Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-12-056 - Earth Day 2012REPORT TO:Committee of the Whole DATE OF MEETING: March 26, 2012 SUBMITTED BY: Mark Hildebrand, Director, Community Programs & Services (741-2687) PREPARED BY: Janice Ouellette, Facilitator, Volunteer Resources & Community Engagement (741-2227) WARD(S) INVOLVED: All DATE OF REPORT: March 20, 2012 REPORT NO.: CSD-12-056 SUBJECT: Earth Day 2012 RECOMMENDATION: For Information BACKGROUND: Earth Day (April 22) is celebrated internationally as the birth of the environmental movement. On a global basis, Earth Day’s mandate is to create and nurture a popular, highly visible “window of awareness” in April in which individual awareness and action are the primary goal. Across Canada, Earth Day has grown so much that celebrations take place throughout the whole month of April, also known as Earth Month. According to Earth Day Canada (EDC), more than 6 million Canadians join 500 million people in over 180 countries in staging events and projects to address local environmental issues. Nearly every school child in Canada takes part in an Earth Day activity. The City of Kitchener has supported both community-driven and city-led events for over 15 years. Community consultations continue to show that people believe the environment is an important issue. The Earth Week planning committee sees its role as working towards the priorities of the Plan for a Healthy Kitchener (2006) and City of Kitchener’s Strategic Plan for the Environment, specifically environmental stewardship, public awareness and education and leadership and engagement. REPORT: The Earth Day Planning Committee reviewed the findings from Compass Kitchener’s consultations with the communityabout the environment. Key themes from the survey were: Public education - help community members know more about bike lanes and trails and other resources available to help make “green living” more accessible in our community; provide green living workshops in communities, opportunities to hear about green living alternatives, and educational programs. Be an example - ensure The City of Kitchener is a model organization ì ø¼÷ óï Offer Incentives - provide grants, prizes to citizens, community groups and businesses to participate in environmental initiatives and improve their lifestyle choices. Involve as many citizens as possible -involve youth, remove transportation barriers, schedule events at times that are convenient to most citizens etc. Considering the requests and suggestions made by our community members, opportunities to add or change current events were considered. We have focused on providing more opportunities for public education, reducing access barriers such as transportation and encouraging staff across the corporation to showcase their environmentally-friendly initiatives building awareness of what is available and how the City is a role- model organization. In 2012, the City of Kitchener Earth Day Committee will offer the following initiatives: EARTH HOUR At 8:30 pm on Saturday March 31, 2012, households, communities and business in cities around the world will join together to turn off their lights for one hour in a symbolic gesture to show that it's possible, when we work together, to make a huge impact and to bring attention to the issue of global warming. The City of Kitchener will once again be participating in ‘Earth Hour’. This means we are asking staff across the corporation to take steps to power down lighting, computers and other non-essential electrical equipment, with the exception of safety lighting or in the cases where facility spaces are rented out for special events-- to ensure we are “a corporation leading by example”. Staff from the Earth Day Planning Committee and communications are also working in collaboration with staff from the Downtown Kitchener BIA to organize an Earth Hour family event in the Civic Square on Saturday March 31st 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm. This event will include live musical performances, non-electric light show, children’s activities, give-aways and a countdown to lights out for Earth Hour from 8:30 – 9:30 pm. CLEAN-UPS Parks Operations staff spends a considerable amount of time collecting litter in our parks and trails and natural areas. Research shows that when community members get involved in cleaning their neighbourhoods, parks and open spaces, they are less likely to litter and are more likely to keep it clean! Recognizing that community clean-ups are easy ways to get many people involved, that they bring neighbours, colleagues or classmates together in a common cause, and that they may build awareness of how a small act for a short time can have a large physical impact and may help participants develop a sense of their influence on their environment, the Earth Week Planning Committee has decided to continue to provide the following litter pick-up opportunities this year. 20 Minute Makeover: The 20 Minute Makeover was first organized in the Cities of o Kitchener and Waterloo in 2006. In 2007, the City of Cambridge also participated. th This initiative will continue again this year on Friday April 20 when individuals, businesses, city staff, councillors and other organizations will be encouraged to take 20 minutes from their busy schedules at or around 2 p.m. to clean up the grounds around their work, schools, or homes. Groups can register on-line through the City of Kitchener website or by calling our Volunteer Resources. The City will provide registered groups with gloves and specially marked bags along with posters to organizers in each business. Last year, The Green City team promoted the 20 Minute Makeover with city staff and Council. Although it was a cold and rainy day ì ø¼÷ óî and the city was in the middle of the move to KOF, 108 city staff donned gloves and participated. Green City will be promoting the event internally again this year. Tim Hortons Community Clean-Up : The litter pick-up, organized by City staff, will o st from 10 am to 12 pm. Though past years we have be held on Saturday, April 21 held the event in Victoria Park, this year, to broaden the public awareness of the signature parks in the community, the Tim Hortons Community Clean-up will be held at McLennan Park. There is no pre-registration required. Individuals, families and groups are welcome. Participating high school students can also log hours for their community service requirements. In 2011, even with extremely cold temperatures, approximately 100 people participated in this event. Again this year, organizers and event volunteers will be encouraging participants to make full use of our community’s ability to recycle and compost and we will have a trash sorting company on hand to help. Tim Hortons generously sponsors this event by contributing t-shirts, refreshments, significant promotion and great prize incentives. Organize Your Own Litter Pick-ups : Individuals, groups or neighbourhoods can o organize their own litter clean-up of a public space, parks and trails. Those who register with the City of Kitchener Volunteer Resources receive free clean-up supplies and garbage collection as required. Clean-ups completed during the month of April will also receive Tim Hortons t-shirts and prizes and