TEA has been deeply concerned with recent decisions by the Provincial government to scale back actions and investments in tackling climate change. That's why we knew we needed to speak up. This week, we spoke to the special Provincial committee to call for action that meets the urgency of the climate crisis and that prioritizes equity and prosperity.

As part of our work to put environmental issues on the agenda in the 2018 municipal election, we’ve compiled some election basics and environment-focused questions you can ask your local candidates.

The last 6 weeks have been a chaotic time in Toronto politics.

Saturday is #WorldCleanUpDay and our friends at Greenpeace and a number of other great Toronto community groups that are fighting plastic pollution have joined together to host a litter clean up and brand audit near the Don River!

After over 11 years as TEA’s Executive Director, I’ve decided it’s time to begin a new adventure. But before I leave, I want to share with you why I love TEA so much and what TEA has meant to me over the past 27 years.

At its July meeting, Toronto City Council voted to take the first critical step to act locally on the global plastics problem. Councillors voted to start a public and stakeholder consultation on what the City can do to reduce single-use packaging and plastics.

By now, you have probably heard about Premier Doug Ford’s plan to slash the size of Toronto City Council from 47 to 25. I’ve been active at City Hall for over 25 years, mostly on behalf of TEA, and I can tell you this move is nothing less than an attack on democracy, civic engagement and building a greener city.

Statement from TEA's Executive Director Franz Hartmann. 

Yesterday, the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC) took an important and urgent step forward to deal with problem waste, like single-use plastics, in Toronto. Here’s a recap of the meeting and the decisions that were made.

TEA, along with more than 40 other environmental, health and community groups, issued a joint declaration calling on the Canadian government to create a national plastics strategy focused on banning harmful plastics, creating strict reuse and recycling targets, and holding companies responsible for the environmental impact of plastic pollution. 

Toronto’s election boundaries are changing this year and the number of City Councillors elected will climb from 44 to 47. This means you have probably been assigned a new ward number and the candidates running in your area may not even include your current Councillor. Here's how to find out which ward you are in. 

The Province of Ontario just released the new Food and Organic Waste Framework and it includes policies that will require businesses to prevent food waste and will ensure businesses and highrises have organics collection!

TEA’s Zero Waste High-Rise project is well underway with 6 buildings from across Toronto rolling up their sleeves to tackle waste and climate change.

Toronto just passed a resolution to the Federal government asking for a national strategy on plastics. Here’s a break down of what happened.

New rules to ban or put fees on harmful single-use plastics could be coming to Toronto within the next year.

The City of Toronto is hosting an open house and consultation about the future of waste in Toronto. What’s most exciting about this consultation is that Toronto is evaluating how to deal with complicated types of waste - items like coffee pods and plastics labelled 'compostable'.

Toronto’s Executive Committee just requested $2.26 million in the 2018 City Budget to fund the TransformTO climate action plan. But this still falls $4.5 million short of what is needed in 2018. If the Mayor and City Council are seriously committed to climate action, here are three ways to strengthen the plan.

Today, Toronto’s Executive Committee put forward a request for $2.5 million in the 2018 City Budget to fund the TransformTO climate action plan. This is good news considering that when the draft budget was released in November, no funding was allocated to TransformTO. In response, an incredible number of residents and advocates contacted the Mayor and City Councillors to demand funding for TransformTO - and it worked. But even with $2.5 million in funding, Toronto is still falling short on funding climate action.

There’s been a lot of buzz lately about our recycling system since China, the world’s biggest recycling market, stopped taking most of the world's recycled plastics. This decision has a huge impact on recycling systems around the world - including here in Ontario - and it highlights the problems that arise from not holding companies responsible for the packaging they create.

On a cold January evening, TEA and ClimateFast hosted over 50 people from every district in the city to learn how to advocate on the City Budget process. Together, we’re working to ensure Toronto invests in the TransformTO climate plan!