Brockville Climate Action Group

This 3M Canada tape plant is seen as “a success story that management wants to reproduce in other facilities.” All the initiatives carried out between 2007 and 2008 fell into three main areas: awareness, practice and projects.

In early 2008, every computer got a 'Turn it off' sticker, and energy conservation posters went up in highly visible areas. Andrew Hejnar, 3M’s Energy Manager, says that while “this initiative was not very popular initially, it soon changed employees’ perspectives.”

Hejnar also retooled some standard practices to save energy. Since the plant does not operate during the weekend, he focused on shut-down procedures for equipment that would otherwise be idle and represented about 40 percent of energy consumption. Resulting shut-down procedures afforded the company annual energy savings of 5.6 percent. New equipment is now assessed for energy consumption and must be evaluated alongside energy-efficient alternatives.

One major project at the Brockville plant, soon to be implemented, is optimizing the plant’s eight natural-gas-fired dryers by installing moisture sensors in each dryer and recirculating dryer air. Hejnar says that, once in place, this process will save 3M Canada 520 000 m3 of natural gas and 60 000 kWh of electricity, representing total savings of at least $177,000 and 1000 tonnes of CO2 reduction annually.

Other energy efficiency projects include a lighting retrofit and the installation of occupancy sensors, which have saved the company 1 GWh, or $86,000, annually in electricity costs. Hejnar is also working on a metering, targeting and reporting system for the Brockville plant that will determine energy flows throughout the plant, identify energy-saving opportunities and allow for the setting of energy use targets. On a monthly basis, Hejnar reports to management and plant staff on how the facility is doing in terms of energy use, savings and progress from the baseline.

[ MORE HERE ]

Recorder & Times / Marike Harris / 06 January 2009

It takes a special person to take an active interest in improving the quality of the world around them. Montana Woolley, a ten-year old girl who attends St. John Bosco School, is devoted to enforcing eco-friendly initiatives in her home and school. She believes that she can make a difference by reminding people about the three R's of recycling: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

"Our world will disappear one day if we don't care for it," says Montana whose love for animals and nature has spirited a commitment that extends beyond the expectations of most grade five students.

In grade three, Montana began noticing the amount of paper litter in classrooms, stores, garbage pails and other public areas. "My teacher, Miss Adam, made me realize that the world could eventually waste away into nothing when she told our class about her hopes for an eco-friendly world and the need to recycle," says Montana. "Then I saw the movie, Wall-E, and was disturbed by seeing the planet covered in garbage. I knew then that I wanted to do my part to help save the environment."

She asked the janitor and the principal of her school if she could begin to collect recyclable materials from around the school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. At the principal's request, she made up schedules for each of the classrooms to inform them of when the recycling would be picked up.

And so it began. Montana, with a big, proud smile, along with the help of her friend, Allison, would wheel the great big blue and green bins around the entire school to gather the paper, metal and plastic objects that had been disposed of in boxes in each room. They sorted through everything to make certain that everything was where it belonged and that the materials were all rinsed and ready to be recycled. Then they would empty the boxes into larger bins which they wheeled outside to be picked up by the recycling trucks.

By the end of grade four, Montana had attracted the interest of several of her teachers and schoolmates, specifically those from the sixth grade. They were inspired by her passion and enthusiasm and wanted to do their part too. That year, an eco-club was formed. They picked up the recycling outside of the school as well as inside and started a variety of eco-friendly projects. Montana's involvement helped gain points for St. John Bosco School to become a certified eco-school.

"There is a lot less litter in the classes than there was last year," Montana has noticed which means that the students are reducing their waste and she feels that her devotion to improving the environment has stimulated the interest in others to become more conscientious about their own eco-footprint. "My parents and other relatives never used to recycle and now they all do. I hope that all people and schools get more involved with recycling programs."

Now, Montana is in grade five and the eco-club is still going strong. "They are very active," says Colleen Hall-Ogston, Montana's French teacher. "One of their activities is to collect pop tabs which consist of more aluminum than the actual pop cans. They intend to donate them to an organization which will eventually use them to make wheel chairs. Montanan takes it upon herself to count the tabs regularly." Colleen encourages anybody who has been collecting pop tabs to donate them to the school for the greater good since it takes an incredible amount of tabs to make it worthwhile.

The club makes informative posters about practical ways to conserve energy. There are signs in each classroom to remind people to shut off the lights and the computers when they are not being used. There are also reminds to rinse their plastic and metal containers before placing them in the recycling boxes that are in each room. Colleen even has a container for compost for her grade five class. "We hope to get a compost bin for the school in the future but right now we just put all our apple cores, orange and banana peels in a container which I bring home to compost myself," says Colleen.

