[Sust-mar] EAC] Ecology Action Centre E-Newsletter Feb 2008

[Peter Watson]

Nothing in the sust-mar queue today, so here's a text version of the 
February EAC newsletter:

-----------------------------------------------------------

1. EAC SPECIAL EVENTS & INITIATIVES
2. PROJECT UPDATES AND RESOURCES
3. EAC NEEDS AND WANTS
4. GET INVOLVED WITH THE EAC


1. EAC SPECIAL EVENTS & INITIATIVES

* NEW SEAPORT FARMERS MARKET info night for EAC members. Join us Tuesday,
February 19th at 7pm at the EAC for a tasty evening celebrating the
Partnership between the EAC and HFM. The Seaport Market presentation will
include a description and overview of the building design, features and
daily operation of the new Seaport Market as well as information about
community investment opportunities in the Farmers' Market Investment
Cooperative CEDIF. For more information please contact Fred Kilcup at
fkilcup at eastlink.ca, or go to www.halifaxfarmersmarket.com

* THIS VALENTINES DAY, spread a little love to garment workers and the
planet - choose EAC's sassy sweat-shop free eco-undies! Whether your kink is
sustainable forestry practices, marine conservation or climate change, we've
got underwear to match. Check out our selection at Venus Envy, or order
online at www.ecologyaction.ca/fundies/

* OUR NEXT VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION will be at 5:30 on Wednesday February 20th,
in the EAC Boardroom. Come meet our new volunteer coordinator, and have a
tour of our green renovation! Please RSVP if you plan to attend, to Zoe
Miles info at ecologyaction.ca or 429-2202.

* MUSICIANS FOR FARMERS - a celebration of local food!!
Saturday February 23rd  from 6pm-12am at the North Street Church (5657 North
Street) $15 cover+dinner. Includes a delicious locally-sourced meal by
Terroir Local Source Catering, performances by Smokin' Contraband, Tanya
Davis, Zac Crouse, and much much more... For more info or to get involved
contact jeff_torbert at hotmail.com.

*TWILIGHT MEETINGS - CELEBRATING THE WISDOM OF OUR FARMER MENTORS.
Heliotrust is launching its new book Feb 23! It is jam packed with guidance,
reflections, and stories from 20 farming mentors.  For more information or
to order your copy, contact jen at ns.sympatico.ca or see
www.heliotrust.squarespace.com.

* HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS! Are you thinking about ways to make your house
more energy efficient, do you want to get some ideas to give your building
an environmentally friendly makeover, or are you a renovation professional
looking for some green options to suggest to your clients? Come for an
eco-renovation tour of our building to see some inspiring options. To set up
a tour, call 429-2202 or email info at ecologyaction.ca.  More information can
be found on our website: ecologyaction.ca/newhome

* LOOKING TO GO TO THE SPA? Help the EAC by purchasing your next spa
treatment at The Summit through the EAC. How does this help us you ask? The
Summit has kindly donated a limited number of Summit dollars the EAC, which
allows our members the opportunity to pay the regular price of The Summit
treatments to the order of the EAC, and receive both the treatment and a tax
receipt for your purchase. For more information contact Heather at 442-0198.

* WINTER WALK TO SCHOOL DAY 2008 Choose any day in February and encourage
your school's students, parents and community members to walk to school.
Register at http://www.taketheroofoffwinter.ca and receive a kit along with
ten free toques. The event is a partnership of EAC's Active & Safe Routes
and Take the Roof Off Winter, which promotes healthy outdoor winter activity
in Nova Scotia.

* SABLE ISLAND EVENT Want to know how your favorite sandbank is doing? Come
to the Fourth Annual Sable Island Update and learn about the lichens, horses
and geology of Sable Island. Tuesday March 4th 7:00-9:30 at Sobey Building,
Saint Mary's University. For More information, please visit
http://www.greenhorsesociety.com/Synergy/Sable_Island_Update_2008.htm

* CHEDABUCTO BAY TRAP-CAUGHT SHRIMP FOR SALE  Have a hankering for some
local, sustainably harvested seafood? Trap-caught shrimp are the perfect
seasonal food - they are high in vitamin D, which can help to blast away
those Nova Scotia winter blues. Look for Chedabucto Bay trap-caught shrimp
at Homegrown Organics on Allan Street, Pete's Frootique off of Spring
Garden, or Fishermen's Market on the Bedford Highway. For more information
about Sustainable Seafood check out www.seachoice.org

2. PROJECT UPDATES AND RESOURCES

* ASRTS NEWS An exciting new pilot project is underway to test a process
called School Travel Planning in four provinces across Canada. This project,
will use a community-based approach to get more children to walk and bike to
school. The end result will be fewer cars around schools, cleaner air,
reduced climate change impacts, safer streets, and more alert and physically
active students. The process will be tested in British Columbia, Alberta,
Ontario and Nova Scotia between now and March 31, 2009. For more
information, contact Cheyenne Dickinson at walk at ecologyaction.ca or
442-5055.

