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Ecology Ottawa - highlights - archive

Presentation to city on proposed changes to official plan

Ecology Ottawa is warning residents that changes to the city’s official plan that have been proposed by municipal staff would lock Ottawa into sprawling, unsustainable development patterns. The group will present their position Tuesday to the city’s planning and rural affairs committees, who are meeting to review the proposed amendments. The plan goes to city council for approval in May.

For more information, or to read our submission to the city on this plan, click here.

City must ramp up measures for green buildings

Ecology Ottawa has released a report that outlines a three-part strategy for the city to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and waste from Ottawa's buildings. Building Ottawa's Energy Revolution: How the City of Ottawa Can Encourage Greener Building Practices calls upon the city to adopt several policies that have been used by other cities to increase environmental standards in new construction.

See the media release and read the report here.

Ecology Ottawa thanks everyone who signed our petition to city council to end the transit strike.  In only 7 days, over 4,600 Ottawa residents signed the petition, which was delivered to city council on Wednesday, January 28th. 

The social and economic upheaval experienced during this strike serves to underscore the importance of a strong public transit system to our city's ability to function. So let's make sure that 2009 isn't the year that short-term thinking about economic woes pushes a sustainable transportation future off of the city's agenda once again!

Find out how you can take action here.

Speak up for public's right to participate in planning decisions

Please help defend the public’s right to challenge environmentally questionable development decisions made by the city.

An Ontario court has ordered to the non-profit Greenspace Alliance responsible for the city's legal costs from an earlier court case in which the alliance had challenged the city's approval of a housing development in Ottawa South in an effort to protect the provincially significant Leitrim Wetland.

On Tuesday, February 3, city councillors will consider a motion for the city to cease pursuing the Greenspace Alliance for these legal costs. Please support this motion by writing to the mayor and your councillor. 

For more information, see here.

On December 3, Ecology Ottawa made a presentation to city council, urging our mayor and councillors not to scrimp on environmental initiatives while slurging on sprawl in the city's 2009 budget.

Read more here.

Ottawa mayor and councillors dragging feet on environmental progress

In a repeat of last year's lukewarm performance on the environment, Mayor O'Brien and the majority of city councillors coasted through 2008 without decisively pursuing the strong environmental actions that are needed to tackle Ottawa's environmental challenges. Find out who scored well, who failed, and what the key environmental decisions made at city hall were in the 2008 Council Watch Report, released today by Ecology Ottawa and the Ottawa Local Group of the Sierra Club of Canada.

It's budget time at city hall, and once again councillors are considering slashing transit service, along with funding for everything from recreation to public health. What isn't on the chopping block, however, is the one thing that should be: the city's extravagant budget for new roads.

Now's the time to sign Ecology Ottawa's petition for a five-year moratorium on new roads. We want to see the money that the city has earmarked for extending and widening roads shifted instead towards transit and pedestrian and cycling infrastructure. With your help, we can send a strong message to city council that we want a city built for sustainable, healthy modes of transportation -- not the dead end of an ever-expanding road network.

Find out more and sign the petition here.

Are you Bullfrog powered yet?

In our ongoing efforts to lead Ottawa toward a more sustainable, clean and green energy future, Ecology Ottawa has worked out a special offer with Bullfrog Power, Ontario's only residential retailer of renewable green electricty. Sign up and receive $25 off the first bill. We don't receive any money in return, just the satisfaction of knowing the air will be cleaner.

Simply visit www.bullfrogpower.com. Enter: ecology (one word, lower case) in the promotional code field, and to sign up to one of Canada's cleanest electricity producers! And be sure to spread the word about this special offer to your neighbours and friends.

Ecology Ottawa has introduced its first set of "greenprints" for a sustainable city. These policy papers propose zoning regulations to reduce the size of parking lots and to ensure residents' access to solar energy. They are the first in a series of a dozen greenprints to be released by Ecology Ottawa throughout the year. Each will identify a specific action that city council can take to make Ottawa a more sustainable city. The greenprints are based on environmental best practices in other North American cities, many of which are leaps and bounds ahead of Ottawa when it comes to sustainability.

Check out the greenprints here.

Find-A-Watt, Kill-A-Watt

Ever wondered what's making your electricity bill so high?

You can find out just how much energy each of your appliances is using, with a “Kill-A-Watt” power meter – available for loan from any branch of the Ottawa Public Library. The power meter is a simple device that plugs into an electrical outlet. You can then plug any appliance into the meter for a reading of its electricity use. Reserve one online, and get ready to start saving some watts!

Check out Ecology Ottawa's Top 10 Action Steps

Find out what you can do now to reduce your ecological footprint. Check out our Top 10 Action Steps