[greenon-l] The first day of the five year plan!

Mon Jan 7 15:36:48 EST 2008

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<http://www.weconserve.ca/> 

January 7, 2008

Welcome to Year One, Day One.
A Five Year Plan for a Conserver Society

Happy New Year, everyone.

This is my first day back in the office, but already 2008 is getting off to
a roaring start with the launch of the five year plan for We Conserve and a
call for people to make a personal resolution for 2008 (have you made
yours?).

We had great coverage over the Christmas break and New Year starting with
two great articles in the Toronto Star, a number of radio interviews and
several editorials promoting a green resolution. I'm sending around the
editorial (see below), and you can view the Toronto Star articles from
December 30 at the following links:

"Ontario group launches conservation campaign" (Peter Gorrie)
http://www.thestar.com/article/289583 

The Ideas article, "Piecing together 2008", lists We Conserve as one of the
big ideas for the next year:  "2008 could be the year people shove senior
politicians to the sidelines and take the issue into their own hands.
That's the aim of We Conserve, a program to be launched by the Conservation
Council of Ontario. Thinking globally, but acting locally, it will enlist
businesses, organizations and municipal governments to reduce emissions, and
the wasteful use of natural resources, by consuming less."
http://www.thestar.com/article/289555 

So here we go.

For the first quarter of 2008, we have some serious organizing to do.  We
need to raise funds to support the rollout of We Conserve across Ontario,
and we will be targeting leaders and lead organizations to help promote We
Conserve.

Fundraising:  Project fundraising is going to be the #1 priority for
January.  The Conservation Council can lead on a couple of projects, but
what I'd really like to see is everyone starting to incorporate We Conserve
into their own proposals (both by using the wordmark and by developing
integrated, collaborative proposals to address public engagement around the
I Conserve challenge <http://www.weconserve.ca/iconserve.html>  and to
provide support services on any of the conservation priorities) - let's
think like a movement!

1.	Local groups:  Can you host a community conservation fair before
March 31st to kick start a local promotional campaign with a special focus
on energy conservation.  ($5,000 grants for a Community Conservation Fair
are available from the Ministry of Energy, and I'll provide the application
template if you'd like me to attend).  Deadline is this Friday, January 11,
so let me know!

2.	Targeted Outreach:  Can you lead a project to coordinate We Conserve
within a target community, including:

1.	neighbourhoods (homes, businesses and groups)
2.	cultural communities (working through cultural organizations and
agencies)
3.	business communities (working through business associations
4.	other special audiences (membership-based organizations)

Three upcoming funding deadlines are:

1.       Community Go Green Fund, Ministry of Environment
http://www.gogreenontario.ca/cggf.php   Deadline is Thursday Jan 10.

2.       Eco Action, Environment Canada
http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/ecoaction/intro_e.html.   Deadline is February 1st.

3.       Ontario Trillium Foundation http://trilliumfoundation.org
<http://trilliumfoundation.org/>   Deadline is March 1st.

3.	sponsorship - We're looking for corporate sponsors who embody a
commitment to conservation in their operations, products or services, and
their community support.  Sponsorship rates are voluntary, and we encourage
innovative approaches such as the in-store donations through The Beer Store,
or the Citizens Bank commitment to donate $100 per green mortgage.  Sponsors
will be recognized on the website and major publications.  Our immediate
target is $100,000 in new annual sponsorships.  Your support will allow us
to.

1.	revamp the website to include the latest interactive tools for
e-based communications and campaigns
2.	research and load into the website a comprehensive database of
support services, products and incentives, searchable by issue and
community.
3.	provide campaign material to communities for outreach and promotion
of We Conserve
4.	build the membership services of the Conservation Council to better
service a united conservation movement.

Building the Movement: The #2 priority is to begin to roll out the campaign
at the municipal and retail level across Ontario.  Everyone in by 2009!

