Andrew James Knox's Blog (32)

Details on an apartment/condo greening event:

Greening Your Condo or Apartment Building



with Councillor Josh Matlow, Ward 22 St. Paul's and The Green Team of First Unitarian Congregation





When: Tuesday, March 26th, at 7 PM



Where: First Unitarian Congregation, 175 St Clair Ave. West







What does it mean to live green?



Different methods of greening your apartment



Who can help?



Successful stories of…

Here's the text of an email that originally came from Ryan and Lawrence of IRBE.  Check the bottom for links to the CBC and CityTV spots on their work at the Tool Library:

Dear all,



Ryan and Lawrence here from the Tool Library. It's been a hectic week for us with all the media, thanks so much to all of you for your support! I've included a sampling of the media attention we received so feel free to check out the links at the bottom of this email if you'd…

A new Organic Deli & Cafe, Raspberry Org, is opening on the Danforth. All grain-free, organic food from local sources; kids’ lunches, crepes, pancakes, home-made dairy products, vegetable “burgers,” etc. We are planning to operate as a neighbourhood collective on a profit- sharing basis.



Positions:



1. Clerk: we are seeking to hire part time a person who is familiar with the sources of organic food in Ontario to help find the best local produce suppliers.



2.…

The Riverdale Housing Action Group is a  non-profit organization that has existed since 1986 to provide rent-geared to income housing, support services and community programs to low-income women and children. Tenants experience many barriers such as poverty, family break down, violence and mental and physical health conditions.  As part of our many free community programs, RHAG is involved in a Community Garden Initiative with tenants, youth volunteers and local community members. The…

You know when you first learned about peak oil and freaked out a little, or maybe a lot?  That was your "Peak Oil Moment".  Sometimes it passes quickly, but more often it lasts a long, long time.  Sometimes it lasts years, and it can be paralyzing.  That's a real practical problem form us in the Energy Descent Action Theatre project.  Energy Descent Action Theatre is meant to get the audience into a creative mindset where…

Transition Toronto is partnering with our friends at IRBE to create a tool libary in Toronto's east end.  The idea is like a book library but with tools to lend instead of books.  We can share gardening and building tools with our neighbours and help the people who need to work, but can't afford the tools.

At this point, we're looking for a location to house the tools and run the library.  We have a few leads, but we need more…

The EcoFair at Wychwood Barns is a fun, family-oriented event that informs and inspires people to make greener choices in their homes and communities. Last year, over 400 people came out to learn about green initiatives and achievements in our neighbourhood and in our city, to explore new ideas, and to share green tips and tricks.



This year's 4th annual EcoFair is taking place on Sunday November 18 from 1-4 pm. Transition Toronto has partnered with Green Neighbours 21 to organize…

Check out the extrashare flyer!

ExtraShare%20Gardening%20Blitz.pdf

Withrow Park Farmers' Market builds resilience in Toronto every week, and they are in need of volunteers to help them do that!  Check out the opportunities below.  There's even a chance to make granola!  Come on, my crunchy friends!

The Withrow Park Farmers' Market is a community-based initiative administered by the Centre for Local Food Initiatives, a registered non-profit organization. The Market features organic and ecologically farmed produce and prepared foods, and…

Scenario-It is a new scenario planning tool.  It allows for crowd-sourced, evidence-supported scenario development and scenario planning.  What will happen in the post-carbon future?  More specifically, and more importantly to us, what will Toronto be like in, say, 2030 or 2050?  Will it be a good place to live?  Might it not?  Scenario-It lets you post and develop these scenarios and lets others online help you.  Users can then vote on the credibility and relevance of the evidence that gets…

Great article on Energy Bulletin on "Who Stole Fun?"  Is all the energy at our disposal really contributing to our enjoyment of life? 

http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2012-04-14/who-stole-fun

TTo members,

Rebecca and a few of the Transition Don Valley folk are working on developing a community cafe that will build community resilience by offering a place to meet neighbours and buy local, organic food; ensuring that the sustainable food they sell will be affordable; and supporting local food producers.  Transition Toronto is very pleased to be able to support this project.  THE PROJECT NEEDS YOUR HELP to get off the ground.  Here's Rebecca's message about the cafe…

This Saturday, Oct 15th, Occupy Toronto is organizing an occupation of Toronto's financial sector in sympathy with the Occupation of Wall St. and similar occupations around the globe.  As Transitioners, we need to ask, what does this occupation have to do with Transition, if anything?

Thomas H. Greco, who recently spoke at a Transition Toronto co-sponsored…

This weekend one of our steerers, Ken Fair, submitted this poem to the Bracebridge Fall Fair and won the Janice Barnes Literary Special Award for poetry:

Transition

My great-grandfather was a farmer.
My grandfather left the farm to work in the city.
My father worked in the city.
I work in the city.
My son works in the city.
My grandson will leave the city to work on a farm.
My great-grandson will be a farmer.

Last night Greg Greene, director of The End of Suburbia, and Josh Graham taught our first of three film-making workshops.  They and their workshops were very well received.  People learned and worked with each other to make short films that advocate their point of view and some great ideas came out of that process.

Last night's workshop was on "Pre-Production" of films and focused on conceiving a project and its…

Martina and I were recently interviewed by Paul McGinniss of The New York Green Advocate blog as part of his tour of "Living Green in Toronto."  Here's the article, which favourably mentions TTo and alludes to our work with The Permaculture Project:

http://thenewyorkgreenadvocate.blogspot.com/2011/06/city-inspired-green-seeds-sprouting-up.html

Sorry to everyone who just got spammed.  We're doing what we can to increase security against that kind of thing.  Thanks for your patience in the mean time.

Andrew

This past Sunday was one of the first of the many "Permablitzes" to happen this summer.  The Permablitz Programme is run by The Permaculture Project - GTA (TPP - GTA) and involves people showing up at a garden, back yard, or any space, and turning it into a permaculture food garden.  Participants learn about permaculture through the direction of TPP - GTA Director Toyin Coker, the designs of certified Permaculture Designer Douglas Barnes, and, most importantly, through doing the work…