Blog Posts – Page 7

15 July 202415 July 2024

Heat Pump Chronicles Vol 8.

This is the eighth in a series of posts on our journey to navigate government grants and loans available for home energy retrofits and to replace our natural gas furnace with a cold-climate heat pump. Click here to see all articles in the series .

I want to share our first experience with our heat pump now working as an air conditioner. In a word, FANTASTIC!

Once the weather gets consistently milder my habit has been to turn off the furnace and open the windows to bring in some fresh air. This year we were able to do that in early May. I have typically only turned the A/C on when we experience hot weather over multiple days.

14 July 202424 July 2024

BEA delegates to Peel Regional Council

The Emerald Energy from Waste facility has been operating in Peel since 1992, initially built and operated by Algonquin Power. The Region cancelled a waste burning contract with Algonquin in 2012 but the facility was sold to Emerald shortly thereafter and has been continuing operations by consuming waste from industrial, commercial and institutional sources.

In 2016, the Region considered building its own waste burning facility but cancelled those plans due to concerns about the pollution a second facility would emit. Instead it embarked on a plan to divert 75% of its waste by 2034, through a combination of improved policies, procedures and, technologies related to waste reduction, reuse, recycling and, composting.

29 June 202429 June 2024

BEA and Partners to Deliver Summer Programming

Brampton Bike Hub pop up at Bramalea Secondary School

Post Author: Cindy Evans

This summer, with financial support from TRCA’s “Building a Healthy and Connected Bramalea” project, the BEA is providing 3 programs to the residents of Brampton – specifically aimed at engaging residents living in the E,F and K sections of Bramalea. This area has been highlighted as part of TRCA’s Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan (SNAP). The objective of Bramalea SNAP is to foster neighbourhood revitalization that integrates local community interests and sustainability objectives under the overarching theme of working together for a green, healthy, and welcoming Bramalea SNAP neighbourhood.

14 June 202414 June 2024

Heat Pump Chronicles Vol. 7

This is the seventh in a series of posts on our journey to navigate government grants and loans available for home energy retrofits and to replace our natural gas furnace with a cold-climate heat pump. Click here to see all articles in the series .

“The cheque is in the mail”. That’s what Kirby, Enbridge’s Customer Service agent might as well have said to me. I was speaking with him on February 6th, 2024, four months after we installed our Mitsubishi Zuba cold-climate heat pump.

10 June 202410 June 2024

Pollinator Week June 17-23

Pollinators are birds, bats, bees, butterflies and other small mammals that pollinate plants. They do this by collecting pollen on their bodies as they move about in search of food. In the process of travelling around they leave some of that pollen behind on many plants allowing those plants to re-produce.

10 June 202411 June 2024

Your Washing Machine has a Dirty Secret

Woman smelling clothes fresh from the laundry

The smell of clean clothes pulled from the dryer, may rival that of brewing coffee or freshly baked bread as a “comfort” aroma. Of course that excludes clothes that have been soaked in fabric softener or dried with dryer sheets for that is both a personal and an environmental turnoff subject to an article for another day. Beyond that though, we all want to wear freshly laundered clothes. Most of us wear our clothes only once before tossing them in the wash basket. And more than 60% of the clothing we wear is made from synthetic materials derived from fossil fuels. Aka, it’s made of plastic!

31 May 202410 June 2024

BEA May 2024 Past Events

May has been a busy for BEA involvement in environmental events.

On Saturday May 11th, the BEA participated in Reconnect Brampton’s Clothing Swap. Remember that most of our clothes today are made of plastic. Fabrics such as Nylon, Polyester, Spandex, and many other man-made products are derived from fossil fuels. Keeping these clothes in circulation rather than having them become garbage in landfill is very important. These fabrics take decades to break down in the environment but when they do, they end up as microplastic pieces that travel by water and air all over the world and are now ending up in almost every living organism including unborn babies.

Canada alone dumps 500 MILLION kilograms of clothing into landfills each year! Clothes swapping is a far better alternative that saves money and contributes to a healthier planet! If you missed the event but please visit Restyle Boutique – a local family-owned clothing store that sells chic lightly used items.

3 May 20245 May 2024

Rooted in Hope 2023-24 Project finishes

Rooted in Hope Training
Gore Meadows — Rooted in Hope Training at Gore Meadows Community Centre

The Rooted in Hope 2023-24 project hosted its final event on Sunday April 21st. About a dozen and a half participants, one third seniors and two thirds secondary school students, enjoyed the bright sunshine yet below seasonal temperatures for the final tree monitoring training at Gore Meadows Community Centre.

22 April 20243 May 2024

Earth Day, Cold, Wet & Windy – Again!

Saturday morning dawned the same way that it has for the past three years, windy, wet and numbingly cold. Storm clouds raced across the sky bringing driving snow and hail pellets. With the temperature hovering around 5 degrees, the snow did not stay on the ground but the biting wind made it feel far cooler than the temperature indicated. Despite that, several hardy souls made the trek to the Earth Day celebration by bicycle, some coming from as far away as Georgetown.

Cyclists leave from Paul Palleschi Recreation Centre in Heart Lake heading for the Earth Day celebration at Gore Meadows Community Centre

17 April 202423 April 2024

Achēv EcoSphere conference & job fair

On Saturday March 30th, the BEA participated in the Achēv Eco-Sphere environmental conference & job fair which was aimed at raising awareness about sustainability and eco-friendly practices.

MP Brampton Centre Shafiq Ali presents at the EcoSphere conference

The event featured engaging speakers including, Shafqat Ali, MP for Brampton Centre, Paloma D’Silva, a recently graduated environmental data management specialist from Mississauga, Miranda Bhaksh, founder of Community Climate Council and recently named one of the Top 30 Changemakers under 30. I was honoured to also be included on the list of guest presenters.

Post Author: Cindy Evans

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