April 21st is the eve of Earth Day. It's also the day on which the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce decided to host Stefan Baranski, Ontario director of TransCanada, to promote Energy East, a 130 million litre of oil per day project (most of that being dilbit). We believe that this is either insensitive or intentionally provocative. Our executive director, Graham Saul, wrote the Chamber.
Ecology Ottawa is teaming up with Groupe d'Action d'Équiterre en Outaouais, along with the Centre Québécois du Droit de l'Environnement to present Pipelines, pouvoir et démocratie in Gatineau next Wednesday, March 30th at 7PM. It's a movie by director Olivier Asselin, and a National Film Board production, and the showing is at Lucien Brault Campus of Université du Québec en Outaouais (101 St-Jean-Bosco, room A-0200).
Time is precious, and we seem to waste so much of it stuck in traffic. Congestion pricing can be a part of the solution. Traffic congestion has enormous economic costs, as well as health care costs due to air pollution. The money raised with tolls can be used to repair Ottawa's potholes, reduce property taxes and make public transit more affordable. 
Do you like making videos? Are you interested in helping get the word out about toxins - hazardous substances that can affect our health - and what can be done to avoid them? Do you want to be part of making our world a healthier place? If yes, the EduTOX Video Challenge is for you.
Janette Sadik-Khan, co-author of Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution and former Transportation Commissioner for New York City, will be in Ottawa on Wednesday April 27 2016 to talk about how she re-imagined public spaces and helped transform the streets New York – one of the world's greatest, toughest cities – into dynamic spaces for pedestrians and cyclists.
The City is considering making improvements to Byron Avenue (Sherbourne Road to Island Park Drive), and would like your feedback. Please complete the online questionnaire before May 25 to give the City your input. Your comments could play an important role in the decisions being made - Tell the City how Byron Avenue can improve its cycling and pedestrian safety, as well as its current speeding issues.
Should the city find out what works in other places?
On April 6 city councillors will consider a motion to study best practices for reducing traffic congestion. The idea is to have this knowledge before 2018 when the city redoes its Transportation Master Plan.
This motion IS NOT to impose road tolls in Ottawa.
David Chernushenko made the case in a CBC radio interview.
With the warm weather back, it's time to make your summer outdoor adventure plans now.
The Outdoor & Adventure Travel Show's 5th Anniversary Special is on March 19 - 20, at the EY Centre in Ottawa, and tickets are on sale now:http://www.adventureottawa.ca/#!blank/o08r6 (PS: Buying online not only saves you money on admission, but also gets you entered into a draw for a FREE whitewater rafting adventure at Wilderness Tours!)
Click here for Ottawa Riverkeeper's page introducing the problems associated with microbreads.
The federal government wants to ban microbeads from facial cleansers, toothpaste and other products.
Forest fires can be normal and natural. Here's why:
They help “clean up” forests and keep them healthy.
But for years, many Americans looked upon forest fires as something bad—something that needed to be stamped out. So that’s what we tried to do.
That approach caused problems:
Here's an example of what can be done.
Salus offers housing for adults with mental illness. They are building the largest scale multi-residential affordable housing project built to Passive House standards in North America. It is also the first affordable housing project in the world targeting International Passive Housing certification in a Northern Climate.