resources to help them run a safe event. This year, each participant will have the opportunity to be entered into a draw for a mountain bike also supplied by Tim Hortons. Last year approximately 45 community clean-ups were registered with City of Kitchener and over 1000 community members registered to participate. School Clean-ups : All elementary and secondary schools are invited to participate o in the School Operation Spring Clean-up. Schools who register with the City of Kitchener Volunteer Resources are provided with required supplies and support. This year all participating schools will have the chance to win a grant to fund environmentally friendly initiatives at their school. Last year, 35 schools participated, engaging approximately 10,000 students. Consulting Firm Challenge : Once again, environmental consulting firms in o Kitchener will be invited to challenge each other in the Annual Earth Day Challenge. For this challenge, points are awarded to the consulting firms who have the highest percentage of employees participating in a litter pick-up, the most unusual piece of garbage, and the largest amount of garbage collected. A trophy is awarded to the firm with the highest overall number of points. In 2011, six consulting firms participated with a total of 109 participants and the coveted Earth Day Challenge Cup went to MTE Consulting Inc. BLOOMIN’ EARTH ECO-FAIR City staff is collaborating with community members for the 6th annual Bloomin’ Earth Eco- st Fair at Kitchener City Hall, Saturday April 21 from 9am to 5pm. The Fair will include a re- purposed goods market, live entertainment and the REthreaded fashion show, a recycled clothing challenge. This is the sixth year for the market and first year broadening the event to include gardening information booths and products, informational and interactive displays, speakers, workshops and videos to enlighten and challenge us on how we can improve our environmental practices and reduce our environmental foot-print in various areas of our lives. ì ø¼÷ óí KITCHENER’S NATURAL AREA PROGRAM (KNAP) Through KNAP, a range of environmental activities are organized which focus on engaging the community in environmental stewardship projects, increasing environmental literacy and awareness, and creating opportunities for people to discover and experience nature in the City. KNAP Earth Day Event Once again, KNAP will be holding their annual free public on Saturday April 21st from 1-4 pm at the Huron Natural Area, 801 Trillium Drive. The event will feature the Canadian Raptor Conservancy with live bird of prey shows, the Sciensational Sssnakes live reptile displays, as well as kids’ crafts & activities, bird box building and tree planting. During this event, there will also be activities and artifacts from the recently village. discovered Neutral Nation ArchaeologicalThis is always a popular event, usually attracting between 800-900 people. Throughout the year, Kitchener’s Natural Areas Program also makes every day Earth Day by providing programs and opportunities for citizens to learn about and become active stewards of our environment. There are monthly free public events taking place in natural areas across the City. TRANSPORTATION This year, a free bus shuttle will be provided on Saturday April 21st between the Bllomin’ Earth Eco-Fair at City Hall, the Tim Hortons Community Clean up event at Mclennan Park and the KNAP event at Huron Natural Area. The free bus service is an environmentally friendly alternative mode of transportation and will increase accessibility to the events for all community members. ENVIRONMENTAL SHOWCASE th The April 19 meeting of the Environmental Committee will take a different format this year. The Committee has decided to host an Environmental Showcase to highlight various environmental initiatives like the 2011 Community Environmental Improvement Grant (CEIG) recipients, local environmentally focused nonprofits, university students and scholars. The Environmental Showcase will provide opportunities for citizens to learn, discuss, collaborate and become more involved The 2011 City of Kitchener Earth Day Committee consisted of the following people: Colleen Collins, Corporate Communications Dan Glenn-Graham, City Councillor & Environmental Advisory Committee Mohab El-Hakim, Community Representative, Environmental Advisory Committee Carrie Musselman, Senior Environmental Planner Janice Ouellette, Volunteer Resources & Community Engagement Marla Pender, Youth Services Brian Scott, Special Events Breanna Scott, KBIA Events and Communications Coordinator Joshua Shea, Natural Area Coordinator Shayne Turner, By-Law Enforcement Berry Vrbanovic, City Councillor & Environmental Advisory Committee Melanie Wawryk, City of Kitchener Green Team Tim Wolf, Infrastructure Services Karrie Zettler, Volunteer Resources Jennifer Zunic, Special Events ì ø¼÷ óì ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN: Community Priority – Environment Continue to show leadership in the development of an environmentally sustainable community. Community Priority – Leadership and Engagement Partner with citizens, business, agencies, organizations, school boards and all orders of government, in all Healthy Community initiatives. Develop a partnership with area school boards and other youth - service organizations to engage tomorrow's leaders in civic life - today. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Expenses will be paid out of an already existing budget allocated specifically for Earth Week Activities. Tim Hortons, CHYM, NewsTalk 570, KIX106, KOOL FM, and CTV have generously sponsored City of Kitchener’s Earth Day Activities. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: Community members who participate in Earth Week initiatives will be asked to provide feedback and input through surveys and evaluations. Earth Week initiatives cover all four forms of community engagement. Through presentations, displays and information on the web-site, community members are informed of environmental initiatives already taking place and ways they can participate and be more “earth friendly”. Through all earth week events (including Earth Hour in March), community members are given support and resources to collaborate on initiatives or lead them directly themselves. Corporate Communications developed a communication strategy for Earth Day 2012. Representatives of the Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) of Kitchener City Council sit on the Earth Day Planning Committee and provide a communication link to and from EAC CONCLUSION: Earth Day is an excellent opportunity for the City to raise awareness of local environmental initiatives and concerns and to encourage residents to take action on a local level. The environment is a priority for City of Kitchener residents. By providing support, resources and opportunities for community members to volunteer, residents are also given the opportunity to connect with others on common goal, to take on a leadership role and to be engaged in taking care of their own community. City Staff appreciate and look forward to continued support from Council to help grow this initiative. ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Jeff Willmer, Deputy CAO, Community Services ì ø¼÷ óë