Clean Foundation, with the support of the Province of Nova Scotia, has launched a new interactive website that helps homeowners interested in solar energy learn about their home’s solar potential, solar contractors, financing, and rebates such as Nova Scotia’s SolarHomes program.

SolarAssist.ca has the information homeowners need in one place. It’s an exciting time for renewable energy options, and more and more Nova Scotians are exploring solar power for their homes. But until now, finding information on programs, financing and if their home is a good candidate for solar has been a challenge. SolarAssist is here to add a little sunshine to those homeowner’s lives.

The new website is a user-centric and interactive resource for solar adoption. Scott Skinner, CEO of Clean Foundation, says “SolarAssist was created to be a one-stop resource for homeowners interested in generating home solar power, and to offer a realistic snapshot of that potential.” SolarAssist is an independent website that offers information and resources – it is not trying to sell anything to homeowners.

“We’ve had a tremendous response to Nova Scotia’s solar programs, and as a result we’re seeing installers hiring more people and families lowering their energy bills,” says Energy and Mines Minister Derek Mombourquette. “Solar energy builds on our province’s position as a leader in the fight against climate change, and with the SolarAssist.ca site providing homeowners with more information we expect to lower emissions even further.”

The SolarAssist platform was made possible by the Province of Nova Scotia and Clean Foundation, with help from Solar Nova Scotia, R&G Strategic and the Halifax Regional Municipality’s SolarCity program. Homeowners can learn more about solar energy by visiting SolarAssist.ca.

The HomeWarming Program – which offers free energy efficiency upgrades to eligible Nova Scotians – has now completed retrofits on 7,500 homes. That means thousands of Nova Scotians will stay warm and save money on their energy bills this winter.

HomeWarming offers no-charge energy assessments and free home upgrades to Nova Scotian homeowners living with low incomes. Retrofits such as draft-proofing, insulation and other efficiency options helps make heating a home more affordable and comfortable. The program is offered free-of-charge thanks to the generous support of the Province of Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia Power.

HomeWarming started in 2015 and is administered by Efficiency Nova Scotia and Clean Foundation.

“We fund this program because we know many Nova Scotians struggle with home heating costs, especially during the coldest winter months,” says Karen Hutt, President and CEO of Nova Scotia Power. “HomeWarming makes energy efficient upgrades much more affordable for our community members who need it most. This is one way we can give back to the communities we serve, which really matters to us at Nova Scotia Power.” Clean has completed almost 2,500 retrofits to electrically heated homes with funding support from Nova Scotia Power.

Energy and Mines Minister Derek Mombourquette says, “The significant milestone shows Nova Scotians are leaders in reducing energy use through upgrades to their homes. HomeWarming lowers the energy bills of those who need it the most while fighting climate change and allowing businesses to expand and create jobs throughout our province.”

Stephen MacDonald, CEO of EfficiencyOne, says “We’re proud to have completed over 5,000 of these retrofits with funding support from the Province of Nova Scotia. We’ve had the opportunity to see first-hand what a difference these upgrades make in the lives of the homeowners.”

A typical house can lose up to 80 per cent of its heat through the walls, floors and roof. Upgrades like improving insulation and draft-proofing can help keep a home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Since heating and cooling makes up around 60 per cent of energy costs, reducing these bills can make other household expenses more manageable.

Scott Skinner, CEO of Clean Foundation, says he is thrilled to reach the 7,500 milestone and to see so many Nova Scotians benefitting from energy efficiency. “But this is just the start. We have plans to upgrade thousands more homes in the years ahead. We want to help eligible Nova Scotians save money on heating bills, feel more comfortable year-round, and reduce their carbon footprint.”

HomeWarming upgrades more than 2,000 homes per year. For more information, please visit HomeWarming.ca.

The third annual Fix-It Fair will be held Sunday, October 21, from 9am to 3pm at the Alexander Keith’s Brewery Courtyard in Halifax. This free event features local repair businesses, entrepreneurs and artists who upcycle recovered or repurposed materials, workshops to help even the un-handiest people feel like they can tackle simple home repairs, and a repair café with on-site specialists who will do their best to fix broken everyday items.

The event will also include a clothing swap, composting and repurposing demonstrations, computer and digital repair experts, free giveaways, and more! Prizes you could win at the Fix-It Fair include Fix-it Toolkits filled with everything needed for at home repairs, Fix-it Craft Kits with everything to mend and create, backyard composters, and Clean Foundation prize packages full of sustainable and reusable items. Plus, the first 20 people to arrive at the event will get a free Fix-it tote bag made from recycled fabrics!

Clean Foundation hosted the first annual Fix-It Fair in 2016 to celebrate the ingenuity of businesses committed to reducing waste, and each year the event has grown and incorporated new elements. As in previous years, it will take place during Waste Reduction Week, a national campaign to celebrate environmental efforts and achievements while encouraging new innovative ideas and solutions on the topics of the circular economy, resource efficiency, and waste reduction.

Visit www.FixItAtlantic.ca to learn how you can:

• Discover local repair businesses
• Participate in hands-on workshops and how-to’s
• Win great prizes
• Bring your broken things for our on-site specialists to try to fix (no promises, but we’ll give it our best!)

Join your community for a celebration of repair culture, and help our planet by being part of reducing waste.  Please ensure all items brought for damage analysis or repairing are clean. There is street parking available and cash is recommended if attendees wish to purchase any items being sold by vendors (ATM on site).

Clean Foundation’s Fix-It Fair is sponsored by the Government of Nova Scotia and Divert, and supported by Halifax Regional Municipality, Halifax Brewery Farmers Market, McInnes Cooper, Patagonia Halifax, Dartmouth Surplus, and Princess Auto.

Shannon Harding, Clean’s Director of Programs, has been named to the 2019 Clean50 list, which honours fifty top sustainability leaders in Canada each year. For the complete press release, please click here.

The 2019 Clean50 champions selected from the business and non-profit sector have demonstrated innovative approaches and achieved measurable success in fighting climate change. Each has helped Canada shift towards a low-pollution, lower-carbon economy, while building a more prosperous future.

Shannon is one of four winners in the category of Education and Thought Leadership, signifying her accomplishments in sustainability and environmental education and in recognition of Clean’s successful and innovative programming in this area.

For the complete list of Clean 50 awardees, please click here.

Clean Foundation invites the public to join a very special citizen science Bioblitz event at the Amherst Shore Provincial Park on Saturday, September 22 from 11am to 3pm. Community members of all ages will have a unique opportunity to explore a saltmarsh and learn about and catalogue the diversity of species that inhabit this special ecosystem.

To inventory the species found, smart phone users can download the iNaturalist app, or participants can bring their camera and upload the photos into iNaturalist through their home computer after the event. Interpretative volunteers will be on hand to assist in identifying and cataloguing plants, animals and insects found on site. Volunteers will also help participants learn about features of the saltmarsh as they move along the trail and through the marsh.

Coastal ecosystems, including salt marshes, are especially sensitive to the effects of climate change because they represent a narrow transitional area (called an ecotone) between marine and terrestrial environments. In the Maritimes, it is estimated that 64% of coastal wetlands have been lost, and more have been damaged by coastal development, restricted tidal flow, filling, ditching, and increased freshwater flows.

The Bioblitz event is organized by the Northumberland Strait Coastal Restoration Project, which aims to restore 15 hectares of saltmarsh along the Northumberland Strait. Funded by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ Coastal Restoration Fund, this project will also build a repository of publicly accessible resources to support future restoration projects in the region and beyond, including geospatial and ecological data and traditional Indigenous knowledge.

“Citizen science events like the Bioblitz are a great way to get local communities involved with conservation,” says Charlynne Robertson, Lead for the Northumberland Strait Coastal Restoration Project. “A big part of our mission is to help people understand why these coastal ecosystems are so important, and give them skills to monitor and keep them healthy in an ongoing way.”

This exciting event is held in partnership with the Nova Scotia Nature Trust, and in celebration of National Estuaries Week. Participants should wear footwear appropriate for walking in a saltmarsh (including rubber boots), and dress for the weather.  In the event of inclement weather such as a thunderstorm, the bioblitz will be rescheduled to Saturday September 29^th, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm (please note the time change to accommodate the tides). Please RSVP at http://bit.ly/nsbioblitz.

The G7 Ministerial Meeting on Working Together on Climate Change, Oceans and Clean Energy will be hosted from September 18-21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As part of this meeting, GLOBE Series and Delphi are partnering with Government of Canada to host the G7 Ocean Partnership Summit September 19-20.

The Summit will address the key themes of coastal resilience, marine litter and sustainable fisheries and will provide a forum for a broad range of partners to showcase the concrete actions they are taking in these important areas.

