Tree Planters: A podcast about change for a better world – Details, episodes & analysis

Claire is stepping down as Executive Director of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, and we chat about her experience at the forefront of grassroots environmental advocacy in central Ontario, including how the landscape has changed and what the future might hold.

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The Oak Ridges Moraine is a gem of Ontario's natural heritage, providing a source of headwaters to countless rivers and streams on the north shore of Lake Ontario.

In the late '80s and early 90's, a grassroots movement to protect the area emerged. Debbe Crandall and Robert Brown, of Save the Oak Ridges Moraine (STORM) talk about how this came about, and the challenges today facing efforts to protect Ontario's natural assets.

STORM: https://www.stormcoalition.com/

Walkerton Crisis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkerton_E._coli_outbreak

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Municipal elections are just around the corner in Ontario, and the choice you make can have a big impact on the environment, the quality of our communities, and, believe it or not, on climate change.

This episode Margaret and Adam talk about why municipal action on the environment can have such a big impact, and how you can make an informed choice on which candidate to support.

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Orillia, a small city on the north shore of Lake Simcoe in central Ontario, is considering annexing nearby land in anticipation of population growth.

Stop Sprawl Orillia, a citizen group, has organized to advocate for retaining current boundaries and placing an emphasis on intensification, rather than enabling sprawl outward by allowing continued building of single detached homes around the current built-up area.

We speak with Madeleine Fournier, of Stop Sprawl Orillia, about what this fight means for the future of Orillia.

Links:
Lead Exposure in Last Century Shrank IQ Scores of Half of Americans
Stop Sprawl Orillia Instagram
Stop Sprawl Orillia Facebook Group
Stop Sprawl Orillia Petition
Send an Email to Orillia Council (online tool)
Donate to Stop Sprawl Orillia
Green Orillia Newsletter
SCGC's Sprawl deep dive into vertical and horizontal sprawl.

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This month we talk tall sprawl, also known as vertical sprawl.

Most of us think of the typical suburban development when we think of sprawl, and the answer to this, we are told, is to increase density within the urban boundary. (If you're familiar with our work at all you'll have heard us talk about the need for this.)

Building high rises accomplishes this but putting far more people on a much smaller portion of land, but there are costs associated with this form of development that aren't readily apparent, and that come at the expense of the environment, the community, and the economy. (Not to put those into separate boxes as they are closely interrelated.)

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Links:
Vertical Sprawl
A City that Runs on Itself
Challenging the Vertical Sprawl
Urban sprawl isn’t to blame: unsustainable cities are the product of growth fetish
Barrie Intensification Area Urban Design Guidelines
Barrie Community Energy and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction Plan
Creating power from organic waste can be a lot to digest
Proposed Developments in Barrie (3D rendering)

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This episode we are looking back at the year that was, and looking ahead at the year that might be. Oh, and we do a film review of Don't Look Up!

Topics covered include the amazing summer students we were so lucky to have, and the very positive impact that they had on youth engagement in Simcoe County; how private profit is often made in our economy at the expense of the public, which also means at the expense of the public's most valuable resource, namely the environment and natural world; and the need for ENGOs to start preparing for the known knowns of climate change.

Links:

• Parliamentary petition for a federal impact assessment of the Bradford Bypass
• Support us on Patreon! Just $1.50 an episode helps!
• The Orbit
• Lake Simcoe Under Pressure Report

Hey, and did you know that you can also support us by purchasing merchandise in our Red Bubble Store? Check it out!

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This episode we speak with two citizens, Tricia Leuchter and Irene Ford, who are fighting the Bradford Bypass and Highway 413, respectively, which are proposed for their communities. 

Doug Ford and other proponents of the highways have claimed that opponents are "downtown elites" and "radical activists." But, these characterizations are far from the truth, which is more in line with citizens who are concerned that politicians are shutting down due process and ignoring evidence in order to ram through costly and unnecessary mega projects.

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This episode we talk about greenwashing, the practice of presenting a product in a way that makes it seem to consumers as if it is environmentally friendly, when in fact it is not.

Greenwashing is most often thought of in terms of marketing a product. In a time when political discourse is increasingly branded and marketed, however, and when the action required to address environmental problems is increasingly at odds with what politicians seem willing or able to do, greenwashing is becoming a concern in the political sphere, too.

From the never-ending string of promises to address climate change (almost all broken) to  climate emergency declarations made and then nothing done, politicians, it seems, are telling  people what they want to hear in order to get support, but delivering a very different product.

So, why aren't they following through and why do we keep voting for them? We discuss that are more.

As always, you can support us, and the show, at simcoecountygreenbelt.ca. Click through to the episode page for links and resources, including a photo essay of our field trip with Master Naturalist Bob Bowles.

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On this episode of the Tree Planters podcast SCGC's youth engagement lead, Kelly, and youth advocacy intern, Blythe, talk about the barriers making it difficult for youth to engage in discussions around climate action, and how these can be addressed so that youth can help build a climate friendly future.

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Our guest this episode, Victor Doyle, is considered one of the key architects of Ontario's Greenbelt.

We talk about how the current provincial government is attempting to open up more land in the GTA for sprawl development, how highways don't solve congestion problems, but rather make them worse, and how the costs of infrastructure projects like highways tend to be shouldered by the public, with the benefits going to private interests, such as developers.

Much of the focus of this discussion is on two recently proposed highway projects - the 413 along the norther border of Toronto, and the Bradford Bypass, which connects two highways near Lake Simcoe. Both of these highways would cut through the Greenbelt and sensitive ecological areas.

To learn more about these issues see our issues page, here.

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