Wednesday 2nd June is Clean Air Day. What better way to celebrate than with the launch of Ecology Ottawa’s Breathe Easy campaign 2021! Volunteers will use a simple mobile air monitoring device while walking, rolling, riding, or running near where the city’s most vulnerable residents gather. We love working with Ottawa’s most dedicated volunteers and can’t wait to meet this year’s Breathe Easy team.
Tree Giveaway - Volunteer Orientation
Are you passionate about restoring Ottawa’s urban tree canopy? Or are you looking to get meaningful and rewarding volunteer hours for school?
We are looking for passionate volunteers for boothing at our tree giveaways, and drivers to transport our baby trees safely to our community partners’ tree giveaway locations! Are you interested in getting volunteer hours, or simply helping out in your community? This may be the opportunity for you!
Pushing changes into the draft Official Plan
The Official Plan is Ottawa’s major land use and policy document, and will shape our city for at least the next 25 years. Something this big demands major public engagement, and Ottawans have stepped up in a big way. We’ve seen 500-person rallies to stop sprawl, packed Saturday morning Zoom workshops on neighbourhood design, and overwhelming public input into arcane city processes. We’ve seen community outrage at last-minute land use decisions like the Tewin development, and missives from senior city officials pointing to “unprecedented engagement” from the public.
Ottawa Loves a Doughnut
Ottawa loves a doughnut. This was made abundantly clear when over 400 people gathered digitally on March 31 to discuss how “Doughnut Economics” could lead to a more equitable and sustainable Ottawa.
Whose road is it anyway?
Ottawa is an excellent cycling city—how many times have you heard this statement while talking with neighbours and friends? Although Ottawa may have an admirable collection of multi-use pathways (MUPs) that are safe and accessible for all users, ages, and abilities, they rely on a safe road network to connect them. Unfortunately, many of our roads lack the appropriate infrastructure needed to make them safe, jeopardising the accessibility of our cycling network.
Climate Change and Tom Rand
What is climate capitalism? On Wednesday April 28th we heard from Tom Rand to discuss this question. Over 100 Ecology Ottawa supporters tuned in to participate in a topical and thought provoking discussion around the intersection of climate action and economics. How do we, in Tom Rand's words, "use the most powerful tool available to us to solve the biggest problem we face?" In this 90 minute recording, we think about whether "climate capitalism" is an oxymoron, or a pragmatic synthesis.
The Future of Ottawa Parks and Recreation: My Very First Consultation
A few weeks ago I had the chance to attend my first series of consultations held by the city of Ottawa. These consultations were regarding the future of parks and recreation in the city and consisted of 6 separate 2-3 hour long sessions. I must admit, at first I felt very out of place as I am only 18 years old and was surrounded by citizens that were often twice my age. While thrilling, I do not think I would have participated in these consultations if it wasn’t for my involvement with Ecology Ottawa. Nonetheless, it opened my eyes to the importance of getting involved in the community to impact positive change.
15-Minute Neighbourhood Survey
Ecology Ottawa has just completed a survey to help identify which Ottawa neighbourhoods score well in terms of walkability – one of the key aspects of 15-minute neighbourhoods which have been proposed in the City’s draft Official Plan.
305 respondents living across Ottawa completed the survey and as well as quantitative data, respondents provided many suggestions of how they would like their neighbourhood to be changed or improved in the future. It is noted that this survey catches a very small sample size of City residents, but we hope it indicates in broad strokes the many steps which must yet be taken to transition to 15-minute neighbourhoods.
Debunking The Myth That Climate Action Is Too Expensive
How many times have you heard political pundits say that the public supports climate action, so long as it doesn’t affect their pocketbook? This claim is based on a false assumption that climate action is unaffordable, and, unfortunately, this “myth of unaffordability” leads many political leaders to be too timid when it comes to properly financing climate change mitigation. We’re here to show the skeptics that investing in climate change mitigation, if done right, is actually a smart financial decision paying huge dividends.