1.       We'll be looking for municipalities to join the City of Oshawa in
passing a formal motion in support of We Conserve

2.       We'll be working with business associations to ask their members to
post a statement of commitment and the We Conserve sticker in retail and
office locations

3.       We'll ask Ontario's leaders from to all walks of life to rate their
conservation commitment and make a personal pledge to improve
(http://www.weconserve.ca/conservers.html) 

4.       Plugs and pushes - please include a mention and link to We Conserve
in all your publications, listserves, and websites!  No group is too small,
no group too large!

These efforts will dovetail with the community-based outreach projects from
items 1 + 2 above. 

In other words, we are looking at a coordinated effort to engage everyone in
Ontario in conservation through a movement-based outreach strategy.  Pretty
neat, I'd say.

I look forward to working with you all over the upcoming year! 

All the best,

Chris Winter.

  _____  

Resolve to live greener
January 2, 2008
Editorial  

We've all made them at one point or another. Keeping a New Year's resolution
is another matter entirely.

Whether it's a resolution to lose weight, spend more time with the family or
quit smoking, too often we quickly fall back into our old habits and
routines. By the second week of January, our lives are basically the same as
they were on Dec. 31, despite the personal promise to improve in some way,
shape or form.

It's wise to make resolutions achievable. For 2008, we would encourage you
to also make your resolutions meaningful in a global sense.

After a year during which global warming was a hot topic (pardon the pun),
2008 is shaping up to be the year we put all the talk into action.

Polls consistently show Canadians are concerned about the environment.  This
will be the year where we have to show we are willing to do something about
it.  This is not an issue where we can look to our government for all the
answers. Indeed, meaningful change will have to come from the individual
level - how we live has a massive impact on the environment. It's up to us
to determine if that impact is good or bad.

A collective New Year's resolution to live a more green existence would be
welcome.

Start making the change in your house to compact fluorescent lightbulbs.
The old incandescent bulbs will soon be banned in Ontario anyway. Better to
start now replacing the old with the new.

Reduce the time you spend in your car by walking to things like the corner
store or your child's school.

Eat local produce. Living in Barrie, especially during the summer and fall
months, this should be given.  Not only is it better for your health, but
the flavours don't compare and it's a boost for the local economy.

A huge issue everywhere is garbage. Quite simply, Canadians have to be
smarter when it comes to tossing out the trash.  It's estimated that only
two in 10 local residents use the municipal composting program. Yes, there
are a good number of people who use backyard composters, but not enough to
make up this huge gap. Further, municipal composting is much more diverse
than its backyard counterpart, allowing the collection of items not
recommended for your backyard - like meat waste.  The more we compost and
recycle, the better it is for the planet. Improving our waste diversion is a
doable goal; there's no excuse for shoddy participation.

These are just for starters. Tips and pointers on living smarter abound.

The Conservation Council of Canada has launched a new website
(www.weconserve.ca) to offer tips to families and individuals wanting to
live a greener existence.

The motto is not to be perfect, but to be better.

That's good advice as we move ahead into 2008. 

The above article also appears in the following news publications:

Resolve to protect the environment this year
We've all made them at one point or another. Keeping a New Year's resolution
is another matter entirely. Whether it's a resolution to lose weight, spend
more time with the family or quit smoking,...
Source: The St. Catharines Standard
Sudbury Star (ON) 
Wed, Jan 2, 2008 

For 2008, let's all resolve to live green
We've all made them at one point or another. But keeping a New Year's
resolution is another matter entirely. Whether it's to lose weight, spend
more time with the family or quit smoking, too often we...
Niagara Falls Review (ON) 
Wed, Jan 2, 2008 

Go Green in '08
We've all made them at one point or another. Keeping a New Year's resolution
is another matter entirely. By the second week of January, our lives are
basically the same as they were on Dec. 31,...
Source: St. Catharines Standard
Kirkland Lake Northern News (ON) 
Wed, Jan 2, 2008

Resolve to live a greener lifestyle in 2008
We've all made them at one point or another. Keeping a New Year's resolution
is another matter entirely. Whether it's a resolution to lose weight, spend
more time with the family or quit smoking,...
Source: Osprey News Service
Cobourg Daily Star (ON) 
Wed, Jan 2, 2008

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