I despise clutter. If there’s something sitting around the house that I have no use for, it generally finds its way to the garbage, recycling or donation bin pretty quickly. My mother is just the opposite.

When I was home at Easter, Mom was beaming over her accomplishment in the basement, and I have to admit it was much improved. At Christmas one room had been packed with a hodgepodge of kitchen appliances, books, magazines, enough clothes to cover the bodies of a small army and who knows what else. A few months made all the difference, spurred in part by a shelving collapse.

My esteemed co-worker, Thalia Bock, has been busy cleaning her apartment over the past couple of weeks as well. She, like many others, has a collection of many unwanted items and has been searching for eco-friendly ways to dispose of them.

Commuters are encouraged to ditch their vehicles for a bike, bus, carpool or comfy pair of walking shoes during the eighth annual Shifting Gears campaign, beginning Friday.

Clifford McCarten, returning for his second year as the Shifting Gears ambassador, said the month-long event motivates residents to use alternative transportation to get to work during the month of May.

Individuals, or teams from businesses who sign up for Shifting Gears are challenged to use alternate forms of transportation as often as possible.

Participants have a shot at winning a $750 gift certificate for Resorts of Ontario and are entered into weekly draws for prizes.

(PETERBOROUGH) When everything runs smoothly, the Otonabee Region Conservation Authority (ORCA) operates out of view from most of us.
The public trusts the safety of water, enjoys flood-free properties and walks through some of the 10,000 acres managed by the conservation authority—all without thinking about ORCA.
When the conservation authority does make the news, it’s usually a conflict over development.

Lakefield farmer Katie Jackson said the future of sustainable agriculture is a partnership between growers and consumers.

Jackson, who was one of 75 vendors at the seventh annual Green Expo at the Evinrude Centre on Saturday, caught the attention of children walking by with her cage full of clucking Chantecler chickens.

Jackson’s farm, called Tracker’s Drift Farm Education Centre, uses the principles of Community Shared Agriculture (CSA), which is basically when consumers invest in a farmer’s crop.

“Last year about 20 families came to the farm once a week to share in the harvest,” she said. “Some stay and work for fun, others don’t. It’s also a learning experience for kids.”

After picking up litter from around Peterborough for Earth Day, about 340 students representing five high schools, congregated in Millennium Park Thursday afternoon for a celebration.

Music, pizza and prizes awaited the students from Crestwood, Holy Cross, St. Peter’s, Kenner and Adam Scott as part of the Kawartha Rotary Club Super Spring Clean Up.

This is the third year for the event, which has collected 650 bags of garbage and recyclables over the last couple of years, said organizer Gunther Schubert.

Teacher Lynn Holland was glad her pupils were standing around with not much to do.

As her Prince of Wales School Grade 7/8 class scoured the green area across from the GE plant on Monaghan Rd. for garbage on Thursday morning, many came back either empty-handed or with a single coffee cup.

“I just can’t believe how little garbage there is this year,” Holland said during the annual Earth Day cleanup, peering at half-full garbage bags sitting limp in front of her. “It means the message is really getting across.”

This is the 12th year that pupils and students from across Peterborough have picked up litter as part of the Green Again, Clean Again campaign during Earth Week.

Peterborough Green-Up, a non-profit environmental organization, is taking over control of the Green Expo after this year’s event is over.

Laurie Collette, who founded the annual event that offers environmentally friendly products and services as well as guest speakers, said she wanted to hand over the reins because she felt she needed new challenges after seven years on the job.

“(Green-Up) was simply the best and only choice to take over the Green Expo when I decided to pass it along,” the Lakefield resident said.

Peterborough Green-Up is “excited” to take control, said executive director Sue McGregor- Hunter.

“Our intention is to make the event bigger and better every year,” McGregor-Hunter said.

On Saturday morning I found myself at Jackson Park participating in the annual Jackson Creek Clean Up, with staff from the Otonabee Region Conservation Authority and Peterborough Green-Up.

My role was helping to sort the garbage from recycling as volunteers finished cleaning and returned their bags. I pictured seeing chip bags, cans and bottles making up the largest volume of trash the city would be hauling away, but I was in for a surprise.

Volunteers came lugging bicycle parts, cushions, a large metal pipe, tires, and even a computer. You name it, and there’s a good chance one of the volunteers found it in the park. It’s sad, really, but comforting to know a lot of this garbage was removed.

Thursday we celebrate Earth Day, when we reflect on this beautiful planet we call home and hopefully consider ways we can improve it so future generations can enjoy it as we have for years to come.

Like the plants and trees that grow in the Ecology Park, there is a lot of work going on beneath the surface before you see the results of your labour.

For the last week, both staff and volunteers have been busy readying the garden for the upcoming season.

“Because spring was so early, we are trying to catch up,” says Cathy Dueck, manager at the Ecology Park.

Last week, Dueck and her garden army spent time removing sod, repotting and moving trees and lifting mulch.

“We have a small tree nursery here. Right now it is the big focus,” says Dueck.

Most years, Dueck and her crew like to move the trees before the leaves come out.

Paul Bichler says he can’t understand why every laundry room isn’t eco-friendly.

The co-founder of Peterborough’s Eco Laundry Room on Simcoe St. said he has recently expanded to Toronto where a new location opened its doors in January.

To bring some green star power to the official grand opening, the owners tapped Toronto mayoral candidate George Smitherman to speak on April 21, he said.

“He will talk about eco-conscious businesses and how Ontario’s Green Energy Act is affecting businesses like us,” he said. “We’re getting a lot of good response.”

The Toronto Eco Laundry Room, at 2741 Danforth Ave., is the first of its kind in the GTA, he said.