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11 conservation Articles | Page:

Jane Fonda among the 10,000 demonstrators at historical Toronto climate rally

Last weekend, more than 10,000 people marched for climate action in a Toronto rally that attracted the likes of Jane Fonda and David Suzuki. Its message was precedent-setting for one big reason, according to The Guardian: an emphasis on the notion that tackling climate change can make for a more fair and equitable society. 

“I’m here because I think that the coalition that is represented in today’s march and rally, and not just today but ongoing in Canada — First Nations, labour unions, working people, students — this is the kind of coalition that will make the difference,” said Fonda. 

Read the whole story here.
Source: The Guardian. 

Toronto panda frolics adorably in the snow (for an international audience)

This week's wintery conditions brought travel delays and early do-we-or-don't-we? shovelling dilemmas. But they also brought along this lovely – nay, adorable – treat, broadcast by the venerable Washington Post itself: video of Da Mao, one of the Toronto Zoo's two giant pandas, playing in the cold white fluff.

The video isn't just a feel-good reminder of the cuteness our world has to offer, though. The Toronto Zoo is one of only six in North America to currently claim the winsome bamboo chomping east Asian bears among its menagerie. As it happens, one of the other six zoos is located in Washington D.C.


Catch the full video here. 
Source: Washington Post
 

Jennifer Keesmaat brings lessons from Toronto to Perth, Australia

Toronto’s chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat delivered a keynote speech at the Planning Institute Australia WA State Conference at the end of July to highlight Toronto’s “shift” to public transit and its mission to improve congestion, all while challenging the constraints of urban sprawl.

Perth and Toronto have different challenges. While Perth expands outward, Toronto’s challenge is to improve conditions within the boundaries of a city that has reached its growth boundary.  Still, Keesmaat said, Australia’s largest city with a population of just under two million could learn a thing or two from Toronto. 

“There might be some interesting lessons learned with respect to how you begin to transform to an advanced form of urbanism once you move away from that approach of continuing to develop in a very suburban way,” she said. 

“We’ve been there and gone down that trajectory over the course of the past 30 years and we’re now at a moment where we are beginning to urbanise our suburbs by focusing on adding mid-rise development along our corridors and by ensuring we have the density we need in order to make transit a real option.”

Toronto and Perth are both maturing cities, Keesmaat said, and as cities mature limits need to be put in place. She told Perth about Toronto’s protected greenbelt which caused a “fundamentally shift the land economics of the region and forced many suburban developers to become urban developers — they changed their game.” But beyond this, the focus of her speech remained on transportation and congestion, and its direct ties to population growth. 

She said planning high-density communities makes transit options more sustainable, the key to reducing traffic congestion in the long run. 

“It’s a zero-sum gain, that if you continue to plan low density communities there will never be environments that can successfully sustain public transit because there simply isn’t the critical mass to make high-frequency transit use work,” she said. 

For more from her speech, read the full story here
Original source: Perth Now

Homegrown National Park Project gets some winter buzz

Earlier this year, we told you about the David Suzuki Foundation's Homegrown National Park Project, an ambitious endeavor that reimagined Toronto's green space and looked at the city as an urban park. 
 
Now, Fast Company is giving the initiative some mid-winter attention, highlighting the various "park rangers" who spent the summer completing various projects from planting flowers to turning persistent potholes into gardens. The projects took place along the path of the Garrison Creek, which Fast Company refers to as a "lost river." They continue, "Like many cities, Toronto was built along streams that were eventually filled and paved once they became polluted. The Garrison, which used to be a place where people could fish for salmon or take a trip in a canoe, is still underground, but the group wanted to remind neighbours that it exists."
 
The article outlines the project's future plans, which include introducing "a new class of volunteers" later this year, and "by 2015, the Suzuki Foundation hopes to have homegrown park rangers in each of the city’s 44 wards, helping stitch together green space that connects all 3 million residents."
 
Read the full story here
Original source: Fast Company

Community-backed solar roof goes online

Toronto's first ever community-backed rooftop solar installation has begun generating clean and renewable energy. Known as the Goodmark Project, the 100 kW installation operates via a partnership between two of Canada's powerhouses: "Bullfrog Power – a 100% green energy provider; and SolarShare – who have installed 20 community-backed solar units in Ontario," an article that ran in PV Magazine reports. 
 
"Community participation is the crucial difference between Goodmark and the typical Ontario renewable energy project," said SolarShare president, Mike Brigham, in the article. "Citizens who are eager to promote green energy but may not have the means or the rooftop to install their own projects can pool their resources and finance community projects, earning a financial return from project revenue."
 
Community-backed power is becoming more common and in a variety of ways. Earlier this year we told you about the Toronto Zoo's new community-backed biofuel plant that will begin converting animal waste into energy by next summer.

"Seeing the Bullfrog Power and SolarShare communities come together is what we are all about – supporting the development of new renewable energy projects that people can see in their communities," said Josephine Coombe, Bullfrog Power’s Vp for sales and marketing, in the article.

Read the full story here
Original source: PV Magazine

Green with envy over UoT Mississauga's Instructional Centre

The Univeristy of Toronto's Mississauga campus has caught the attention of sustainability publication Treehugger for its award winning Instructional Centre. 
 
Featuring a gallery that highlight's some of the building's greatest attributes, Treehugger pays homage to the Centre's many integrated photovoltaics, solar panels that convert light into energy, as well as its student lounges that overlook green roofs planted with indigenous meadow grasses. The solar panels are unique in that they also offer shading in the centre's main east west corridor and centre staircase while simultaneously providing clean energy throughout the building. An additional star attribute, the building's geothermal system that heats and cools the building, is hidden beneath a playing field. 
 
