Green Guelph

I was honoured on Thursday at the Guelph Youth Music Centre, for being chosen as the the “Top 40 under 40″ within Guelph. There were so many deserving people there. More deserving than me I felt. But none the less I was chosen. Here is the article in the Guelph Mercury and it mentions greenguelph.ca as well!

Bio: CAM GUTHRIE – Politically conscious citizen and blogger,

www. greenguelph.ca,

www.ward4news.ca,

www.protectyouridentity.ca,

www.stopchildporn.ca

Personally or professionally, Cam Guthrie continuously shows he cares about other people’s needs.

He heard that people he didn’t know had their bikes stolen and helped the local family buy new ones.

When clients called Guthrie, an insurance broker, to say their basement had flooded, he helped them move their belongings out of the way until midnight instead of just telling them to call a 1-800 number.

Those are just a couple of examples given by his wife, Rachel, in her nomination of him for 40 Under 40.

Guthrie makes extensive use of the web to bring Guelphites together. They share environmental tips on his green blog, sign up online for his free seminars on identity theft, and will soon be able to learn about protecting children once he completes a website on ending child pornography.

Guthrie hopes to one day serve the community as an elected representative. He ran for city council in 2006 and shares his views on Ward 4 on a blog dedicated to it. Guthrie is president of the provincial Progressive Conservative Association Guelph.

He has played drums at Lakeside Church for 17 years.

Many countires are going this way folks. Many cities are thinking about it. I say…why not? Check out this artilce out of today’s Mercury. What do you think Guelph? Should we do it?

High school students petition for plastic bag ban; mayor looking to province

High school students say a reduction in pollution is in the bag — as long as it’s not plastic.

Hundreds of local students recently signed a petition advocating a ban on plastic bags. Sarah Hennekens, 16, wrote and circulated the petition among her classmates at Centre Wellington District High School in April.

She took the 298 signatures to Centre Wellington township council in May.

Hennekens said the vast majority of students at her school would have signed the petition if it had more time to go around.

Plastic bags clog landfills, take a long time to decompose and harm animals that eat them, she said.

“It’s garbage that is not needed. It’s unnecessary waste,” the Grade 10 student said, adding she has never used plastic bags because she got her environmental consciousness from her parents, who prefer reusable bags.

“Now that I’m in high school, I kind of found that I have a voice and I’d like to use that,” Hennekens said, adding the environmental club at school helped with the petition.

A successful reduction of plastic bags in this area could spread to other parts of Canada, she said.

Leaf Rapids, a small town in Manitoba has already banned plastic bags. So has the city of San Francisco. And Ireland charges a levy on plastic bags that has dramatically curbed use.

Hennekens said a tax could be an effective alternative to an outright ban here.

Centre Wellington Township Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj brought the student petition to Wellington County council where it was discussed last month.

“We do feel that it is a very good cause that we work together and try diligently to avoid the use of the plastic bags,” Ross-Zuj said.

The county does not have the jurisdiction to ban plastic bags, the mayor said, but could encourage people through education to use fewer bags and find other types of packaging.

“We’re looking for some direction from the province to control this,” she said. “We should wait to see what success that they have and how that would look in our municipality so that we’re not overstepping what legally is acceptable.”

Hennekens plans to approach chain stores in late August about voluntarily phasing out plastic bags.

“If it’s going too slow and (governments) don’t seem like they’re going to be acting upon (a ban), then I’m just going to go to the chains themselves and start locally,” she said.

This is a great day folks! Thank you so much for your continued support here at greenguelph.ca.

Cam

This just doesn’t make much sense to me folks…

That’s according to a recent city report that proposes changes to water and wastewater rates, which could take effect in 2009. The interim report, presented to a council committee this month as part of the first phase of a rate-structure review, proposes bigger water users pay less while smaller users pay more, relatively speaking.

That’s drawn the ire of at least one councillor who says the proposal undermines the community’s environmental goals.

“It flies in the face of conservation,” said Councillor Christine Billings, who sits on the community development and environmental services committee.

Water and wastewater rates are calculated using a two-part formula — a fixed basic charge, which is based on the size of the water meter, and a charge for the volume of water used. Staff have proposed increasing the fixed charge from 15 per cent to approximately 20 per cent of the combined costs in order to bring them more in line with what other municipalities are charging. A consultant’s survey of more than 80 Ontario municipalities found that the average fixed charge outside Guelph was 29 per cent.

According to the city’s Waterworks division, an average household uses between 230 to 250 cubic metres of water annually. With the proposed changes, a household using that amount of water would see a $14 to $16 increase in its annual bill. By comparison, a household using 480 cubic metres of water would not see an increase.

