Our Green Year a big success
On November 18, 2009 Craig and Layla Baird (Our Green Year) came to Wetaskiwin City Hall to talk about their year-long experiment to reduce their carbon footprint.
It was a fascinating and inspiring look at what it means to 'live green'. From creating a solar cooker, to recycling show water, the Bairds tried 365 different eco-activities....
Develop a free bike-sharing program to encourage alternative transportation during the summer
"A bicycle sharing system ... is an increasingly popular system whereby bicycles are made available on a large scale in a city allowing people to have ready access to these public bikes rather than rely on their own bikes. Municipal governments and community groups have promoted bicycle sharing systems as part of intermodal transportation by...
Place more garbage cans and recycling containers around city paths
"Trash cans are vanishing from parks in Seattle, a trend that city officials are more than happy to see continue. The Parks Department has been removing garbage cans since 2001, halting trash pickup entirely at 25 of the city's more than 400 parks. The idea is to get park visitors to pack out their dirty...
Reduce or eliminate the use of plastic bags within the city
"The city of Los Angeles announced it will ban all plastic bags from retail stores as of July 1, 2010, following similar anti-pollution regulations already enforced in San Francisco. The second-largest US city behind New York, Los Angeles, with its four million population, will ban plastic bagging in all supermarkets, grocery and retail stores, the...
Turn vacant lots into green spaces
"Several community groups in Baltimore have taken on the daunting task of turning the city's more than 10,000 thousand vacant, trash- strewn lots into small parks, gardens and open spaces. And while such initiatives have barely made a dent in the city's problems, the revitalized open spaces instill a sense of pride among community residents...
Develop an annual program where residents and businesses work to clean the entire city
"Wetaskiwin needs an overall clean up. There are far too many buildings and lots left vacant and uncared for. The owners of these buildings should still be held responsible for the upkeep. If they won’t do it then the city should step in. Does the nuisance bylaw only apply to residential properties or can I...