs law and to scale up investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

The U.S. is investing fourteen times more per person in energy efficiency and renewable energy than us, and countries like Germany and China are doing even more.

Call on federal political leaders to make clean energy jobs and pollution reduction a priority by signing the petition at: www.cleanenergyjobs.ca. Campaign led by ForestEthics.

Halton Green Screens Movie: Food Inc.
Thursday, February 25

Halton Green Screens presents Food, Inc., in which filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of the government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Cost: $5. At 7 p.m. at Encore Cinemas, 171 Speers Rd., Oakville. For more info go to: www.haltongreenscreens.ca

Citizens For Clean Air Rally at Queens Park
Tuesday, March 2

The residents’ group that’s organizing opposition to the gas-fired generating plant that’s proposed to be built in southeast Oakville is organizing at rally at Queen’s Park (the Ontario Legislature) at 780 University Ave. north of Wellesley Ave. in Toronto from noon to 1 p.m. For more info go to: www.c4ca.org

The residents’ group that’s organizing opposition to the gas-fired generating plant that’s proposed to be built in southeast Oakville is organizing at rally at Queen’s Park (the Ontario Legislature) at 780 University Ave. north of Wellesley Ave. in Toronto from noon to 1 p.m.

Volunteers Needed for 10th Annual EcoFest
Saturday April 17 & Sunday April 18

Don’t miss this two-day event sponsored by the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights. Connect with green businesses and groups at the Glen Abbey Recreation Centre 1415 Third Line. Cost $5/adult; $2/student, senior. For more info go to www.haltonecofest.ca

If you are interested in volunteering, there is a meeting on Thursday, March 4 from 7 pm to 8:30 pm. The meeting will take place in the program room on the second floor of the Central Public Library which is located in downtown Oakville at the corner of Lakeshore and Navy.