February 2nd marks an international day to celebrate our world’s wetlands. On this day in 1971 the Convention on Wetlands, an international treaty about sustainable use and protection of wetlands, was signed in Ramsar, Iran. Later in 1997, the signing of the convention was first celebrated as World Wetland day to raise awareness about the importance of wetlands for people and the planet. To celebrate … Continue reading World Wetland Day
The following is copied from an email from the Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre. Dear Friends of Wildlife, We hope you are having a good 2022 so far and we wish we were sharing better news today. As some of you already know, sadly a coyote killing contest is being organized by a business in eastern Ontario. The Fur-Bearers and Coyote Watch Canada have created an easy … Continue reading Help stop a Coyote killing contest
by PERC Normally, this column is written by Sustainable Eastern Ontario staff as part of an ongoing collaboration between our two groups: however, we thought we’d write this one about them since it’s weird to write your own happy anniversary article. Sustainable Eastern Ontario (SEO) is a networking and capacity-building group that connects sustainability groups together and does whatever it can to help them do … Continue reading Sustainable Eastern Ontario: Ten Years of Supporting Sustainability in our Region
Did you know Giving Tuesday started in 2012 in New York, simply as a day to encourage people to do good things and be kind? It has evolved into both its own independent nonprofit, and an annual time to encourage charitable giving and kindness in general. It comes right after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, two days notorious for rampant consumerism and people, er, perhaps … Continue reading Giving Tuesday 2021
by Jody Chow Jody is an Eco-Internship participant working with GreenBooks, another social enterprise of Sustainable Eastern Ontario. (More about Greenbooks in a few pages!) In 2017, Sustainable Eastern Ontario (SEO) started helping other, often much smaller, environmental non-profit organizations (ENGO) access funding and wage subsidy grants to hire high-quality interns for staffing support, as well as providing training for those hired – some of … Continue reading Eco-Internships: Sometimes Everyone Wins
Have you heard about our Cartoons & Comics program? We recently got the first round of submissions and the board voted on their favourites. You can see some of the submissions, including the winning submissions, in the latest edition of the PEN and in the PEN Insider. A lot of our submissions came from a school in Cornwall, Ontario called Bishop Macdonell. We would like … Continue reading Cartoons & Comics-Interview with Paula Beauregard
Are you looking for a way to give this holiday season? Consider donating to a wonderful cause like the Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation’s Steve Simmering Conservation Land Endowment Fund. It is an especially great time to give to this fund because between November 20, 2020 and December 1, 2020 Enbridge is matching up to $5000 in donations. So, donate between these days and your donation … Continue reading Donate To Protect Local Lands
The following articles were originally submitted to the PEN as a set, but we only had space for the first part (you can see it in the Fall 2020 edition of the PEN here). They look at important social justice issues that are happening in Ottawa, in Ontario, in Canada, and internationally. By David Julian Wightman Ottawa JAIL Hotline Q&A Did you know the conditions … Continue reading Police, Trial & Prison Issues, From Local to Global
by PERC The horrifying death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis on May 25th is the latest in a tragic string of deaths of black people at the hands of the police, and one which has fanned the flames of protest around institutional racism in much of North America. It has left many of us wondering what we can do to … Continue reading Addressing Racism Locally
by Barbara Sibbald and Stuart Kinmond, Co-chairs, Single-Use Plastics Group, Centretown Community Association Safety is vital during the COVID-19 pandemic, but so is accurate information. Lately, there has been a resurgence of support for single-use plastic (SUP) bags, even though there is no scientific evidence that they are more hygienic than reusable bags. This has generated controversy about the use of SUP bags vs … Continue reading To Bag or Not To Bag: Reusable Bags in Ottawa During COVID-19
Ottawa Peace & Environment Blog 