The Brockville Public Library, on Buell Street, now houses the Transition Brockville Sustainability Collection. Borrowers will find everything from 'big picture' analyses on the science behind climate change and peak oil to manuals for on-the-ground building of community resilience. The Sustainability Collection is located on a book trolley in the nonfiction room on the 2nd floor of the Library. Titles can be searched online using the search term 'Transition Brockville'. The general borrowing policy of the Library applies.

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A new healthy foods store comes to Brockville: By the Seasons. Its focus is on providing fresh, local and sustainable produce and products. Just starting up this fall, there is not yet a storefront. However, this announcement was made yesterday: I am sending out a message to everyone as a way to say hello! And give you an update on the store. If you can spare some good vibes, today is the day I present the business plan for the store in front of the …

North Grenville has reached a deal to buy the former Kemptville College campus from the provincial government. The agreement in principle announced Wednesday would see the municipality assume ownership of most of the 633-acre campus with more than 50 buildings to transform it into an "education and community hub." "The is great news," said North Grenville Mayor Dave Gordon. "For starters it brings back North Grenville College to the …

Today, Bullfrog Power, Canada's leading green energy provider, and Beau's Brewing Co., based in Vankleek Hill, Ontario, are announcing the launch of a new solar project in Ottawa. The 10 kW project is being developed in partnership with Just Food, an organization working toward just and sustainable food and farming systems in the Ottawa region. A free community celebration will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 14, at the Just Food Farm …

There's a food revolution going on, and several dozen guests at a first-time seminar on Thursday were finding out ways to get more deeply involved in it. The Sprouting New Connections: Scaling Up event was hosted by All Things Food/Bouffe 360, in partnership with several organizations. Talking about the sharing economy and the role technology is playing in it, keynote speaker Marcia Woods, CEO and co-founder of Barrie-based Fresh …

The first step in achieving Ontario's ambitious goal of zero waste is to get food waste and organics out of landfill. So says a new report from the the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. "It's true," says Laurie Westaway, former of the Green Communities Foundation. "Recycling alone will not answer or solve waste issues," says Westaway, who works as a waste management consultant. "What I find fascinating is that we require so much packaging …

Ontario is launching a new program to help people improve the energy efficiency of their homes, while reducing their electricity bills and carbon footprints. Glenn Thibeault, Minister of Energy, was joined by Ted McMeekin, MPP for Ancaster–Dundas–Flamborough–Westdale in Hamilton today to launch the Affordability Fund. Part of the province's Fair Hydro Plan, the new $100 million fund will support the free installation of energy-saving LED …

Is this the end of the Great Canadian winter? A new report says that even if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, all of Canada is projected to get warmer by the end of the century, while the number of 30 C plus days per year are predicted to "explode" under the current global warming trajectory. The report by climatologists at the University of Winnipeg-based Prairie Climate Centre looks at how temperature and precipitation are likely to change …

Alberta's oil and gas industry – Canada's largest producer of fossil fuel resources – could be emitting 25 to 50% more methane than previously believed, new research has suggested. The pioneering peer reviewed study, published in Environmental Science & Technology on Tuesday, used airplane surveys to measure methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure in two regions in Alberta. The results were then compared with industry-reported …

The National Energy Board now projects fossil fuel use in Canada will peak in 2019, a major downward revision of similar estimates it has made annually for the past decade. It’s the first time in the 11-year history of the NEB’s annual reports on the topic that a peak in fossil fuel demand has been included in the baseline projection. Previous reports projected demand would increase for the next two or three decades, at least. The NEB now …

Dr. Courtney Howard discusses her new report on how climate change is affecting Canadians’ physical and mental health.

Without being aware of it, our neighbourhoods and how they are built influence how healthy we are. I chose designing healthy living as the topic for my first report as Canada's Chief Public Health Officer because of the tremendous potential that changing our built environment has for helping Canadians live healthier lives. Chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease are the leading causes of death in Canada. It is alarming that …

September 2017 was the fourth warmest September in 137 years of modern record-keeping, according to a monthly analysis of global temperatures by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. Last month was +0.80 degrees Celsius warmer than the mean September temperature from 1951-1980. The warmest months of September according to the analysis happened in 2016 and 2014 (+0.87 degrees Celsius) and 2015 (+0.82 …

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased at record speed last year to hit a level not seen for more than three million years, the UN has warned. The new report has raised alarm among scientists and prompted calls for nations to consider more drastic emissions reductions at the upcoming climate negotiations in Bonn. "Globally averaged concentrations of CO2 reached 403.3 parts per million (ppm) in 2016, up from …

Climate change is already forcing people from their land and homes, and putting many more at risk of displacement in the future. Supercharged storms, more intense droughts, rising seas and other impacts of climate change all magnify existing vulnerabilities and the likelihood of displacement, disproportionately affecting low-income countries, women, children and indigenous peoples. Responding to these growing realities demands far stronger action towards ending global …

It's been understood for decades that greenhouse gases, produced largely by humanity's infatuation with fossil fuels, are heating up the planet. However, in spite of 2017's startling tally of hurricanes, wildfires, and other weather disasters, there remains a widespread misperception — exacerbated by poor media coverage of the climate change connection — that we're facing a relatively minor problem that won't hit hard for years, if ever. This idea is …

Changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks significantly influence the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration. According to a study published by the National Academy of Sciences, agriculture is one of the main causes of the depletion of carbon in the soil and the increased presence of carbon in our atmosphere. In September 2017, a new study, implemented by the Northeastern University and the Organic Center, demonstrates that organic …

Chances are you heard about the controversial study released earlier this year that said the greatest impact individuals can have in fighting climate change is to have one less child. According to the study, the next best actions are selling your car, avoiding flights and going vegetarian – actions that many of us commit to routinely in an effort to lessen our footprint and combat climate change, but which pale in comparison to the choice of …

Our embrace of "convenience" and our acceptance of our inability to plan ahead is an entirely new way of thinking, and over the past seventy years we have built a new and different economic system to accommodate it. There is nothing inevitable about this current way of thinking, consuming and producing. On the contrary, the vast majority of humans who have ever lived (and the majority of humans alive today) would find the idea of using our scarce …

PlugShare is a free application for iOS, Android, and web that allows users to find and review charging stations, and to connect with other plug-in vehicle owners. PlugShare provides the most accurate and complete public charging map worldwide, with stations from every major network in North America (Tesla Supercharger, Blink, EVgo, ChargePoint, SemaCharge, GE WattStation, AeroVironment) and Europe (RWE, Clever, Endesa, Enel). Majority of new EV registrations sign …

It's safe to say that life would not be the same without trees. In fact, all human civilisation is dependent upon them. Not only as a source of valuable resources, but also for the ecological benefits they provide – called ecosystem services. We all know trees are awesome, but most people don't quite understand all the important things they do. I'm sure you know the basic stuff: Trees produce oxygen, which we need to breath They absorb …

Have a green Christmas this holiday season with decorations and celebrations designed to reduce waste while still conveying the spirit of the season. Skip the Wrapping Paper: Don't wrap gifts in single-use paper — it's one of the largest contributors to waste during the holidays. Turn old maps, magazines, and book pages into creative gift wrap. Make reusable wrapping bags out of fabric in a few different sizes or purchase sturdy gift bags that …

My veggie garden hasn't been tilled for four years and the soil is very rich and healthy. When I started gardening, I was taught that rototilling or double-digging a garden was the way to get organic matter mixed in and to ensure light, friable soil. Today's science tells us that turning over the soil is actually bad for it. The mycorrhizal fungi and micro-organisms that make the nutrients and trace elements available to the plants are in that top layer of soil. …