There are alternatives, and although they may cost just a little bit more, they don’t require replacement as often. Choose metal, glass, bamboo, or other more sustainable items that will last. Look to local shops and stores for these items, you’ll be surprised at the variety to choose from.

Plastics Thursday: October 21

Plastics are found everywhere in our daily lives. Unfortunately, they’re found in places we don’t want them to be as well. About 8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in the oceans each year – one garbage truck’s worth every minute.  “Only nine per cent of the 3.2 million tonnes of plastic waste Canadians produce each year is recycled… This is a lost opportunity of $7.8 billion CAD for Canada in 2016.”^[ii] Plastic being as versatile as it is, can be used for a lot of different things, even when recycled, shampoo bottles can become plastic lumber for decks!

Even still, there’s different types of plastics, and some of it is contaminated with other materials, making it unrecyclable or too expensive to recycle.

Plastic can also only be recycled a number of times before they need to be dumped as well, while glass and metal can be recycled over and over again.[iii]

Some general habits to adopt when reducing plastic waste include:

• Buy products with less plastic packaging
• Buying sustainable, reusable, or biodegradable alternatives
• Reusing the plastic products, you currently have as much as possible, if safe to do so

Food Waste Friday: October 22

When organic waste gets tossed in the garbage it produces methane gas – a GHG twenty-five times more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to warming the atmosphere. Emissions from Canadian landfills account for 20% of national methane emissions and are a big contributor to climate change. Food waste also costs Canadians over $17 billion a year. Need a visual? Check out this video from Waste Reduction Week in Canada. A scary stat for the month of October…almost 40% of the food produced in Canada is wasted. Eeek. It’s time to do better.

Take action to reduce your food waste by:

• Planning meals and making a grocery list
• Storing fruits and vegetables properly so they last longer
• Getting creative with leftovers
• Compost leftover organics
• Adopting a healthier, more sustainable diet
• Organizing your cupboard or fridge to make sure the older food is upfront

Buying local can also help reduce food waste, as there’s less food loss along the way. Food loss is the food that ends up being unusable during transportation. With more miles to go, the more potential there is for food to be lost along the way – it can fall off a truck, be bruised in moving, etc.

SSEA’s Local Climate Change Action Plan includes an action to “Undertake a municipal waste audit in each respective municipal facility to identify opportunities for reduced GHGs contributions through improved recycling and green bin/organics participation at these facilities and during municipally-led events and festivals“. Even though events have been limited recently to COVID-19, we will again start enjoying indoor and outdoor events where we gather and celebrate. When we do so, there is usually food made available. It’s important to make sure each type of waste, including food and organics, is disposed of in the proper stream. This is an action item that we have been working on with our partners, and hope to make even more progress in 2022.

Saturday Sharing Economy: October 23

The sharing economy means switching from ownership to access. Renting cars or using rideshare apps, streaming movies and music, and renting suits are all examples of the sharing economy. Libraries especially come in all shapes and sizes, often public libraries offer more than books to check out, offering TV shows and movies, 3D printing sessions, and some places even becoming tool libraries where one might go check out a tool for a single task.

Sunday Swap and Repair: October, 24

The final piece to Waste Reduction Week is connected to the sharing economy – swap and repair. Figuring out how to extend the life of the things we buy and own is essential to waste reduction and the circular economy.  Repair Cafés are becoming more popular, where you can meet other people and learn about how to repair things you might have around the house. It’ll help save both money and the environment. Habitat for Humanity is another well-known organization for reusing products that don’t need to be thrown out.

There’s plenty of repair resources out there, here’s some things you might not have known you can repair in under 10 minutes! 

• Jeans
• Broken eyeglasses
• Headphones
• Flip flops
• Running toilets

You can also choose to swap items through things like Swapsity[ix] or Freecycle[x].

Some of these things may be cheap and easy to buy again, but think about where that product will end up. Buried, burned or recycled a few times?  Repairing makes it last longer and reduces our waste, helping the environment and the fight against climate change.

Taking Action

SSEA works in partnership with our local municipalities to respond to climate change. Midland, Penetanguishene, Georgian Bay, Severn, Tiny, and Tay know that we need to reduce our waste, and this is reflected in their Municipal Climate Action Plans. By approving these plans, these municipalities are working to figure out how to reduce their waste now and in the future. By learning about new approaches, developing pilot projects, and evaluating and celebrating our successes, SSEA and our local government partners are taking steps to reduce their GHGs and deliver on their climate change commitments.

For more waste and recycling facts, check out Straight Talk on Recycling, hosted by the Midland Cultural Centre!

