Keeping the Lakes Great
On the Commons / Winter 2011
On the Commons is working with a collaborative alliance that links environmental activists, Indigenous Nations, inner city grassroots groups, cultural workers, artists, academics, attorneys, and others to declare the Great Lakes a commons, public trust and protected bioregion. A central piece of our strategy is the creation of a Great Lakes Commons Charter, a tool to give people and the lake standing and challenge market-dominated governance. The initiative seeks to redefine the process and criteria for decision-making around water use in the region. The process to create the Charter will involve many citizens and communities and eventually be ratified at a Great Lakes General Assembly. Key partnerships to inform this process include the Vermont Law School and the Notre Dame Mendoza School of Business.
Last month, OTC joined with others in the Great Lakes Commons Alliance in Detroit, MI, to attend the International Joint Commission (the bi-national body prescribed with overseeing protection of the Great Lakes) and the EPA held a public town hall meeting. Testimony by numerous groups and individuals raised the commons framework as essential to ensuring a healthy, just and sustainable future for Lake communities and the water itself.
Stay tuned. GreatLakesCommons.org will be live soon and list details for our upcoming events all around the lakes!
Santa Cruz Reskilling Expo
Pathways and Challenges to Institutional Development of On-Site Clean Energy
Renewable Energy World / Eric Paul / 07 February 2012
Institutions seeking to deploy on-site clean energy solutions are facing a number of challenging questions: How can solutions be deployed under tight budget constraints, with a minimum of upfront cost? What deal and financing structures are available to non-tax paying institutions? Is it best to build and own a system internally, or use a third-party developer?
As more institutions look to on-site clean energy generation to reduce operating costs and meet environmental goals, these questions are growing in importance. In this post, I will explore how institutions are approaching these questions, and provide examples of new financing and development approaches being utilized.
Ontario: "The economy is based on the environment"
Kingston Whig-Standard / Danielle VandenBrink / 07 February 2012
[Ontario environmental commissioner Gord] Miller outlined key issues facing Ontarians when it comes to the environment, including climate change, peak energy (increasing cost of fuel and other energy resources), the increasing shortage of fresh water and increasing threats to biodiversity.
Brockville: New wheels for kids in need
Recorder and Times / Megan Burke / 04 February 2012
The Brockville Bike Ministry, which [Eric] Montgomery has been setting up since last year with the help of Kelly Potvin, is holding its grand opening during March break so school-aged children can join in.
“Our plans for March break is to help 25 youths build their own bikes to their own specifications,” said Potvin.
“Everything from the frame up, we'll help them build.”
The youngsters and teens, from Grades 4 to 12, will choose their own handlebars, seat, pedals, brakes and more out of the approximate 150 bikes the ministry has collected from the surrounding area.
Review: Fleeing Vesuvius
Dissident Voice / Stuart Jeanne Bramhall / 03 February 2012
The basic theme of Fleeing Vesuvius, which is aimed at the growing sustainability movement, is TEOTWAWI (The End of the World as We Know It). The title refers to the volcano that destroyed Pompeii in 79 AD, specifically the large number of residents who failed to save themselves, despite weeks of earthquakes, gaseous clouds and other obvious signs that an eruption was imminent. For more than a decade, a growing body of evidence suggests that the planet is on the verge of economic and ecological collapse. Yet the vast majority of us do absolutely nothing to prepare for the stark conditions ahead.
Cost-free fundraising program: Think Recycle
Think Recycle is a cost-free fundraising program that rewards members with money and environmental incentives for the collection of unwanted electronics including laptops, tablets, cell phones, digital cameras, inkjet cartridges and toner cartridges! Organizations that are eligible to participate in Think Recycle include schools, charities, institutions, churches, teams, clubs and even businesses.
Think Recycle works with more than 20,000 members, across the United States and Canada, to meeting their fundraising and environmental goals.
