I first came to know about Ecology Ottawa when I was looking for summer internships, and I mean, what better way to profess my love to the environment by joining the Ottawa city renewable team! My passion for the environment sparked during the BP oil spill. The spill caused a lot of harm to the fragile ecosystem that resided there. This was the first time it showed me the extent to which human beings have an impact on the planet.
Who says one kid can't make a difference?
It all started as an elementary school project and has now transformed into a city project.
After months of collecting data, a student in Nova Scotia has managed to determine the high levels of bacteria in the Bridgewater N.S. river. The cause was the release of untreated sewage in the water from straight pipes coming from 600 homes.
On Wednesday, July 20th, the Shenkman Arts Centre in Orléans hosted the last of Ottawa’s Canada Climate Action consultations. With over 100 people filling the room, Ecology Ottawa volunteers hurried to get extra chairs into the tightly packed room. The consultation started with brief presentations by Orleans MP Andrew Leslie and MPP Marie-France Lalonde: they provided basic scientific facts and short overviews of initiatives undertaken by their governments. The spotlight then shifted onto participants as Leslie asked specific questions: How do we cut emissions? How do we price carbon? The floor was open to anyone wishing to speak, which led to a flurry of comments, rants, and accusations that often didn’t answer what was asked and went over the thirty-second limit. As comments flowed, note-takers eagerly wrote so as to capture the output of the democratic exercise, which will end once those notes are properly digitized, formatted, and uploaded to the climate change consultation website.
Bike Love in Ottawa!!!!
This Friday, July 29th, you are invited to drop in for a fun “Bike Love” summer social event at Maker House (987 Wellington St. West in Hintonburg, beside the LCBO). For those not yet familiar, the store is a new social enterprise (8-months old) with a curated collection of handmade home and furniture made by over 100 local artisans, from candles to coffee tables. Maker House will be donating $2,300 to non-profit Right Bike this month as their recent #CraftChange partner, and for the next quarter (July-Sept) they are raising money for Ecology Ottawa!!!!
Hundreds of plant species endemic to Sri Lanka exist. These plants have been used for many purposes throughout generations, such as for the healing arts, and for strengthening building structures.
Unfortunately, knowledge of these plants is disappearing. Current generations are becoming more accustomed to modern technology and focusing less on nature around them.
Did you know one hundred kilometers of kelp forest were destroyed by marine heatwave between 2010 and 2013?
The Great Southern Reef includes a 2300km area of kelp forest. The reef is home to the nations’ most fisheries with an economic value of 10 billion dollars.
The destruction of the kelp caused the extinction of 370 square kilometers of rocky cool climate reefs. The area soon became home to seaweeds and tropical fish which prevented kelp from growing.
Many of you know us as Tree Ottawa, an Ecology Ottawa initiative striving to plant one million trees by 2017 for Canada's 150th birthday. This process has taken us numerous months, and there is no denying the amount of time it takes to make this happen.
India has done the same work we're trying to do, just 50 times faster.
In an attempt to bring awareness to conservation and to help air quality in smoggy cities, India hosted a massive tree planting in Uttar Pradest, a populous state in the north of their country. More than 800,000 people came out, ranging in both age and occupation. Students, housewives, government workers, and various others all came together to plant roughly 50 million trees (49.3 million to be exact) in 24 hours.
Care about trees? Want to help get more trees into the ground, nation-wide?
Tree Canada, a non-for-profit charitable organization, currently has two job opportunities! They are looking for a Development Assistant and a Program Manager. The deadline to apply for the Development Assistant is July 22nd, 2016, and for Program Manager it is August 4th, 2016. These dates are getting close, so make sure to apply soon!
Crowds of protesters gathered at the Siemens headquarters in Germany and the Netherlands to oppose the company’s’ project in building the Sao Luiz do Tapajos hydroelectric dam.
If the dam is completed, it would flood an area of 400km squared and damage the lives of the Munduruku Indigenous people who’ve resided there for years.
Activists used the trunk of an illegitimately logged Amazon tree to show the potential deforestation that the project would cause if it occurred. They also marked a red line around Siemens headquarters to highlight the separation of indigenous territory from the Brazilian government as this is the only way for indigenous peoples to gain rights in their ancestral lands.