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Sustainable Orillia workshop series closes with new ideas

–by Gord Ball for Sustainable Orillia Former mayor Steve Clarke welcomed area residents to the Quality Inn on Sunday at the third and final community engagement workshop hosted by Sustainable Orillia (SO). The purpose of the series was to emerge with a vision, guiding principles and concrete initiatives to help Orillia become a sustainable, happy […]

Heat pumps in Orillia – revisited

In November 2023, Orillia Matters ran a story on local residents who had recently installed heat pumps in their home. (See https://www.orilliamatters.com/local-news/we-had-no-choice-orillia-homeowners-make-switch-to-heat-pumps-7859335) Readers were promised a follow-up story in the spring of 2024, reporting on the experience of these new users over the course of the recent winter. Mark and Sandi Bisset had a heat […]

Some thoughts on the “carbon tax”—oops! the “carbon pricing program”

Like most of you, I’ve been reading a lot of what people have been saying about “the Carbon Tax,” especially in those ads which call for us to “AXE THE TAX!” Many people seem convinced of the following: • That carbon pricing is a “tax grab.” • That it’s responsible for recent rises in prices […]

Spring is here. Time to get your wheels in gear — Paul Belanger, for Sustainable Orillia

As we told you last week in OrilliaMatters, Sustainable Orillia is once again working with the Simcoe-Muskoka Health Unit and local bike shops to present an expanded bike challenge from May 11th to June 8th this spring. This year’s event—“Sustainable Spokes – Healthy Folks”—was launched at an April 26th kick-off event at the Orillia Recreation […]

Have your say on a sustainable future for Orillia

Former mayor Steve Clarke will lead a series of three public workshops designed to help shape Orillia’s future. Local residents from all backgrounds are encouraged to join any one or all three. How should we be feeding ourselves? Where should we be living? How should we move around? How should we be heating and cooling […]

Local initiatives celebrate Bike to School Week in May and Ontario Bike Month in June

Orillia, like many other cities its size, faces a common problem: too much traffic, especially during busy times and when school starts and ends. Most people use cars to get around. Relying so much on cars creates traffic. Traffic—all traffic—is harmful to our environment, contributing to local air pollution as well as a major cause […]

An Earth Day Message from Sustainable Orillia Vice President, Dave VanAlstyne

We are fast approaching an important date on our calendar, Earth Day, April 22nd! Created in 1970, this day serves as an important yearly reminder that we have a responsibility to conserve and protect the environment we live in. According to https://www.earthday.org, the Earth Day movement inspires millions of people in 192 countries to take actions […]

Climate Change is In the News Today and Everyday! (Dateline: April 2, 2024)

Have you noticed?  Climate Change and Environmental News have become a mainstay across all of our media – newspapers, social media platforms, broadcast news, podcasts and so on. Awareness is on the rise – but so are misinformation and politicising. Like many of the key issues of the day – there are divergent, often passionately […]

Invasive Species – Be Gone!

The 4th annual Invasive Species Action Week is scheduled for May 12th to May 18th this year. Coordinated by the Canadian Council on Invasive Species (CCIS), the week is dedicated to taking action on the serious threat posed by invasive species. Species that are quietly encroaching on our natural environment coast to coast to coast. […]