One of Canada's greatest treasures is the precious mosaic of farmlands and natural areas that form the Holland Marsh. The marsh is Canada's vegetable basket. The Ontario government recently announced plans for a new expressway. Called accurately by opponents, the Holland Marsh Expressway, it would be a 16.2 kilometre link between the 400 and 404 expressways. 

Given the significance of the Holland Marsh, one of the most strongly protected parts of Ontario's Greenbelt, this new threat posed to it is quite shocking.

The Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup initiative is an effort that has grown from a District 7090 service project covering a small portion of Lake Ontario and Erie, to a multi-district plan to focus Rotarians’ attention to all 5 of the Great Lakes and streams and waterways feeding them. Their goal is to make this the single largest cleanup event ever planned coinciding with Earth Day 2021.

The Great Lakes Watershed events will be held across Southern Ontario between Saturday, April 17th and Saturday, April 24th.

This collaborative work project has generated much excitement and enthusiasm among the planners and is reflective of the upcoming addition of the environment as a new area of focus of Rotary International.

If you would like to get involved, please contact: megans@sierraclub.ca

Hosted by Sierra Youth, a youth-led chapter of SCCF, 10 Minutes to Change Podcast aims to inspire environmental education and positive change for a healthy planet. 

Each episode they tackle topics surrounding intersectional environmentalism, that is, all things related to gender, racial, and climate justice.

You can additionally find them on Facebook and Instagram.