CouncilWatch - Council weathers the storm | Toronto Environmental Alliance

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CouncilWatch - Council weathers the storm

Posted July 10th, 2014 by dusha

July 10, 2014

In this issue, TEA celebrates what Council has been doing to tackle climate change and toxics, and we'll tell you how you can have an impact on waste diversion.

Council takes changing climate seriously, finally

For months, TEA has been arguing that Toronto City Council needs to take serious action to prepare for more severe weather that climate change will bring. On the anniversary of last year’s billion dollar flood, Toronto Council adopted a number of important recommendations that will finally lead to serious actions to get Toronto ready. The recommendations can be found here and here.

We've been talking with councillors, and we're thrilled to see that many of our recommended motions passed at Council. This included motions focusing on reducing the urban heat island effect (eg. through increasing our tree canopy and investments in green infrastructure), developing a green, distributed energy system, and prioritizing energy conservation.

But there is much more work to be done. With the October election looming, TEA has proposed a Green Action Agenda that candidates running for City Council need to commit to. To learn more about these actions and what you can do, visit our 2014 election page

(Photo Courtesy of Bunton and Peel)

Waste Free Challenge wrapping up

The top waste problem of those who have taken the Waste Free Challenge is ‘Too much packaging!’ - do you agree? Let us know what your biggest waste problems are and share your tips and progress on going Waste Free on our website. Do so before July 15 and you’ll be entered in our prize draw!

If you’re taking simple actions like repairing something instead of tossing it, taking your e-waste to a Community Environment Day for safe recycling, or if you’ve bought something with recycled content, you have already completed some of the challenges - why not take the rest!

Check out the website here: www.wastefreeto.ca

Toronto will tackle top 8 toxics

Thanks to TEA, the Medical Officer of Health is taking the first step to reduce the top 8 toxic chemicals released into Toronto’s air! The MOH will begin identifying pollution prevention partnership opportunities and give a progress report in 2015!
Why not start with dry cleaners? The ChemTRAC map shows that over 90 dry cleaners across Toronto release 4 toxic chemicals found on the ‘top 8’ priority list.

ChemTRAC 2014

Toxic sewers, upstream solutions

Product ingredients like triclosan in soap are supposed to kill germs. But a report released today by CELA & CPA comes clean about how toxic triclosan is to our health and the Great Lakes!

TEA's Green Action Agenda is already targeting the City of Toronto for swift action on toxic substances like triclosan.

We're evaluating municipal candidates on their commitments to detox Toronto's air & water. We are asking them to add Chemicals of Emerging Concern (CECs) like triclosan to the Sewers By-law in 2015. This way, new chemical threats are monitored, polluters are fined, and toxic reduction plans are developed to protect Lake Ontario!