Caledon's Spring Clean Up Day

by Shelly Sargent

The beginning of May is arguably one of the most beautiful times of year... it is warmed by sunshine and everywhere you look is another reminder of spring -tender buds, fresh growth, fragrant blooms, garbage...

GARBAGE? Yep - lots of it. Its caught in shrubs and fences, laying on the side of the road and blowing in the spring breezes. The sad reality is that during the wild and woolly winds of our Canadian fall and winter, a lot of trash gets sent flying out of unsecured blue boxes & trash cans or whipped out of frozen fingers in parking lots. Add to that the mountain of junk that gets tossed out of vehicle windows by those who can't wait that 20 minutes to get home and throw their burger wrapper in the garbage and you've got the makings of a nasty mess on the roadside come the spring thaw.

Of course we all shake our heads and mutter "tsk tsk" as we drive by, but a better way to respond is to help do something about it! And each year, hundreds of volunteers in Caledon do just that! Many residents do a roadside clean up individually, as a family or with their schools. Its quite common to see a lone individual armed with gloves and a garbage bag, combing the side of the road for refuse. Here' s a virtual high five to anyone who's ever done this!

Caledon has a few annual community clean up days, and on Saturday, May 1st, Green T will be assisting with one of them. The annual Community Clean-Up Day is sponsored by Tim Hortons, the Town of Caledon and the Caledon Chamber of Commerce. Green T members are encouraged to join in with organizers & volunteers from the community as we all head out to do our bit!

Registration is at 9:30 a.m. at the Caledon Centre for Recreation and Wellness – the first 200 will receive free T-shirt and gloves. Then we’ll go out in teams to do our collecting, returning to the Wellness Centre at noon for a free volunteer appreciation BBQ.

I have heard that students can claim this volunteer towards their community service hours, so bring the kids too!

I've sent out an email to councillors and Caledon community groups/residents associations in other areas of Caledon to see if there will be other clean up days taking place. As I get any new information, I'll share it with a new blog entry!

See you on the roadside! :)

Note:
Jim Hope of the Valleywood Residents Association sent us the info that Valleywood will be having its Cleanup Day on May 29 this year to clear the park and flower beds around the park, the library and the fire hall. This is an annual event and the garden club and Valleywood residents all pitch in to help as well as cleaning their own yards of waste and trash. He tells us the details should be on their website sometime in the coming week, so if you want more info, visit http://www.valleywood.ca/

Our Town - Sustainable by Design

On September 17th, a crowd of almost 80 people gathered at the Caledon Community Centre in Caledon East to hear an open forum Green T Speaker’s Series entitled “Your Town: Sustainable by Design”. It was an exceptional evening - at once entertaining and educational, and we've received much positive feedback about it already!

After opening comments by Green T’s founder Patti Foley, Caledon’s Mayor Marolyn Morrison spoke briefly to the crowd about the Towns’ commitment to Green initiatives before introducing the evening’s moderator - Caledon writer and Alternatives Journal editor Nicola Ross. Nicola then led the Crandall’s and the audience in a question-based discussion that was insightful, entertaining and at times, very touching. The discussion covered a variety of topics, investigating what makes a community work and grow, what makes Caledon special and what are some ways we can assure our town’s sustainability.

The Crandall’s (three sisters from a family of five) have lived in Caledon all their lives and, through each of their own area’s of expertise, are uniquely qualified to discuss the various ways to assure the Town’s sustainability. Debbe – a member of the STORM Coalition (Save The Oak Ridges Moraine) since 1990 and its Executive Director since 1999 - is an environmental activist. She spoke at some length about the concept of thinking globally but acting locally. Sarah, a nurse by profession, is a philanthropist and likes to put her resources to good use in support of Canadian Whale Institute, as well as countless worthy local projects. Sheilagh, a gardener and person of the Earth (co-owner of MsPlants) rounded out the panel and brought her own brand of wit and warmth to the conversation.

One question that Nicola posed to the audience early in the evening (“What makes Caledon special to you?”) had me thinking about my experiences since moving here 6 years ago. The assembled crowd spoke of many reasons for loving Caledon – the trails, the diversity, the unique physical traits of the area... but for me, it is something else that makes the area so special…

My husband and I moved here to raise our two children in a clean, green, rural environment - free of the tangle and crush of big city life. Within days of our arrival, we went shopping for groceries for the first time, and it was then that we realized we had moved from a house to a community. The other shoppers chatted to us as we moved among the aisles. The cashiers at the grocery store spoke to us like neighbours, smiling at our kids and offering to have someone help carry the heavy items to the car! But I thought I’d died and gone to heaven when I realized each and every shopper was taking their cart back to the designated cart area – without prompting. To me – that is what is so special about Caledon. To think that - in a community that is a unique hybrid of founding families, escapee’s from the city, farmers, artists, professionals and blue collar workers – we had stumbled upon a little enclave of old-fashioned community values we’d both been raised with – but had thought lost forever.

I sat at the back of the room and listened as Nicola led the sisters through the evening’s discussion. I was struck by the shared history in the room. In addition to the panel on stage, a quick survey of the audience showed a current Mayor, a former Mayor, a councillor, at least one farmer, several community leaders, a few green neophytes, some very talented local writers, performers and artists, a few business professionals, some activists and more.

Each sister in her own way (and indeed, Nicola Ross herself), had a connection with this diverse group of people, and has enriched the lives of dozens of others. Their contributions – and the contributions of many of the people who made up the audience – are what serves to make Caledon a better place to live, work and play. The combined knowledge and passion of the panel and the audience -as well as their enthusiasm and commitment when it comes to teaching the next generation to respect the land and honour the people – will be what makes Caledon a sustainable community in years to come.