The Clean Coastal Challenge, hosted by Clean Foundation, is aimed at incorporating the topics that the ministers will be working on throughout the Summit (Resilient Coasts and Coastal Communities, Ocean Plastic Waste and Marine Litter, and Sustainable Oceans and Fisheries) into a design challenge for youth. A panel of experts who represent these various sectors will use their expertise to judge the youths’ submissions and declare a winner.

This challenge will take place in the Youth Activation Hub, located in the Halifax Convention Centre, on Thursday September 20th from 1:45 to 4:50.

Interested youth are encouraged to register as soon as possible:
https://goo.gl/forms/EZ5noAP1WBc1FFYZ2

This is a unique opportunity to network with high-level professionals in relevant environmental sectors, and to put your education to work!

Agenda for September 20th
• 1:45-2:00pm – group connection – Youth Activation Hub
• 2:00-3:00pm – introduction to challenge and brainstorming – Youth Activation Hub
• 3:00-4:00pm – building solutions – Youth Activation Hub
• 4:00-4:25pm – pitches and questions with judges – Youth Activation Hub
• 4:30-4:50pm – 1-2 minute pitches for audience, judges announce winner, prizes handed out – Inspiration Expo Stage

Clean Foundation is proud to announce it will be working with seven Nova Scotia municipalities in their efforts to strengthen their resilience to the effects of climate change through the Municipal Climate Adaptation Initiative (MCAI).

Clean was chosen by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) to help these communities – Annapolis, Cumberland, Digby, Kings, Halifax, Lockeport, and Yarmouth – enhance their capacity to respond to climate change risks and reduce their vulnerability to these risks.

Municipalities in Nova Scotia have already begun identifying their vulnerability to climate change impacts, but municipal staff have reported that they lack the staffing, funding, knowledge and/or skills to follow through on their Municipal Climate Change Action Plans. These barriers are not unique. Particularly in rural communities, aging infrastructure and declining tax bases have put pressure on municipalities to respond to complex adaptation challenges with limited staff and funding. Coastal municipalities share the added risks posed by rising sea levels and more frequent and severe storms.

Through contemporary peer learning networks focused on climate change resilience activities and training, Clean will help local leaders learn how to integrate climate change adaptation into new or existing plans and systems. By focusing on common solutions to common problems, participants will identify opportunities for pooling municipal resources in order to address these challenges.

Clean is thrilled to partner with the Ecology Action Centre, who will facilitate introductory Sea Level Rise sessions for all participating municipalities to better understand the projections and threats specific to this region. The Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities and QUEST Atlantic will also play a role in the MCAI by providing best practices and disseminating results throughout their networks.

“It goes without saying that here in Nova Scotia, we are already experiencing impacts of climate change, including rising waters and extreme, more frequent weather events, says Morgan Book, Clean’s Climate Adaptation programs manager. “These effects are damaging infrastructure and properties crucial to our livelihoods and provincial economy. By taking a collaborative approach, the MCAI will showcase the importance of acting to reduce vulnerabilities while sharing the results and resources with the broader community.”

Clean’s work with these communities is funded through FCM’s Climate Adaptation Partner grants available through FCM’s Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program (MCIP). MCIP, delivered by FCM and funded by the Government of Canada, is a five-year, $75-million program designed to support and encourage Canadian municipalities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.

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Related information:

FCM’s climate adaptation partner grants news release

FCM’s Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program

Contact:

Morgan Book

Programs Manager, Climate Adaptation
mbook@clean.ns.ca | 902-420-3474 | www.clean.ns.ca

Applications are open from March 2^nd to 25^th for youth who want to join the clean growth economy this summer. The Clean Leadership summer program (formerly called the Nova Scotia Youth Conservation Corps) provides youth aged 15-30 with training and employment opportunities in the environmental field, giving them essential career and leadership skills to thrive as future professionals. They in turn help strengthen Nova Scotian businesses and communities championing low-carbon growth.

In Nova Scotia, more than half of our young people leave the province after graduation. And it can be difficult to get local jobs without experience.  Clean believes that offering youth environmental skills and awareness is crucial to the economic and environmental sustainability of our province. Since its origin in 1989 as a program from Nova Scotia Environment, the Clean Leadership summer program has helped thousands of youth improve the environment and successfully enter the growing clean economy.

In 2017, 59 students worked with clean technology enterprises, non-profit organizations, First Nations groups, community organizations, and municipalities throughout the province.

Students work on projects that address a range of complex global sustainability challenges—from improving energy storage, to creating new value products within the circular economy, to defining the future of transportation and agriculture. This summer, projects will include:

• Research projects focusing on green roofs, contaminated wetlands, oyster husbandry, and other clean technology
• Environmental education, including forest schools, education centres, and interactive displays
• Provincial and municipal government initiatives focused on active transportation, solid waste management, and trail development
• Wildlife rehabilitation and conservation
• Restoration of natural ecosystems including streams and tidal wetlands
• Sustainable food systems, including seafood supply and distribution

Clean Leadership offers a 9-week summer employment program, and a 15-week summer leadership program that focuses on under- and unemployed youth, most notably in rural and First Nations communities. Applications for both streams (all available summer placement positions) will be accepted until Sunday, March 25^th, at midnight.

To find out more about the Clean Leadership program and how to apply, visit www.CleanLeadership.ca.

Here are video profiles of two Clean Leadership participants who were in the 15-week summer leadership program: 

Shanna Francis talks about her work at the Mi’kmaq Environmental Learning Centre in Eskasoni – and how education can help preserve Mi’kmaq traditions and promote sustainable resource use. Watch now >

Charlie Marshall talks about his work at the Mi’kmaw Conservation Group, and what the program meant to him. Watch now >

When it comes to the clean growth economy, Atlantic Canada can be a leader in creating sustainable local jobs.

The Clean Leadership program injects young people with energy and enthusiasm for clean ways of doing business here, early enough to profoundly influence their career path. Clean ensures that participation is easy every step of the way, through financial and administrative support that is unique among internship programs. We also help you design meaningful roles that contribute to your core business, offering you a low-risk way to assess employee fit, which is critical to long-term retention.

We offer:

• 15-week placements (beginning May 14th, 2018)
• 9-week placements (beginning June 25th, 2018)

Read more >>

Kids have the power to make a difference! Join our #TeamEddie challenge: Recycling is an important part of protecting our environment, but did you know you can also get money from returning bottles to recycle? On November 28th, you can donate your recycling money to Clean’s EnviroEd program to help kids become environmental superheroes, just like our famous cat Eddie!

Read more >>

In 2016, Clean Foundation hosted our first Fix-It Fair to celebrate the ingenuity, innovation and creativity of businesses that are committed to reducing our provincial waste footprint. In 2017, we will build on last year’s success by broadening the array of participating businesses, artists and innovators. This year’s event will take place on Saturday, October 21st, 2017, the peak of National Waste Reduction Week, at the Halifax Forum. This accessible and convenient venue has plenty of parking and will let us host more workshops, more vendors, more floor demonstrations, and more attendees.

Read more…

We are honoured and excited to announce that we will be delivering Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Science Horizons program in Atlantic Canada.

We offer 6-12 month placements in jobs that focus on environment, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to recent graduates from college or university. Eligible employers in Atlantic Canada can include individuals, businesses, non-profit groups, post-secondary educational institutions, and other organizations including Aboriginal agencies.

Look for more information about the program and how to apply coming soon.

The amount of work accomplished by Clean staff and volunteers each year is astounding even to us – and it keeps growing.

Click here to read more about the impact we made together in 2016-17, as well as our financial statement or the fiscal year.

Come join us for a fun, ocean-themed event at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth, featuring a mobile aquarium!

Saturday, June 10 2017

11am – 4pm

Clean Foundation is partnering with the Vancouver Aquarium AquaVan, a travelling aquarium filled with an interactive display of living sea creatures, to host a family-friendly day of fun in honour of World Oceans Week. This event will be the AquaVan’s only mainland Nova Scotia stop on its first-ever cross-country tour in celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday.

Other activities will include a contest to name one of our reefballs that will be placed into the growing artificial reef structures in the Halifax Harbour this summer, and interactive community pledges to keep our ocean healthy.

We will also be joining with the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup and the Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up to host a litter clean-up of the Dartmouth Waterfront, with prizes and treats for clean-up participants.

Rain or shine! Join the facebook event to stay up-to-date!

Clean is proud to be one of the partners for the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication (EECOM) 2017 conference, which will take place May 18-21 on the campus of Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

EECOM works strategically and collaboratively to advance environmental learning, striving to ensure Canadians are environmentally literate. The conference will explore how innovative learning inspires connection to nature, more sustainable lifestyles and livelihoods, resilient communities and a life-giving planet. For more information and registration, visit the conference website.

The Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities has awarded the Clean Energy Financing program its 2016 Climate Change Leaders Award.

The award was developed to honour municipalities that demonstrate leadership in climate change innovation through adaptation and/or mitigation initiatives.

