Programs – Ontario
At Sierra Club Ontario, our work focuses on protecting Great Lakes ecosystems, expanding and protecting the Greenbelt, and promoting the adoption of green energy in Ontario.
About the Ontario ChapterThe Problem with Plastics Project
The Problem With Plastics Project wants to put plastic pollution back on the agenda. Governments and industry have been ignoring plastics and its connection to the environment for too long. And while we wait for governments to catch up to the climate crisis, our environments, waterways, wildlife and health are being negatively impacted.
We recognize the role individuals have to play, but our goal is to put the onus back on to governments and industry. We want to see stronger policy on plastics and plastic waste and a shift from throwaway culture to a circular economy.
In 2022 Sierra Club Ontario helped secure an expanded federal ban on plastic items to include exports of those items (see the video below of an interview with Lucy Bain of Sierra Club Ontario about the plastic ban for more information). We continue to advocate for even more expansions to the ban and for awareness of the impacts of plastic pollution. We also hold local clean ups in Ontario.
Breathe Easy
Breathe Easy is a citizen science initiative run by Sierra Club Ontario in cooperation with Ecology Ottawa that monitors air quality in Ottawa. We are promoting air quality education through a learning-by-doing approach, cooperating with local organziations, including the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Peace and Environmental Resource Centre. We are collaborating with the Canadian Environmental Network to promote and explore the intersectionalities between air quality, our health, and the climate. We are also working with schools to increase understanding about air pollution, conduct air quality monitoring, and teach students how to effectively communicate about science.
Field Notes from a Citizen Scientist
After reading about the Breathe Easy campaign in an Ottawa Citizen article, I put my hand up to get involved.
Grow our Greenbelt
Sierra Club Ontario worked to ad key ecosystems such as the headwaters of Carruthers Creek to the Ontario Greenbelt.
More information
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Since 1950, approximately 9.2 billion tons of plastic have been produced. 40% of which comes from single-use products such as shopping bags, cutlery and take-out ware (Debris Free Oceans).
Canadians dispose of about 3.3 million tonnes of plastic every year, most of which ends up in a landfill or the environment (ECCC).
More than 22 million pounds of plastic pollution end up in the Great Lakes every year. Which provides drinking water to over 40 million people (Rochester Institute of Technology).
There are over 5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces of plastic in our ocean & 46,000 pieces in every square mile of ocean, weighing up to 269,000 tonnes (Plastic Ocean Project). -
Poor air quality is a major tribulation facing urban life today, both for its impact on climate change and public health.
Blue skies are rare in many of the world’s largest cities. Citizens of densely populated and highly-motorised cities are surrounded by a haze of polluted air most days of the year while millions of people die from diseases caused by indoor and outdoor air pollution, such as heart disease, stroke, respiratory diseases and lung cancer.
While Ottawa’s air quality remains in the “ Very Good” to “Moderate” range most of the year, as the city expands and evolves; the future of clean air is in jeopardy.