COMING UP:

In the next few weeks, Green T will be VERY, VERY busy! Here's a snapshot of what the first few weeks of fall looks like for us:

• Saturday and Sunday, September 26 & 27 - visit our booth at the Bolton Fall Fair - we'll be there for the whole weekend - top of Bolton's south hill!
  
• Saturday, October 3rd - be sure to visit the Green T booth at Caledon Day. Taking place at the Caledon Town Hall grounds, Old Church Road in Caledon East!
  
• Thursday, October 8th - We'll be on site from 3-8pm for the last Caledon Farmer's Market of the 2009 Season, with activities, facepainting and information.

Later on in October, we have a very special version of the Speaking Green Speaker's Series planned... keep watching the blog and the website for details!

Fresh, organic, Caledon-grown - a win/win/win!

Thinking about going organic? Or about supporting Caledon farmers? Or visiting the new Bolton Farmers Market this summer? Did you know that you could create a win/win/win and combine all three?

Whole Village, a biodynamic farm nestled in the northwest corner of Caledon, supplies residents with fresh vegetables, herbs and fruit grown without the use of artificial fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. You can buy a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share of this delicious produce and conveniently pick it up each Thursday at their booth at the Bolton Farmers Market. If you live in northern Caledon you may wish to arrange to pick it up at the farm or at the Orangeville Farmers Market (Saturdays).

Your CSA share will provide you with nutritious, fresh, organic, Caledon-grown produce for the season, from approximately mid-June to the last week of October. You have the choice of purchasing a small or large share. The small share is $500 so over a 20-week growing season that would equate to a cost of $25 per week for your farm-fresh veggies. The large share is $700 and can feed a family of four or two vegetarians. The small share provides a bit more than half of the large share and is suitable for a small family, a couple or a single vegetarian.

Crops will include greens such as lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, herbs and green onions, plus carrots, tomatoes, peppers, squash, beets, onions, parsnips, potatoes and corn, all harvested fresh as they come into season.

Last week my family and I visited Whole Village and tasted yummy samplings of mustard greens, kale, and arugula, as greens are one of the first things ready for harvest. We were very impressed with the farm and the knowledge and dedication of the people working the fields. We purchased a small CSA-share and look forward to picking it up fresh each Thursday at the Bolton Farmers Market and “topping up” with other locally-produced food and treats.

For more information, or to purchase a Whole Village CSA-share, contact Graham Corbett at (519) 942-0168 or email him at csagarden@wholevillage.org

For more information about the Bolton Farmers Market contact Sandra Dolson at the Town of Caledon at (905) 584-2272 or email her at sandra.dolson@caledon.ca

Green T brewed up a great night!

On Wednesday night the picturesque Caledon town of Palgrave was home to the biggest Green Tea event so far. Over sixty people jammed into the tiny community room in the United Church and chatted with like-minded folks, sipping aromatic fair trade coffee courtesy of Buckstown Beans and organic teas from the Tea Boutique, while waiting for the exciting line-up for this environmental speakers’ event to take to the stage. And making that waiting a lot more fun were the amazing vocals of Kate Moura from Bolton's Moura Music Studio and her talented young student Michelle Woodhouse.

Opening remarks from Caledon Mayor Marolyn Morrison set the tone, touching on the importance of buying local and supporting local farms and businesses. Karen Hutchinson from Caledon Countryside Alliance was up next, sharing information about the Inglewood Farmers Market, Eat Local Month and the Eat Local Challenge Week. Karen even treated her audience with a basketful of fresh ground cherries that were the perfect accompaniment for chef RoseMarie DuPont’s mouth-watering baked goodies.

Palgrave United Church's Turkey Task Force was honoured with an Eat Local "Local Hero Award". Green T also officially launched their new website http://www.greentcaledon.ca/ and kicked off a membership Drive. Soon Lime Green T-shirts will be all over town!

Jeff Gold, one the founding members and project manager of Whole Village, wound up the evening with a terrific pictorial about life in the sustainable farming community in northwest Caledon. Watch for more news soon on Green T’s next Green Tea, scheduled for November 13th – mark those calendars!

Green T's Seeds are Springing to Life!

These are exciting times as Green T moves to the next level. Our new website is up and running and we're really looking forward to our next event on September 17th in Palgrave. We call these environmentally-inspirational speakers' nights Green Teas and they are hosted by Green T five times per year. To date they have been funded by small donations at the door and the proceeds of raffles and very small silent auctions. A grant from the Town of Caledon Community Green Funds has allowed us to kick things up a notch in terms of community awareness for our organization through the creation of a logo, the new website and our exciting soon-to-be-launched electronic newsletter Green Thoughts. Simultaneously we are embarking on our first-ever Membership Drive which will help raise the funds necessary to see Green T continue to flourish and grow.

Commencing with our November Green Tea event there will be a modest door charge of $4 per person. Students and Seniors will be admitted to these events for free.

If you choose to purchase an Annual Membership, for just $24, you will be admitted to all Green Tea events at no charge. In addition you'll receive a discount off any special workshops or other events and, of course, our new electronic newsletter. The first 50 paid memberships will also receive a fabulous new Green T (shirt) in your choice of Fresh Lime or Forest Green! But, most of all, your Membership will help cover ongoing costs for room rentals and refreshments, and will keep Green T growing and spreading the environmental message. Please join us in our mission of inspiring people to go from "Awareness to Action"!