These four municipalities won the award for the Clean Energy Financing program, which was developed in partnership with Clean Foundation:

The Municipality of the District of Digby

The Municipality of the District of Lunenburg

The Municipality of the District of Shelburne

The Town of Bridgewater

The Clean Energy Financing Program offers financing for energy efficiency and cleaner energy retrofits for residential homeowers. The goal is to provide participating residents with clean energy upgrades to increase the overall efficiency of their homes, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Find out more here.

Nova Scotia is a Canadian climate leader. Now it’s time for us to capture the economic rewards that being a climate leader brings.

Following up on being a signatory on Smart Prosperity’s November 24 letter to the First Ministers urging bold action on clean growth and climate change, our Executive Director Scott Skinner has published an op-ed to further emphasize the importance of building a high-performance, low-carbon economy. Capitalizing on the economic opportunities that climate action offers will lay the ground for a better future for Nova Scotians and all Canadians.

The piece is co-authored with Annette Verschuren of Smart Prosperity and Robert Nivens of Carbon Cure. Read the full article here.

Clean is thrilled to pass on the news that one of our staff, Nova Scotia Youth Corps coordinator Morgan Book, has been named one of the ‘Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leaders” by Corporate Knights, the “magazine for Clean Capitalism.”

Twenty-six-year-old Morgan, who has deep experience in climate change and environmental education, is the powerhouse of the Nova Scotia Youth Conservation Corps, a widely-respected program that has trained and mentored thousands of students, providing paid internship opportunities for young Nova Scotians wanting to work in the green economy.

Morgan started as an intern herself in 2012, and her leadership abilities and professionalism quickly led her to joining Clean as staff in 2013. Since then, she has been involved in many Clean initiatives including the Youth Corps, and spearheaded the innovative Aboriginal Youth Leadership Program.

Holding a Master’s Degree in Climate Change from the University of Waterloo, Morgan is involved in a wide range of environmental activity, both as staff and as a volunteer. She is involved in various provincial environmental caucuses, supports local food projects, and sits on the board of directors for a youth camp in Nova Scotia.

The judging panel selecting the Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leaders included:

• Ed Whittingham, executive director of the Pembina Institute

• Tom Ewart, senior manager, sustainability at The Co-operators

• Sarah Beamish, human rights activist and lawyer (public interest/social justice litigation)

• Jeremy Runnalls, editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine

Morgan’s skills, experience and enthusiasm positions her as an environmental role model for colleagues of all ages. Clean Foundation offers our congratulations to Morgan, and we are delighted and proud to call her one of our own – and one of Nova Scotia’s emerging leaders for a green future.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Divert NS, and as part of national Waste Reduction Week, we’re hosting a Fix-it Fair! From 6:30pm-8:30pm on Wednesday, October 19, 2016 you are invited to join free workshops on upcycling and repurposed art, learn how to fix things, meet local businesses in the business of fixing and repurposing, and bring your own broken things to see if our experts can fix them for you! Plus, you can put your name into a free draw to win a previously-loved bicycle, made like new again on-site by Bike Again. Read more >

ISI Envision™ Accreditation Workshop

Date: September 26^th, 2016

Time: 8:30 – 5 (45 minute break for lunch – bring or pick up your own)

Location: 126 Portland Street, Clean Foundation

Cost: Public sector/NGO employee: $80 (includes printed materials)

Private Sector attendees: $335 (includes printed materials)

Instructor: Marty Janowitz, Vice President, Sustainable Development, Stantec

What is Envision?

Envision™ is a holistic planning framework for evaluating all types and sizes of infrastructure projects in terms of community, environmental and economic benefits. This framework, which was developed by the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure, is used by infrastructure owners, design teams, community groups, environmental organizations, constructors, regulators, and policy makers to:

• Meet sustainability goals.
• Be publicly recognized for high levels of achievement in sustainability.
• Help communities and project teams to collaborate and discuss, “Are we doing the right project?” and, “Are we doing the project right?”
• Make decisions about the investment of scarce resources.
• Include community priorities in civil infrastructure projects.

Workshop Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Understand the logic, organization and methodology of the Envision™ framework
• Use the Envision™ Checklist and rating system
• Determine levels of achievement in the Envision™  rating system
• Navigate the ISI website and Envision™ portal
• Understand and describe the Verification process
• You will also be qualified to take the Envision Sustainability Professional exam

For more information please visit http://sustainableinfrastructure.org. If you are interested in participating in this workshop, or have any questions for Clean Foundation, please email dpeters@clean.ns.ca. Seating is limited so registration is first come first serve.

Clean Foundation has partnered with the North Preston’s Future organization to help spread the word about HomeWarming, a program that helps lower-income homeowners in Nova Scotia save money on heating bills, feel more comfortable year-round, and reduce their carbon footprint.

Youth working with North Preston’s Future are going door-to-door this summer, helping seniors cut their grass, picking up litter, hosting events for kids, and letting people know how to get information about ensuring they have title to the homes they own.

Miranda Cain is the founder of the North Preston group, and her goals in starting the organization were to harness the energy of youth, and to showcase the spirit and culture of the historic African Nova Scotian community.

Clean Foundation, with the support of Nova Scotia Power, is offering honorariums to supplement the employment grants that Cain received, so more youth can help the community and promote HomeWarming. Clean staff provided training on the low-income energy efficiency program, and also on workplace safety.

“We’re honoured to work with North Preston’s Future organization,” says Sean Kelly, Managing Coordinator of Marketing for Clean. “The youth are showing what future generations can do to improve the future of their communities, and we hope homeowners in North Preston can benefit from the HomeWarming program.”

Everyone has the right to be comfortable in our homes, regardless of income. That’s why Clean Foundation and Efficiency Nova Scotia are working together to offer low-income homeowners no-charge energy efficiency improvements that can help them feel more comfortable while reducing heating and power bills.

And these upgrades are provided at no-cost to qualifying homeowners thanks to the support of Nova Scotia Power and the Government of Nova Scotia.

Clean will work on the electrically heated homes while Efficiency Nova Scotia will look after non-electrically heated homes.

A typical house can lose up to 80 percent of its heat through the walls, floors and roof. Upgrades like improving insulation and draft-proofing can help keep a home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. And since heating and cooling makes up around 60 percent of energy costs, reducing these bills can make other household expenses more manageable.

Visit HomeWarming.ca for more information.

Clean Foundation has partnered with the District of Lunenburg, District of Shelburne, District of Digby, Town of Bridgewater and the Province of Nova Scotia to provide the Clean Energy Financing program.

A combined total of $525,000 in financing is now available to residents in the four municipalities, to help them implement clean energy upgrades to their homes.

These upgrades can include insulation, energy efficient windows and doors, as well as high efficiency heat pumps and solar panels. A Home Energy Assessment determines what upgrades a home is eligible for.

The municipalities are offering a low lending rate of just 4% for the upgrades. Residents will benefit from the Clean Energy Financing program by eliminating the large upfront cost of upgrades, and by spreading the payments over a period of 10 years, repayable through charges attached to their property (which is why these types of programs area also known as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing.)

The financing is available on a first-come-first-served basis for the remainder of 2016 and into early 2017.

Homeowners can go to www.CleanEnergyFinancing.ca to get more information and an application form, or by calling toll-free to 1-844-727-7818.

The Nova Scotia Youth Corps program – which has helped thousands of youth in Nova Scotia gain skills and work experience in the environmental field – has expanded to Barbados, to help youth in the Caribbean gain green skills as well.

Created in 1989 by Nova Scotia’s Dept. of Environment and managed by the non-profit organization Clean Foundation, the Youth Corps provides people aged 15-30 with opportunities in the green sector while helping communities improve their local environment. The Youth Corps is now moving beyond provincial borders to the Caribbean.

Clean is sharing the Youth Corps model with the Future Centre Trust (Future), a respected Barbados organization. They will run Barbados’ first Youth Corps program, with the goal of growing it to become the largest environmentally focused paid internship program in Barbados. This is a Nova Scotian export success story.

The Nova Scotia Youth Corps has been offering youth employment geared towards building a strong, knowledgeable workforce for the green economy for over 25 years. The Youth Corps is here to inspire, develop and nurture an interest in jobs that support a future-looking economy and a clean and sustainable environment. Future will run the Barbados Youth Corps over the summer of 2016 with Clean’s assistance and mentorship. The hope is that they will build it and run it on their own in future years.

Clean has signed Memorandums of Agreement with both Future and the Barbados Renewable Energy Association to support this project. All three organizations are supporting the program in Barbados, which is also made possible by a generous donation from CIBC First Caribbean Bank.

Background

Goal

Clean and Future Centre Trust (Future) are working together to develop an environmental ethic in the leaders of tomorrow, while building their skills and exposure to the sustainable economy. Through the internship they are also strengthening the capacity of local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Barbados.