* HOW DO YOU STEER CLEAN? Are you a personal-vehicle owner?  Ever wonder
about the environmental impact of your driving?  Are you doing something
about it?  We want to know how you are reducing the impact of your car!  For
a chance to WIN one of 10 SteerClean T-shirts, visit www.steerclean.ca
click on News and follow the instructions from there!

* SOLAR CONSULTATIONS Interested in determining how solar thermal energy
will cut down your fossil fuel consumption in your business, industry or an
institution you're involved with?  Do you want to know how much energy can
be saved by adding this renewable resource to heat your water or building?
The Solar Gain project at the EAC offers free consultation services, site
visits and solar energy assessments to help you through the process.  Call
us at 442-0300 or visit www.solargain.ca

* WALKING AND WHEELING INCENTIVE FOR SCHOOLS Active & Safe Routes to School
is now offering a special incentive for five schools to promote walking &
wheeling to school and make it safer to do so. By committing to work with
ASRTS, schools will receive $400, a support person to assist ASRTS teams,
and resource materials. Contact Janet Barlow at (902) 442-5055 or
asrts at ecologyaction.ca for details.

* LAUGHING WHALE PARTNERSHIP Lunenberg's Laughing Whale Coffee Roasters are
pleased to offer "Grounds for Action", the EAC's own coffee blend. All
coffee is fair trade and organic.  A portion of all coffee sales goes to
support the EAC's work.  The coffee can be purchased here at EAC, at Planet
Organic, and in Lunenberg.

* GREEN RENOVATION SURVEY FOR NGOs in HRM The Green Renovation Support
Project is looking for Non-Governmental Organizations in the Halifax
Regional Municipality who own their own buildings and are interested in
environmentally sound options for renovating and maintaining their building.
If your organization falls in this category and is looking to reduce
operational costs through 'greening' your property, or if you know of an
organization that would be interested in this information, please email to
Geraline at gogreen at ecologyaction.ca or call 442-5051.

* STOP THE SPRAY OF PESTICIDES 10,000 ha of Nova Scotia's forests are being
sprayed with chemical herbicides each year - and taxpayers are helping to
foot the bill. Please support  Ecology Action Centre's Standing Tall
campaign, Pictou County's Stop the Spray campaign, and Sierra Club Atlantic
and sign their petition at www.petitions.com/petition/stopthespray.  Also,
please sign up for the Standing Tall campaign's Forest Alert! list on our
website http://www.novascotiaforests.ca

3. EAC NEEDS AND WANTS

* EAC's MAINTAINANCE COMMITTEE
The EAC Home Maintenance Committee is looking for new members! If you are
interested in green building techniques OR if you have some experience with
building repair OR if you consider yourself a great party host we could use
your skills. For more information contact Zoe Miles at info at ecologyaction.ca
or 429-2202.

* VOLUNTEER WITH WATER KNOWLEDGE NEEDED
Looking for a hydrologist, toxicologist or simply an individual familiar
with groundwater contamination and/or contamination from landfills. We are
looking for someone with expertise in this area to provide 2-10 hours of
their time to review some documents for us. Please contact Mark Butler at
action at ecologyaction.ca

* WANTED:
- A small dish rack and drain board (dimensions approximately 20" x 12")
- Office desk lamps, to save our straining eyes!

4. GET INVOLVED WITH THE EAC

* VOLUNTEER WITH THE CENTRE
For volunteer opportunities contact Emma Boardman at
volunteering at ecologyaction.ca or fill out a volunteer profile on our
website.

* EAC MONTHLY MEETINGS -- all welcome!  Our most important work is done by
people like you.  You can get involved just a little -- or a lot. Call us,
drop by the office, or drop in on a meeting at the EAC, 2705 Fern Lane,
Halifax

* COASTAL ISSUES - last Thursday of each month, 5:30pm
Jen Graham: (902) 442-5046 /  coastal at ecologyaction.ca

* ENERGY - 3rd Tuesday of each month, 5:15pm
Brendan Haley (902) 442-0199 /  energy at ecologyaction.ca

* FOOD ACTION - 3rd Monday each month, 5:30pm
Marla MacLeod (902) 429-2202 /  foodaction at ecologyaction.ca

* MARINE ISSUES - last Wednesday of each month, 5:30pm Susanna Fuller(902)
446-4840 / marine at ecologyaction.ca

* TRANSPORTATION - 1st Monday of each month, 5:15pm Stephanie Sodero(902)
429-0924 / trax at ecologyaction.ca

* BUILT ENVIRONMENT- 2nd Thursday of each month, 5:30pmJudy Cookey
urban at ecologyaction.ca

* WILDERNESS ISSUES- 3rd Thursday of each month, 6:00pm, Raymond Plourde
(902) 442-5008 wilderness at ecologyaction.ca or Joanne Cook (902) 429-1335 /
forests2 at ecologyaction.ca

* HOME MAINTENANCE - Last Wednesday of each month, 5:30pm

* EAC WORK PARTIES - Second Saturday of each month, from 10 - 2. Call to
confirm: (902) 429-2202 info at ecologyaction.ca

* MAGAZINE - "BETWEEN THE ISSUES" - call for details (902) 442-0198
betweentheissues at ecologyaction.ca

You can contact us at: (902)429-2202 or
info at ecologyaction.ca