The Centre is the creation of architects Perkins + Wills, known for their green educational buildings, as well as design principal Andrew Frontini, a master at crafting breathtaking fixtures. He chose to "clad the building insides and out in copper," which Treehugger points out isn't the greenest of materials, but one that certainly lasts a long time "if it isn't stolen." 
 
"This is certainly not the greenest educational building that Perkins + Will has turned out; that would probably be Peter Busby's Centre for Interactive Research and Technology. But it is lovely to look at and combines such generosity of comfort, luxury and sustainable features. Leonard Shore would be proud," Treehugger says. 
 
View the gallery here
Original Source: Treehugger

Pickering backs plans for Rouge Valley National Park

Plans to create a national park in the Rouge Valley are picking up steam.
 
On April 10, Pickering council voted to endorse a statement of intent from Parks Canada that confirms the commitment of all parties involved.
 
"A staff report noted that the creation of the park will require the transfer of lands from various governments and public agencies within and adjacent to the Rouge Valley, including Pickering. Once transferred, those lands will no longer be subject to taxes or payments in lieu of taxes."
 
"Planning discussions to identify the boundaries of the park are expected to begin this year under the direction of Parks Canada. No budget numbers for the park have been announced as yet."
 
The creation of a national park was announced during the June 2011 throne speech.
 
Read the full story here
 
Original Source: DurhamRegion.com
 

Getting in touch with your wild side� without leaving the GTA

Digital Journal reports on how it's possible to go camping without leaving city limits. Writer Bryen Dunn recounts his own experience of pitching a tent in Toronto.
 
"There are actually two campgrounds located within the city of Toronto that provide both visitors and residents an opportunity to experience an urban-rural setting. The 4,700 hectare (47 square km/11,500 acres) Rouge Park is operated by the City of Toronto, and is located in the northeast part of Toronto, within the Rouge River, Petticoat Creek and Duffins Creek watersheds. It's been designated as a protected natural ecosystem since the mid 1990s, and parts of the area are also designated as National Historic Sites because of the ancient 1600 Seneca native archaeological findings."
 
"The Toronto Regional Conservation Authority operates Indian Line Campground, which is located at the opposite end of the city, in the northwestern reaches. This site definitely has more of an urban feel to it, far removed from nature, but still providing a fun experience. The nearby Claireville Dam gives a simulated lakeside camping experience, where campers are able to fish or float around in motor-less floatation devices such as canoes, kayaks, or rubber rafts. "
 
Read the full story here
Original Source: Digital Journal
 

Toronto startup offers underwater solution to energy storage woes

Toronto-based startup Hyrdrostor could soon make Ontario's energy infrastructure significantly more efficient thanks to their innovative new energy storage technology—the underwater "accumulator." The accumulators or compressed air energy storage (CAES) units are giant underwater energy storage units that convert unused energy from the grid into compressed air for future usage. After a successful pilot project last summer, Hydrostor has recently partnered with Toronto Hydro to construct a 1MW, 4MWh demonstration facility about seven kilometers from Toronto's shore later this year.
 
"As Hydrostor president Cam Lewis explains, his company's first-of-its-kind system mechanically converts electricity from the grid to compressed air, which is captured, cooled and can be stored indefinitely in underwater accumulators. These accumulators are large, high-strength polyester bags that inflate with the air like a big balloon—no doubt producing quite an underwater show for salmon and lake inhabitants. When the grid needs the stored energy, the weight of the water pushes the air back to the surface where Hydrostor's expander/generator system sends it back."

"The idea, Lewis says, is to transmit excess electricity at night when demand is less and reverse it when demand is high. The technology offers 70 per cent round-trip efficiency, he says."

read full story here
original source Smart Grid Technology

Toronto scores a top-10 spot in newest Green City Index

Toronto is the ninth greenest city in North America and the second greenest city in Canada (behind Vancouver), according to the newly released North American Green City Index. Conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (and sponsored by Siemens), the study ranked 27 North American cities based on categories including CO2 emissions, green energy and environmental governance.

"Toronto's strongest category was waste, where it ranked fourth in North America while it also ranked in the top half of the index in the CO2, energy, buildings, water and air categories."

"Meanwhile, Toronto wasn't looking so good in the transportation category (surprise, surprise). The T-dot had the longest commute time of all 27 cities in the index with plenty of traffic congestion and sprawl within its borders. The study also noted that, while Toronto has a good ratio of public transit vehicles to total area, it lacks large, centrally located pedestrian-only zones."

read full story here
original source buzzbuzzhome.com

Ravines a defining aspect of Toronto

The Globe & Mail interviews green entrepreneur Geoff Cape about the importance of Toronto's extensive ravine network. Cape, who conceived and championed the Evergreen Brick Works project, argues that Toronto's ravines have the potential to become a defining feature of the city. An excerpt from the interview:

"The ravines of Toronto are unique in the world. No other city has such an elaborate, such an extensive network of natural spaces. It's the defining aspect of Toronto. We have great hospitals, great cultural institutions, great universities, but so does New York, London, Chicago, Milan, Beijing. What we do have categorically unique is the ravine system. It's an asset for everyone. It doesn't distinguish between rich and poor and cultural diversity. It's available to all of us and it weaves virtually every neighbourhood, every community together, because it's physically so extensive. It connects us all."

read full story here
original source Globe & Mail
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