We hope to establish a strong foundation through the Barbados Youth Corps program that will set the stage for similar program offerings across the Caribbean.

Objectives

1. Provide youth in Barbados with meaningful paid summer employment opportunities in the environmental field while gaining lifelong skills;
2. Positively benefit the environment in Barbados;
3. Expand programming at Future by partnering with Clean to pilot a new Youth Corps program;
4. Develop and strengthen the network of local environmental projects in Barbados.

Scope

The 2016 pilot program will run for 8 weeks, and employ 3 post-secondary students during the summer. The students would work on environmental projects hosted by local community-based organizations. Students will participate in: professional development training sessions, regular assessments, mentorship program, connecting with NS’s Youth Corps students, and showcase events for community and sponsors as the conclusion of the projects.

Project Start-up: 2016

This initiative presents a prime opportunity to build the capacity of Future and the Barbados Renewable Energy Association, and strengthen the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) sector in Barbados. Clean will provide experience and help develop the local organizations’ capacity in project management, funding and finance, program design, and program delivery.

In 2017 and beyond, the local NGO partners in Barbados will be in a position to design, seek funding support for, and deliver the program with minimal coaching and mentoring from the Clean Foundation. As a result, Clean will be well positioned to work with multi-country private sector partners and the International Financial Institutions to expand the initiative to other Caribbean islands, benefitting more youth in more countries.

Links to the Canadian program:

https://clean.ns.ca/programs/youth-engagement/nova-scotia-youth-conservation-corps-2/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKbhiscnozI&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsn1e19EGK4

Links to Future Centre Trust:

http://futurecentretrust.org/main/

Barbados Youth Corps: http://futurecentretrust.org/main/barbados-youth-corps-internship-opportunities-with-the-future-centre-trust-and-brea

https://www.facebook.com/futurecentretrust/

The 2016 Clean Foundation Annual General Meeting and the 2016/2017 Clean Board of Directors Election will take place on June 22, 2016 at the Mic Mac Amateur Aquatic Club at 192 Prince Albert Road, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The AGM starts at 8:30 a.m.

Our AGM provides an opportunity for our members to meet and review the activities of the past year. New members will be also be elected to our Board of Directors.

Clean Foundation’s Annual Review for the 2015-2016 fiscal year and audited Financial Statements are available on our website.

To request copies by mail please contact our office at 902-420-3474.

The Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up – Nova Scotia’s largest litter reduction initiative – officially launches on World Oceans Day, Wednesday June 8^th. The public is invited to join Glad, Clean Foundation and the Eastern Passage community in celebrating World Oceans Day with a litter clean-up. Help us keep Fisherman’s Cove in Eastern Passage healthy and beautiful on June 8^th from 11am-1pm.

Nova Scotia is a surrounded by ocean and studies show that 80% of the massive amount of plastics ending up in the sea is coming from land. Scientists estimate that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans. This is causing serious harm to water quality, wildlife and navigation. Marine pollution has many negative impacts on marine wildlife when they mistake it for food, carrying pollutants that can move up the food chain.

With the disposal culture we live in — where there is more and more packaging and throw-away products – more and more waste is ending up on the ground. That litter can flow through stormwater drains, rivers and streams into our ocean. That’s why Clean wants Nova Scotians to get involved in this province-wide initiative to pick up litter and promote clean communities and a healthy ocean.

“The Great Nova Scotia Pick-me-Up brings groups and individuals together and helps them improve the quality of life in their communities, while also helping the local environment,” says Charlynne Robertson, Clean Foundation’s Coordinator of Waste Reduction programs.

If you can’t make this event, you can register your own clean-up through the Great NS Pick-Me-Up at nspickmeup.ca.

Clean is encouraging teams to post ‘before & after’ photos of their pick-me-up locations and post to social media using the hashtag #GladToCleanUp.

Clean Foundation is seeking experienced, committed professionals to serve on our Board of Directors. You’ll join a team working to create a more sustainable society in Atlantic Canada.

Clean Foundation provides the knowledge, tools and inspiration needed to encourage individual actions that add up to positive environmental change. We are a non-profit, non-governmental organization that works for a clean climate and clean water – and to help reach these goals, we foster and support clean leaders.

We have programs in key environmental areas including energy, water, transportation, waste resource management and youth engagement to help create a sustainable, vibrant society. Clean was founded in 1988 through an Act of the Legislature in Nova Scotia.

Interested parties should submit their resume by Friday, May 20, 2016 to:

Scott Skinner, Executive Director

sskinner@clean.ns.ca

902.420.3476

Clean has been organizing litter clean-ups since 1988. And we wish we didn’t have to.

Don’t get us wrong – we’re proud to help make Nova Scotia, well, cleaner. Just last year, our Great Pick-Me-Up supported 18,000 people across our province, who collectively picked up over 6,000 bags of garbage, and 700 bags of recyclables. It’s the largest volunteer-driven community clean-up program in Nova Scotia.

Litter, sadly, remains a grimy reality in too many communities. It’s an eyesore, harms our tourism industry, poses health risks, and affects water quality. Wildlife often mistake it as food.

Nova Scotia is surrounded by ocean, and 80 percent of the massive amounts of plastics ending up in our seas is coming from land. Even if litter starts on terra firma, since we all live in a watershed that small piece of litter will most likely make its way, via streams, lakes and rivers, to the ocean. Remember the whale that washed ashore near Halifax, its belly full of plastic?

So we wish people wouldn’t litter and we didn’t have to organize clean-ups. But the messy truth is that even if people didn’t litter, our trash will still get into the environment. Curbside garbage bags that get blown away or picked apart by crows. Trash flies off garbage trucks. Park and playground trash tins overflow and spill over.

We all litter, even when we don’t litter.

We need to reduce our waste in the first place. As consumers, we need to be more aware of the products we buy – and the packaging they come in. (We actually saw in a grocery store a pre-peeled orange that was then put in a plastic container. If only there was some type of natural, compostable, protective coating for oranges…) Customers can use reusable bags and buy in bulk. We can eschew the plastic utensils. We can stop buying so much throw-away junk. We can share products.

In a compostable nutshell, citizens just need to think more about our garbage – something we don’t always do. Last year, an audit of the Otter Lake landfill found that 47 percent of the trash showing up could have instead been recycled or composted.

Highlighting the power we have as consumers, however, doesn’t mean letting businesses off the hook. A product’s design phase has the largest influence on the product’s lifecycle. If a company has to assume greater accountability for the life (and death) of their goods through some form of Extended Producer Responsibility, then repairable products that can be refurbished or at least easily recycled become more economically sound options to disposal. A lot of time, energy and raw material goes into consumer products, so let’s maximize value and minimize waste.

We can invest in quality products that just last longer. There is a growing movement called New Materialism that argues we need to embrace our ‘stuff’ in a different way. To help beat the throw-away waste crisis, we can design products that are beautiful and long-lasting. And when selling those beautiful products, companies should also cut down on the packaging – we’ve all seen the small product surrounded by a ridiculous amount of plastic packaging.

On this Earth Day, let’s start reducing litter by reducing the amount of trash we throw out. We know it won’t happen overnight, so in the meantime, lend a hand to the thousands of volunteers out there picking up after ourselves.

To join in the Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up, please go to www.nspickmeup.ca.

Clean Foundation is pleased to announce Mr. Scott Skinner as its new Executive Director. Mr. Skinner succeeds past Executive Director Chris Morrissey.

Mr. Skinner brings a wealth of leadership and business development experience to Clean in many areas including energy efficiency, environmental sustainability and policy development on environmental and energy issues.

Clean Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides the knowledge, tools and inspiration needed to encourage the individual actions that add up to positive environmental change. We work for a clean climate and clean water – and to help reach these green goals, we foster and support clean leaders. Clean was founded in 1988.

Scott Skinner was previously Vice President of Atlantic Operations and Business Development for Summerhill Group, an energy efficiency company that works across North America. Under his leadership, Summerhill has grown substantially in the East, and now has working partnerships with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, New Brunswick Power, and New Hampshire Electric Cooperative.

He holds an MBA from Dalhousie University, Bachelor of Commerce from Saint Mary’s, and a Human Resources Management Certificate also from Saint Mary’s. Mr. Skinner sits on the Board of Wind4All Communities, a Community Economic Development Investment Fund.

“I’ve known and worked with Scott off and on for close to 10 years and am excited to have him taking over as the new ED at Clean,” says Marcus Goodick, vice-chair of Clean’s Board of Directors. “I think he will do an excellent job managing existing programs and helping to guide the growth of Clean into the future.”

Clean works on critical ecological issues including energy & climate change, water, waste reduction and sustainable transportation. And while we work directly on green solutions – we may be Clean, but we don’t mind getting our hands dirty – we know that education on environmental issues is critical to long-term change.

