Saanich

So, first post! Yea!

Anywho, it was mentioned in class that the Municipality of Saanich is considered one of the greenest municipalities in Canada. I found this interesting as I recently attended an open forum on sustainability issues in Saanich, when the Al Gore presenter came to the public school there. They are actually doing some pretty interesting things.

According to their website, this district is the official walking and cycling capital of Canada and their natural waters are protected and conserved. They are planning on making livable communities, where everything, from your work, doctor's office and neighborhood park in within walking distance of your home. Urban village I believe is the word.

The community is also planning on reducing the amount of waste per household, the amount of potable water and electricity used and obviously, reduce their GHGs!

So far, they have developed an urban forest strategy, a tree protection bylaw and a plan for removing invasive species from the surrounding ecosystems. Honestly, they're doing a stand up job and should probably get an award of sorts.

All this info can be found at http://www.saanich.ca/municipal/docs/pdfs/strategicplan.pdf

See you next week!

~Heather