Write a maximum 700 word story or essay about “how climate change is affecting you and your community,” and send by March 3 to Ontario Nature Youth Writing Contest and you could win cool prizes.

Visit Ontario Nature for details. Send a copy to tweedgreenup@yahoo.ca and we’ll post it on our blog.

February 13, 2007
Inaugural Meeting

April 1, 2007
Launched Tweed Green-Up blog.

April 18, 2007
Presented programs for Earth Day at S.H. Conner Public School and St. Carthaghs Elementary School.

May 1, 2007
Partnered with Eastminster United Church in Bellville to present the program, Climate Change: Despair and Empowerment with Australian environmental activist, John Seed.

May 24, 2007
Presented a delegation to Tweed Municipal Council to reduce waste at the landfill by collecting returnable liquor bottles and creating a space for displaying reusable items for others to take away.

Spring, 2007
Tweed Green-Up committed to picking up litter two times annually along a 2km section of Hwy 37 through the MOT “Adopt-a-Highway” program.

June 12, 2007
Partnered with St. John’s United Church in Tweed to present the film, An Inconvenient Truth.

July 1, 2007
Entered a float in Tweed’s Canada Day Parade and hosted an information table with children’s activities in the Park.

August 15, 2007
In partnership with the Hastings Stewardship Council, Friends of Stoco Lake and the Municipality of Tweed, received funding from Community Futures to hire an Environmental Project Coordinator for 6 months.

August 4, 2007
In partnership with the Tweed Chamber of Commerce, unveiled a reusable shopping bag to encourage a reduction in the use of plastic bags as well as the promotion of Tweed.

September 25, 2007
Presented a delegation to Tweed Municipal Council encouraging the adoption of a waste diversion idea we called, “Curbside Free-for-All,” in which residents put unwanted, reusable items out on their curb for others to pick up on designated weekends.

September 25, 2007
Sent a series of five environmentally-related questions to each candidate running for MPP in our riding.

October 17, 2007
Partnered with St. John’s United Church in Tweed to present the film, The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil.

November 14, 2007
Partnered with St. John’s United Church in Tweed to present, 100 Mile Menu, with Personal Chef Janet Craig and Louise Livingstone, Hastings Stewardship Council.

December 21, 2007
Launched “Tip of the Week” in the Tweed News.

January 26, 2008
Partnered with St. John’s United Church in Tweed to host, Meal at the World’s Dinner Table, a potluck dinner in which participants discover the energy cost of meals in different parts of the world.

February 3, 2008
Follow-up submission to the Tweed Infrastructure Committee regarding Tweed Green-Up’s “Curbside Free-for-All” waste diversion proposal.

For more Green Events, check out this page.

Close to 40 people gathered at St. John’s United Church in Tweed on Saturday, January 26th for a “Meal at the World dinner table.” The evening included a potluck dinner with dishes prepared from recipes around the world. Members of Tweed Green-up and St. John’s United Church in Tweed worked together to organize the event.

All of the evening’s delicious dishes carried an energy unit rating. Everyone was given an opportunity to see the energy consumption difference between many North American dishes and other popular dishes around the world. The food production processes in North America makes the energy consumption of many products very high.

Tweed Green-up and St. John’s United Church gave
the scoop on food around the world

Members of Tweed Green-up and St. John’s United Church gathered together recently for a potluck meal with food from around the world. Everyone had an opportunity to see that preparing and eating delicious food doesn’t have to use a great deal of energy. Shown in picture above are, Emily VanderWey, Jean McMaster, Sue VanderWey, Penny Vance, Bill McMaster, Vicki McCulloch, Denice Wilkins and Maggie Ives.

The evening was organized so everyone present could have an enjoyable time. Penny Vance, member of Tweed Green-up, explained that the dinner was not about lecturing people to change their diets to reduce energy use, it was instead about giving people an opportunity to see for themselves that eating healthy and delicious meals can be done without high energy costs and in the end the choice is up to them.

The dining area was well decorated with artifacts from around the world. Several cook books and pamphlets were on display, and music from different cultures was playing. The meal presented an experience for everyone present and it gave people the knowledge that food choices can make a difference to the environment.

Republished here courtesy of the Tweed News

Dear Members of the Tweed Infrastructure Committee,

When it’s -20 outside it’s hard to remember that Spring will be here before we know it. With this in mind, we are hoping that starting this April you will make Tweed the first village in Comfort Country to divert more waste from our landfill by supporting the idea of a “Curbside Free-for-All” that we submitted to Council last September.

Since that time I have discovered that the Waste Reduction Office of the City of Peterborough has been successfully running this type of program, which they call “Reusable Exchange Weekends,” since 1991! In their program, residents are encouraged to put reusable items they no longer want out at the curb for others to take on five designated weekends from April through September. In discussions and e-mails with Virginia Swinson, Waste Reduction Officer, she confirmed what is stated on their website, “Although there is no quantitative data on diversion rates attributable to these events, by all reports they are very successful and most items set at the curb are taken by others for reuse.”

As opposed to what we originally suggested, Peterborough runs their events over the weekend rather than in association with garbage pick-up day. This seems like a good idea because more people would have time to go out in search of treasures and when the events became well known, people might even come from outside the community.

Below is a typical press release that is sent out a week prior to each event in Peterborough.

Reusables Exchange Weekend – May 25-27

The first Reusables Exchange Event for 2007 is happening this weekend in the City of Peterborough! Take this terrific opportunity to clear your basement or garage of odds and ends that have been taking up space for years, but never seem to get used.

Beginning this Friday evening, set any articles you think someone else might use out at the curb in front of your home. Over the weekend, people are encouraged to cruise the streets and help themselves to any of these goodies, free of charge. They have until Sunday evening to take what they like. Anything remaining after 7:00 pm Sunday May 27th must be taken back in by the owner; the City will not be collecting these items.

Everyone wins – free disposal for the “giver”; free goodies for the “taker.” And less waste in our landfill site. For more details, call the Waste Reduction Office at 742-7777 Ext. 1657.

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Tweed Green-Up is willing to help implement this program (i.e. write an article for the paper to introduce the events etc.) if you like, so it will not add more to your workload or more to our landfill!

This is a program in which everybody wins! Let’s be the first in Comfort Country to run a similarly successful program here in Tweed – starting this Spring!

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Denice Wilkins
Tweed Green-Up

On Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 the Sustainable Living Symposium Planning Committee presents an updated, live & interactive version of “An Inconvenient Truth” presented by Walter Palmer, who has been trained by Al Gore and his Climate Project team.

The event takes place at The Empire Theatre in Belleville from 7-9 pm.

Admission is by donation with proceeds supporting the 2008 Sustainable Living Symposium.

This event is sponsored by the Eastern Lake Ontario Regional Innovation Network & Quinte Conservation

Please visit the Sustainable Living Symposium Website at www.quintesustainability.ca for more information.