Category: Health and Happiness

Exercise, yoga, meditation, well-being, volunteering, community events.

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Have Your Say on Brampton’s Mobility Plan

The City of Brampton is updating the current 2015 Transportation Master Plan. The revised Mobility Plan will guide City investment in transportation infrastructure over the coming years. The Plan will move the City towards the 2040 Vision to be “a mosaic of safe, integrated transportation choices and new modes, contributing to civic sustainability, and emphasizing walking, cycling, and transit.”

Did You Know?

  • Transportation trips in Brampton nearly doubled from 1996 to 2015 from 480,000 to 880,000,
  • Travel to and from work represents 64.8% of all travel trips in the City,
  • 78% of Brampton’s transportation trips end in either Brampton or Mississauga. Only 22% travel outside of Peel Region!
    • For work only trips 62% end in either Brampton or Mississauga while only 38% travel to areas outside of Peel Region.
  • Currently 86% of travel trips are made by personal vehicle, (car, SUV, pick-up, etc), while only 14% use walking, cycling or transit.
  • 48% (426,000) of these trips are short trips of less than 5 kilometers. Only 13% of these short trips are made by active modes, (walking, cycling).
    • Only 1% of trips between 3 and 5 kilometers are made by active modes.
    • A 5km bike ride takes less than 20 minutes.
    • Shifting even a portion of these short trips to active modes could take about 100,000 cars off the roads in Brampton each day. Imagine what that would do for pollution and traffic congestion!

Source: 2016 Transportation Tomorrow Survey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_1kC3WTsHU

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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.

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BEA delegates to Peel Regional Council

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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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Rooted in Hope 2023-24 Project finishes

Rooted in Hope Training
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.

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Is Your Community About To Get Burned?

Emerald Energy from waste plant

by: Liz Benneian Ontario Zero Waste Coalition

Incinerator/Waste-to-Energy corporations are once again trying to sell their polluting plants to municipal councils

[Editor’s note: Emerald Energy From Waste, a Brampton based company recently submitted a proposal to the Ontario Government requesting permission to increase its incineration capacity up to 5 times from current levels. Peel Region Council cancelled its contract with Emerald in 2012 meaning the waste burned in the Emerald plant is imported from other municipalities. If allowed to proceed this expanded plant would be the largest mass burn facility in Canada with a capacity to consume 1/3 of all of Ontario’s garbage.]

After years of bad press about failed incineration/waste-to-energy projects, plants polluting their communities, municipal bankruptcies due to “put or pay” contracts, fires at various sites, stiff opposition to new plants from citizens and an end to some lucrative government subsidies, incinerator proponents largely disappeared from the Canadian landscape. Now, however, they are back.

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Calling all Youth to the 2024 Acheve EYE Eco-Sphere Conference and Job Fair!

Acheve Eco-Sphere Conference March 30, 2024
Ahceve Eco-sphere conference

Join members of the BEA at the Eco-Sphere, an environmental conference and market dedicated to raising awareness about sustainability and eco-friendly practices. The event, hosted by Acheve EYE (Environmental Youth Engagement), will feature engaging speakers, hiring employers, and a vibrant market showcasing sustainable businesses and products.

Event Details: Date: March 30th Time: 9:15 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Venue: Paul Palleschi Recreation Centre (30 Loafers Lake Ln, Brampton, ON L6Z 1X9).

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Brampton Environmental Alliance hosts Annual General Meeting

AGM Announcement Tile

The Brampton Environmental Alliance (BEA) hosted its second annual general meeting this past Wednesday March 13th. Twenty-two individual and organizational members attended along with 9 non-members and 5 guests. Among the guests was Brampton North MPP Graham McGregor who engaged with members at the conclusion of the meeting.

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