From My Bottom Step

Climate Change and Activism

Join us on the International Day of Climate Action in London to learn what your city is doing on a local and international level. Learn about the Copenhagen Process from UWO professor Sara Seck; City of London’s Jay Stanford on London initiatives; and Maryanne MacDonald of Waste Free World speaking on Activism and the Municipal Bottled Water Ban.

Central Library – 1st Floor Wolf Performance Hall
Free!
No Registration Required; just … Continue Reading

Waste Reduction Week

From item #15 on today’s Environment & Transportation Committee agenda:

Waste Reduction Week in Canada’s origins can be traced back to the mid 1980s when a number of environmental organizations, recycling organizations and municipalities began holding recycling and waste reduction days or weeks. Many of these events were provincial in nature. In Ontario, the efforts were led by the recycling Council of Ontario which London has been a … Continue Reading

More About Methane Gas

Q&A with Jay Stanford about methane gas.

Seeking Environmental Authority

This Monday, the city’s Environment & Transportation Committee (ETC) will consider a proposal by it’s Advisory Committee on the Environment that London seek the same legislative authority from the province that the City of Toronto now enjoys to pursue waste reduction and diversion measures. That could include (1) the ability to compel retailers to charge a fee for the use of plastic bags and disposable beverage containers; and … Continue Reading

London’s 2009 Budget Tabled

The 2009 Draft Budget was tabled at the Board of Control meeting held this past Wednesday 2008/12/10. Here’s a first, quick look at what’s happening… Continue Reading

Disposing of Kitchen Waste

Jay Stanford commented at yesterday’s ETC meeting that garbage bags contain 40% food scraps by weight.

Councillor Lonc said that after making a recent inquiry, he found out that the treatment cost of disposing of kitchen waste via garburators is $800/tonne compared to $100/tonne via green bins.

I think that the best solution is for people to compost. And I think the best way to achieve that is to charge … Continue Reading

Increased Waste Collection Fines

In the absence of a municipal system of fines, the default max. amount is only $5,000 (section 61 of the Provincial Offences Act.)

Jay Stanford (Director of Environmental Programs & Solid Waste) is proposing that London’s waste collection by-law (WM-12) be amended so that higher waste management fines can be imposed.01 That’s possible because section 429 of the Municipal Act 2001 allows municipalities to establish their own system of … Continue Reading

Not Today?

It … Continue Reading

EnviroChallenge: Reduce Your Flow

… Continue Reading

London’s Spaghetti WM Solution

“Until recently, city hall staff thought the city needed to build a $80-million plant in the south end to accommodate growth the next 20 years.” 01 Put another way, which better explains the politics of the problem, anti-sprawl activists have been advocating a diet plan to address the insatiable appetite of local developers.
Now we’re told of an amazing new ’spaghetti’ filtering system that will … Continue Reading