Please register using the link in the top right corner so you can submit ideas, vote on existing ideas, or add comments.
This webpage will help North Cowichan collect brilliant ideas for sustainability actions from everyone in and around the community. The more ideas we collect, the more options we have for working towards an improved quality of life for residents!
The original end date for voting and submitting ideas is February 15, 2012! Everything submitted until this date will be considered for the Climate Action and Energy Plan. Submissions passed this date will be considered more generally in guiding North Cowichan's sustainability efforts!
To submit an idea, please click the new idea button below. You will then be asked to add a title and choose a campaign (category) for the new idea. You will also have the option to add tags to the idea (words that describe the idea and allow grouping of similar ideas). To vote on an idea, simply click the up or down thumb to the left of the idea title/description. And to add a comment, click in the box below the idea.
Too many ideas to browse? Only interested in particular issues? If you would like to see all ideas created within a specific theme (tag), you can click on the word or phrase via the tagcloud (group of tag words) in the left hand column area under "What we're discussing". You can also view ideas sorted by Campaigns from the left navigation area. To return to this page, click the All Ideas link. If you have any questions about this webpage please email Jeremy at jeremy [at] sustainabilitysolutions [dot] ca.
It's common knowledge electric clothes dryers are a big part of our energy consumption. A clothes line in one shape or another is simple and inexpensive way to dry our laundry. Let's include the situation and installation of a clothes line or drying rack of some sort in residential building requirements.
promote the use of the railway to take gravel from Duncan to Victoria. Propane and other commodities could be shipped more safely by rail also.
A commuter train is, of course, a no brainer. Encourage the return of the dayliner as a valuable link up and down the Island.
Establish incentives for farmers to switch to organic certification and sell locally.
Tzouhalem, Maple Mountain, and Prevost are unique assets this municipality has. They deserve to be highly valued.
Perhaps the we can ensure that the carbon they sequester is credited to our municipal carbon footprint.
Vancouver Island University canceled it's Green Building Technologies course in Nanaimo last year. The District could push to have Cowichan VIU Campus train local youth to be the builders of the future.
North Cowichan said some time ago that they plan to start curbside pick up of compostables in North Cowichan following the success of the same program in neighbouring Ladysmith. I hope we are going to see the program up and running very soon. A program should also begin for a drop off location for compostables to allow apartment dwellers the opportunity to deal with their compostables in a green fashion.
Establish tax incentives, create demonstration project
My hometown of Mississauga Ont has always been a leader in green initiatives. This is why moving here ten years ago was an eye opener.Many Eastern Canadians believe that Van Isle is full of nature loving tree huggers. That myth got blown out of the water for me real fast. I can't believe something that was banned in the late 60's in Mississauga is still all the rage here. Mississauga has a huge urban forest and we all ...more »
My hometown of Mississauga Ont has always been a leader in green initiatives. This is why moving here ten years ago was an eye opener.Many Eastern Canadians believe that Van Isle is full of nature loving tree huggers. That myth got blown out of the water for me real fast. I can't believe something that was banned in the late 60's in Mississauga is still all the rage here. Mississauga has a huge urban forest and we all adapted along with all of Southern Ontario. My wife has developed asthma since living here. What are the lung cancer rates in this smoke filled valley? This is the biggest problem by far. No one needs to burn anything. People are given an inch and they take a mile burning everything under the sun in their very illegal burns. Wake up and grow up North Cowichan. We won't stay in this valley for this reason alone. Not sure where this falls on your campaign list.
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Add more routes to the bus service and increase the frequency of buses. Also, install nice bus stop shelters.
The benefits of preserving all 52 acres of the Echo Heights Forest are many. This second growth forest is a great carbon sink helping to move North Cowichan towards carbon neutrality and their goals to sequester more carbon than they produce.
North Cowichan should mandate a "no idling of North Cowichan vehicles" rule. Canada Post mandated the same with their staff across Canada a number of years ago.
Facilitate municipal forestry, with long range plans.Grow more trees, {especially cedar} and sustainably manage local forests. Promote urban forestry. Develop value-added wood technologies , Bio-mass enrgy and processing facilities that operate in a green manner. Practice "Industrial Ecology", where "waste" or by products from one operation become a resource or fuel for another.
I think that the municipality should give grants to homeowners who would like to install solar panels on their roofs.
Promote the greening of older commercial and apartment buildings by helping property owners work their way through government grants (if there are any), assessing what needs to be done, offering incentives, etc.
