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Environment

City council honours Earth Week by approving LEAF funding support for a series of green projects

KITCHENER – In honour of Earth Week, city council was in a green mindset last night, approving a series of grant applications through the city’s $5 million Local Environmental Action Fund (LEAF) -- dollars allocated to stimulate new environmental initiatives across the community.

“These projects are important steps in recognizing that we need to be stewards of the environment,” said Mayor Carl Zehr. “Whether they’re big steps or little steps, the important thing is they’re all leading in the right direction, and that is to recognize and reduce our impact on the environment.”

The projects that have been recommended for funding this year represent a good cross-section of environmental issues deemed important by local citizens. They include:

. Westmount Public and St. Dominic Savio Catholic Schools; Schoolground Greening; $5,400. These schools will receive small grants to help them plant native trees and engage the school community in an environmental activity.

. The Working Centre; Community Access Bicycles: $100,000 (pending review of business case.) This organization is proposing to launch a bike share project in Kitchener. The intention is to offer 100 bicycles at 10 public access locations throughout the city.

. City of Kitchener, Operations Design and Development; Conservation and Stewardship of Urban Turtle Populations: $36,911. This is a continuation of a 2009 research and public outreach project to educate schools, community groups, and the general public about these species of concern and their habitats in the city.

. Sustainable Waterloo; Growing the Regional Carbon Initiative in Kitchener: $43,650. This is an 18-month push to bring on more pledging partners and paying members to this organization, which guides, supports and celebrates the energy and greenhouse gas reduction initiatives of private businesses.

. Waterloo Green Solutions (REEP); Kitchener Home Energy Improvement Program; $500,000. This project proposes to provide incentives to homeowners to complete energy audits and install insulation and air-seal their homes using the federal government’s ecoENERGY model including those accepted procedures for grant verification. The incentive program will target pre-1970s housing stock in the city.

. Waterloo Green Solutions or REEP; ¡RAIN! An Ecological Approach to Stormwater Management: $161,245. This is a comprehensive outreach and action project to motivate behavioural and physical changes in homeowners that will result in the improvement of the quantity and quality of water running into local streams, rivers and wetlands.

Incorporating environmental education and public awareness into each and every project funded by LEAF is a prerequisite, which citizens have also flagged as a top priority.