April is the time of year when we celebrate Earth’s bounties, take joy from daylight as it emerges from darkness’s sheath, and as we are released from the ravages of winter cold, snow and ice. April is also a time for us to reflect on the importance of the earth’s natural environment to our health and wellbeing, and the damage it suffers as a result of human pursuit of perpetual economic growth. The old adage that, “those who forget history are doomed to repeat it” is poignant today for many reasons but, perhaps, especially so for the environment. With government’s of all stripes and colours, north and south of the Canada, U.S. border, rolling back environmental legislation in the name of progress, growth and affordability, it’s worth looking back to the time before much of this legislation existed to examine the impact that unbridled growth can have on our quantity and quality of life.
Emerald Energy from Waste is a private waste burning company located on Brampton’s southwest border with Mississauga. Emerald has been operating this plant since 1992. Recently, they submitted a proposal to the Ontario Government for permission to dramatically increase their plant capacity, to accommodate the equivalent of 1/3 of all of Ontario’s household waste and become the largest mass burn facility in Canada.
Emerald claims they are a clean, green technology company turning unwanted waste into sustainable electricity. Representatives, including experts from Environmental Defence, Toronto Environmental Alliance, and Region of Peel Public Health Department, dispute those claims citing the following facts:
Saturday March 22nd was a busy day for the BEA supporting two community tables.
In the morning, the Bramalea Community Network hosted a Health and Wellness Day at the Knightsbridge Seniors Centre. About 30 neighbourhood residents attended including seniors from the Centre as well as families from the surrounding community.
March 2025 Health & Wellness Day Knightbridge Seniors Centre
The event featured presentations on nutrition, mental health, and overall well-being by expert speakers from William Osler Health System and B.L.O.O.M. Empowerment Group.
It also included a short chair yoga session.
Brampton Bike Hub’s Sonia Maset , Health and Wellness Day
About 10 community service organizations, including BikeBrampton and the BEA, were invited to set up information tables around the room’s perimeter.
Feedback on the resources and information provided was positive.
Busy tables at Health and Wellness Day
That evening, the BEA attended an Earth Hour event in the Caledon East Community Complex. This first ever event was organized by Eco-Caledon and sponsored by the Town.
Caledon’s Earth Hour Event
Almost 300 attendees and 25 exhibitors spent the evening celebrating sustainability, environmentalism, and our collective efforts to protect the planet!
Caledon Earth Hour Event
Exhibitors were encouraged to include interactive activities at their tables and they delivered. Magicians, kale smoothies, blue planet cookies, bean bag tosses, and heat pump demonstrations were all part of the mix.
Locally grown winter vegies from Mount Wolfe Farm
The BEA’s activity was a One-Planet Pledge. Participants were invited to select one of the ten principles from the One Planet Living Framework® and then pledge to take two actions that would help fulfill that principle.
Caledon Earth Hour participant makes a One Planet Living pledge.
Join the Contest, take the One Planet Living Pledge for Earth Day 2025
Leo O’Brien is a community advocate in the Heart Lake community of Brampton and the administrator for Heart Lake Happenings, an on-line community Facebook group that has over 4,000 subscribers. Leo also looks for ways he can give back to his community. Enter the Eco Heart Lake Community Outreach Project.
Canada’s Food Guide, produced by Health Canada, is a resource that provides practical, evidence-based recommendations to help Canadians make healthy food choices and develop healthy eating patterns. The guide aims to help Canadians meet their nutritional needs while reducing the risk of chronic disease and contributing to overall health and well-being. The first guide was introduced in 1942 and the recommendations have evolved over the years to reflect the latest scientific research.
It was difficult to write this year-end review for the Brampton Environmental Alliance. Not because we didn’t work very hard to make a difference but because several things conspired to make this a very challenging year, environmentally speaking.
