More than a year ago, the municipality established an advisory Committee to support its efforts to become a more sustainable community.
The objective was to have this group help the municipality prepare an updated version of a provincial energy report. In 2014, municipalities across the province were required to develop an Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan. The plan would formalize efforts to promote environmental sustainability and introduce policies and programs that mitigate climate change.
A follow up report was developed for the Greater Peterborough Area in 2016 called the Climate Change Action Plan. The section dedicated to Cavan Monaghan outlined a variety of potential programs that the municipality could introduce to reduce energy and water consumption. Among the possibilities were the introduction of a multi-year energy retrofit program for existing homes, supporting the construction of smaller new homes with a smaller environmental footprint and the reduction of the volume of residential waste that contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.
The report estimated that in 2011, 54,531 tonnes of CO2e were emitted by the Township of Cavan Monaghan community. Based on the projected growth at that time, the authors projected that emissions in the community would grow to 64,755 tonnes CO2e by 2031 if no mitigating action was taken. Cavan Monaghan was reported to be targeting 31% reduction in its GHG emissions from this 2011 baseline by 2031. This is equivalent to 17,017 less tonnes of CO2e emitted per year by 2031, which would put the Township’s community emissions at 37,514 tonnes of CO2e per year by 2031.
The new committee soon concluded that efforts to develop or extend any plan to improve sustainability would not be helpful unless the impact of these programs could be demonstrated. To measure a change requires having a baseline for comparison based on the actual, current conditions in the township including population and housing stock. With Council approval, the committee has engaged Aladaco Consulting Inc. to establish an energy consumption baseline against which future energy use can be measured. The report will include an analysis of corporate and community hydro and natural gas consumption which will establish a baseline for comparison to determine whether or not progress is happening.
In the meantime, committee members wanted to start some smaller initiatives that would be easily understood, quick to implement and would have an obvious environmental impact. These have include the re-introduction of the low-flow toilet rebate program and the sale of subsidized rain barrels which will be available at the Fall Festival this Saturday. They are also hoping to offer a subsidized tree planting program similar to one operated by Douro-Dummer this spring and are investigating the possibility of installing a rain garden or pollinator gardens on municipal property that could be used in a future Earth Day celebration.
Since the release of the Climate Change Action Plan, the municipality has taken a variety of steps to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, including introducing clear plastic bags for waste collection which reduces waste by encouraging recycling; the organic waste program in Millbrook and Moluk installation at the transfer station that divert waste from the landfill; adding energy retrofit projects to the municipal Community Incentive Program; replacing street lighting with energy efficient components, and installing eight solar panels across the municipality. With the ingenuity and efforts of volunteers on the Sustainability Committee, expect to see more initiatives in the future as we find ways to contribute to putting the brakes on climate change. KG