Also, visit the Waste Reduction Week in Canada website for fascinating facts and videos all about waste and what we can do to reduce it. Share your comments with us on how you reduced your waste this week!

Article submitted by: Nikolas Kuchmij, Climate Action Program Coordinator, SSEA, October 2021

The post Reducing Waste = Reducing Your Climate Impact appeared first on Sustainable Severn Sound.

Ready to reduce your waste? From Monday, October 18 to Sunday, October 24, each day has a ‘theme’ selected by #WasteReductionWeek.   Read on for how you can take steps this week and any day of the year to reduce your waste. Let’s get started with Monday’s Circular Economy Kick-off, Textile Tuesday, and E-Waste Wednesday!

Each day from October 18-24, take a few moments to really think about the waste you create, and how you can take steps to reduce it. From what you buy, to what you give, and to how you dispose of an item, each of these decisions can have an impact on climate change and the GHGs that you produce. Now back to that 10% from our Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP). It may not seem like a lot, but GHGs from community-produced waste come in third amongst the top five emitting sectors (1. transportation (54%), residential energy use (24%), waste (10%), commercial energy use (7%), and 5. industrial energy use (5%) approximate values for rounding).  This 10% equals about 57,991 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calculator lets us see that if this was gasoline, it would equal the use of 26,911,590 litres of gas!

It’s important to remember that recycling itself uses energy. From transporting it to processing – and to the overall running of the facility. Sorting actual recyclables from garbage makes it even harder, and many items don’t make it through this process and end up in the solid waste stream instead of being recycled. That’s why it’s key to reduce our waste, not just recycle.

Monday’s Circular Economy and Kick-off: October 18th

We’re used to a linear economy. Extract, process and transport, use, and then dispose. A start-to-finish of things we use. A circular economy is when we design products and processes to reuse and reinvest into new products over and over again. With recycling, a company may make a product for people to use, but what happens to it after it’s done isn’t fully considered. With a circular economy, making a product means considering how it can be repaired, reused, shared, last longer, or be returned to the company. We’ve done this a few times with different businesses. Returning empty bottles, for example, gets you a deposit back, and the bottles can be reused. If they can’t be reused, then they’re recycled. There are different ways to improve the circular economy and you can find out more at https://circularinnovation.ca/.

Textile Tuesday: October, 19^th

Clothes, blankets, hats… all kinds of fabric or cloth are textiles. We all have seasonal cleaning to do (or think about doing) when the seasons roll around. But when we go through our closet, we realize how much we actually don’t use. Even then, Canadians on average buy 70 new articles of clothing per year, according to CBC. “Of the total fiber input used for clothing, 87% is landfilled or incinerated, representing a lost opportunity of more than USD 100 billion annually, we see it about one garbage truck of textiles landfilled or incinerated every second… It takes about 2,600 litres of water to make one new t-shirt.”

Even donating clothes has its drawbacks. Putting your clothes in a donation bin sends them off to be re-sorted and resold at commercial re-use stores. But only about 50% of those donated clothes are of good enough quality to be on the rack, and only half of those end up being sold. So a quarter of what might be donated only gets reused by the local community. The rest might get sent overseas to be reused in other countries, or be reprocessed into other clothes or used as rags. But all that ends up producing more GHGs than would have been used if it stayed local, or didn’t need to be moved at all. Not only that, but it turns out that this is hurting the textile industry in countries where the clothes are sent. Some countries in East Africa even united to try and ban imported textiles. It’s still better to donate than toss them in the garbage outright, and there’s always the potential for them to be reused, as them ending up in a landfill not only increases GHGs but takes up valuable landfill space which can increase the need for new landfills and drive up municipal tax rates. There’s plenty of ways to avoid textile waste. We can:

• Design and buy better quality clothes that last longer
• Wash only when we need to – microplastics in clothing won’t get washed away into the water system as much
• Increase the average number of times clothes are worn
• Swap and share
• Make dog toys out of old strips of shirts and other Do-It-Yourself projects (cleaning cloths, braided rugs, etc.)
• Recycle more – we can show that we want more things recycled, thereby making it worthwhile for businesses to invest in things like clothing recycling
• Read about Textile Tuesday! This event raises awareness of the environmental consequences of clothing and textiles consumption, providing information on how you can extend the life of your clothing.

