Greening

Greening Initiatives and Organizations

CCA Greening Committee:

• • Activities: Organizes the twice-a-year CCA Yard and Plant Sales, maintains the green space at the corner of Carling and Merivale and co-ordinates spirng/autumn park-cleaning.
  • Recent New Initiatives: Include expanding Carlington’s existing tree canopy and encouraging pollinator gardens.
  • Please contact greening@carlingtoncommunity.org to offer ideas and suggestions or if you wish to volunteer.

Pollinator Gardens:

Everyone’s talking pollinator gardens!  Even Hydro Ottawa and City Hall have one.  Urban pollinator gardens can stop the decline of native pollinator populations, caused by habitat loss, pesticides and climate change.

How do you get started?

• • Corner Pollinator Garden website/brochure and Webinar: a local resident started a wildlife garden and shares her extensive knowledge (Ottawa Public Library books, choosing plants, inexpensive gardening, seed sources, etc.)
  • Pollination Guelph: great resource site, with videos, speaker series, downloads, native plant suppliers, etc.
  • Your Wildlife Garden: information for encouraging pollinators, has lists of native plants (Fletcher Wildlife Garden)
  • Plants for Wildlife:  a database created by the Fletcher Wildlife Garden with all the information they have gathered.
  • Wild Pollinators Partners (Ontario East): resources and links.
  • The Little Things That Run the World: video by Doug Tallamy on how to create a pollinator backyard
  • Pollinators: City of Ottawa resources and what the City of Ottawa is doing to encourage pollinators.
  • Clyde Bee and Butterfly Patch: another local resident started a pollinator garden in waste land beside Carlington Woods.

Resources for Increasing Carlington’s Tree Canopy:

Did you know that you can get a street tree (i.e., between the street and your home) for FREE?  The City of Ottawa is committed to increasing its tree cover:  Tree Planting. Information on choosing tree size and tree species (native species are recommended) is available at:  Trees of Kitchissippi and Trees Canadensis: Growing Trees in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec.

Before you cut down a tree, learn about the City of Ottawa’s Tree Protection By-Law.

Local Green Information and Organizations:

• • Parks and Green Spaces: Information on local green spaces and related initiatives.
  • Friends of Carlington Park: They work with the Hampton-Iona Community Group on common green issues. The two groups publish a joint newsletter; sign up at CarlingtonHampton@gmail.com.
  • Friends of the Central Experimental Farm: Preserve, protect, maintain and enhance the public areas of the Farm.
  • Fletcher Wildlife Garden: How to create wildlife-friendly habitat and gardens, emphasizing native plants.
  • KeepFisherGreen.ca: Prevent over-urbanization of Fisher Avenue and to protect the near-by urban forest.

Ottawa-based Green Organizations:

• EnviroCentre:  Their activities and programs focus on four main areas: green homes, green transportation, green lifestyles and green business.
• Future Homes Ottawa: Funded in part by the Ottawa Climate Action Fund, and in partnership with the City of Ottawa, this program is meant to raise community awareness around deep retrofits, improve the supports in place for homeowners who want to complete a retrofit, and support the creation of neighbourhood demonstration projects where local residents can learn from their neighbours about the realities of a deep retrofit project. Carlington is one of two Ottawa neighbourhoods chosen for the neighbourhood demonstration projects.
• Ecology Ottawa: Provides information and tools needed to understand local environmental issues and promotes environmental leadership at all levels impacting the City of Ottawa.
• Green Ottawa Directory: A volunteer-run organization that consolidates everything green/sustainable/eco-friendly/renewable/natural/organic in Ottawa. Whether for fun, work, politics or profit — how to get connected? Green Ottawa was created to do just that.