The Camp Kawartha Environment Centre is holding its first summer camp series in July and August.

There are four week-long camp sessions scheduled.

Camps run from July 19 to 23, July 26 to 30, Aug. 2 to 6 and Aug. 9 to 13. Each week takes place at the centre’s Trent University location on Pioneer Rd. Each day runs from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

It costs $195 per child and is for children between the ages of 9 and 13.

Jacob Rodenburg, executive director for the Camp Kawartha Environment Centre, said the environment-focused summer camp might be the first of its kind in the area.

The Camp Kawartha Environment Centre is looking to extend its environmental teaching tools to the outdoor areas surrounding the centre.

Jacob Rodenburg, executive director of the centre, said the organization aims to improve the landscaping around its Trent University property.

“It’s a lovely looking structure but the outside needs a little bit of work,” Rodenburg said.

The landscaping would double as an outdoor educational component to the centre.

The Gainey Foundation has given the centre a $25,000 grant.

Rodenburg said the money could help pay for that construction and help complete some work that sill needs to be done.

(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.

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.

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.

Ben Stabler, 4, watched as his grandfather, Gene Moher, and fellow volunteer Bruce Flemons pulled an old rusty car axle from the creek in Jackson Park Saturday morning during the 13th annual Earth Week cleanup.

Moher said he’s brought his grandson to the cleanup for the past three years.

“We love this park, so we help take care of it,” he said. “I’m not surprised by the amount of garbage, more disappointed. I’ve been coming here since I was four. So it’s rewarding to see so many people come help keep it clean.”

Peterborough Green-Up’s Matt Higgs said about 60 volunteers participated in the cleanup.

Most of the search in the 45- acre park was conducted along trails and the creek, he said, with the bulk of the garbage made up of rusted metal cans, broken bottles and assorted soggy paper products.

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.

The executive director of Camp Kawartha says children who spend time outdoors are more likely to protect and care for the environment when they’re older.

That’s why educational programs, like the ones offered at the camp’s environment centre, are so important, he says.

“We’re here to teach kids about sustainability, about connecting with nature, and we want to do it in a fun and engaging way,” said Jacob Rodenburg.

He and Coun. Dean Pappas announced plans for Green-in-Motion, the camp’s annual fundraiser, at the centre on Wednesday.

Seeing the world from outer space is something people have dreamed about for generations. I recently came across a news story about a man from the U.K. who actually turned the dream into reality.

Robert Harrison, who describes himself as a computer geek, was hoping to acquire some images from high above the Earth. He expected nothing more then shots similar to those you would capture from an airplane -was he ever in for a shocker.

After spending about US$800 on equipment, Harrison launched a weather balloon above the English countryside with a digital camera he purchased from eBay and a GPS tracking unit to locate the balloon when it fell back to the earth.

The camera was set to automatically snap images. When he recovered it, Harrison was surprised to find stunning images and videos of the curvature of the earth, the blue haze that is our atmosphere and the land masses and water features below. The quality of the images was something you’d expect to see from a NASA spacecraft.