Media Releases

Ottawa Streets Getting Better and Greener!

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On October 14 Ottawa City Council passed the Complete Streets Implementation Framework. This is great news! This means that road projects in Ottawa will now factor in the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, public transit users and vehicles. This is an important step forward in support of active transportation and sustainability in the city. And it gets better: a very important amendment to the framework was accepted, changing how trees and vegetation are considered when planning a roadwork project in Ottawa. The guidelines now include trees as follows: “…will include specific consideration of street trees and other vegetation/bio-swale options to create Green Street Designs as per the Urban Tree Strategy…”

You In?

What an election! For the first time in almost ten years Ottawa’s municipal, provincial AND federal governments are all promising to show leadership on climate change and the environment. We need to seize this day and that’s why Ecology Ottawa has joined a massive coalition that is organizing a family-friendly march in the City of Ottawa on November 29.

We’ll march from 1:00pm to 4:00pm at Parliament Hill. We have an historic opportunity to be heard by our new Prime Minister and federal government in their first month in power and we are calling on all our supporters to please get involved. Are you in?

100% Possible - Climate March - November 29

Pour le français, cliquez ici.

What’s happening on Sunday November 29th? We'll be marching from Ottawa City Hall to Parliament Hill!

We will come together at Ottawa City Hall at 12:30PM, where there will be speeches and activities. We'll then march from 1:30pm to 2:30pm towards Parliament Hill. Between 2:30 and 3PM, we'll stand on Parliament Hill before dispersing.

Norma's Story - An Animated Short

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Norma's Story is less than 6 minutes of animation, but it covers a lot of ground! It is the first in the First Hand Climate Stories series that brother and sister team, Alex and Karen Hawley have created. (Karen an Ecology Ottawa Alumnus)

Norma Kassi is a Gwitchin' elder from Old Crow, Yukon. She tells in her own words what growing up within her community in the 1950s was like. Even the children helped with hunting and gathering food from the land. Understanding the ebb and flow of the seasons made survival for the Gwithin' possible in the far norther community of Old Crow. But that knowledge doesn't hold, with climate change impacting seasons and weather patterns. Those, like the Gwitchin' – hit hardest by climate chaos – are least responsible for the causes of our change climate.

Ottawa Horticultural Society Event: Edibles in the Garden: Vegetables and Yummy Additions: with Paul Zammit

Join the Ottawa Horticultural Society on October 27th at 7:30 p.m for an exciting event featuring Paul Zammit, the Director of The Toronto Botanical Garden. The session is called "Edibles in the Garden: Vegetables and Yummy Additions: Paul Zammit" and will be held at Tom Brown Arena, 141 Bayview Road in Ottawa.

Paul Zammit is the Nancy Eaton Director of Horticulture at the Toronto Botanical Garden. A graduate of the University of Guelph's Plant Agriculture program, Paul is an active member of many Canadian and international gardening communities. He lectures on a wide array of subjects, including container gardening, perennials, ground covers and tropicals. He is a regular speaker at garden clubs and horticultural trade shows across Canada and in the United States. He has appeared both on television and in print.

Ottawa has to cycle and walk the talk starting now.

Nancy Biggs, a long term Ecology Ottawa volunteer, has made many contributions to environmental sustainability in Ottawa. What follows is her delegation to the Transportation Committee at Ottawa City Hall October 7, 2015:

"In the Complete Streets Implementation Framework it was noted that the complete street project addresses the TCPs, Strategic Objectives TM2 and TM4. TM2 provides and promotes infrastructure to support safe mobility choices and TM4 improves safety for all road users. I would encourage council to follow through with the Strategic Initiatives goal to complete 100% of the Phase 1 Transportation Master Plan cycling projects by Q4 2018, committing $2,040,000 per year for cycling and $1,125,000 per year for pedestrians.

Media Release: Poll Suggests Liberal Lead in Both Nepean and Kanata-Carleton Ridings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Ottawa) October 13, 2015: A new poll of voting intentions in the ridings of Kanata-Carleton and Nepean, conducted by Environics Research and commissioned by Leadnow and Ecology Ottawa, suggests that the Liberals have pulled into the lead in the ridings of Kanata-Carleton and Nepean.

“These ridings have turned into a close race between the Liberals and the Conservatives,” said Graham Saul, Executive Director of Ecology Ottawa. “These are areas that voted Conservative by huge margins in the 2011 election, so the poll results are striking."

Tree Ottawa Charity of the Month at Moksha Orleans!

Moksha Yoga is a group of independent hot yoga studios committed to ethical, compassionate and environmentally conscious living. A big part of Moksha Yoga means taking your practice off the mat and into the community.

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Moksha Yoga Orleans have generously added Tree Ottawa to their long list of important organizations that they donate to! Through their Karma Class Funds and studio events, they will spread the word of our initiative while proceeds from the Karma class will go toward supporting Tree Ottawa. For more information on Moksha Yoga Orleans, check out their website here: http://orleans.mokshayoga.ca/

Avison Young inspirational Tree Planting!

Local Real Estate Company, Avison Young, puts their money where their mouth is, and buys 325 trees to plant with Tree Ottawa on RVCA land!

Real Estate Company Avison Young is giving back to Ottawa by purchasing and planting 325 trees on their company’s “Day of Giving”, October 15^th from 9am-12pm. They will be planting at Chapman Mills, land that was cleared out by the Emerald Ash Borer, land owned by the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority.

Poets Pathway unveiling!

The Saturday bike-hike, October 17, will begin at Britannia Beach at 9am, at the first Poets' Pathway plaque, near the pier. We will bike for about an hour to the City of Ottawa’s James Bartleman Archives on Tallwood at Woodroffe, and then hike for about 2 hours. We will stop for lunch at Les Grillades near the Rideau River before being shuttled back to our cars at Britannia. Each day we will read the poems along the way.

Surprise in FOUR Ottawa area ridings: State of the race in Ottawa-West-Nepean, Orleans, Nepean, and Kanata-Carleton

Over the last few weeks, a series of polls has redefined the state of the electoral race in four local ridings. While some had originally looked like safe seats for incumbents, and others had looked like three-way races, we can now say that with more confidence that there are now a series of two-way races developing in several parts of the city. There's a good chance that these ridings could see new representatives come election day.

Environmental Defence: Comparison of the federal parties climate policies

Environmental Defence and Équiterre have launched an updated comparison looking at the federal parties’ main climate policies. Only six weeks after Canada’s federal election, national governments will gather in Paris for United Nations talks to finalize a global climate change agreement. Recent polls show that Canadians are looking for greater leadership from the federal government on climate change.