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The Urban Development Issues committee of the Ecology Action Centre
is sending this request out to interested groups and individuals. Given
the large impact our patterns of land use and transportation chioces
have on our collective ecological footprint, the UDI committee is
proposing that HRM fund an ecological footprint that would be done to
allow citizens to gain a better understanding of the impact of their
lifestyle choices on not only their own footprint, but of our region.
Also, this exercise would be a learning process for staff and council to
gain a better understanding of the ecological impact of their
decisions.
Anyone interested can forward their name, or call 477-6514. We hope
to ask council to look at this in late march. Thank you,
David Aalders.
Dear Mayor Kelly and HRM Councilors:
We would like to present an idea to the city council of HRM that
reflects
both the values in the HRM 20/20 visioning sessions and contributes to
the
quality of community. The HRM website holds a wealth of information on
city function and services, however there is a lack of information on
environmental planning and the role of citizens in reducing their impact
on the environment in general. A vision of the future will help people
begin to change their habits now. The recent passing of the pesticide
bylaw and HRM's composting system are major steps taken to reduce our
impact. Measuring this reduction, and being able to compare to other
Canadian cities would certainly be a useful tool in future planning.
The city of Toronto (www.city.toronto.on.ca ) does an excellent job of
portraying its view of Toronto in the future.
The Ecological Footprint concept was developed at the University of
British Columbia in 1998. It is an interesting and efficient way of
visualizing our impact on the earth and also gives quantitative
measurables through which citizens can reduce their impact. As Halifax
is
a growing city and as there is currently no regional plan for the area,
as
we progress it is important to incorporate sustainable and
environmentally
friendly practices and processes into regional development.
The public participation in the HRM 20/20 process was encouraging and
taught us that citizens are concerned with their community and
environment. The exerpt below from the report delivered to council on
October 3, 2000 exemplifies this concern:
5. Protecting our natural environment means that we will
be a world leader in recognizing the importance of protecting
the
beauty of and sustaining our natural environment
reduce the environmental impact of our activities
have a clean harbour and waterways
protect and enhance our green and natural spaces: the forests,
parks, waterfronts
have a public transportation strategy that is diverse and
encourages environmental sustainability
Citizens have indicated that they value their natural environment and
health. Halifax citizens showed their overwhelming support of banning
the
use of pesticides in the municipality. Transportation is a very timely
and
contentious issue within HRM. Subdivisions and the current IRM planning
process for crown lands will affect the quality of life within HRM.
The undersigned organizations would like to see council take a proactive
approach. The incorporation of the Ecological Footprint on the HRM
website
and an accompanying promotion of the idea to HRM citizens and planners
would be a step towards sustainability. We would like to hold meeting on
this issue and would sincerely appreciate the cooperation of HRM in
making
this a reality.
We look forward to hearing from you,
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The preceding message was posted on the Sustainable Maritimes
mailing list (sust-mar). http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/lists/sust-mar
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