It would be nice to see safer roads that are designed with both the automobile and bicycles in mind. For this, I look towards how the Dutch have designed their roadways to put an equal amount of emphasis on cycling as they do vehicles. This would encourage the use of bicycling as a viable way to travel/commute that is both faster and more importantly safer. As an example of how this might be accomplished, I would like ...more »
It would be nice to see safer roads that are designed with both the automobile and bicycles in mind. For this, I look towards how the Dutch have designed their roadways to put an equal amount of emphasis on cycling as they do vehicles. This would encourage the use of bicycling as a viable way to travel/commute that is both faster and more importantly safer.
As an example of how this might be accomplished, I would like to share a video:
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This region can create a sustainable green economy through academic, industry, and local government partnerships. VIU should host programs in business, planning, and engineering that would not only attract young innovative minds to come to (or stay) in this region but to create and sustain viable green businesses. Local citizens, businesses and industry should have local options for pursuing sustainable energy alternatives, ...more »
This region can create a sustainable green economy through academic, industry, and local government partnerships. VIU should host programs in business, planning, and engineering that would not only attract young innovative minds to come to (or stay) in this region but to create and sustain viable green businesses. Local citizens, businesses and industry should have local options for pursuing sustainable energy alternatives, such as wind, solar, geothermal and biofuels.
This region has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Canada and has a quickly diminishing age demographic between the age of 18-34. We need to create a atmosphere where young adults can be supported in moving our green economy forward, an economy that will allow them and their future generations to thrive in this region
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Keep jobs and people and services grouped together. NC has 3 cores - make them great places to live. Reduces stress on individuals and reduces need for vehicular travel.
Any climate and energy action plan that fails to promote the fastest way to reduce emissions is deficient. The route that needs to be taken first is to reduce everything that we do, including the stuff we buy, the kilometres we drive, the flying miles and the food we eat. These all have to be reduced now, or all the other solutions will be moot. Our first focus should be on reduction which will buy us the most, and I ...more »
Any climate and energy action plan that fails to promote the fastest way to reduce emissions is deficient. The route that needs to be taken first is to reduce everything that we do, including the stuff we buy, the kilometres we drive, the flying miles and the food we eat. These all have to be reduced now, or all the other solutions will be moot. Our first focus should be on reduction which will buy us the most, and I don't see that in this plan.
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North Cowichan needs to join the multitude of other municipalities that have bylaws preventing the cutting down of trees.
whenever decisions regarding transportation routes are being discussed the first questions answered should be: how does this change affect cyclists and pedestrians? what could make it better for them?
example: when the flood abatement program on Trunk Rd. was being considered, did anyone say, "Lets include a safe sidewalk or cycle lane as part of this project"?
Encourage builders to develop green residencial communities that have 4 - 5 homes hooked up to a common geothermal well for home heating.
Have all regions (North Cowichan, CVRD, Tribes, City of Duncan) each appoint a representative and solve problems as a region.
Possibly in conjunction with the City of Duncan and the CVRD, build a permanent farmers market facility that could be utilized by all of the local farmers in the valley. We need to support local agriculture and what better way to do that than have a central building with a permanent roof for them to sell their produce. Footnote: This idea has been kicking around for awhile by citizens and farmers alike, but Tom Masters ...more »
Possibly in conjunction with the City of Duncan and the CVRD, build a permanent farmers market facility that could be utilized by all of the local farmers in the valley. We need to support local agriculture and what better way to do that than have a central building with a permanent roof for them to sell their produce.
Footnote: This idea has been kicking around for awhile by citizens and farmers alike, but Tom Masters also reiterated this idea recently in the Cowichan Valley Citizen:
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a green job: hire a person who will look after the fruit trees on parks and semi-public lands (VIHA, Fair grounds, Forest Discovery Centre, school grounds) and advise the public on the care and feeding of their fruit trees and help people connect with Fruit save so there isn't any wasted fruit in the area.
We should be encouraging home owners to install Verticle Access Wind Turbines along with solar panels as a way to reduce our reliance on off island electrical supply. Those who live near the water have wind blowing a different direction at different times all day. Capture this free energy and make money from BC Hydro as you supply the grid when you are not needing the power yourself. Unlike solar, wind works day and night. ...more »
We should be encouraging home owners to install Verticle Access Wind Turbines along with solar panels as a way to reduce our reliance on off island electrical supply.
Those who live near the water have wind blowing a different direction at different times all day. Capture this free energy and make money from BC Hydro as you supply the grid when you are not needing the power yourself.
Unlike solar, wind works day and night.
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