Project: Growing Native Grasslands

Working with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Alderville First Nation Black Oak Savanna and Tallgrass Prairie will restore tallgrass prairie and savanna ecosystems in Alderville First Nation and throughout the Rice Lake Plains. With the help of volunteers and a local school group, seeds will be collected and grown into tallgrass seed plugs over the winter and planted in the spring. The project will combat biodiversity loss and increase species habitat.

Project: Wildlife Habitat Structures for an
Urban Watershed

With the participation of the local community, schools and youth group volunteers, the Blackcreek Conservation Project of Toronto (BCCP) will build and install an assortment of more than 400 wildlife habitat structures designed for native species of birds, bats, toads and solitary bees. BCCP will educate participants on the benefits of wildlife within the city and the integral role that wildlife plays in a healthy urban landscape. BCCP will also engage the local community through wildflower plantings and educational nature walks.

Project: Right Bike

Causeway Work Centre, in partnership with Sustainable Living Ottawa West and the City of Ottawa, is developing Right Bike, a community-owned bike share. Right Bike will operate on a scale of 40-60 bikes and reduce traffic congestion and pollution in a major traffic corridor in the city of Ottawa. The project is designed to be affordable and will include a social enterprise element to assist those experiencing barriers to employment. Right Bike will serve as a model to other communities within Ottawa and Ontario.

Project: EcoKits for Northwestern Ontario Classrooms

EcoSuperior will develop EcoKits to bring children’s environmental education to schools in the smaller communities throughout northwestern Ontario. Each EcoKit will contain a complete, locally developed, grade-specific lesson plan with hands-on manipulatives, games, activities and ideas for class action follow-ups. The kit will encourage students to take environmental action by fostering greening initiatives at school, at home and in the community.

Project: The Green Farm for Youth Discovery

Everdale Farm’s Green Farm for Youth Discovery will be the foundation for educational experiences for the community, visiting school children and will be a key component of its farming internship program. The project will include a one-acre, educational market garden and a five-acre, experiential livestock education area. The Green Farm will demonstrate the effectiveness of growing food and raising livestock with bio-diverse complexity by educating students on various topics including: soil life, life cycles, seed saving, pasture rotation, cover crops and watersheds.

Project: Turning Trash into Treasure—Making Community Composting a Reality

FoodShare will establish 7–10 community-based composting programs in diverse communities across Toronto. The project will take an innovative, capacity-building approach to empower community members to take a leadership role in starting, maintaining and growing composting systems in their neighbourhoods, and to train other community members in composting using a train-the-trainer model. Community members will also facilitate composting demonstration events.

Project: 23^rd Annual Wildlife Habitat Restoration
(Bob Hunter Park)

The Rouge Valley Foundation will re-establish hardwood forest in a 2.5 hectare area adjacent to the Little Rouge River. Volunteers will participate in a large planting on Earth Day and schools and corporations will participate in smaller plantings in the fall. Activities will include: sowing a clover cover crop; amending the soil with wood chip mulch; and planting native shrubs, wildflowers and ferns. In total, the Foundation will plant 1 500 coniferous trees, 3 885 deciduous trees, 650 native shrubs, 200 ferns, and 800 wildflower plugs.

Project: DiReCt Cycle (Divert*Recycle*Compost)

South Riverdale Community Health Centre will work with members of the Blake Jones community to develop a waste management strategy housed at Blake Street Public School. The DiReCt Cycle Project will establish a steering committee comprised of teachers, students, parents and community members, conduct a waste audit, establish a composting system for organic waste and create curriculum-linked environmental lesson plans and multi-lingual workshop materials for the broader community. The goal is to reduce school waste by 60% over the next three years.

Project: Think Globally, Act Locally and Care Personally

Students at St. Luke Catholic High School will build and maintain a greenhouse as part of the schools Trade and Technology and Hospitality Programs. The project will provide Trade and Technology students with increased technical skills in green technologies. The greenhouse is an expansion of the schools existing garden project and will enhance the Hospitality Program where students learn to grow, cook and preserve local foods. New teaching units will be developed to educate and prepare students for “green collar” jobs.

Project: Project iRestore

Project iRestore is a long-term, environmental education project anchored around at-risk animals and conservation. Project plans include: the development of a conservation action plan; the collection of baseline plant and animal biodiversity data; the removal of invasive plants; and the restoration of 30 acres of property. The restoration initiative will restore one field to native tallgrass prairie and two fields to deciduous forest. Monitoring biodiversity before, during, and after restoration will quantify the process. Children and corporate employees will take action through hands-on education and volunteer days.

Project: Not Far From the Tree: The 2012 Season

For 2012, Not Far From the Tree will expand its highly successful, fruit picking program in 15 of Toronto’s neighbourhoods. Not Far From the Tree’s fruit picking program puts Toronto’s fruit to good use by picking and sharing urban bounty that would have otherwise gone to waste. This season, 800 volunteers will pick over 300 fruit trees. A generous amount of fruit will be provided to those in need. The program addresses climate change by promoting local food and brings attention to the importance of the urban forest.