June  2023

Heat Pump Affordability Campaign Launched

The Nanaimo Climate Action Hub's campaign to make heat pumps affordable is revving up. The heat pump affordability team of NCAH vice-chair Larry Whaley and organizers Kathryn Hazel and Laurie Friskie has started lobbying local MLAs. They've also sent a news release to local media about the campaign and the solutions they're recommending.

There is a lot of information about this program on our website. Click here to begin a search.

Rebates on E-Bikes!

Just in time for GoByBike Week, the Province of B.C. is offering rebates on the purchase of eligible new e-bikes, according to a press release issued on May 25th, 2023. "E-bikes add a new dimension to everyday travel, even in rural communities," said Michael Koski, executive director of the BC Cycling Coalition. "For those struggling with the cost of a car, this funding will provide a wider access to a transportation option that is affordable, efficient and eco-friendly. E-bikes make cycling accessible to a wider range of people, improve personal health and help smaller communities by making more people mobile." To find out more about this program, visit the rebates website.

Corporate-Sponsored Teaching Tools in Schools?

Nanaimo Climate Action Hub recently sent a letter to ask the Nanaimo Ladysmith School Board to consider whether or not they should endorse corporate-sponsored teaching materials. It is our position that the school board should not promote corporate materials -- and we feel particularly strongly about materials coming from the oil and gas industry. We encourage you to read the letter, which includes a link to the materials that prompted this action. As always, we welcome your comments and feedback.

Partner Highlight: Nanaimo Community Gardens Society

This month we're highlighting the work of Nanaimo Community Gardens Society. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the society's Gleaning Program, which was established to reduce food waste in Nanaimo and area. Volunteer gleaners pick fruit and vegetable from backyards and gardens that would otherwise be wasted. It works like this: if you have more produce than you can use and need help picking it, gleaners are on the way! If you want to become a gleaner, you must attend an orientation before the season starts (there are still two upcoming June orientations!). So whether you are a food producer or anticipate surplus or you are keen to get out there and pick, you can find more information here.

Tip of the Month -- Green Bin Guidelines

Did you know that landfill gas (LFG) is generated as a bi-product of anaerobic decomposition of waste within a landfill? LFG is composed of equal parts methane and carbon dioxide. As a greenhouse gas, the global warming potential of methane is 25 times that of carbon dioxide. That's why it's so important to keep food waste out of the landfill and take advantage of the weekly organics (green bin) pickup here in RDN. "From beans to bones" to soiled paper packaging -- you might be surprised at what all you can compost. Here is a list of all the things you can put in that green bin.

Please Support Us!

We have an account with the Regional Recycling South Return-It Depot at 839 Victoria Road in Nanaimo. You can donate the money from returnable items by asking the clerk to credit the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub account. Thanks in advance for your support. It makes a huge difference! 

This newsletter is a publication of the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub. For more information, please click below:

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We respectfully acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Snuneymuxw, Stz'uminus and Snaw-Naw-As First Nations.

May  2023

NCAH Participated in Stewards in the Spotlight

As part of Earth Day activities happening throughout the month of April, Nanaimo Climate Action Hub attended Stewards in the Spotlight, an event celebrating environmental stewardship and honored stewardship volunteers in the region, The event was held this past Saturday in Kinsmen Park and Kin Hut at Departure Bay Beach. It was a beautiful day and many beach-goers stopped by our booth to learn more about climate action here in Nanaimo. We are grateful to all the new members who signed up - we grow stronger as an organization with every new member! If you are not currently a member or know someone who is looking to get involved, forward them this link to our sign-up page.

Victoria Zero Carbon

BC’s new Zero Carbon Step Code legislation (formerly referred to as the Carbon Pollution Standard) comes into effect on May 1^st, 2023, allowing local governments to limit the greenhouse gas emissions of new buildings. We are encouraged by the quick uptake of this new step code happening on Southern Vancouver Island. Victoria city council passed this motion on April 6^th, to adopt the highest level of pollution standard by November 1, 2023 for smaller residential buildings and by July 1, 2024 for other buildings. Saanich followed suit with an equivalent bylaw amendment on April 24th.  If you'd like to learn more, here are a few resources:

- Capital Regional District Technical Review of Step Code and Carbon Pollution Standard (July 5, 2022)

- Briefing paper from Stand.earth regarding FortisBC claims about Renewable Natural Gas (RNG; June 2022)

- The Tamarack Institute is hosting a webinar on Planning for Sustainable and Affordable Housing During the Climate Crisis on May 17^th at 10am pacific time, building off this article about the intersection of housing affordability and climate action.

Heat Pump Availability Survey

Heat pumps are an essential tool in the fight against climate change and having a heat pump in your home can mean the difference between life and death during extreme temperatures. So why doesn't every home have one? Check out our Heat Pump Affordability Survey Results.