E-Waste Wednesday: October 20th

In 2017, Canada threw out 638,300 metric tonnes of electronic waste or e-waste. The Global E-waste Monitor 2020 report stated that the world created 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste in 2019. This is the weight of 350 cruise ships or enough to form a line 125 kilometers long. E-waste comes in the form of smart devices and phones, batteries, and fluorescent lights. They’re all made up of different materials to make the technology we use today. Being able to reuse or recycle the materials can go a long way, especially since many of them are non-renewable, meaning they can’t be naturally reproduced fast enough to be replaced. We can embrace a circular economy by having the companies that design electronics make them easy to repair, reuse/refurbish, recycle, return, or generally last longer. The longer we use them or share them, the less e-waste we produce. It’s just as essential to recycle our e-waste when possible, as it can be 13 times cheaper to salvage these recyclables than to mine them fresh from the Earth. You can drop off your e-waste at any Simcoe County waste management facility, free of charge. Visit the County of Simcoe website to find a drop-off location near you.

Visit us again on Thursday this week for our perspective on the remaining Waste Reduction Themes including Plastics Thursday, Food Waste Friday, Sharing Economy Saturday, and Swap and Repair Sunday.

Article submitted by: Nikolas Kuchmij, Climate Action Program Coordinator, SSEA, October 2021

The post It’s Waste Reduction Week in Canada! appeared first on Sustainable Severn Sound.

Native plants have evolved along with native pollinators, and they need each other to thrive. This Pollinator Week, or anytime, consider adding native plants to your yard or garden.

The post Native Plants Help Pollinators appeared first on Sustainable Severn Sound.

To recognize the important services provided by pollinators, the Severn Sound Environmental Association (SSEA) and the Town of Midland are bringing awareness to National Pollinator Week, happening June 21-27.

To kick-off Pollinator Week, Mayor Stewart Strathearn has proclaimed the Town’s support for this important celebration, and Midland staff designed and built a display at Highway 93 and 12 to commemorate this! “The Town of Midland is proud to celebrate our first Pollinator Week as an official Bee City,” said Mayor Stewart Strathearn. “We have established “no-mow” zones throughout the town where mowing will no longer take place to provide suitable areas for pollinator habitat to be created, and I encourage all residents to get involved and learn more about what we can all do to help ensure pollinator populations thrive in our region.”

Pollinator populations have been declining at an alarming rate due to habitat loss, misuse of pesticides, and climate change There are nearly 1,000 different pollinators in Canada alone, and not only do pollinators provide us with the food we eat but they also help sustain our ecosystems by helping our native plants reproduce. In turn, these healthy ecosystems can absorb greenhouse gases, prevent soil erosion, protect water quality, and offer habitat for many important plants and animals.

The Town has made a commitment to helping and supporting pollinators as a designated Bee City municipality and within Midland’s Municipal Climate Change Action Plan. As a Bee City, Midland is taking on-the-ground action, including piloting a strategic mowing project, planting new pollinator habitat, and working with SSEA to plant native trees and combat invasive species. Visit Town staff at the Midland Summer Market, 526 Bay Street, Midland on Sunday, June 27 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. to pick up free wildflower seeds and learn more about how you can protect pollinators.

Here are some simple things everyone can do in their backyard to help bees, butterflies, and other pollinators:
1. Plant native flowers or trees. Our native pollinators have evolved alongside our native plants, so they are better matched as food sources for them than cultivated or non-native species of plants.
2. Pledge to not use chemicals in your garden. Rather than chemical herbicides, planting mint, thyme and marigolds attract beneficial insects that will prey on typical garden pests.
3. Education is the best tool in a gardener’s pocket! Check out Pollinator Partnership Canada’s website at www.pollinatorpartnership.ca and follow SSEA’s Sustainability and Climate Action Project Team on social media for more tips to be ‘bee-friendly’!
4. Read more about Bee City Canada or take the ‘Pollinator Pledge’. Visit www.beecitycanada.org.

Follow the SSEA’s Sustainability and Climate Action Project Team on Facebook: @sustainablesevernsound or Twitter: @sustainsevsound, or learn more about the programs led by Team SSEA at @ssea_ssrap and Instagram @severnsoundea.

Full details on the Town of Midland’s Bee City initiative, including maps identifying “no-mow” zones in the municipality, can found at: Midland.ca/Midland-is-a-Bee-City.

Learn how you can get involved in Pollinator Week, visit: https://pollinatorpartnership.ca/en/pollinator-week-canada

To find out more about the Bee City Canada Program, and to access pollinator information and resources, visit: https://beecitycanada.org/

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How can you give back to help our Earth this year?  We’ve offered some ideas, but our most important tip is to ‘Make Earth Day Every Day” and remember, be kind.

The post With Earth Day Almost Here, It’s Time to Take Action appeared first on Sustainable Severn Sound.

This post features the actions by our partners at the Township of Georgian Bay to build climate resiliency and deliver on their climate change plans.

