[greenon-l] Heads up for "We Conserve"!

[Conservation Council of Ontario]

Green On.
The Online Newsletter of the Conservation Council of Ontario
see www.greenontario.org to subscribe or unsubscribe



We Conserve:
Building Ontario's Conservation Movement


Dear friends,

I want to give you all a heads up about our new initiative -- We 
Conserve.  We will be launching the consultation phase next week, so this 
is your chance to get a sneak preview.

"We Conserve" is a long-term commitment to build a stronger conservation 
movement in Ontario.  It is also an opportunity to work together to make an 
immediate contribution to Ontario's pressing conservation issues.  At a 
time when Ontario's power consumption has hit a new all time high (26,000 
MW) and we have already set a new record for smog advisory days in the GTA 
this year (less than halfway through the smog season), it's high time we 
looked at better ways to promote conservation!

Our Conservation Summit last November showed that Ontario's NGOs have the 
solutions.  It also showed that there was a clear need for us all to work 
together to build a stronger conservation movement and to make conservation 
a core social value.  What we have achieved with the Blue Box and 
recycling, we need to do with energy conservation, urban sprawl, 
transportation, local organic food, natural lawncare, and so many more issues.

"We Conserve" addresses three main priorities for building a social movement

1.  Coordination:  supporting a stronger movement through lead 
organizations, issue networks, community networks, and participating 
organizations

2.  Co-Marketing: joint marketing of our services and programs to 
municipalities, companies and other target markets

3.  Campaigns: social marketing campaigns to increase public commitment to 
conservation and to promote individual conservation solutions.



Why "We Conserve"?
Two days ago a reporter for CBC interviewed me about the electricity 
crisis, using our house as an example of how to keep cool without 
air-conditioning.  (It's become an annual tradition to have a tv crew in 
our house during a heatwave.)  At one point she apologized before saying "I 
have to ask you this, but why should people conserve?"  Even with the 
threat of a blackout and on a smog alert day, she had to ask the question.

Of course, there are many reasons, but it all boils down to "because we 
care".  We care about our planet, we care about our health, we care about 
our future.

We need to make conservation a deep-rooted social value.  And values lead 
to actions. And those actions must become habit, not just something we do 
in times of crisis.

As the Ecological Footprint and the David Suzuki Nature Challenge have 
shown us, saving the planet requires public action on many fronts.  It 
requires (to quote Premier McGuinty) a deep-rooted "culture of 
conservation", not just a few individual actions.   We cannot achieve a 
deep cultural shift unless we work together.

Some of you may also have been following the recent arguments surrounding 
"The Death of Environmentalism" and the call for a new approach to 
environmentalism.  "We Conserve" is a key part of the solution.  It 
reflects the transition of our movement from the initial protest phase into 
an implementation phase, which is part of the natural progression of any 
successful social movement (feminism and civil rights being two 
examples).  It reflects a recognition of the important role Ontario's 
non-governmental organizations can play in making Ontario a leader in 
conservation.



weconserve.ca
Over the summer, we will be asking you to give us your advice on shaping 
key parts of the initiative -- such as our model for NGO cooperation,  a 
common social marketing campaign, our ability to reach the Ontario public 
through our combined membership and outreach activities, setting up an 
Ontario Conservation Fund to support Ontario's conservation movement, and 
developing marketing agreements with companies offering conservation 
products and services.


Read the Challenge Paper
To preview the challenge paper, see www.greenontario.org/weconserve/


Come to our Launch
For those in the Toronto area, we will be holding a launch for our 
consultation phase at our office:
Tuesday July 5th,
5:30 to 8:00pm
215 Spadina Avenue, Toronto

Our special guests for the launch include
Donna Cansfield, MPP Etobicoke Centre and chair of the Conservation Action Team
Helen Burstyn, Chair, The Ontario Trillium Foundation
Robin Cardozo, Chief Executive Officer, The Ontario Trillium Foundation
Sara Taylor, Manager of Communications, The Beer Store
Gord Miller, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario
Peter Love, Chief Energy Conservation Officer, The Ontario Power Authority

Space is limited, so please RSVP to Allegra Newman at 
<mailto:research at greenontario.org>research at greenontario.org.

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