Now that the school is more environmentally conscious, there are bigger projects in the process. They enforce the use of "litterless" lunches where re-usable containers are used to reduce packaging and garbage. Conservation is part of the grade five science curriculum, where projects are focussed on researching the impacts and solutions of pollution on the environment. "One project was done on the shear volume of plastic bags that are being used," says Colleen. Teachers photocopy both sides of a page instead of one in order to reduce paper waste and the school is presently working on a project to replace water bottles with permanent stainless steel bottles wit the school's logo on it [...]

From the Recorder and Times, 04 June 2008:

A fledgling delivery service connecting farmers and restaurants from Kingston to Kemptville is winning wide endorsement as a "practical application of Local Flavours."

Wendy's Mobile Market, operated by Lyndhurst farmer and entrepreneur Wendy Banks, has joined the Local Flavours partnership of producers, restaurants and hotels established by the Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve.

The four-year-old program now includes more than 70 members, including restaurants, retailers, inns, bed and breakfasts serving up local farm produce, baked goods, condiments and other local foods.

With Banks and her husband Rick Trudeau stepping up this year to provide regular deliveries, participants believe the catalyst is in place to get the produce to the restaurants on a regular and consistent basis [...]

[ FULL ARTICLE HERE ]
[ WENDY'S MOBILE MARKET ]
[ GOOGLE MAP ]

"Reduce - Reuse - Recycle" ... that phrase applies more than ever in an era of climate change and peak oil. The less we consume of the earth's finite resources, the better our prospects are.

When upgrading their computer equipment, Leeds County Books took the initiative to inquire about equipment recycling opportunities in the area. The City's waste management division referred them to this Ottawa service:

Computer Recyclers Inc.
163 MacFarlane Road
Ottawa, Ontario K2E 6V4
Phone: 613-723-3135
Fax: 613-723-4607
Web: http://www.ComputerRecyclersOttawa.com

Despite the requirement to pay a modest drop fee, Leeds County Books made the right choice!

Leeds County Books
73 King Street West
Brockville, Ontario K6V 3R1
Phone : 613-342-5728
Email: books@leedscountybooks.com

SLC Continuing Education is offering two Energy Workshops on Saturday, November 3, 2007.

[ MORE INFORMATION AND ONLINE REGISTRATION ]

The Galaxy Cinemas on Parkedale Avenue deserve kudos for the set of bicycle racks they have installed prominently at the front of their building. The site provides high visibility which helps to prevent damage and theft of bicycles.

They should also be commended for the post-and-ring style of rack they have used. It provides good support for each bicycle as well as good security.

As reported in the Recorder & Times on April 14, 2007:

"A touch of green may just be the ticket to limiting the speed of all tractor-trailers in Ontario to a 105 km/h maximum, says the head of one of this region's largest trucking firms.

"Mark Seymour, president of Prescott's Kriska Transportation, is a longtime advocate of mandatory activation of speed-limiting devices on transports.

"While he's always pushed the initiative from its safety and cost benefits, he said recent endorsement by environmental groups can only help.

"Green groups, of course, are touting the emissions and fuel-conservation aspect of lower speeds.

"The fact that it's been moved to the environmental front isn't necessarily a bad thing. That's as likely to get the attention as anything else is given that so much is being made of (the environment)," Seymour said in an interview Thursday.

"OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino also helped put talk of maximum-speed legislation into a higher gear this week when he called for the 105 limit as part of a crackdown on highway speeding in general.

"The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) welcomed Fantino's comments and used them to call on the provincial government to enact legislation requiring every transport truck in the province to be equipped with the devices."

[...]

As reported in the Recorder & Times on March 22, 2007:

"Beginning next month, students in the Upper Canada District School Board are launching a two-month project to find energy savings through simple steps like turning off lights in empty classrooms and switching off computers.

"The student senate-led initiative, known as "Power Trip," was endorsed by trustees at the board's regular meeting Wednesday.

"[...] executive superintendent Don Fairweather said a similar pilot project in the Toronto school board resulted in a 10 per cent reduction in hydro costs.

"Noting the Upper Canada board spends about $4 million annually on electricity, Fairweather said, 'So $400,000 represents a significant savings.'"

According to the Ontario Ministry of Energy, coal and gas represent 22.4% of our "electricity mix", so the Power Trip initiative will eliminate emissions associated with approximately $100,000 worth of electricity.