In advance of Nova Scotia’s 2016/17 Budget, a diversity of groups have come together to urge provincial government to develop a carbon pricing system for Nova Scotia based on 5 key principles. The groups represent labour, anti-poverty, environmental, and social justice communities across the province. Here’s their open letter to Premier McNeil and Finance Minister Delorey:

OPEN LETTER: 

Anti-Poverty, Fair Economy, Labour and Environmental Advocates Agree on Five Key Principles for a made-in-Nova Scotia Carbon Pricing System

Premier McNeil and Finance Minister Delorey,

The dramatic social and economic costs of a changing climate are well-documented, requiring an immediate and multi-pronged strategy on the part of governments to meet the challenges faced today, which will continue to intensify for future generations. Canada’s commitment to the Paris target of limiting average global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius means we need to increase the ambition of our provincial climate plan.

Nova Scotia’s investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, combined with the province’s legislated caps on greenhouse gas emissions, have set our electricity sector on the right course.

Work remains in addressing carbon pollution from other sources, like transportation. At the same time, it is clear that energy affordability is a top concern for Nova Scotians especially for those living on low and moderate incomes.

Done right, a made-in-Nova Scotia approach to carbon pricing can help us target the sources of pollution our current laws are missing, while also giving us new financial resources we can use to help vulnerable people and invest in our communities.

Carbon pricing is the new norm in Canada with five provinces, representing almost 90% of the country’s population, committed to a carbon tax or cap and trade system. The federal government is clear about its intentions to work with provinces as they design carbon pricing policies. Clearly some form of carbon pricing is coming to Nova Scotia.

Now is the moment to take advantage of political momentum and relatively low oil prices to design a carbon pricing system tailored to Nova Scotia’s particular circumstances and needs. Failure to do so may result in hasty adoption later, amid increasing pressure from the Federal government and nearby jurisdictions with their own systems. Nova Scotia can choose to lead the way in our region, or we will be forced to follow.

We, the undersigned, urge Nova Scotia government to use carbon pricing as a tool to take us where we need to go as a province.

Nova Scotia needs to begin a conversation about how carbon pricing can work for us. We understand that there are a variety of approaches our province might take to putting a price on carbon pollution.

We offer the following five principles as key elements of any approach we ultimately develop for a Nova Scotia carbon price:

Effective: the price should start at a level in line with other Canadian systems and increase at regular, predictable intervals to a level that is high enough to serve as a disincentive to environmentally harmful activities and an incentive for shifts to cleaner technologies. Keeping in line with other jurisdictions does mean that the price alone will not be high enough to reduce emissions to the level necessary and, therefore, the revenue from the price must be used to support a just and equitable transition to a low carbon economy.

Fair: government must compensate low- to middle-income households so that modest income households can afford higher prices and low income households are more energy secure than they are at present. Therefore, for low income households this compensation must cover more than the extra costs associated with a carbon price and compensation must increase as the price increases. Carbon pricing should also not adversely affect the public sector so that services are not cut or restricted to accommodate higher costs because that will disproportionately affect low income households.

In addition, part of the revenue generated from a carbon price should be used to support Nova Scotia’s low-carbon transition, with a portion allocated to projects and initiatives that support the social and economic development of low-income communities and households, in conjunction with low-carbon initiatives.

Transparent: design and implement a price that is easy to understand by Nova Scotians including the impact on the environment, the economy, and their own household. The government should enshrine these principles in law and legislate requirements about exactly how revenue will be used.

Efficient: as much as possible, make use of existing regulatory infrastructure to administer a carbon pricing system to ensure that the system is low cost to implement and operate.

Economically Sustainable: ensure that the price fosters a low-carbon economic transition, which does not have an adverse impact on workers or the economy (both rural and urban), by coupling the introduction of a carbon price with public investment to generate green job opportunities.

Ultimately, a carbon price is only one essential piece in a suite of policies within a broader climate change prevention and mitigation framework. If implemented using these five principles, carbon pricing, alongside complementary regulations and standards, promises a wealth of co-benefits for Nova Scotians: reduced illness and morbidity; lower provincial healthcare costs; reduced energy poverty; decreased overall household spending as energy efficiency and access to renewables improves; and the growth of green-sector jobs to support a low-carbon transition, allowing more Nova Scotians to stay here.

The Nova Scotia government should immediately create a multi-sectoral working group on this issue, including environmental, anti-poverty and fair economy groups.

Signed,

Katherine Reed and Kate Ervine, Affordable Energy Coalition

David M. Morgan, Antigonish Community Energy Cooperative

Christine Saulnier, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – Nova Scotia

Andy Blair, Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice – Atlantic Canada

Joanne Light, Citizens Climate Lobby – Nova Scotia

Gina Patterson, Clean Foundation

Stella Lord, Community Society to End Poverty in Nova Scotia

Catherine Abreu, Ecology Action Centre

Kathleen Kevany, Living Earth Council

Brian Gifford, Nova Scotians for Tax Fairness

Danny Cavanagh, Nova Scotia Federation of Labour

Sue Adams, Responsible Energy Action

Frank Gallant, Sustainable Antigonish

Clean Foundation has signed a new five-year agreement with the Nova Scotia Department of Environment to continue delivering the innovative Nova Scotia Youth Conservation Corps program. The Province has also increased their funding to $100,000 per year.

Managed by Clean Foundation, a non-profit environmental organization based in Nova Scotia, the Youth Corps provides youth aged 15-30 with training and employment opportunities in the environmental field. It also helps build the capacity of communities in Nova Scotia while improving their local environment. The Youth Corps, a program started in 1989 by the Nova Scotia Environment dept., has since helped thousands of youth better the environment and gain the career skills they need to successfully enter the green economy.

In 2015, 58 students worked on projects with non-profit organizations, community groups, municipalities and First Nation’s groups throughout the province. The Youth Corps has both a 9-week summer employment program, and a 15-week leadership program that focuses on under- and unemployment youth, most notably in rural and First Nations communities. Clean is now accepting applications for summer placements and will continue to do so until the end of May.

Examples of the types of projects the students work on include:

• Active transportation and trail development
• Stream restoration and water quality testing
• Pollinator, food, and rain garden installation
• Wildlife rehabilitation and conservation
• Environmentally focused children’s day camps

In Nova Scotia, more than half of our young people leave the province after graduation. And it can be difficult to get local jobs without experience. Clean believes that offering youth environmental skills and awareness is crucial to the economic and environmental sustainability of our province.

Here are video profiles of two Youth Corps participants who were in the 15-week leadership program:

Shanna Francis: A participant in the Youth Corps’ Leadership Program talks about her work at the Mi’kmaq Environmental Learning Centre in Eskasoni – and how education can help preserve Mi’kmaq traditions and promote sustainable resource use. Watch now >

Charlie Marshall: A participant in the Youth Corps’ Leadership Program talks about his work at the Mi’kmaw Conservation Group, and what the leadership program meant to him. Watch now >

The View from Paris: Learn from those who went to Paris about what exactly happened at the UN climate talks, what they brought home with them, and what this means for Atlantic Canada.

Moderated by Dr. Ian Stewart, History of Science and Technology Program, University of King’s College.

Paris Now is a discussion on the global commitment to tackle climate change arrived at in Paris, and what can we do about it.

Panelists:

Catherine Abreu – Energy Campaign Coordinator, Ecology Action Centre
Lil MacPherson – Owner, The Wooden Monkey
Cheryl Maloney – Councillor, Sipekne’katik First Nation and President of the NS Native Women’s Assoc.
Katie Rae Perfitt – Canadian Divestment Campaigner with 350.org
Gina Patterson – Director of Policy & Strategic Relations, Clean Foundation

WHERE: Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library, Halifax, NS
WHEN: April 11th, 6:30-8:30pm

Free!

SPONSORS: Ecology Action Centre, Clean Foundation, DivestDal, Wooden Monkey

A diverse network of environmental thinkers from across the Maritimes – including Clean Foundation’s Gina Patterson, Director of Policy & Strategic Relations – met in Charlottetown in February to come up with recommendations designed to spur community innovation and sustainable job creation throughout the region.

The 2016 Charlottetown Initiative on the Maritimes’ Sustainable Energy Transition was an opportunity to contemplate the regional implications of, and opportunities offered by, recent UN climate negotiations in Paris, and the election of a federal government committed to a new model of climate action in Canada.

The Initiative brought together more than 30 individuals representing the business, academic, and civil society communities of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

You can download the  Charlottetown Initiative Priorities for Action. The ideas are grouped under four high-level opportunities for immediate, collaborative action:

1. Renew long-term climate plans
2. Enable local, distributed community energy
3. Focus on energy efficiency
4. Decarbonize & electrify heat and transport

The Charlottetown meetings – which included representatives of community groups, universities, municipalities and renewable-energy businesses – also established a network that will continue to share resources and support clean energy and economy objectives in the Maritimes in the coming years.