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No-Mow Zones in low-use parklands will create pollinator habitat, reduce costs and GHGs.

The Town of Midland has committed to protecting pollinators as a designated Bee City. A Bee City municipality commits to provide pollinator habitat within the municipalities’ boundaries. As part of this commitment, the Town is starting a pilot project to test the outcomes of No-Mow and Reduced-Mow Zones. These Zones are areas of Town land that will either no longer be mown or will be mown less. This is being done to save resources, reduce pollution and create pollinator habitat. As the watershed’s leading environmental agency, the Severn Sound Environmental Association (SSEA) will support the Town in this initiative.

By allowing these areas to grow, the Town is creating sustainable landscapes, saving energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), and limiting noise from mowers. No-Mow Zones reduce storm-water runoff, protect water quality are a safe place for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.

As a member of the Sustainability Committee which prepared the Town’s Climate Plan, Midland Councillor Jon Main was keen to have the Town join the Bee City Canada program. “Municipalities influence up to half of Canada’s GHGs, making local action key to the success of the climate fight. This effort helps to mitigate the Town’s carbon emissions by developing green and vibrant public spaces that protect and expand our pollinator habit and biodiversity,” said Councillor Main. According to data from the Government of Canada, a gasoline-powered lawnmower emits about 48 kilograms (106 lbs) of GHGs in one season. Gas-powered lawn mowers are inefficient and produce a lot of air pollution.

In 2019 the Town invited residents to have their say on the future of the municipalities’ management of their 26 plus parks and trails. The updated Parks and Trails Master Plan includes comments from stakeholders that the Town’s program was not cost-effective, and that staff needed to find ways to reduce those costs. Recommendations included limited mowing and naturalization of some park areas to realize environmental benefits and reduce costs, as unnecessary mowing uses staff time, equipment and fuel. The Town will continue to mow most areas with only select areas designated as No-Mow or Reduced-Mow Zones. The sites will not interfere in any way with the enjoyment of the Town’s parks and trails.

SSEA’s Executive Director, Julie Cayley, is looking forward to working with the Town on this initiative. “By supporting the Town of Midland in their membership to the Bee City Canada program, the Severn Sound Environmental Association (SSEA) is supporting the health of our important pollinator species. Our collaborative efforts will contribute to a healthy and resilient environment, and establish long-term, pollinator habitat” “we thank the Town for this demonstration of their commitment to sustainable land management and to the implementation of their municipal Climate Change Action Plan.”

To find out more about the Town’s decision to join the Bee City Canada Program, and to access pollinator information and resources, visit: Midland – Bee City Canada Designation

Congratulations on your Bee City Membership Midland!

The post Midland Launches ‘Strategic Mow’ Pilot Project appeared first on Sustainable Severn Sound.

Despite limited resources, SSS has emerged as the local center for collaborative climate change action.

In 2018, SSS released the area’s first Local Climate Change Action Plan, and continued this important work by developing six corporate-level climate action plans for Severn Sound area municipalities which had committed to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program. These plans were developed to provide municipalities and their communities with the information needed to accelerate local climate action.

The integration of the SSS as a special project underneath the authority of the SSEA will allow for more capacity to realize these plans, while also building on the foundation of the work by both SSS and SSEA to further include considerations for climate resiliency and adaptation. This merger also delivers on the SSEA’s 2018-2023 Strategic Plan: Building an Environmental Legacy. Moving forward, the SSS project will grow its climate-focused role and continue to add value for the Association’s eight partner municipalities while complementing the core environmental services provided by the SSEA.

Quotes
“Climate change efforts require a collaborative approach. The climate leadership shown by the Severn Sound municipalities during their relationship with SSS has put us on the path to realize actual GHG reductions, achieve cost-savings and improve the quality of life for our residents. This merger will ensure the effective implementation of our corporate climate change action plans, and pave the way for watershed resiliency and our future climate adaptation work.”
Steffen Walma, Chair of the SSEA Board, Deputy Mayor Township of Tiny

“The Township of Severn is committed to the effective stewardship of our unique physical environment, as demonstrated in our 2020-2022 Strategic Plan. The integration of the SSS underneath the strong and effective management of the SSEA will allow for the addition of a climate change lens to Township business through the implementation of Severn’s Climate Change Action Plan. The climate change challenge requires action by local governments, and as a member of the SSEA, Severn is responding in an efficient and fiscally-responsible manner while serviced by the combined efforts of the SSEA team.”
Mayor Mike Burkett, Township of Severn

Additional Resources
Severn Sound Environmental Association, Strategic Plan 2018-2023: Building an Environmental Legacy
Federation of Canadian Municipalities Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) Program

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