Kids ages 8-9 (9 am-12:15 pm) and 10-12 (1:30-4:45 pm) can join a forest adventure in Little Red River Park, Prince Albert, on Aug. 12. Neighbourhood bus pickups are available.
SaskOutdoors is hosting a family paddle from 1-3 pm, Aug. 20, on Wascana Lake, Regina. Canoe rentals are available.
All events are listed on the EcoFriendly Sask Calendar
More Fun for Kids
Registration is now open for Nature Regina’s Get Outside Kids Club for 6-13 year olds. Sign-up is for the first 4 sessions on either Tuesdays or Thursdays.
Project Noah has launched a free nature program for school classes with lessons on chipmunks, owls, spiders, animal tracks, camouflage, and orchids. You’ll find additional nature and environmental programs for children and youth listed on the EcoFriendly Sask website.
Local News
Prairie cities aren’t constrained by mountains or coastlines, which encourages lower-density neighbourhoods with large single-family homes and bungalow-style condos. But land isn’t the only issue. Lower-density neighbourhoods, as proposed by a number of Regina City Councillors, require more costly infrastructure (roads, sewer and water, etc.) and maintain a culture of car dependency. [Prairie Dog]
“The interdependence of people, plants, and pollinators” – urban gardening initiatives in Saskatoon [Sask Dispatch]
“Our tidy-minded forestry and our habit of treating trees as interchangeable are devastating to wildlife. ‘Replacing’ an old tree is no more meaningful than replacing an old master. The same applies to all ecosystems. When a trawler ploughs through biological structures on the seabed, they can take hundreds of years to fully recover. When a river is dredged and straightened, it becomes, by comparison to what it once was, an empty shell.” [The Guardian]
It’s not enough to plant a million trees. You also need to take care of them and plant them in the right places. [Bloomberg City Lab]
Our Common Future
A landmark court victory for a BC First Nation sets an important precedent in defining “full and informed consent” and in recognizing First Nations as independent governments when negotiating with industry and other parties. But these actions may not be sufficient to ensure long-term sustainability: “We should be asking what is really needed and by whom, which development projects are beneficial in the long-term and whether projects that are totally dependent on the market demand should be approved. These are big challenges, and to properly address them it is necessary to question how we live, what we want or need, and how we envision our common future. The way in which we conceive development is a matter of mindset; how we frame and make sense of it can be changed if we challenge what the current society deems to be essential.” [The Conversation]
“Urban walkable real estate is dramatically under supplied in relationship to demand. . . Sixty percent of Americans polled by the National Association of Realtors say they want to live within walking distance of places to work, shop and recreate. Only 10 percent want to be located in homes that only have access to other houses.” [Governing]
Water-Smart
4 universally applicable tips for building a water-smart city [Bloomberg City Lab]
From toilet to tap – water-poor cities in the US explore water reuse strategies [Ensia]
Individuals and communities in Alberta are being encouraged to take water monitoring into their own hands by looking for insects in rivers. [The Narwahl]
We Have a Dream: Meet 30 Young Indigenous People and People of Colour Protecting the Planet by Mya-Rose Craig is a book for young adults with one page per activist describing what they do and what motivates them. [The Earthbound Report]
Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation by Paul Hawken “is a what- and how-to-do-it-book and website. It is about action and connection so that anyone on any level of agency can see exactly what they can do about climate challenges and solutions.” [The Tyee]
Did you know? Bur Oak can resist forest fires thanks to its very thick bark. It can also tolerate drought as it has very deep roots
Check out EcoFriendly Sask’s Nature Companion, a free nature app for Canada’s four western provinces
EcoFriendly Sask supports Saskatchewan environmental initiatives through an online publication, an events calendar, small grants, and the Nature Companion website/app. You can follow EcoFriendly Sask by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, or subscribing by email (top right corner).