The network has plans to present the recommendations to each of the provincial governments and will continue to solicit sign-on from supportive stakeholders across the region. To sign-on to the document, please visit https://www.ecologyaction.ca/charlottetowninitiative

Clean Foundation welcomes the agreement adopted at the COP21 global climate conference. It’s both a challenge to societies to choose a low carbon future, and a signal to markets that there is international consensus on the importance of this transition.

“The miracle of COP21 is that for the first time in history, our future is set on a low carbon pathway,” says Gina Patterson, Clean’s Director of Policy and Strategic Relations, who attended the Paris conference. “Almost 200 countries submitted outlines on what contributions they will make to global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. This means that 90% of the world’s emissions have climate action strategies. This is historic.”

The real purpose of the Paris Agreement is to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.

The agreement is important for many reasons, including:

• The science on climate change was respected, as most scientists consider 1.5 degrees C the threshold to limit catastrophic climate change impacts, particularly in coastal communities.
• It’s a truly global agreement, with all countries expected to pitch in. Previous treaties only included richer countries. Canada sign on to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, but backed out in 2011; the U.S. never signed it.
• The deal also includes financial commitments from developed nations that will help developing countries combat climate change impacts and adopt cleaner technologies. The annual dollar amounts are considered to be the floor for further financial commitments beyond 2020.

Clean is also heartened by the positive role that Canada played at COP21. “Our Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, was so effective that she was invited to be a negotiator, meaning she was instrumental in this agreement becoming what it is,” says Clean’s Patterson.

To implement the treaty, we need deep and rapid cuts to greenhouse gas pollution, with an almost complete transition away from fossil fuels by 2050. This will be achieved through:

• Implementation of the voluntary commitments countries have made to reduce their emissions by 2030
• Regular and transparent reviews of those targets
• Policy and market mechanisms that encourage a broad adoption of low carbon business and tech.

Canada has never before met any of its national emissions reduction targets. Fortunately, we are seeing leadership from the provinces, with Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia held up as examples of strong climate policy. Prime Minister Trudeau has promised a framework of Canada’s climate policy within 90 days of the Paris negotiations. Now is the time to ensure our regions are positioning our communities and economies for the low carbon future.

We believe much more can, and must, be done in Atlantic Canada, especially as a majority of our population lives in coastal areas. Climate change is not an abstract concept for those of us facing erosion and flooding.

Clean looks forward to stronger commitments from regional governments so that our workforce and our communities will not be left behind in this transition to a new economy.

Nova Scotia has made strides in reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs). By 2020, 40% of the province’s electricity will come from renewable sources. But the majority of energy will still come from high emissions-producing, non-renewable resources – so there is much more work to do.

We also have to work to reduce GHGs from high-emitting sectors outside of electricity generation such as the building and transportation; the latter accounts for 25% of Nova Scotia’s total emissions.

While there are substantial obstacles to a low carbon future – we know it won’t be easy – we choose to see this issue of our times as one of possibility. It’s a chance to transition to an economy with the types of meaningful, greener jobs that ensures future generations believe there is indeed a future here for them in our region. And it’s an opportunity to work in solidarity with those globally and within our nations – including Indigenous Peoples – who are the most vulnerable to changes in our climate.

It will not happen all at once. We need to ensure it is a compassionate transition for our labour force. We need to ensure our various policies are aligned and not competing with one another.

The time for action is now. As the President of France Francois Hollande reflected at the signing, we will not be judged on a clause in a sentence, but on the text as a whole. We will not be judged on one day but on the century. We will not be judged on one word, but on the action.

During the Global Climate Conference in Paris, the City of Halifax, the Ecology Action Centre and Clean Foundation celebrated those Nova Scotian businesses, individuals, community groups and educators showing outstanding leadership around climate change.

On December 11th, 2015 at Halifax City Hall, we shone a spotlight on just some of the Nova Scotians championing our transition to a low-carbon economy, and those helping us to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Nova Scotia has shown national leadership on waste reduction and energy efficiency – we want to celebrate those champions working to ensure our province does its share on the climate change issue.

By 2020, 40% of Nova Scotia’s electricity will come from renewable sources. However, the majority of energy will still come from high emissions-producing, non-renewable resources – so there is more work to do.

We hope the people honoured here continue to work on climate issues, and inspire more action in Atlantic Canada.

Here are the Nova Scotians that we showcased in 2015 (pictured here with Halifax Mayor Mike Savage):

1. MindShift program through the Adventure Earth Centre. MindShift was designed by youth, for youth, to make a difference in schools and communities. It’s a theatrical presentation that is taken on by a team of high school youth to learn and then deliver to the grade 10 Science classes.

2. Doctor Solar is a community-owned company that has been designing, installing and maintaining solar hot water and photovoltaic systems for residential, commercial and institutional applications throughout Nova Scotia for over 20 years.

(Councillor Jennifer Watts, chair of the Halifax Environment Committee, joined Halifax Mayor Mike Savage for photos):

3. Rochelle Owen works as the Director of the Office of Sustainability at Dalhousie University, which works on local and international climate change issues at the grassroots level, environmental law and policy, adaptation planning and international development. Rochelle’s work at the University is focused on the sustainability in operations.

4. CarbonCure Technologies has developed a breakthrough yet practical technology that allows concrete producers to beneficially reuse CO2 during concrete manufacturing to improve concrete quality, lower costs and reduce a development’s carbon footprint.

[Mr. Thomas was not at the ceremony as he was at the Climate Conference in Paris] 5. Stephen Thomas is an engineer currently working with Scotian Windfields on their community-owned wind projects. He is the former chair of the Ecology Action Centre’s Energy Action Team. He is the founder of DivestDAL, a fossil fuel divestment campaign at Dalhousie University, as well as If You Build It, an organization that provides people the tools to build their own solar panels.

6. Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources is an organization that represents the five Mi’kmaw communities of Unama’ki (Cape Breton Island) on natural resource issues. UINR contributes to an understanding and protection of the Bras d’Or Lakes’ ecosystem through research, monitoring, education, and management while integrating Two-Eyed Seeing, an approach of combining traditional ecological knowledge and conventional ways of understanding.

7. Leon de Vreede is the Sustainability Planner for the Town of Bridgewater. Leon has been working for over a decade to further his vision for sustainable and climate-friendly Nova Scotian communities. In 2008 he was hired by the Town of Bridgewater to produce its Integrated Community Sustainability Plan, which he completed in 2010. He designed the Town’s award-winning energy management program, its Community Sustainability Network, and its unique Growing Green Festival.

8. Cape Breton University will soon be the first University in North America to completely offset all of its direct CO2 emissions by investing in renewable energy generation and energy efficiency. This coming January, CBU will commission a three turbine windfarm across from the campus that will generate an estimated 16,200 MWh of electricity annually, equivalent to a saving of 15,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.

The next Global Climate Conference (also known as COP21) will be held in Paris from November 30th to December 11th. Canada and almost 200 other countries, as well as thousands of organizations, will work to adopt a universal agreement to limit global emissions production and help societies transition to low-carbon economies.

There is consensus among most governments and scientists that to keep the climate system in balance requires us to limit warming below an average of 2°C above pre-industrial levels by century’s end. Each country must submit Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions before COP21 and a summary of these contributions has been created to represent the cumulative impact of these national efforts and to determine if they are enough to limit warming.

Without the Paris commitments, with business as usual, we are on track to see 4-6 °C warming by the end of the century. This would mean significant changes to the Earth as we know it. If all the commitments in the INDC’s are carried out, the Earth will likely experience a warming of 2.7°C by 2100. We are close, but more aggressive commitments and accelerated ambition are needed to keep our planet below 2°C.

Since the early days of international climate change summits, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been actively involved, attending sessions and exchanging views with other participants, including delegates. It is recognized that this involvement allows vital experience, expertise, information and perspectives from civil society to be brought into the process to generate new insights and approaches.

Furthermore, the access and participation of observers to the process promotes transparency in this increasingly complex universal problem. Such participation flourishes in an atmosphere of mutual trust which acknowledges respect for others and their opinions, and takes into account the nature of intergovernmental sessions.

Clean Foundation will be attending the Climate Conference to learn from other delegates, and to share our experience, particularly in the following areas:

• Youth engagement in air quality, climate change, renewables, and energy efficiency (we have  over 20 years’ experience in the schools, engaging thousands of children each year).
• Supporting elementary school engagement with COP21 across Canada.
• Collaborative, multi-sectoral approaches to climate change adaptation, as is being piloted with our Atlantic Stormwater Initiative.
• Youth training, internships and mentoring for success in a green economy.
• Energy efficiency program design and implementation to address energy poverty.
• Fisher engagement in ocean literacy and stewardship.

We are also interested in learning about other methods of supporting local and national targets, including climate finance, climate policy, adaptation strategies, municipal leadership and micro-financing.

