Environmental Action includes efforts and achievement by the municipality, businesses, institutions and residents of the community, with respect to: policies, by-laws and best practices, 3-R initiatives (reduce/reuse/recycle), waste reduction, landfill sites, hazardous waste, water conservation, naturalization, environmental stewardship activities, and environmentally friendly transportation, under the guiding principles of sustainable developement.
Waste Management Environmental Awareness Award Winners
2009: City of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario
The City of Kawartha Lakes has many environmental efforts in place, with extremely high stakeholder engagement, utilizing the “Environment First” principle as the basis for all planning decisions.
2008: City of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
There is excellence in overall environmental awareness and action throughout Charlottetown, which includes areas amalgamated in recent years.
The residents of all ages enjoy an enhanced quality of life characterized by a clean and tidy environment, improved air quality, an excellent waste management program (recycling, reuse, composting and blue bag pick up for all residents, including apartment dwellers), an increase in both the quantity and quality of green spaces, clean sandy beaches and clean water resources for leisure activities, the presence of wildlife, the beauty of healthy trees, the availability of local products…
2007: Village of Tiverton, Ontario
The Communities in Bloom Committee has taken a leadership role in the protection of the environment. The educational programs and activities for school students lay the groundwork for good environmental stewardship.
The judges were pleased that the environmental green school project at KTTPS (waste diversion program) is being continued and appears to be a very successful program. The partnership between the CiB committee and Sobeys to distribute biodegradable products shows good cooperation between sectors in a community. It is also very encouraging to see the introduction of an e-waste disposal program.
The judges commend Tiverton for its environmental works and wish the community well as it continues with its fine example of environmental awareness.
2006: Strathcona County, Alberta
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Strathcona County faces the challenge of combining the needs of a fast expanding urban area with those of a large rural area. It has made remarkable progress in combining these diverse areas into a cohesive unit.
The new ‘Centre in the Park’ development is an example of vision for the current and future needs of the populace. This ambitious project will provide accommodation, shopping and other amenities all within close proximity. As well, the complex will incorporate passive solar heating and an efficient central heating system – a good step in preserving our natural resources and addressing environmental concers.
New sports fields are designed to be oversized so goal posts can be moved to reduce wear in the goal mouth areas, thus sustaining the life of the turf.
Strathcona County has an extensive system of wet ponds, both natural and man-made. These ponds are managed to sustain a good water supply and wildlife habitat, as well as providing very attractive aesthetics.
Other steps being implemented by Strathcona County are:
- reduction of pesticide use and emphasis on organic control of weeds and pests
- tree planting and tree health management programs
- more efficient types and sizes of vehicles in the municipal fleet- water conservation measures
- comprehensive waste management program
2005: Ville de Rosemère, Québec
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Rosemère is truly a leader in the area of sustainable development. They were one of the first towns to control the use of pesticides, both in urban and municipal areas. To enhance these efforts, the municipality recently hired an environmental coordinator who will work with the public to address these issues.
This year, they invested in two SMART vehicles to use in the community and to set an example for residents. This helps to cut greenhouse gasses, an approach quite favorable to developing a sustainable environment. The environnemental coordinator will use one of the vehicles to make site visits to those having need of information on horticultural as well as recycling issues.
In Rosemère, esthetics and environment go hand-in-hand. Residents work together with the municipality to ensure good use of space, proper landscape design & maintenance techniques as well as good practices such as composting, reducing, reusing, & recycling.