Category: Health and Happiness

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

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Community Climate Council Strike for the Greenbelt

Highway 413 Public Information Centre

Ontario is currently facing a multitude of environmental challenges due to changes in policies by the Provincial Government. Now, more than ever, our collective voice is crucial in protecting the Greenbelt.

The Community Climate Council (CCC) is organizing a Climate Strike for next Friday September 15th, from 3-6pm at Gage Park in Brampton, (45 Main St. S). This event is an excellent opportunity to come together, express our concern for the Greenbelt and show our support for climate action.

Contact Community Climate Council if you want to volunteer to help organize the event.

Register

There are also three Zoom sessions for public feedback on highway 413 coming up. If you know of residents in York or Halton they can have their say too! Depending on where you live, click on the appropriate link below, enter your name and email and ask a question that will be addressed during the session.

September 28, 2023 – York Region
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_HVyl6SslQ3Ky3LhqTsQTsQ

October 3, 2023 – Halton Region
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dqLyWX2qQzOMhIQQw_1Rfw

October 5, 2023 – Peel Region
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lJKodh4zSu-SQEjPLadYzQ

This is an opportunity to ask questions about the impact the proposed highway on the Brampton community, specifically the planned Heritage Heights Community. The Brampton Environmental Alliance believes building this highway is an expensive project that is unnecessary, will do nothing to relieve traffic congestion but will do irreparable ecological harm and prevent Heritage Heights from being built as a sustainable community. See here for past BEA articles on the negative impacts of the 413.

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Rooted in Hope Project Launch- Two events and a video!

The Rooted in Hope project was officially launched on August 19th in the parking lot of Gore Meadows Recreation Centre. Sonia Maset, Program Administrator for the Brampton Bike Hub trained four senior team leads on bike safety and skills training.

Sonia then took them for a short ride to familiarize them with riding on the roads in and around the recreational facility. Another training event with the “uncles” is scheduled for this Saturday August 26th.

This past Monday August 21st, another training event took place. This time it involved students from local high schools who are to be the team leads for tree planting and monitoring along with a teacher from Louise Arbour Secondary School.

The training event was led by Alice Casselman – President, Association of Canadian Educational Resources (ACER), and Dr. Sadia Butt ACER’s Project Manager who is also an ISA certified arborist with over 20 years experience as an urban forest practitioner, researcher, and environmental educator. Together, Alice and Sadia provided a full day of training to the participants about tree monitoring, tree species identification, knowledge of equipment used in tree monitoring and an introduction to online software that identifies how much carbon a tree is storing based on the data collected.

Data collection is a big part of this project and will be used to help inform the City of Brampton’s urban forest management plan.

The Rooted in Hope Project currently involves three Brampton high schools, Harold M. Brathwaite S.S., Heart Lake S.S, Castlebrooke S.S., with Louise Arbour S.S. expected to join this fall.

Hopefully we will see everyone at the tree planting events on September 6th , September 13th, and September 20th. All events run from 3:30-5:00pm @ Gore Meadows Community Centre! These events are free and open to anyone, especially seniors and students from the community. Click here to register and receive more information.

The Rooted in Hope project is designed to engage both youth and seniors in understanding the importance of urban trees by planting young trees and then monitoring the growth and health of both new and mature trees in their neighbourhoods. It will also use cycling, a form of active transportation, as the primary means of travel to tree monitoring sites thereby keeping carbon emissions to a minimum. Rooted in Hope is funded through the Ontario Seniors Community Grant Program.

One of our volunteers has graciously put together a 13 minute video describing the benefits of urban tree canopy as well as the challenges and threats facing Brampton’s urban forest. See the video below.

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Gentle Stretching in Nature

This past Wednesday Dayle and I participated in the first of two Gentle Stretching in Nature classes hosted by Sierra Club. Earlier predictions were for showers but the morning dawned partly sunny, perfect temperature for a light jacket. We brought along sunscreen and non-DEET, environmentally friendly bug repellant that was appreciated by the participants to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

Continue reading “Gentle Stretching in Nature”
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Friends and Stewards of Dorchester Hosts Birding and Painting Events as part of the Graceful Aging Project

The Friends and Stewards of Dorchester Park, this past week, hosted two events as part of the Graceful Aging Through Connecting with Nature, GATCWN, Project supported by the Government of Canada and coordinated by the Brampton Environmental Alliance.

“Spring Birding in the Park” was this past Saturday May 20th. Cold and rain, discouraged picture taking but the event was still attended by 7 hardy souls, 5 of whom were seniors. With the aid of “Birding Kits” courtesy of the Brampton Library and Bird Studies Canada. the group learned some useful tips for using binoculars, and learned about the importance of growing native species and removing invasives to support bird habitat. They also learned tips for birding success and where to find additional resources to be even more successful bird-watchers. And, of course they saw a number of bird species including: Downey Woodpecker, American Robin, American Goldfinch, Song Sparrow, Red Eyed Vireo, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackles, Red Winged Blackbird, Blue Jay, Mallard Duck and even a Swanson Thrush. Good spotting!

Participants received prizes to build their own birding kits for future outings.

Did you know that outdoor household cats are responsible for killing an estimated 2.5 Billion birds every year? They are one of the leading causes of bird mortality, according researchers at the University of Guelph. Keep your cats indoors to protect birds from predation!

“Discovering Dorchester Park through Plein Air Painting”, the second GATCWN event of the week, was held on Tuesday evening May 23rd.

Stephanie Schirm, a local artist and art educator, led the class in landscape painting on a beautiful spring evening.

The group had a wonderful time and did a fine job of capturing the beauty of the local park landscape!

Two more GATCWN events are scheduled for this weekend. Discover Native Flowers in Dorchester Park tomorrow from 10-11:30am. Click here to register. On Sunday attend a Park Cleanup event hosted by People Against Littering. Register here. Meet at Creditview Park 10-11:30am

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Dorchester Park Gets a Spring Cleanup from its Friends & Stewards

The Friends & Stewards of Dorchester Park launched their 2023 season this past Saturday April 29th, with a park stewardship startup event. This involved clearing out invasive species, making it easier for native, “pollinator friendly” plants to flourish. Funds from the Graceful Aging Through Connecting with Nature project, (GATCWN), helped the group purchase a tent to help promote the event and protect participants from the wet .

Continue reading “Dorchester Park Gets a Spring Cleanup from its Friends & Stewards”