• It is all about the stewardship & care of the entire forest ecosystem & sugarbush while producing ecologically sustainable maple syrup.
• Ensuring biodiversity by maintaining 15% of the forest with mixed tree species.
• Preserving a diverse understory with considerations for wildlife habitat. 
• A management plan is in place to ensure regeneration & biomass recycling.
• Buffer zones must be kept between the forest & any adjacent contaminated land. 
• No chemical defoamers, fertilizers, pesticides, paints or sprays are ever allowed.
• Cannot exceed 3 taps per tree which must be placed in new locations each season.
• Environmentally friendly cleaning products are used to sanitize equipment.

Get outdoors & visit a TRCA sugarbush festival between March 4 & April 1.

• Replace some (or all) of your lawn with plants for pollinators to give birds, butterflies, bees & insects a home.
• A mix of shrubs, perennials, native plants & annuals will do the trick.
• Do NOT use any pesticides or chemical fertilizers which may kill or harm pollinators. Use compost instead.
• Turn off outdoor lighting when you come in at night. Lighting interferes with insects' & birds' abilities to find food, navigate & reproduce.
• In the fall, leave the leaves & plant stems for overwintering insects & bird nest building materials during spring.
• Why? We need to prevent loss of -larval hosts; overwintering & nesting habitat; forage plants; & stop the use of pesticides - one of the factors contributing to bee colony collapse.
• Leave dandelions for early insect food.

Reduce your carbon footprint & cost of food transportation by instead supporting local organic farmers. Receive a weekly box of fresh from the field, seasonal vegetables. A CSA is the best way to build a strong, secure relationship with local farmers. Join a CSA farm near you:

Joyfully Organic Farm serving Markham, Stouffville Richmond Hill, Leslieville & Brickworks Markets

Mount Wolfe Farm serving Caledon, Sorauren Market in West Toronto

Clearwater Farm in Georgina

Willo'Wind Farm serving Uxbridge, Vaughan

CSA further afield Ontario & Ontario/Quebec

France has mandated that parking lots with over 80 spaces must be covered with solar panels, facilitating EV charging while you work, go to the library or get groceries. Since parking lots are so darn ugly, this is the perfect place for solar canopies. Reducing the urban heat island & keeping cars cooler is an added bonus. A much better location than in rural areas where solar farms crowd out agricultural uses & can have detrimental impacts on local ecosystems.

York Region opposes further expansion of natural gas fired electricity, said to raise Ontario's GHG pollution by more than 300%. But we can't just oppose, we need to step up & choose better alternatives. Hopefuly, the municipalities looking into this will make it happen. Learn more.

It is very unpleasant to be out for a walk enjoying the fresh air when suddenly we get a blast of fabric softener smells from someone’s clothing 3m away or from dryer vents in our neighbourhoods. Being assaulted with heavy doses of after shave & perfume has seen an increase in fragrance free venues & events as our scent intolerance has become so pervasive. Fragrance/parfum labels denote unidentified mixtures of health risk ingredients including carcinogens, allergens, respiratory irritants, endocrine disruptors, neurotoxic chemicals & environmental toxins. These artificial scents can be found in personal care products, air fresheners, cleaning products, laundry detergents & fabric softeners. We have enough air pollution & health issues without adding to them. Choose scentless, fragrance free products to minimize health consequences. Learn More