Commercial and industrial users, according to the city report, would see a decrease in their costs. For example, a commercial consumer using 10,000 cubic metres of water a year would see a savings of $1,630.

Billings said such a change doesn’t make sense because it penalizes people who are using less water.

“Why would we want to change our rate structure to reflect what other municipalities are doing because they’re not doing nearly as well in conservation as we are,” she said.

City staff contend the proposed changes will ensure stable revenue and predictable, affordable rates in the long-term.

“A user that would use a small amount of water would have a modest increase in their annual bill,” said Karl Cober, a waterworks project manager. “It’s a small, modest increase.”

“The larger users would eventually see a decrease as the use increased.”

The rate change would reflect the costs of delivering the service, but would still ensure it remains revenue neutral, he said.

Another option that’s on the table is to move toward pricing based on conservation and peak usage, he added. But that rate structure is not recommended in the interim report.

“It’s a complicated (issue),” Cober said. “There’s a lot of numbers and we’re trying to get the information out so we can make a good decision for the city.”

A final report is expected to go to council in the fall.

IF YOU’RE GOING

The city’s Waterworks Division is holding an open house about its review of water and wastewater rates

When: Tomorrow

Time: 6 to 8 p.m.

Presentation: 6:30 p.m.Where: Evergreen Seniors Centre, 683 Woolwich St.

Here is my latest article written for Venture publications. This was published in their recent “Guelph home & Lifestyles” paper. Enjoy:

1. CFL Light bulbs – This is where I suggest that you start your journey into becoming greener!

1. My family replaces our light bulbs only when we need to. We did not go out and buy 40 Light bulbs and take an afternoon to replace them all. We still have a few more to do within our home but it didn’t break the bank for us.
2. Buy a few reusable bags – Not plastic ones. Here’s some stats for you. The number of plastic shopping bags used in Ontario is 3.5 billion each year. It takes 400 years on average for a plastic shopping bag to break down. Buying your own reusable bag will cost you about $1. My family has about 6 of them and we intend on collecting more of them over the rest of this year. Of course you could always just pick up your item and carry it out of the store without any kind of bag.
3. As most of us should now know, Guelph is going pesticide free very soon and the Province of Ontario is close behind. Many complaints of homeowners is that they don’t know what to do to keep their lawn weed free and looking great. As a homeowner myself I can understand their frustration,there are several free seminars being put on by the city and local nurseries this year on how to maintain your property with no pesticides. Think about going to one of these workshops with an open mind and see what you can learn.
4. Plant a tree. Guelph’s population is now well over 100,000 people and is growing fast! Just imagine if every person decided to plant just one tree this year. That’s a lot of trees folks!
5. Lastly, Think about purchasing a rain-collection barrel. I have yet to do this myself but it’s on my to do list for this year. Guelph sold out of all rain-collection barrels just a few weeks ago on one day. They are now taking orders for more. The water collected can be used for your lawn and gardens. This just makes “sense” and in the long run it will save you your “cents” because you’re not paying for as much water use.   

I really have not done any research about the selling of carbon credits. The city is looking into selling some though. Here’s an article from the Mercury today about it.

Guelph stands to profit from its environmental projects by selling credits to polluters on the carbon market.

The city could net between $200,000 and $300,000 per year by selling carbon credits from a green project at Eastview Landfill Gas Energy Plant, a report to council says.

City council will vote tonight on whether to allow an organization to sell carbon credits on its behalf for this project.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has created an organization, called the Green Municipal Corporation, to sell carbon credits on behalf of cities.

On the carbon market, projects get credits for emitting less carbon dioxide than allowed by law. These credits are purchased by other projects that emit more carbon dioxide than allowed.

Carbon dioxide emissions are of concern because they cause climate change. Carbon credits can make pollution costly and environmentalism profitable and therefore encourage green initiatives, environmental advocates say.

The Green Municipal Corporation will sell the credits to large emitters that need them to comply with federal carbon reduction targets, the report to Guelph’s council says.

At the closed landfill, methane gas produced by the decomposing trash is used to generate electricity.

Ward 1 Councillor Bob Bell said there are also plans to use waste heat from the generators at the landfill to heat homes in a proposed nearby housing subdivision.

The city could also profit off of carbon credits from that future project, he said.

I just installed a screen door on my front door yesterday. First of all, a big thanks to Tyler from Harrison Design Build & Construction (519-830-9159 or harrisondesignbuild@rogers.com) who installed it for me. It is so great! Rachel and I haven’t had the air conditioning on for 2 days now. The breeze coming through the house now is amazing.

