Toronto community gardens
April 30, 2008
Itching to flex your green thumb but missing the space to scratch it? Think about getting involved in a community garden in your neighbourhood. Creating a garden can have positive environmental, economic, and social impacts, fostering cultural understanding and a connection to local ecosystems. Community gardens are safe, beautiful outdoor spaces. They may be sandwiched between two buildings, on the outskirts of the city, alongside railroad tracks or next to your local 7/11. They can be used to produce sustainable food resources or just dolled up to look pretty.
The green goods
April 30, 2008
Cool green stuff we stumbled across this week:
Is your lunch causing global warming? Help reduce carbon emissions by making planet-friendly food choices. Put your meal to the test with the low carbon diet calculator.
Mark your calendars for Oct. 5: Live Earth is back and ready to rock. Locations, bands and all other specifics are yet to be determined, but Kevin Wall, founder of last summer’s international concert extravaganza, says that the October shows will be held on U.S. college campuses with a focus on pushing the presidential candidates to address environmental issues.
Green Toronto Award winners
April 29, 2008
Congratulations to the eleven winners of the city’s Green Toronto Awards, presented last Friday at the Green Living Show by Mayor David Miller and Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone. The Green Toronto Awards recognize individuals, organizations and companies helping to lead the way to a cleaner, greener Toronto.
Celebrate urban biodiversity with David Suzuki
April 28, 2008
Join Dr. David Suzuki, Bob McDonald (host of CBC radio’s Quirks & Quarks), journalist Gill Deacon, gardening guru Marjorie Harris and bee expert Laurence Packer to celebrate Mother Nature’s little helpers - pollinators. The Suzuki Foundation is hosting two great events this Saturday, May 3, where you can learn from the experts about enhancing neighbourhoods with eco-gardens, plant and pollinator identification, biodiversity for food security, and native plants. Meet fellow gardeners, naturalists and locavores!
Green word watch
April 27, 2008
ecosexual (noun) \EEK-oh-SEK-shoo-uhl\
1. A term describing a person, in a dating sense, who is socially and environmentally conscious. Similar to metrosexual, but for someone who wears and buys organic items and drives a hybrid car.
In a sentence: My sister is looking to date an ecosexual guy, someone to share organic meals and bicycle trips to the farmers’ market.
Local green programming
April 27, 2008
Rogers Cable is getting in on the green movement with A Greener Toronto, a cable show dedicated to all things green in the city that made its debut earlier this month. A Greener Toronto aims to explore planet-friendly living with a mix of information, motivating insights and helpful hints. Guests will include professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds, including environmentalists, non-profit organizations, local business owners and viewers who are trying to make a difference.
Surviving the strike
April 26, 2008
Looking for eco-friendly alternatives to getting around during the city’s surprise transit strike? With a little planning, you might find that walking, cycling or carpooling will do the trick while saving you money on fuel, improving your health and keeping the planet clean.
Got a great green idea?
April 26, 2008
Get your thinking caps on, Toronto. The city has plans to pay its citizens to go green. Starting next month, staff with the Live Green Toronto program – which will receive $20 million in city funding over five years – will begin meeting with residents to discuss carbon-saving projects it will help subsidize. With an initial target of a 6 percent decrease in carbon emissions by 2012, Mayor David Miller said the plan’s success depends on residents creating change.
Help renew our urban forest
April 25, 2008
Each year an annual Trees Across Toronto city-wide planting event is held on the last Saturday of April - that’s tomorrow! Show up at one of five planting sites between 10am and 12pm on April 26 to learn how to plant a tree and help grow our urban forest.
More bike lanes, please
April 25, 2008
Toronto’s bicycling infrastructure scores low compared with other world cities, according to a new report card released by the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT) and the Clean Air Partnership. On average, only 4 percent of commuters bike to work in Toronto, whereas in cities with more established commuter cycling, such as Copenhagen and Amsterdam, bicycling is the primary mode of transportation for one out of three commuters. Toronto’s per capita budget is one tenth of what London (UK) spends for cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.