Among the issues we faced: the Province prioritizing building Highway 413, and the efforts of the Emerald Energy From Waste company to expand its garbage burning operations in Brampton without appropriate environmental controls being in place. Of greater concern is the general apathy of the public towards environmental issues and the vitriolic response to public policies aimed at climate change mitigation, notably carbon pricing and rebates. The fact that we seemingly cannot have an adult conversation related to these important topics is deeply troubling.
The Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign, (OCEC), is a non-partisan group promoting awareness on the climate crisis and environmental issues in the Province of Ontario. It’s aim is to empower citizens and urge political leaders with the power of democratic voice to drive the urgent transformational changes needed for the present and the future climate security of all Ontarians.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Christmas Bird Count is one of the world’s oldest and longest running citizen science efforts. It began out of a barbaric practice, known as side hunts, where families would go into the forest and see who could kill the most birds.
Frank Chapman, an early Audubon Society member, proposed the idea of counting birds instead of killing them. He organized 27 observers in 25 places, both the U.S. and Canada, to count all the birds they could on Christmas Day 1900. According to Wikipedia, 90 bird species were observed and 18, 500 individuals were counted that day.
Since then, the counts have been held every December/January with more than 50,000 observers in about 2,000 locations across 17 countries. The data from each count is submitted to the National Audubon Society which helps inform population counts and conservation practices.
Christmas Bird Count Circle
Counts can be held on any day from December 14 to January 5. Individual counts are done in a “count circle” with a diameter of 24 kilometers. Each circle has a “compiler” and at least 10 volunteers. Some volunteers follow assigned routes within the circle that remain essentially the same each year. Others count all the birds they see on their backyard feeders from the comfort of their homes.
For many years BEA member Bob Noble has been organizing a Christmas Bird Count in a count circle that covers the eastern half of Brampton and parts of Vaughan, King and Caledon including, Tullamore, part of Caledon East, and all of Bolton. Bob is an amazing naturalist and nature photographer. You’ve likely seen some of his incredible insect pictures posted on Facebook, Instagram, and on his own website . Each year a selection of Bob’s best shots are compiled into a calendar which is published and given to City of Brampton and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority volunteers.
Nomad Bee
Photo: Bob Noble
Bob describes the December 15, 2024 count. “The temperature stayed around freezing for the day with a bit of light snow. The smaller ponds were completely frozen but there was some open water in the larger lakes. Thirty field observers and seven feeder watchers managed to count 10,859 individual birds. This is below the average of about 12,000.
We set a new species record of 62 with the previous record being 61 even though the general consensuswas that it was a tough day to find birds. We didn’t find any new species this year leaving the total number of species observed in all counts at 120. Good birds included Green-winged Teal (3rd record), Bald Eagle (3rd record), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (3rd record) and White-crowned Sparrow (4th record). Record high numbers were recorded for Common Goldeneye (6), Cooper’s Hawk (10), Red-bellied Woodpecker (18), Merlin (3), Eastern Bluebird (6) and Northern Cardinal (180).
A number of regular species were missed including Ruffed Grouse (34 previous counts), Pine Siskin (33 previous counts), Snow Bunting (33 previous counts) and Swamp Sparrow (27 previous counts). Low numbers were recorded for Wild Turkey (2), Rough-legged Hawk (1), Cedar Waxwing (22) and Common Redpoll (1).”
Thanks to Bob for organizing and being a compiler for this important annual event!
Ontario Bill 212 will sadly result in more road violence deaths on unsafe streets. More than 34 cyclists from Brampton and Toronto gathered on Jan 25th to rally, ride and install a ghost bike to symbolize this prediction.
The City of Brampton has completed a study for improvements to Williams Parkway from Dixie Road to Torbram. The study was commissioned in 2020 after Council requested staff to reevaluate a previous recommendation that would have seen the road widened from 4-6 lanes, See June 2020 BikeBrampton blog where different options were considered.
The study supports the City’s transition to a more sustainable urban design approach where the focus is on moving people comfortably, safely and efficiently through the use of various transportation modes including walking, cycling, and transit in addition to cars.
