The ‘Little House’ – Leaks, Drafts, Doors and More!
Welcome to the second entry on my journey to sustainably retrofit and expand a ‘Little House’. This entry focuses on the energy efficiency audit for the existing building. Findings and recommendations from the EnerGuide home evaluation (audit) are being integrated into the final drawings and work plan. To refresh your memory, the ‘Little House’ […]
“What will Orillia Look Like in 2050?” Sustainable Orillia Announces new Art Contest for 2022.
Sustainable Orillia’s “Arts & Culture Sector” invites Orillia and area artists to participate in an art contest with the theme, “Orillia 2050 — a Sustainable City.” The contest asks artists to imagine what the Orillia community—including our local lakes and surrounding townships—might look like after 30 years (well, 28 now) of working to change the […]
Making Sustainable Orillia Month 2020 Happen
Hats off to the volunteers who made a difference. It’s been a busy year! And a busy month! And now as Sustainable Orillia Month winds down, we’re proud to salute the great work our volunteers have done from our very beginnings and particularly over this past month. Sustainable Orillia is an active network of over […]
Clear Bagging Launch
By now, most Orillia households and businesses are aware that as of February 7th, 2022 the city is implementing ‘clear bagging’ for household garbage. Simply put, instead of using the traditional green or black bags, as of February 7th we will be required to use clear bags for household garbage. Everything else remains the same. […]
Don’t Look Up…
Last month, Netflix premiered a feature film called ‘Don’t Look Up’. There are many reasons to watch this film, including great performances by Leonardo di Caprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchet and Jonas Hill, among others. I’m no movie critic, but as it unfolded, I asked myself, why had all this star power […]
On the Road to Net-Zero – an Overview of Sustainable Orillia’s 2022 Strategic Plan
The new year promises both hope and change … hope that the pandemic will take its leave and allow the world to take a deep breath, safely unmasked in the company of friends and family. Hope that the sustainable movement continues to gather momentum, here in Orillia, across Canada and all over the world. […]
President’s Message: Progress on Sustainability in 2022
I really do enjoy the holidays, even though again this year our plans with friends and family were stymied due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, it was good time to get caught up on my reading. For some years now, some writers have taken to weaving climate change scenarios into their fiction—often referred to as Cli-Fi […]
BC’s Climate Crisis – a First Hand Perspective
Recently my wife and I spent 10 days in B.C. visiting family, first in Victoria and then in Kelowna. The news upon our arrival was focussed almost entirely on the disastrous flooding of the Fraser Valley around Abbotsford, the total evacuation of Merritt because of flooding, the mudslides that took five lives, the loss of […]
Six suggestions from Sustainable Orillia for your 2022 reading
There are thousands of words being written these days about the damage human activity has done to our planet (not just through global warming) and about the climate crisis that this human activity has created. Scientists have been warning of what changes to the climate might do to our world since the mid-1990s, if not […]
Strawberries in the middle of Winter
The title of this article is taken from a recent interview with David Suzuki and his wife, Tara Cullis. The article was full of insight and reflections; however, it was Suzuki’s comment that, “We (referring to many of us) think it’s okay in Canada to be eating fresh strawberries in the middle of winter” which […]