City launches “Let’s Talk about Climate Action” public engagement campaign to celebrate Earth Week

BRANTFORD, ON – Consistent with Brantford City Council’s declaration of a climate emergency, the City of Brantford is committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2050. To meet our objective, we have developed a Corporate Climate Change Action Plan to reduce emissions from City run activities such as operating City buildings, buses/trucks and streetlights (just to name a few) and to build a long-term strategic plan to reduce community emissions.

Let’s Talk About Climate Action

To help inform our community plan, the City wants to hear from residents about climate change concerns in their neighbourhoods and ideas for how to reduce both individual and city-wide carbon emissions.

The public engagement campaign – “Let’s Talk about Climate Action” is now open for public feedback at letstalkbrantford.ca/let-s-talk-about-climate-action. Opportunities for input include a public survey, an online forum to engage with City staff and others in the community, and a Questions tool to ask questions and provide feedback to the City’s Climate Action project team.

Earth Day – April 22, 2021

Held annually on April 22, Earth Day is a worldwide day of environmental activism that has been celebrated since 1970. Recognizing restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, cities and organizations around the world are adapting to current conditions by providing services and activities for communities to take part in independently while physically distancing from those outside their household. With the health and safety of everyone in our community in mind, the City of Brantford is highlighting initiatives and opportunities for residents to take part in Earth week activities safely. This year, efforts will be focused on the City’s active transportation network, tackling litter in our communities, and planting more trees.

Active Transportation

In the past year, the City of Brantford has focused on providing more opportunities for active transportation such as walking and cycling. Choosing these modes of transportation in place of using a motor vehicle can significantly reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHGs).

The City is pleased to be expanding our cycling network to ensure residents have climate-friendly transportation options. In addition, during a time when physical distancing is so important, these cycling opportunities are helping to ensure members of the community are able to stay active safely while adhering to public health protocols that currently remain in place.

For information about where dedicated cycling facilities can be found in the City, visit www.brantford.ca/ActiveTransportation.

In addition to cycling lanes, the City of Brantford has installed new bicycle racks in the downtown area to ensure cyclists have a place to store their bikes safely.

Clean Brantford

Clean Brantford is an ongoing City initiative to encourage individual and collective responsibility to help keep our streets and neighbourhoods clean for the betterment of our city. While we would normally encourage community cleanups this time of year, due to the current COVID-19 province-wide Stay-at-Home order, events and social gatherings at this time are prohibited. Instead, this year, participants are encouraged to pick up litter on their own (or with a member of their immediate household) in their own neighbourhoods while out for brief exercise breaks during the current Stay-at-Home order.

When cleaning up litter found locally in neighbourhoods, the public is reminded to strictly practice physical distancing while doing so by keeping a safe distance of at least 2 metres or 6 feet from others at all times. For updates regarding the City’s COVID-19 response and service modifications during the current province-wide Stay-at-Home order, please visit brantford.ca/coronavirus

New Waste Containers in City’s Downtown

In addition to ongoing cleanup efforts, the City has recently purchased and installed new waste containers in the Downtown to reduce litter in the City’s core. These new waste containers were secured with funding received from the Provincial government through the Main Street Revitalization Fund, with the objective of improving walkability and beautifying downtown streets. These solar-powered waste containers are compacting, meaning that the volume they contain is significantly higher than the typical waste bin.

Starting on April 22, the City of Brantford is pleased to launch a student art competition whereby elementary and secondary students in the City of Brantford can submit original work depicting reduction of waste and litter. The winning designs will be posted on the downtown waste containers. Beginning April 22^nd, please visit letstalkbrantford.ca/let-s-talk-about-climate-action for details on how to enter.

Free Tree Giveaway

The City is excited to help homeowners plant more trees in Brantford.

Trees help our environment by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reducing the greenhouse effect. To support climate action in Brantford, the City is offering 200 FREE trees (18” to 24”) for Brantford residents to plant on their residential property

Homeowners can register online at brantford.ca/FreeTrees starting on Earth Day, April 22nd to select their preferred tree species and pickup time. Six species of trees will be made available with a limit of one free tree per property. Tree pick up is currently scheduled from May 28th to 30th, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Should COVID-19 restrictions still be in place at that time, the City will send out an additional  communication advising of any required schedule changes. Please note that the free trees must be picked up and planted by residents.

Quotes

“We are excited to be able to offer these programs to the community to celebrate Earth Day, and I commend City staff for working hard to put a program together that can still be implemented under the current COVID-19 Stay-at-Home order. I know how passionate people are about climate change in our community and I hope many will choose to get involved in this year’s modified Earth Day events and do so safely.” -Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis 

“Earth Day is a time to reflect on ways we can reduce our impact on the planet to make a cleaner and safer world for all of us. Planting trees, reducing waste and taking your bike instead of a car are great ways to reduce your environmental footprint;  the next step is keeping those changes in place on all the days that follow.” -Rochelle Rumney, Climate Change Officer

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