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The 2008 Great Oakville Heritage Tree Hunt

A Celebration of Our Community Treasures

Do you know a Great Heritage Tree? Is there a tree you treasure for its beauty, its history, its special memories, its fruit, or as a favourite spot to relax and play? If you do, then please enter the 2nd annual Heritage Tree Hunt.

A step toward tree protection
Thanks to your efforts, on Monday April 21, council recommended a private tree protection bylaw be drafted by staff. This is a small step in the right direction. Let your councillors know, we expect staff to consult with forestry experts when drafting this bylaw so that our bylaw properly protects our urban forest and all its benefits. Continue to let your councillors know that you believe our community trees are worth protection. In addition to this motion, council has also accepted for review the new Forestry Strategic Management Plan. This is an excellent document which we need to ensure is supported through appropriate budgeting this fall.

Join the Plastic Bag Campaign

It may seem like a little thing but it's not. Plastic bags, those flimsy, disposable carriers that we barely give a thought to, pose a serious hazard to our environment, wildlife and human health.
More than 100 industrial chemicals can be found in plastic, all of which create a toxic stew as they break down or if they're burned in incinerators. Many of these chemicals have been linked to cancer, endocrine disorders and other health issues.
As well, plastic bags are a significant danger to wildlife with 1 million seabirds, 100,000 marine mammals and countless fish dying each year after ingesting them or being caught up in them. Plastic residue and garbage is collecting in huge "dead zones" in our oceans. They are clogging sewage systems and creating and ugly mess and they litter communities all around the world.
Worldwide a trillion (1 000 000 000 000) plastic bags are used and disposed each year. In Oakville, we use 87,500 of these bags each day - that's 31,850,000 a year.
It's time something was done about them. Many communities and countries have either banned them or put a price tag on them to encourage shoppers to use reusable bags.
We think the time is right for us to move in that direction.

Garden and reduce your carbon footprint
Summer is approaching. Plant your gardens after May 9th. Why garden? Read, Michael Pollan's New York Times article, Why Bother?. "The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world." (April 20, 2008)

tuliptree “Full Circle” tree programs launched

From the Tree Seed Collection to the Foster Tree Parent seedling growing program to Ground Breakers plantings to the Heritage Tree Hunt, we will be inviting the citizens of Oakville to join us in this effort to celebrate, protect, nurture and plant a healthy urban forest that will be a gift to our children and grandchildren.

Please read through our tree programs and think how you could volunteer to help us grow a healthy urban forest.

Third Annual Great Community Garage and Plant Sale This terrific fund raiser will be held on Saturday, May 24, from 8 a.m. to noon, (rain date: Sunday, May 25). Don't miss this opportunity to sell old treasures or find new ones. Are you interested in renting a spot to sell your items? Register now or read more...
Read more...

Halton Environmental Network

The Halton Environmental Network is undergoing some changes as their Trillium Grant has come to an end and they become an all volunteer organization. Check out their Weekly Bulletin for information on interesting events in the GTA and beyond. Oakvillegreen is one the their many member groups trying to network together to conserve and protect our natural environment.

Oakville's Pesticide Bylaw is Now in Effect

Oakvillegreen joined forces with Gardens Off Drugs to fight for a pesticide bylaw for Oakville and we were successful in getting one. The ban on the cosmetic use of pesticides on pivate property took effect on January 1 2008. For information on how to control pests and weeds without the use of dangerous pesticides go to: www.gardensoffdrugs.com

Precedent-setting OMB decision

Victory! After eight years of rallying citizens, holding protests, fighting at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) and pleading before Town Council, the founders of Oakvillegreen can know with certainty that their determination to see north Oakville’s greenspace preserved for future generations has been realized. Not only that, but because of their hard work, citizens and planners across Ontario now have a precedent-setting OMB decision that will help them win their battles to protect their communities against development pressure.

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