Waste Reduction
Tofino By-Law Would Ban Franchises
The District of Tofino is currently drafting a by-law that would ban franchises from setting up shop in the district. The legislation aims to protects the uniqueness of the community. Read more here.Vancouver School Board Introduces High School Sustainability Course
SOLARIS, a 4 credit, year long course in sustainability, is being offered to Vancouver students in grades 11 and 12. The course will focus on a range of topics from housing and transportation to forestry and fisheries. Read more here.School grows greener graduates; Dedicated students teachers staff at Reynolds High School lead way in environmental education
Over the last few years, the Green Spaces Project has gone from concept to reality, with landscaping, gardening and educational activities transforming areas of the school into welcoming and sustainable micro-ecosystems.
New West school district says goodbye to bottled water
The New Westminster Board of Education has voted unanimously to end the use of bottled water in school facilities and promote public water through educational material.
The motion, brought forward by trustee Lori Watt, directs staff to stop providing bottled water at events hosted by School District 40, phase out contracts for bottled water companies, and report on the status of water fountains in school buildings.
Village Vancouver Website
Village Vancouver inspires individuals and organizations to take actions that build resilient and sustainable communities. We support ideas and initiatives to strengthen neighbourhoods and to promote social, environmental and economic change in the face of profound ecological stress/crisis. We encourage individuals and groups to unite and collaborate in support of common goals and actions...and to have fun together!
Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash
ABOARD THE ALGUITA, 1,000 miles northeast of Hawaii — In this remote patch of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from any national boundary, the detritus of human life is collecting in a swirling current so large that it defies precise measurement.
Light bulbs, bottle caps, toothbrushes, Popsicle sticks and tiny pieces of plastic, each the size of a grain of rice, inhabit the Pacific garbage patch, an area of widely dispersed trash that doubles in size every decade and is now believed to be roughly twice the size of Texas.
One-year halt ordered for Simcoe County dump site
Proposed landfill sits on top of aquifer, opponents argue MIDHURST – Simcoe County councillors voted this afternoon in favour of a one-year moratorium on the controversial development of the "Site 41" garbage dump in Tiny Township northwest of Barrie.
Pressure had been building on the councillors to halt the development over fears it would contaminate an underground reservoir that scientists say provides some of the cleanest drinking water in the world.
Canada: Site 41 Approval 'Hypocritical'
It's the seeming hypocrisy surrounding the province's final approval for the Design and Operations Plan for Site 41, only a day after passing the Clean Water Act, that bothers Gord Leonard.
"What you have to laugh at is why they passed the Clean Water Act (Thursday) and then on Friday, this thing got passed,"said the Tiny Township resident whose farm abuts the property.
Victoria, BC Latest Transition Town
As of June 2009, the VRTI consists of a small, dedicated steering committee, and a larger, varied group of individuals interested in Transition. We welcome new members!
Greater Victoria, located at the southern tip of Vancouver Island off the west coast of Canada, has a population of about 350,000 people. The VRTI is working at both neighbourhood and city-wide levels to engage the whole community in creating a positive future.
What are we doing?
B.C. example worries Site 41 opponents
Alison Million, Simcoe.com April 6, 2009 Opponents of Simcoe County’s Site 41 landfill plan are concerned after a newspaper report that a dump in British Columbia is leaking toxic chemicals after only 20 years. The article, which ran last month in The Globe and Mail, indicated the liners used at the Cache Creek landfill to contain leachate – a liquid that forms from the percolation of water through refuse – are leaking harmful chemicals 180 years ahead of schedule and putting the drinking supply at risk.