Please Support Us!

We have an account with the Regional Recycling South Return-It Depot at 839 Victoria Road in Nanaimo. You can donate the money from returnable items by asking the clerk to credit the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub account. Thanks in advance for your support. It makes a huge difference! 

This newsletter is a publication of the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub. For more information, please click below:

Website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Sign up to be a member or volunteer to organize hub events and initiatives:

Membership Sign-up

We respectfully acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Snuneymuxw, Stz'uminus and Snaw-Naw-As First Nations.

April  2023

Seedy Sunday Success!

We were so happy to participate in this great community event, which promoted seed saving and local agriculture. It was nice to meet so many of our members and followers -- thanks for visiting our table. Pictured are Laurie Friskie, Kathryn Hazel and Heather Baitz, hard-working members of our board of directors.

Climate Change Workshop with Katimavik Visit

NCAH's Heather Baitz and Kevin Lindsay recently had the opportunity to facilitate a workshop with a group of young people who are currently spending time in Nanaimo as part of an experience called Katimavik. Katimavik is a non-profit organization that offers young adults opportunities to gain life skills and work experience while contributing to community development through volunteerism and employment. The word ‘Katimavik’ originates from the Inuktitut language, meaning ‘meeting place’. Since 1977, Katimavik has brought young Canadians together to learn, to exchange culture and language, and to help build stronger communities across Canada. Katimavik aims to help youth become engaged, caring citizens and capable contributors and leaders for a better Canada. We do this through the development of 21^st century skills, experiential learning, employment and civic engagement.

During the 2-hour workshop, there were lively conversations on topics ranging from causes of climate change, mitigation strategies, and adaption—as well as tactics for engaging the participants' own communities in conversation about climate change. The group brought a broad range of perspectives to the conversation, due in part to their geographical diversity—participants came from as far to the East as the Magdalen Islands, as North as Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, and many points on the map in between."We really appreciated the opportunity to work with this group of bright young adult Canadians," said Heather Baitz, NACH Chair, "and hope to work with Katimavik again in the near future."

Congratulations to the Sunshine Coast Sue Big Oil Action Team!

On March 7^th, Gibsons Council voted unanimously to work with other local governments in BC to file a class action lawsuit against global fossil fuel companies to recover a fair share of the climate costs they are incurring. This means setting aside at least $1 per resident and working with First Nations towards this purpose. The Sunshine Coast Sue Big Oil Action Team gathered public support and made a presentation to Gibsons council, which was likely instrumental in obtaining the unanimous vote.

Municipalities, who own and maintain approximately 60% of core public infrastructure in Canada, are going to pay a lot for climate-driven disasters and to re-build more resilient infrastructure. Currently, those costs are borne entirely by municipalities. For example, Gibsons is grappling with relocating a sanitary sewer main and a community hall because of sea level rise. The Sunshine Coast has experienced coastal erosion and destruction of waterfront infrastructure. In 2022, a state of local emergency was declared because of a severe and prolonged drought that caused crop losses and some temporary business closures to maintain adequate levels of drinking water. The fossil fuel industry, which has reaped profits of $3 billion a day for 50 years, needs to pay their fair share of those costs.

“Sue Big Oil community groups are springing up across the province, in Powell River, Nanaimo, Whistler, Greater Victoria, Burnaby, and more, as British Columbians demand that their local governments protect them from the costs of climate change and hold the fossil fuel industry accountable.” says Fiona Koza, Climate Accountability Strategist at West Coast Environmental Law, which is the Secretariat to the Sue Big Oil campaign. For more information or to join the Nanaimo Sue Big Oil team, email [email protected] We are currently planning meetings with Nanaimo council members and local organizations. In the coming months, you will see us at a local event or in a park, asking people to complete the Sue Big Oil declaration.

Renovate the Public Hearing!

CityHive is launching an experiential, cohort-based civic education program for youths aged 18 to 30 based in the province of B.C. This hands-on program will take place over weekly sessions for 3 months, guiding a cohort of 25-30 participants through a knowledge-to-action learning journey centered on Public Hearings, and how to make them more accessible and inclusive. Over the course of the program, participants will learn about government and power with an emphasis on the municipal level from key stakeholders (elected officials, urban planners, and grassroots organizers).By the end of the program, the participants will have developed an alternative to the current public hearing process and will present their ideas to CityHive's partners at Simon Fraser University, to help them with their ongoing research on this topic. More information and application details can be found here. 

Nanaimo Climate Pledge Update

In November 2022 NCAH launched the Nanaimo Climate Pledge, a campaign intended to assess and encourage climate action in Vancouver Island households from Ladysmith to Qualicum Beach and as far west as Port Alberni. The Pledge includes a list of 13 actions, carefully chosen to be accessible and either high-impact, high-frequency, or both. Actions include reducing or eliminating meat consumption, and additional outreach actions such as joining a climate change organization. Four months after the launch of the Nanaimo Climate Pledge, over 180 people have completed the online survey to commit to one or more climate actions. 