Clean will be posting updates from the Climate Change Conference on Facebook and Twitter.

Clean wants to help educators teach about climate change & the upcoming Global Climate Conference

We all know how important it is to tackle climate change. It’s affecting animals, wild spaces, communities and even the economy. That’s why the upcoming Global Climate Conference is a critical opportunity for the world to come together to chart a new path.

We believe it’s vital to involve as many young people as we can. We know they care about the Earth and their communities. We also know that given the chance, they have strong opinions and clear ideas about how to fix the problems.

There will be a very important Global Climate Conference in Paris from November 30th to December 11th. Canada and almost 200 other countries, as well as thousands of organizations, will work to adopt a universal agreement to limit global emissions production and help societies transition to low-carbon economies. It will be one of the biggest international summits ever.

Clean Foundation is providing climate change resources to equip elementary-level educators with information and activities that can be easily integrated into their daily lessons. We hope this will help teachers involve students and promote discussion about the important negotiations in Paris that will have a direct impact on their futures.

Clean Foundation welcomes Ms. Catherine McKenna as the new Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

“All new governments bring renewed energy and ideas, and Clean looks forward to federal action on the environment and the realities of climate change,” says Chris Morrissey, Executive Director of Clean Foundation.

And as an organization based in the Atlantic, Clean also welcomes Mr. Hunter Tootoo as the new Minister of Fisheries of Oceans.

Clean encourages all level of governments in Canada to work for sustainable development. “A healthy environment is the foundation of a healthy economy and society, no matter where you live, what your cultural background is, or where you sit on the political spectrum,” adds Morrissey.

By adding Climate Change to the name of the environment department, the new government has signaled the importance of climate issues in Canada. Reducing carbon pollution is critical for our environment, and also offers economic opportunities in areas such as clean energy.

The Federal Government has said it will work with provincial governments on climate change, and Clean encourages the government to also involve the many non-profit organizations across Canada that are working hard to improve our environment.

Clean is also pleased to see a Federal Cabinet that is reflective of the diversity of Canada, and joins Mi’kmaq civil society groups in welcoming the increased presence of Indigenous Peoples at the highest levels of government power in Canada.

It can rain – a lot – during any season in Atlantic Canada. And with climate change models showing our region will experience storms of increasing severity in coming years, Clean Foundation wants to help mitigate some of the problem associated with all this water.

The non-profit organization is launching a three-year Atlantic Stormwater Initiative to help people in the region adapt to climate change, as well as improve the health and long-term sustainability of the Atlantic ecosystem through better stormwater management.

A November 9^th one-day conference will be the kick-off event for the Atlantic Stormwater Initiative. Attending will be urban developers, government officials, NGOs and First Nations groups.

Stormwater, also known as ‘runoff’, is the water that runs over surfaces like roads, buildings and agricultural land instead of seeping into the ground. This runoff can accumulate quickly and cause flooding and erosion. It also picks up pollutants and debris, and runs into our streams, rivers and lakes untreated. Conventional stormwater management channels excess water into storm drains and sewers as quickly as possible, leading to overflowing systems and water contamination.

The Atlantic Stormwater Initiative has been developed by Clean to better manage water quantity and flow, while mitigating the associated impacts to water quality, habitat and biodiversity. This project will improve the capacity of communities to lessen stormwater risks and threats due to climate change, and better protect water quality, habitat and biodiversity. The project will bring together experts and stakeholders throughout Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland & Labrador to address stormwater-related impacts of climate change.

As part of this project, Clean will support the design and installation of effective demonstration sites.

Clean has received close to $200,000 for the project through Environment Canada’s Atlantic Ecosystem Initiatives. Clean’s Atlantic Stormwater Initiative is also supported by the City of Charlottetown, Halifax Water, CBCL, and TD Friends of the Environment Fund.

Find out more about the conference and the agenda >

October 19th to 25th is Waste Reduction Week in Canada. It’s a week where groups and individuals across the country are celebrating positive environmental action by rethinking, reducing, reusing and recycling.

Clean Foundation encourages all Nova Scotians to think about the waste they produce, and how they can reduce it – for the benefit of both the environment and the economy.

Clean believes we can reduce the amount of waste we produce and prevent it from accumulating in our communities and in natural areas.

Through our programs, Clean offers province-wide opportunities for community engagement and awareness about practices that keep our environment healthy:

• The Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up provides community members with materials and information necessary to conduct effective litter clean-ups
• Ship-to-Shore engages harbours and commercial fishers on the topic of waste management of harbours and on fishing vessels
• Eddie the Puppet’s Litterless Road Tour encourages youth across the province to put litter in its place.

Also during Waste Reduction Week, Clean will release five waste reduction tip videos featuring two of our puppet characters – Eddie the Cat and Bigfoot – used to engage students in schools.

It can rain – a lot – during any season in Atlantic Canada. And with climate change models showing our region will experience storms of increasing severity in coming years, Clean Foundation wants to help mitigate some of the problem associated with all this water.

The non-profit organization is launching a three-year Atlantic Stormwater Initiative to help people in the region adapt to climate change, as well as improve the health and long-term sustainability of the Atlantic ecosystem through better stormwater management.

Stormwater, also known as ‘runoff’, is the water that runs over surfaces like roads, buildings and agricultural land instead of seeping into the ground. This runoff can accumulate quickly and cause flooding and erosion. It also picks up pollutants and debris, and runs into our streams, rivers and lakes untreated. It is a growing area of concern for all levels of government, insurance companies and property owners across Canada. Conventional stormwater management channels excess water into storm drains and sewers as quickly as possible, leading to overflowing systems and water contamination.

The Atlantic Stormwater Initiative has been developed by Clean to better manage water quantity and flow, while mitigating the associated impacts to water quality, habitat and biodiversity. This project will improve the capacity of communities to lessen stormwater risks and threats due to climate change, and better protect water quality, habitat and biodiversity. The project will bring together experts and stakeholders throughout Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland & Labrador to address stormwater-related impacts of climate change.

As part of this project, Clean will support the design and installation of effective demonstration sites. An online map of locations practicing good stormwater management will encourage others to undertake similar initiatives. “Clean is excited to deliver this important project to Atlantic Canada. It will protect and enhance the long-term health of the Atlantic ecosystem,” says Chris Morrissey, Clean Foundation’s Executive Director.

As a first step in the program, Clean will host a stormwater conference in November as part of a collaborative planning session amongst stormwater experts and stakeholders.

Clean has received $199,903 in funding for the first two years of the project through Environment Canada’s Atlantic Ecosystem Initiatives. (The list of all funding recipients for 2015 and a short description of their projects can be found here: Atlantic Ecosystem Initiatives Funding Program.)

Clean’s Atlantic Stormwater Initiative is also supported by the City of Charlottetown, Halifax Water, CBCL, and TD Friends of the Environment Fund.

The Commuter Challenge is a week-long event that encourages Canadians to leave their cars at home, and explore walking, cycling, carpooling, public transit and telecommuting.

Clean Foundation is the Nova Scotia coordinator for the challenge, and also sits on the Halifax region Commuter Challenge committee. Here’s how Halifax did against other cities in Canada:

• Halifax placed first in Canada in the city category within the 250,000 and 500,000-population category, having commuted over 74,000 kilometres sustainably.
• Across Nova Scotia, we avoided 11,902 kilograms of CO2 and saved 5,507 litres of fuel.

Here are the 2015 Halifax winners:

2015 Commuter Challenge Hfx Cup winner:

ZedEvents Great Productions

• 3,550 kilograms of CO2 avoided
• 1,504 litres of fuel saved

Winner of 1-24 employee category:

Cities & Environment Unit

• 90% workplace participation

Winner of the 25-49 category:

Mountain Equipment Coop

• 88% workplace participation

Second Place 25-49 category:

Dillon Consulting

• 64.52% participation

Third Place 25-49 category:

College of Registered Nurses of NS

• 36.67% participation

Winner of 50-249 category:

Architecture49

• 28% participation

Winner of 250-499 category:

Stewart McKelvey

• 21.82% participated

Winner 500+

Staples  Inc.

• 13% participated

Honourable Mentions

Smallest Team & Highest participation:

Morrison Hershfield

Most CO2 Avoided:

CBCL Limited

• 845 kilograms of CO2 avoided

Most Fuel Saved:

Department of Health & Wellness

• 432 litres of fuel saved

Most Calories Burned & Keenest Newcomer:

Central Zone of the Nova Scotia Health Authority

• 27,546 calories burned

But, just because the Commuter Challenge week has come to an end, you do not need to stop using active and sustainable transportation.  Stay at it and do not forget to mark you calendar for next year’s Commuter Challenge.

The planning committee for Halifax Commuter Challenge consists of Stepping Up Halifax, Halifax SmartTrip, Active Halifax Communities and the Provincial Coordinator, Clean Foundation.

