Media Releases

Native Tree Profile #2: Eastern White Pine

By: Owen Clarkin and Elizaveta Lisovskaya

[caption id="attachment_2962" align="alignright" width="112"] Needle form - clusters of 5 needles[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2963" align="alignright" width="112"] Twig form[/caption]

Eastern White Pine is noted for its beauty, height, and historical significance. The tree has a distinctive growth habit, with usually a single straight trunk and wide-spreading horizontal branches; in maturity the crown becomes irregular, with prominent individual lateral branches.

Huge opportunity for cycling, walkability and public transit

The City of Ottawa is planning on tearing up a street in your neighborhood and the only question is: "What will the street look like when they put it back together again and do you have a say in the matter?"

Ecology Ottawa has just posted a list of all the planned street renewal and reconstruction projects in the City of Ottawa over the next four years. You can find the list, divided up by Ward, here.

Clean Water Team Documents Release

With the City of Ottawa having released Phase 1 of their Water Environment Strategy, played host to a Water Roundtable public consultation Saturday, June 14th, and set stormwater management clearly in their sights for the development of the Water Environment Strategy Phase 2, Ecology Ottawa feels action on water issues has built up an incredible potential for progress. Now we must press the City to keep that going. Never has there been a more important time to rallying around our city's most crucial resource - water.

Anticipated Street Renewals in Your Ward!

The street that you live on is more than just a thoroughfare for cars. It's also a place, it's a destination, it's an extension of your home, and it's something to be proud of. When the city tears up your street, do you want a say in what it will look like when they put it back together again? If you enjoy riding your bike, walk around your neighbourhood, or if you rely on public transit, then this is the opportunity to have your voice heard!If you want to help Ecology Ottawa push for complete streets in your area, please take a look at the list of anticipated street renewals for your ward below. These lists are a huge opportunity because they serve as a kind of "street map" for building a better neighbourhood. The city has made it clear that the most cost effective and efficient way to start widespread implementation of Complete Streets is by including aspects in upcoming street renewal projects. Transit, bike lanes, and wider sidewalks will not be part of the plan though unless we make it clear to the City that we want them. This is why we need your help to make sure Complete Streets are prioritized!

Petrie Island Spring Clean-up 2014

On Saturday May 31 and Saturday June 7, Friends of Petrie Island, Ecology Ottawa, Ottawa Riverkeeper and other committed volunteers came together to clean up and protect the wetlands of Petrie Island. One of many islands in the Ottawa River, Petrie Island constitutes a local treasure full of beautiful green colours, blooming flowers, turtle habitats, freshwater ponds and a wide diversity of animal species.

Suggested Candidate Email

To:

Please send the email to all the candidates in your riding. You can send the email to them individually, or all at once. See the bottom of the page for a list of emails. If you don't know your riding, click here to find it.

Subject:

Energy East Pipeline and the Election

Important:

Please add your own name at the bottom of the message. Also feel free to customize your message.

Contact Your Candidate

Thank you for your interest in raising your concerns about the Energy East pipeline with your local candidate.

Click on your riding below to send an email to your candidates. Please feel free to customize your email as you see fit, and please do add your name at the bottom.

If that doesn’t work, please click here to be able to copy and paste the suggested text to your email client (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, etc).

Annual Report 2013

Download the PDF here or view it below.

O'Connor Street Bikeway on its Way! You're invited to the planning workshop

Just got this notice from the City of Ottawa. Sounds like an exciting project!

O’Connor Street Bikeway Functional Planning Study

Notice of Study Commencement and Planning Workshop Thursday June 26, 2014 Colonel By Room, Ottawa City Hall, 110 Laurier Avenue West 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Registration is required: Space is limited, so please register by sending an email to [email protected] by June 23.

Complete Streets Strategy Report Draft Release

[caption id="attachment_3410" align="alignleft" width="300"] Photo Credit: The Ottawa Citizen[/caption]

Over 60 active transportation advocates, organizations, and community leaders from across the Nation’s Capital took part in Ecology Ottawa’s Complete Streets Strategy Forum held on March 28^th, 2014. The one-day event featured a panel discussion from Councillors Egli, Chernushenko, Fleury, Holmes, and Wilkinson, followed by an interactive strategy session whereby participants discussed ways to help ensure that walking, cycling, and public transit would continue to be prioritized in the city.

Summer Student Job Opportunity

Ecology Ottawa
Event Coordinator
Full time, June 16 – August 29, 2014

Scope of Work:
The Event Coordinator will focus primarily on two activities: 1) coordinating outreach boothing around the City, and 2) supporting our Fall Gala volunteer team. Boothing at summer festivals and community events allows Ecology Ottawa to extend our reach beyond “the usual suspects”. The Fall Gala is Ecology Ottawa’s biggest annual event. The coordination and support of this volunteer team over the summer months is crucial to the events success.

Background:
Ecology Ottawa is a volunteer-driven organization working to make Ottawa the green capital of Canada. We believe that Ottawa residents are concerned about issues such as pollution, waste, and global warming, and that they want sustainable communities where clean air and water, public transit, renewable energy, recycling, and green space protection take priority. We are working with residents and community organizations to ensure that these concerns are heard by decision makers in Ottawa.