I love clearance sections! That is where I found the screen door at Home Depot last week. Exact size that I needed and my door size is a weird size so this was just meant to be.

Now I just got to get a screen to fit my back door and the wind will be blowing right through the house nicely!

An exciting post like this wouldn’t be complete without pictures of course!

I recieved this email from an individual today reagrding the Liberal’s proposal of the Green Shift platform. I have not seen the fine-print on this plan myself yet. Here’s the email and please feel free to make comments if you wish. Please remember that this website was setup to promote things “green” within Guelph and this is not a site where I want people attacking eachother over these types of issues. However, as this Green Shift will effect everyone I think it merits respectful dialogue and comments will be monitored accordingly. Let the debate begin. I will share my comments at a later time when I go through the details more closely. Thanks everyone!

Cam, 

I wanted to use your site to comment on Mr. Dion’s new Green Shift Tax plan. I’m not sure if you have looked into this, but I am interested to know what your readers think.

Here’s my issue: 

I currently live in Guelph, and drive to Fergus every day for work. I drive a Standard Transmission 2006 Toyota Corolla, which is eligible for the green rebate. I have moved so that I am close to amenities I need in Guelph (I live near the mall) so that my drive is minimal. I check my tire pressure regularly to ensure maximum fuel efficiency, and I when I go out to eat at lunch in Fergus, I usually walk to one of the local eateries. 

I have done everything I think I can to save on fuel consumption, thus reducing my carbon footprint. Based on Mr. Dion’s proposed plan, I will be taxed higher at the pump for my fuel, which I need to perform my duties at my place of employment. I understand the tax will happen at the wholesale level, but the cost will still be passed on to me, the consumer. I am all for the plan in concept, but the execution is ridiculous. He claims that as an “average Canadian”, I will receive a rebate on my income taxes to offset the costs. The goal is ultimately to get everyone to use less carbon-emission producing fuels. I would like to completely comply with the spirit of the plan, so my question to Mr. Dion is this: How do I stop using my car?

- I cannot take the bus as there is no public transportation system that could get me to Fergus every day for work.

- I cannot purchase a vehicle that does not use gasoline as a fuel in Guelph as far as I know.

- I cannot ride my bike to work because the distance to my work is too far to do so.

- I cannot move to Fergus as my partner does not drive and needs to be in Guelph in order to able to access public transportation since once again, there is no way to get from Fergus to Guelph every day in a timely fashion. 

Unfortunately Mr. Dion is bringing this plan in at a time when the public transportation system in our country still needs much work, and environmentally friendly transportation methods are still in the testing stages. If I could buy a hydrogen car, I would pay the extra money to ensure my fuel costs would be reduced and my footprint on the environment would be as well. The plan is too soon. It is a good idea, but start by taxing corporations in ways that force them to make actual possible changes. Also, tax people who buy luxury gas-guzzling vehicles. Tax people who buy gas lawn mowers instead of rechargeable electric ones. These are all changes we can actually make to our lives as consumers. Don’t punish Canadians for doing something that they have no other choice doing. 

Regards,

Cedric

 How cool is this! Go to this website now and see what these urban cowgirls…um….I mean women are doing for Guelph and the environment!

Local Food Peddlers

A new local business is hitting the streets of Guelph. We are two local students interested in both eating locally for global change and emission-free transportation. In combining both ideas, we have created an eco-friendly bicycle delivery service. LOCAL FOOD PEDDLERS brings farm-fresh fruits and vegetables right to people’s homes with farm-to-door delivery by bicycle. Now people who are unable to make it to markets or farms – families with busy schedules, urban professionals with late hours, or individuals without accessibility – can still support the 100-mile diet without compromising their urban lifestyles. We offer the market throughout the week. Eco-friendly. Emission-free. Local, local, local. Weekly, LOCAL FOOD PEDDLERS assembles and delivers fruit & vegetable parcels from local farms. And if you already have an existing CSA (community shared agriculture) but can’t make the weekly pick-ups, we will for you! Or if you need your favorite natural health products from local shops, just call them right away to receive delivery from us just the next day! Finally, our community has a service that complements people’s bio-conscious food choices. A service that is mindful in restoring the connection between the urban and farm environments that coexist in Guelph. So today in a globalizing world, you can live in the urban scene….AND still be green.

Nita & Julia
urban cowgirls

519-212-1868
http://www.localfoodpeddlers.ca
info@localfoodpeddlers.ca