While more data is required to make some conclusions, patterns are beginning to emerge. These patterns can inform future directions of the Pledge and help identify where best to invest time and effort to effectively encourage household climate action.

"There were a few key lessons from the first phase of the project", according to Whelm King, program manager for Nanaimo Climate Pledge. "First, change is best motivated by direct contact within our personal networks. Climate Connectors and working with established groups or clubs were the most successful methods we tested. Conversely, impersonal methods such as cold mailing were the least effective. Second, despite the urgency of the climate crisis, it will take time for many people to come to terms with the scope and severity of the crisis, and to feel empowered to take action to minimize their own contribution to the crisis. Combatting feelings of insignifigance ("my actions don't matter") and doomerism ("it's too late already") are crucial to overcome on an individual and societal level." 

What’s next? Plans are underway for the next phases of the Pledge, including evaluating the report’s recommendations for increasing reach and response rates. To accomplish this, the program is looking at targeting well-organized communities, including organized and active neighbourhood associations. 

"There is an old saying that best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago; the second best time is today. So it is with the climate crisis", says King. "The best time to take action is twenty years ago; the second best time is today" If you haven’t filled out the Pledge yet it’s not too late – here’s a link to the Pledge if you don’t have it handy!

Heat Pump Campaign Survey

Heat pumps are an essential tool in the fight against climate change. Having a heat pump in your home can mean the difference between life and death during extreme temperatures.

Yet too many British Columbians are unable to afford them. The cost of having a CleanBC Income Qualified Program (IQP) registered contractor install a heat pump is often in the tens of thousands of dollars, well above the value of available rebates.

New rebates and increasing demand for heat pumps, combined with a shortage of available installers, mean there is little incentive for companies to keep their prices competitive.

The Nanaimo Climate Action Hub is launching a campaign to ensure that heat pump installations will be affordable and efficient for everyone, thereby reducing energy consumption, combatting climate change, and making homes more comfortable in both summer and winter.

The first step in the campaign is to gather information on what getting a heat pump - or trying to - has been like for BC citizens. The Nanaimo Climate Action Hub has prepared a short, five-minute survey that asks about your heat pump experience. Please complete this survey today.

Looking Ahead...

Earth Day -- April 29 -- Stewards in the Spotlight Event -- 11 am to 3 pm

Kinsmen Park and Kin Hut in Departure Bay Beach, Nanaimo

Join Team WaterSmart at a community event that celebrates local stewardship organizations from across the region who are taking action to restore, protect, and safeguard our environment - from caring for our local waterways, to removing invasive plants, and much more! Check out some interactive activities for all ages and learn how you can get involved.

Departure Creek Streamwalk 

Join local experts and stewardship volunteers on an interpretive walk along Departure Creek. This urban stream has been in the care of community volunteers and citizen scientists for many years. Come see some of the work being done to restore and protect this stream, including tree planting, salmon monitoring, and riparian area protection. Participants must be able to walk 2-3km on mostly flat terrain. 

Learn more and register here.

Please Support Us!

We have an account with the Regional Recycling South Return-It Depot at 839 Victoria Road in Nanaimo. You can donate the money from returnable items by asking the clerk to credit the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub account. Thanks in advance for your support. It makes a huge difference! 

This newsletter is a publication of the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub. For more information, please click below:

Website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Sign up to be a member or volunteer to organize hub events and initiatives:

Membership Sign-up

We respectfully acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Snuneymuxw, Stz'uminus and Snaw-Naw-As First Nations.

March  2023

United for Old Growth March and Rally a Success!

Thank-you to everyone who was able to make it down to the rally in Victoria on February 25! There was a great turnout and it got lots of media attention.

Issue with the Tissue: A Boreal Love Story raises important issues

On February 10, VIU hosted a screening of the documentary, which tells the largely-untcld story of how the boreal forest is being clear-cut for the manufacture of toilet paper. Not only does this destroy precious ecosystems but it encroaches upon the terriitory and very sovereignty of the Indigenous Peoples who call it home.

If you weren't about to view this important and powerful film (and even if you were), we offer these resources: an article/review in The Discourse, links to a podcast interview with the filmmaker Michael Zelniker (Part 1 and Part 2) and A Buyer's Guide to the Sustainability of At-Home Tissue Products.

Heat Pump Affordability Campaign

Are you interested in helping with a campaign to make heat pumps more affordable? Please reply or email [email protected] if you'd like to get involved. 