Forty-nine students are working on various environmental projects for nine weeks with community partner groups from Yarmouth to Cheticamp and many points in-between. They join nine Aboriginal Leadership students who have been working since early May. 

The summer jobs range from watershed restoration to waste reduction, bat monitoring to eco-tourism, renewable energy to sustainable transportation.

At the end of June, all students participated in a training camp in Debert where they had the opportunity to gain valuable knowledge on topics such as entrepreneurship, environmental stewardship, communications and networking.

The Nova Scotia Youth Conservation Corps (NSYCC) was established in 1989 by the Province of Nova Scotia – Clean Foundation has been delivering NSYCC on behalf of Nova Scotia Environment since September 2011.

The goal of the program is to provide Nova Scotia’s youth, aged 15-30, with training and employment opportunities within the environmental field, while providing services to communities in Nova Scotia for the betterment of the local environment. 

The Nova Scotia Youth Conservation Corps (NSYCC) builds connections between youth and local organizations to stimulate stewardship for the natural environment and support the emergence of young community leaders. This is accomplished by providing students with training and employment opportunities through paid work placements with community-based organizations.

Another NSYCC priority is to equip youth with the aptitude to become leaders in their communities while delivering meaningful environmental projects across the province.

The Clean Foundation has partnered with the Halifax Blue Nose Marathon for the second year. We are helping them make the event more environmentally responsible.

For example, the marathon has switched from water bottles to using hydrants for the water stations. Halifax Transit is offering all registrants with a race bib free bus and ferry service on race day.

Clean volunteers will help maintain recycling bins, and our hybrid cars will be used by Blue Nose representatives during the event.

And our Clean Foundation bike valet service will return. Located in the Grand Parade Square, free bike storage will be available Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Congratulations to Jill McSweeney, an Interdisciplinary PhD Candidate with Dalhousie University and recipient of this year’s Clean Postgraduate Research Scholarship. Jill receives $2,000 to contribute to her research expenses.

“I am very honoured that the Clean Foundation found my research deserving of the scholarship!”

Jill’s research focuses on understanding the human-nature relationship, and how engaging in nature can benefit us physically, psychologically, socially and spiritually. “I am currently investigating how nature exposure directly impacts stress, mood, and altruistic behaviour, and how engaging with nature can foster a sense of connection and relatedness with our environment.”

The goals of her research are both to better understand how to improve the health and wellbeing of our communities, and to increase environmental awareness in the participants to change these individuals’ perceptiveness and feelings toward the environment.

Clean hopes to draw upon Jill’s research in our quest to inspire the individual actions that add up to positive environmental change.

Today is Earth Day, a day to reflect on the environment, and on how we can lesson our impact on the natural world that sustain us.

But for too many in our province, it’s also ‘try to find a job’ day or ‘watch your child move out west’ day.

The stats are alarming. A shrinking population and tax base. A stagnant economy. Traditional industries in decline. Rural towns decorated with out-of-business signs.

These stats have a human face. Sons and daughters going down the road because of a lack of employment. First Nations’ youth not offered the chance to unlock their potential. Immigrants not finding opportunity here so they continue their journey elsewhere.

We’ve heard the warnings of the One Nova Scotia Commission – change our way of thinking, and do it now or never because soon it will be too late. Nova Scotia needs entrepreneurs and business start-ups. We need revenue to maintain our schools and our hospitals. We need a deeply welcoming society.

As an environmental organization with over 25 years of experience, the Clean Foundation also knows we need to better manage our natural resources. We need to clean up our waterways, and reduce our waste. And most of all, we need to confront the realities of climate change, to help stave off the devastating consequences of too many greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.

Those stats are also alarming, and they too have a human face. There are economic and social costs to climate change that we – and our children and grandchildren – will pay, one way or another.

As we chart a course to the new economy, let’s also tackle the challenge of climate change. We can use economic levers to create incentives for industries to transition away from fossil fuels. We can create the green collar jobs that keep future generations believing that this future is possible here. We can create the healthy environment and vibrant society that attracts newcomers.

But we have to take risks, be creative, and engage in smart and bold conversations that are not immediately dispersed by the prism of politics.

In practice, this means a moratorium on shale gas fracking is not the end of a debate, but another chapter in an ongoing discourse about energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.

It means adding value to our natural resources. It means taxing the bad stuff – pollution and greenhouse gases – instead of just the good stuff like jobs and wages.

It’s time for our province to move beyond the ‘versus’ economy. Jobs vs the environment. City vs countryside. Nova Scotians vs come-from-aways.

We need a strong equitable economy that is rooted in a healthy environment. We know it won’t be easy. But we’ve been innovators before. Nova Scotia led the way with a system that diverted 50 percent of waste from our landfills. A quarter of our electricity will come from renewables by the end of this year, and over 40 percent by 2020.

And we’ve become a leader in energy efficiency. For our part, the Clean Foundation has helped prevent 110,000 tons of greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere. That’s equivalent to removing the annual energy consumption of over 14,000 homes from Nova Scotia’s electricity grid.

Energy efficiency not only saves money and reduces our carbon footprint, it also supports local businesses doing this work – a green industry that will continue to grow.

There is now more employment in Canada’s clean energy sector than in the oil sands. That’s the future. That’s jobs and the environment.

The Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up – Nova Scotia’s largest litter reduction initiative – launches this spring. Registrations are now open for teams across the province at www.nspickmeup.ca

Spring weather will eventually arrive, and with it the litter and garbage underneath all that melting snow. After a particularly long winter and an unprecedented amount of snow, litter will make an unsightly appearance as never before. The Clean Foundation has a solution and is inviting all Nova Scotians (families, youth, individuals, businesses and schools) to take part in the Great Pick-Me-Up, our long-standing anti-litter program and one of the largest volunteer initiatives in the province.

With support from municipalities, Clean will provide teams with everything they need to run a successful litter clean-up event. Groups can register by calling (902) 420-3474 or by going online at nspickmeup.ca. Clean will send a free kit that includes supplies, information on how to coordinate your event and a data card to track results.

Litter is an eyesore, poses health risks, affects water quality, and is often mistaken as food for wildlife. Studies show people tend to litter in areas where there is already garbage on the ground. That’s why Clean wants Nova Scotians to pick it up and promote clean communities this spring – and throughout the year.

“Clean is proud to facilitate litter clean-ups. It brings groups and individuals together and helps them improve the quality of life in their communities, while also helping the local environment,”  says Chris Morrissey, Clean Foundation’s Executive Director.

Clean is encouraging teams to post ‘before & after’ photos of their pick-me-up locations and post to social media using the hashtag #GladToCleanUp.

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Halifax Harbour is a functioning estuary that shelters numerous fisheries that are of recreational, commercial and aboriginal importance, including Gaspereau, American eel and Atlantic salmon. The rivers that flow into the harbour are essential watercourses for fish to access freshwater spawning grounds.

The Sawmill River, in downtown Dartmouth, is one such river that connects Halifax Harbour to some of the largest water bodies in the Dartmouth area. Forty-three years ago, a 700 meter length of the Sawmill River was buried in a pipe underground, creating a barrier that prevents fish from moving to their essential spawning grounds.

The barrier of the Sawmill River remains to this day. The Halifax Water Commission will soon be replacing this underground pipe along the length of the Sawmill River to accommodate elevated precipitation loads due to climate change. In this replacement, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans is requiring that fish passage be restored.

A variety of environmental, aboriginal and recreational organizations and local businesses are encouraging the city and the water commission to “daylight” the Sawmill River to bring economic, environmental, recreational, and social benefits to the community of Dartmouth.

Daylighting describes projects that deliberately expose some or all of the flow of a previously covered river, creek, or stormwater drainage. Daylighting of the Sawmill River will also complement the extensive work and investment of the City of Halifax to clean up the Harbour through improved sewage treatment in recent years.

Clean Foundation has worked to restore adjacent watersheds such as the Cow Bay River, Little Salmon River, Smelt Run, Hornes Brook, and Gammon Lake Brook since 2006. Our watershed restoration team has developed expertise in watershed restoration and community engagement, stewardship and education about the benefits and requirements for healthy watercourses. The Sawmill River is literally in Clean Foundation’s backyard, and we see the value in daylighting this river, as it should be greatly beneficial to the fish that reside in Dartmouth area watercourses, Halifax Harbour and the Atlantic Ocean, while bringing urban renewal by bringing water and nature back into the heart of the city, and provide an excellent opportunity for community education and outreach in the benefits and services of clean and restored watersheds.

Clean Foundation supports the initiative to daylight the Sawmill River and commits to assisting the city of Halifax and Halifax Water Commission in maintaining exposed sections of the river.  Maintenance support from Clean Foundation could include habitat restoration, erosion control, debris clearing and removal and litter clean ups.