Earth Matters by Jacqueline Milner – Winter is Knocking on our door! – Cornwall Ontario – November 3, 2010

Cornwall ON – I was reading through the “Living Planet” a quarterly magazine and e-zine published by the World Wildlife Federation-Canada and found myself wondering how much orangutan habitat was put at risk due to the worlds combined chocolate and candy consumption this past Halloween.  The third or fourth ingredient of 4 of the chocolate bars that our household dished out this past hallowed eve was palm oil.  According to WWF, our insatiable demand for palm oil has contributed to 55% of the orangutan’s habitat loss since 1990.  Think about this for a minute…candy bars are basically an empty calorie food, which have few if any health benefits and contributes to our increasing obese population and is wrapped in a plastic type material which sits in our land fills for….how long?  I think I need to rethink what we give out for Halloween treats next year.

Well winter is knocking on the door.  We have already experienced a couple of light snow falls and frost is now a regular morning visitor.  It is time to get those boots, gloves and winter coats at the ready for our chilly days ahead.

My back door is in desperate need of a new door sweep to keep in the heat and keep out the cold.  There are many options of door sweeps and insulation material available on the market.  My sales person at our local hardware store suggested I bring the old one back with me so that we could insure the new piece of hardware would fit the door requiring the maintenance.  A small investment of about $20.00 can contribute greatly to dollar savings and comfort in your home this winter season.  Your local hardware store can offer solutions to keep you comfy this winter season.

The Canadian Environmental Law Association and the Environmental Health Institute of Canada invite you to register for “Making the Links: Environmental Law and Health Workshop”.  When? November 23, 2010.  Where?  Ramada Inn & Conference Centre, Cornwall, ON.

This unique event will provide an opportunity for medical professionals, legal professionals, community service providers and community activists to explore the intersection between environmental health and law and to work collaboratively on these issues.

This is a FREE workshop.  The Making the Links Project is an interdisciplinary outreach program being undertaken with funding from the Law Foundation of Ontario.  It is focused on environmental law and access to justice issues in six Ontario communities, including Cornwall.  These communities were chosen, in part, because of the presence of high pollution burdens and incidences of environmental health issues, and high percentages of sensitive populations.

Tentative agenda (subject to change) is as follows:

9:30am – 10:00am Registration and refreshments

10:00am – 10:30am Welcome and overview of the day Renee Griffin, Project Lawyer, Canadian Environmental Law Association

10:30am – 11:15am Children’s Health and the Environment Dr. Lynn Marshall, President, Environmental Health Institute of Canada

11:15am – 12:00pm Keeping Up with Changes in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin Sarah Miller, Researcher, Canadian Environmental Law Association

12:00pm – 1:00pm Lunch

1:00pm – 1:30pm Environmental Equity and Justice: Making the Links Renee Griffin, Project Lawyer, Canadian Environmental Law Association

1:30pm – 2:15pm Multiple Chemical Sensitivities and Health Dr. John Molot, Physician, Environmental Health Clinic

2:15pm – 3:00pm Making Your Voice Heard: Public Participation in Environmental Decision Making

Rick Lindgren, Counsel, Canadian Environmental Law Association
3:00pm – 3:15pm Break

3:15pm– 4:15pm Discussion Groups – Looking Forward: Environmental Health and Equity Initiatives in Windsor

4:15pm – 4:30pm Wrap-up

TO REGISTER:

Contact Renee Griffin at 416-960-2284 ext. 212 or rgriffin@cela.ca, and provide your name, organization, and contact information.

This workshop is FREE. No registration fee is required.

Space is limited. Register early to guarantee your place.

Registration Deadline: November 15, 2010

1 Comment

  1. I had the same reaction to Hallowe’en this year. Working on solutions for next year.

    Meanwhile, readers might be interested in this initiative, asking local fruit producers to stop selling local fruit in single-use, non-recyclable plastic containers, as they did this year.

    The No-Plastic Project has developed a petition asking Ontario fruit producers and Loblaw Companies to stop selling fruit in the single-use plastic containers in which they were sold in many places this past growing season. They’re having a meeting this fall, so we could really make a difference. This is the first year they’ve used these packages, apparently in response to a request from Loblaws, and we’ve been told that the meeting is to review the packaging “performance and consumer concerns.”

    Please take a moment to sign the petition with your name and location via the link below. Please also forward it to others in Ontario, so we can get the widest response possible and send a strong message to the fruit producers and Loblaws.

    http://www.gopetition.com/petition/39558.html

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