Restoration of E&N Railway

Many community groups and concerned citizens to joined together to voice strong support for the restoration of the E&N Railway. We have sent a letter to Premier Eby and we encourage all those who believe in this project to do so as well before March 14, when the government must make a decision on the project. Here is an excellent backgrounder with points to use in individual letters.

Looking Ahead...

Seedy Sunday -- March 5

Nanaimo Foodshare and Nanaimo Community Gardens are again hosting this community event to promote seed saving, local seed providers and local agriculture. If you are interested in growing, eating and supporting local, you'll find educational workshops and local vendors. We will have a table -- please come by and say hello!  Find full details here.

Please Support Us!

We have an account with the Regional Recycling South Return-It Depot at 839 Victoria Road in Nanaimo. You can donate the money from returnable items by asking the clerk to credit the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub account. Thanks in advance for your support. It makes a huge difference! 

This newsletter is a publication of the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub. For more information, please click below:

Website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Sign up to be a member or volunteer to organize hub events and initiatives:

Membership Sign-up

We respectfully acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Snuneymuxw, Stz'uminus and Snaw-Naw-As First Nations.

February 2023

United for Old Growth March and Rally -- February 25

Over 170 organizations have united to voice their support for the protection of old-growth forests in BC. On February 25, we will be coming together in Victoria to put pressure on the BC NDP government to keep their promise to protect the forests and provide effective forest stewardship.

Nanaimo Climate Action Hub will be there and we invite you to join us. We'll be meeting in Centennial Square at noon for the march to the legislature. Look for our banner.

The Council of Canadians Mid-Island Chapter is renting a bus to transport people to Victoria. The bus will depart Courtenay at 8 am, and stop in Nanaimo to pick up more passengers, and will leave Victoria after the event at 4 pm. Cost is $60. If you would like to reserve a seat on the bus, please email [email protected] with you name and cell phone number.

(Image: Elders for Ancient Trees)

Report on Annual General Meeting -- January 28

Thank-you to all who were able to attend our AGM and social gathering on January 28th. We enjoyed celebrating the past year's accomplishments, sharing good food, and listening to the musical talents of Tony Turner. We gratefully acclaimed returning directors Laurie Friskie and Kathryn-Jane Hazel for another term along with new directors Larry Whaley and Kevin Lindsay.

Acting for Climate Together

The Regional District of Nanaimo and the City of Nanaimo have introduced a new initiative, Acting for Climate Together (ACT). The ACT initiative hopes to inspire, educate and encourage existing groups (such as neighbourhood associations, community groups, sports teams and businesses) and individuals looking to form new groups to work together to take action. To participate, teams will complete suggested actions that are organized under six climate categories. When groups complete enough actions to earn the minimum points required for that category, they are awarded climate action badges and a chance to win fun, sustainable prizes.

Nanaimo Climate Action Hub will be registering to participate in this initiative and we invite our members to encourage the participation of other groups they belong to. Click here for detailed information on this project.

Restoration of E&N Railway

Shawnigan Lake resident and E&N Railway supporter Mary Desmond is calling on all those who support the restoration of the railway to write letters to Premier David Eby as well as their local MLAs and MPs.

The BC Court of Appeal has ruled that senior governments must commit to funding the E&N's restoration by March or part of the lands now occupied by the railway will revert to the Snaw-Naw-As First Nation.

Desmond has prepared an excellent backgrounder with points to use in individual letters. This article in the Cowichan Valley Citizen provides information on the First Nations perspective.

Looking Ahead...

Sue Big Oil -- A Made-In-BC Climate Campaign -- February 9

As a part of Climate Emergency Week at the University of British Columbia, this panel discussion will identify the key principles of the historic Sue Big Oil campaign, how it will work, and why it is essential to hold Big Oil accountable for their fair share of climate costs.  Here are details and links to attend in person at UBC or online.

Screening of Issue with the Tissue: A Boreal Love Story -- Feb 10

In celebration of Global Citizens Week, there will be a showing of the documentary Issue with the Tissue: A Boreal Love Story at VIU. This film documents the largely untold story of the boreal forest and the Indigenous Peoples who call it home, how it is being clear-cut for the manufacture of toilet paper, and that protecting and conserving the boreal is an existential imperative. The filmmakers will be present and will participate in a Q&A. For full details, click here.

Please Support Us!

We have an account with the Regional Recycling South Return-It Depot at 839 Old Victoria Road in Nanaimo. You can donate the money from returnable items by asking the clerk to credit the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub account. Thanks in advance for your support. It makes a huge difference!n is a new Teck. Change the text.

This newsletter is a publication of the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub. For more information, please click below:

Website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Sign up to be a member or volunteer to organize hub events and initiatives:

Membership Sign-up

We respectfully acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Snuneymuxw, Stz'uminus and Snaw-Naw-As First Nations.