What CFUW clubs are doing / have been doing

(If we missed something, please let us know, via advocacy@cfuw-fcfdu.ca!)

• UWC Vancouver club members are currently attempting a "Plastic-Free July," having screened the film "Plastic People." In 2022, together with the Edmonton club, they hosted a GWI Peer-to-Peer event on "Environmental Discrimination - A Global Problem." Themes of UWC Vancouver meetings have included forest bathing, an eco vineyard pilot scheme and bees & mead.

• Cowichan has been  advocating for the reduction of plastics use for the past two years.

• Wolfville has also looked at single-use plastics issues.

• Orillia also issued a challenge to members to reduce their use of plastics.

• Aurora / Newmarket members have been writing letters on environmental issues. Their club meetings generate no waste, as members bring their own mugs, etc. Some took part in local demonstrations during the nationwide Seniors' Day of Climate Action, October 1, 2024. 

• The Mississauga club's Issues group publishes a blog including posts on water challenges for Indigenous communities and threats to bees.

• Salt Spring Island held a special International Women's Day 2024 screening of a documentary about the emotional and psychological dimensions of climate change: "The Magnitude of All Things." At the #cfuwagm2024 this club was awarded a special certificate of merit for organizing this event.

• UWC North York won the Special Project Award at #cfuwagm2024 for hosting seven public events on the theme of climate change. They introduced Seth Klein as a speaker at one of their meetings.

• Belleville introduced an international webinar hosted by GWI on Earth Day 2024, on "Planet vs Plastics"(the Earth Day theme) and the elimination of single-use plastics. This took place just before the fourth session of the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations, in Ottawa. Panellists were from Ghana, Spain, and Canada  (CFUW-Nepean). Last November, the Belleville club also hosted a presentation about a rehabilitation centre for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife.

• Lethbridge club members have been getting together to make Ecobags and Blessing Bags for disadvantaged women, from leftover fabrics. After our national Environmental Action and Awareness webinar in October 2023, they shared the sewing instructions with other CFUW members.

• Edmonton and Hamilton have participated in "Eco-Collective" fundraising, purchasing Tru Earth products to add to their scholarship funds.

• South Delta invited a professional engineer and lecturer to inform club members about the installation of residential solar systems. In April, the Founder of Ocean Ambassadors Canada described how to limit the use of plastics and protect beaches from plastic waste. 

• North Delta / Surrey proposed a CFUW Resolution for 2024 to "Restore and Preserve Canada's Peatlands." The Resolution was adopted.

• Nanaimo proposed a CFUW Resolution for 2024 on "Preserving Deep Sea Ecosystems." The Resolution was adopted. This club hosts a montly vegetarian potluck supper. Other topics for discussion have been heat pumps, renewable energy and EVs.

• Headwaters proposed the CFUW Resolution adopted in 2022 that "A Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment is a Human Right." This club also has a  vegan cooking group.

• Sudbury's Environment and Climate Change interest group made a video about the actions they undertook in 2023, including a junk mail reduction campaign and writing letters of protest to their MPP concerning charges for new gas lines in Ontario. They have also advocated for less plastic waste and less road-salt pollution. They arrange nature walks. In January 2025, they will  introduce a presentation on “Swim, Drink, Fish: Protecting the Great Lakes' Water Quality.”

• Kelowna and St. Catherines clubs have been active in Adopt-A-Road projects for several years.

• Cape Breton proposed an adopted CFUW Resolution on the "Right to Repair for Large Household appliances" in 2021.

• Milton's Forces of Nature group have hosted presentations on farmland conservation and on eating insects! This club takes part in park clean-ups.

• Stratford organised a campaign on food waste reduction, posting three times a week for ten weeks on social media. This club also proposed our national Resolution for the Declaration of a Climate Emergency Resolution in 2020.

• Perth and District, after hosting an evening of learning and inspiration with three speakers on the topic of native plant gardening and ecosystem restoration, issued a challenge. Participants submitted a photo of the native plant garden they created for posting on the club's public website. The Environment Committee sold native plants at their public events and before their AGM and a resource page was set up on their website giving resources to help people choose the right native plants for their gardens. Perth won this year's Ontario Council’s Carolyn Day Award for this endeavour. Club members have also advocated successfully for the anti-idling bylaw in Perth, and for improvements to the quality of local waterways. They support local food production. They have donated funds to the Guatemala Stove Project  for healthier, cleaner air.

• Southport won the 2023 Caroline Day Award for their "Environmental Alliance Symposium" for the Saugeen Shores area, inviting representatives from local groups and organizations to take part. This was an open forum to promote information sharing about current initiatives and future plans to address environmental concerns and mitigate/adapt to climate change.

• Cornwall had a 12-month awareness campaign on environment-friendly habits — winning Ontario Council’s Carolyn Day Award for this project in 2022.

• Thunder Bay invited a representative of "We the Nuclear Free North" to speak about the storage of highly radioactive nuclear waste at Revell Lake on the TransCanada Highway. Club members asked questions, signed petitions, donated and some became active in that organization.

• The Nepean club, having proposed the CFUW Resolution on Single-Use Plastics and Plastic Packaging, adopted in 2021, followed up by organizing and hosting a 3-part national webinar series in April 2022 —"Tackling the Environmental Crisis: Together We Can." The Ottawa and Kanata clubs shared the responsibility for this project, each club introducing a high-profile speaker. In June 2023 Nepean hosted the GWI webinar "Choose to Refuse Single-Use Plastics."

• Ottawa's Environment Action interest group has hosted ~30 presentations by experts on a wide range of environmental themes, encouraging non-member friends to attend most of these. The group visits the sites of local conservation initiatives and some of its members participate in rallies calling for government action on climate change. For Earth Day 2023 the group hosted a structured online discussion of the documentary "Before They Fall" about the defence of an old growth forest on Vancouver Island with CFUW members across Canada.

• Oakville has also hosted regular public events with guest speakers on environmental themes. It has  close ties to Grandmothers Act to Save the Planet (GASP).

• Guelph introduced representatives of the University to speak to club members about the climate crisis and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

• Markham is concerned with helping to protect the Oak Ridges Moraine and greenbelt. This club has hosted presentations on climate change and has recommended books on the environment to their Social Justice book club.

• Belleville, St. Catherine's, Ottawa and Nepean club members publish articles on green themes and recommendations for eco-friendly living in their clubs' newsletters.

• The Kitchener-Waterloo club's Environment Working Group is interested in recycling, sustainable urban forests, threats to bees and water issues. They write letters and use social media to raise awareness of their concerns.

• In December, Leaside East York published CFUW's tips for a green holiday on social media, using eye-catching visual imagery. On its  Facebook page, Edmonton listed six ways to reduce our environmental impact on Valentine's Day.

• Etobicoke’s walking group recommended refraining from feeding ducks bread products detrimental to their health, in particular to wing development in young waterfowl. Their club's newsletter listed alternative foods for ducks.

• Georgetown members have been working on a petition to the House of Commons. The petition requests that the federal government, in partnership with Indigenous people and with federal, provincial, municipal and territorial governments, establish drinking water regulations for Canada that meet the standards established by the World Health Organization. CFUW-Georgetown shared the petition with other CFUW members nationwide.