April 19, 2016

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Lend a helping hand on Earth Day!

Earth Day BlueScaping at Eco-Fair

Come visit us at our booth at the 8th Annual Infrastructure Ontario Property Services Eco-Fair on Earth Day- April 22nd! Our BlueScaping expert Greg will be at the Eco-Fair to talk about the important connections between stormwater, landscaping, and water quality.

Come find out about the resources available to help you use BlueScaping to add some pizzazz to your property this year!

When - Earth Day (April 22nd) noon to 1:30 pm

Where - Ontario Government Building, 322 Kent Street West, Lindsay

We're having a rain barrel sale!

Rain barrels help reduce the flow of storm runoff. When it rains, runoff picks up soil,

fertilizer, oil, pesticides, and other contaminants from hard surfaces and landscapes. By using a rain barrel, you will have a ready supply of water for your garden and lawn, save money on your water or utility bill, and reduce large volumes of runoff from entering storm drains and local water bodies.

Rain Barrel Sale
We are proud to offer rain barrel sales together with RainBarrel.ca. Below are two links to the discounted items on offer, depending on when and where you would prefer to pick them up:

Lindsay Location
Pick-up: Thursday, June 2, Lindsay, Victoria Park,
12:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Port Perry Location
Pick-up: Saturday, June 4, Port Perry, Palmer Park, 10:00 - 2:00 p.m.

Please be prepared to pay cash for your items upon pick-up. We look forward to seeing you!

Recognizing local Green Heroes

Each year at our Annual General Meeting, Kawartha Conservation hosts Environmental Awards of Excellence. These awards recognize the outstanding people and groups within our watershed who have demonstrated excellence through projects and actions that contribute to a healthier environment for everyone.

Our 2015 Environmental Awards of Excellence were presented on March 9th at our AGM at the Admiral Inn & Conference Center. This year's recipients were:

Individual Conservationist Award
Paul LaPorte

Community Conservationist Award
Residents of Rosedale

Partner Awards
Trillium Lakelands District School Board
Kawartha Land Trust

Business Award
Victoria County Career Services

'Bioblitz' with us at Durham East Cross

Join the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust at Durham East Cross Forest Conservation Area

on May 13th & 14th for a 24 hour BioBlitz! Volunteers are asked to sign up for shifts of 2-4 hours, but of course, you can sign up for as many shifts as you like.

According to Ontario BioBlitz, a BioBlitz "brings together taxonomic experts, citizen scientists and the general public to inventory all species (plants, animals, fungi) in a particular area over a 24 hour period. Participants record all the organisms they find, then experts verify their identity. As the Blitz proceeds and after it is done, the species records are compiled into a single data set: the species list, which provides a snapshot of the biodiversity in that location on that date."

You can find more info and sign up to participate here.

Add 'pizzazz' to your yard this spring!

'BlueScaping' is about reducing runoff by managing stormwater on site. BlueScaping uses landscape features and techniques such as rain barrels, rain gardens, and naturalization to help reduce runoff from built-up areas and improve the quality of water reaching our rivers and lakes.

Join us for a FREE Workshop to learn about the newest trends in residential landscaping and how to use them to add pizzazz to your property.

There are three upcoming workshop dates:

April 21st, 2016 - More info and registration
May 17th, 2016 - More info and registration
May 19th, 2016 - More info and registration

Learn about nature ... in nature!

Fostering a connection to and appreciation for the natural world for children at an early age is an important step towards creating a network of local environmental stewards who will ensure the health of our watershed in the future.

Last fall, we started offering educational programming on a pilot basis, at local schools, or in an outdoor classroom setting at Ken Reid Conservation Area in Lindsay.

Our education programs are curriculum-linked and designed for elementary school aged children. We currently offer three programs: water bugs, wetlands, and nature hike.

For more information on our Outdoor Education Program or to book a session, visit our website. Spaces for spring 2016 are filling up fast!

Green Team helping us 'Walk the Talk'

We are always looking for opportunities to improve our corporate environmental footprint, and to help ensure we're doing the best job we can, we formed a 'Green Team' in January.

The Green Team's mission is: to develop the tools needed to promote and implement sound environmental practices in the workplace, in order to minimize the impact of our corporate environmental footprint.

Many staff members contributed to our new Green Team initiate, and in less than two months they evaluated our current operations including waste production, energy, and water consumption. Our evaluations revealed that we were already doing a good job on many fronts, but the Green Team did make some suggestions for further improvements.

The list of accomplishments so far include:

- A new composting program
- A review and tightening up of our recycling practices
- An incentive program to encourage staff to "think green"
- New printer software that will reduce the amount of paper used
- An in-office educational campaign
- A draft BlueScaping plan for our Administrative Centre (see illustration below)

The first step to BlueScaping your property is to identify which areas are generating the most runoff, which helps to highlight the best locations for stormwater landscape features. The example above is a map of showing degrees of imperviousness, drainage directions, and areas to prioritize for BlueScaping at Kawartha's Administration Building in Ken Reid Conservation Area.