Transition Brockville / 26 March 2017
In March 2007, Brockville residents called a meeting of anyone interested in fighting climate change at the local level.
The Brockville Climate Action Group (BCAG), as it was called then, arose from that first well-attended meeting. The next month MP Gord Brown unveiled the group’s new website, and Mayor David Henderson congratulated the group’s initiative and hoped the City could use the group “as a resource in our efforts to do what we can for our environment.”
BCAG’s mission was to help identify personal and community-wide steps to both reduce carbon emissions and adapt to the climate changes and resource depletion that were already unavoidable.
Within a few months of its formation, the group began offering free public monthly presentations, in partnership with the Brockville Public Library, where they are held to this day. Expert speakers have enlightened the public on everything from renewable energy to green building, from degrowth to cooperative enterprises, from living closer to nature to nurturing our personal inner transitions to be more in tune with the needs of our changing world. Sometimes we screened timely documentaries. Other times we gathered for a potluck supper and open discussion.
The melting of ice across the planet is accelerating at a record rate, with the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets speeding up the fastest, research has found.
This is the first in a series of articles on sustainability. Going forward, there is a space for discussion of all things sustainable: local food, sustainable agriculture, food security, sustainable development, heritage animals and grains, heirloom food, how to support local food community, how to support and grow local community in general, local market gardening, permaculture, regenerative farming…. You get the idea. I’m open to suggestions, and to learning. I would like to visit some small local farms and businesses. It seems unbelievable that, despite the fact that we are surrounded on all sides by farmland, many in our community exist in a food desert or are food insecure.
Batteries capable of fully charging in five minutes have been produced in a factory for the first time, marking a significant step towards electric cars becoming as fast to charge as filling up petrol or diesel vehicles.