Roles and Responsibilities:
• Coordinating Ecology Ottawa outreach booths at summer festivals and community events.
• Recruiting, training and supervising volunteers and interns, who play an integral role in the outreach strategy.
• Organizing and facilitating farm hand volunteers to help at local farms.
• Providing the Fall Gala planning team with direction, resources and active support to develop work plans and carry out the Gala event.
• Ensuring maintenance and effective use of the online outreach database tool used by Ecology Ottawa
• Supporting fundraising and reporting tasks associated with the project
• Carrying out other activities, as necessary.

The successful candidate will have a combination of:
- Passion for environmental issues and community organizing
- Demonstrated experience and interest in community organizing and outreach
- Experience and aptitude for managing volunteers and interns, and the ability to work with a diversity of partners
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and French would be an asset.
- Excellent in-person and phone presentation manner.
- Ability to work independently, as well as in a small team, and can manage multiple projects and responsibilities simultaneously.
- Demonstrated interest in municipal and environmental issues.
- Ability to work legally in Canada.
- Ability to work nights and weekends.
- Immediate availability.

Compensation: $13/hour
Period: Full time, 10 weeks, June 16-August 29, 2014

To apply: Please send a cover letter outlining why you would be the perfect Events Coordinator and CV to [email protected]. Only complete applications sent by email will be considered.

Closing date: June 9, 2014
Anticipated start date: June 16, 2014.

We thank all those who apply, but only short-listed candidates will be contacted. No phone calls or enquiries please. Ecology Ottawa is committed to employment equity, and encourages applications from all qualified candidates.

For further information about Ecology Ottawa, please visit our website at www.ecologyottawa.ca

Écologie Ottawa

Coordonnateur ou coordonnatrice des événements

Temps plein, 16 juin au 29 août 2014

Le coordonnateur ou la coordonnatrice des événements aura deux tâches principales: la coordination des efforts de sensibilisation à travers la ville et appuyer l’équipe de bénévoles de notre gala annuel. Nous tentons d’être présents lors de divers événements et festivals dans la ville dans le but d’augmenter notre capacité d’avoir des conversations autour des problématiques environnementales locales. Le gala annuel est une de nos activités de financement les plus importantes. La coordination de cette équipe de bénévoles durant l’été, est cruciale pour assurer le succès de nos événements.

Écologie Ottawa est un organisme communautaire à but non lucratif composé de bénévoles qui travaillent pour qu’Ottawa devienne la capitale verte du Canada. Nous croyons que les résidents d’Ottawa se soucient des enjeux environnementaux tels que les changements climatiques, la pollution et la réduction des déchets. Nous croyons aussi que les résidents désirent des collectivités durables, où la priorité est accordée aux sources énergies propres, à l’air pur et à l’eau potable, au transport en commun, au recyclage et à la protection des espaces verts. Nous offrons aux résidents les renseignements et les outils dont ils ont besoin pour qu’ils puissent comprendre les questions environnementales locales et promouvoir un leadership environnemental à l’hôtel de ville.

Tâches et responsabilités :

Coordonner les kiosques d’information d’Écologie Ottawa lors d’événements et de festivals.
Recruter, entraîner et superviser les bénévoles et les stagiaires, qui jouent un rôle important dans notre stratégie de sensibilisation.
Organiser et appuyer les ouvriers agricoles bénévoles qui travailleront sur les fermes locales.
Fournir à notre équipe de planification du gala d’automne des directives, des ressources et un soutien actif pour développer des plans de travail et voir à la réalisation du gala.
Assurer l’entretien et l’utilisation efficace de notre base de données servant à la sensibilisation utilisée par Écologie Ottawa.
Soutenir les activités de financement et soumettre les rapports associés au projet.
Assumer d’autres tâches, selon besoin

Notre candidat(e) idéal(e)aura les habiletés suivantes :

Passionné(e) par les questions envirionnementales local es et l’organisation communautaire.
Démontré que la personne a de l’intérêt et de l’expérience en organisation communautaire et en sensibilisation.
Avoir de l’expérience et une aptitude à gérer des bénévoles et des stagiaires et la capacité à travailler avec divers partenaires.
Excellente habileté de rédaction et de communication verbale en anglais et en français serait un atout
Professionnalisme aussi en personne qu’au téléphone
Capacité de travailler individuellement et en petit groupe, et pouvoir gérer une multitude de projets et de responsabilités simultanément.
Démontré de l’intérêt pour les questions environnementales et municipales.
Capacité de travailler légalement au Canada.
Disponibilité en soirées et les fins de semaines.
Disponible immédiatement.

Rémunération : 13 $ / heure

Temps plein, 10 semaines, du 16 juin au 29 août 2014

Pour postuler : Veuillez nous envoyer une lettre de présentation qui démontre pourquoi vous seriez le coordonnateur ou la coordonnatrice des événements idéal(e) accompagnée de votre c.v. Envoyez ces documents par courriel à [email protected]. Seulement les demandes complètes seront prises en considération.

Date limite pour postuler : 9 juin 2014

Date de début prévue : 16 juin 2014

Nous remercions tous ceux et celles qui ont postulé ce poste, mais seuls les candidats présélectionnés seront contactés. Veuillez vous abstenir de nous appeler à ce sujet. Écologie Ottawa souscrit au principe de l’équité en matière d’emploi et encourage toutes les personnes qualifiées à soumettre leur application.

Pour de plus amples renseignements, rendez-vous sur notre site : www.écologieottawa.ca

Native Tree Profile #1: American Elm