City Fleet Going Green
All City of Guelph vehicles and
equipment will now be subject to stringent guidelines aimed at reducing fleet
operating costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, this coming out of the
Emergency Services, Community Services & Operations Committee meeting last
week. Mostly, these steps have to do with fuel efficiency: how to use vehicles,
how to cut down on idling, and how to choose the right vehicle for the right
job. “Lowering the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by our fleet is
a win-win situation,” says Mayor Karen Farbridge in a city press release. “It
supports the goals of our Community Energy Plan, while saving on fuel costs at
the same time. I want to thank Operations staff for their commitment to this
program." The new guidelines and accompanying training for city staff is
in preparation for the city’s first E3 (Energy, Environment, Excellence)
review. E3 is North America’s first green rating program for vehicle fleets,
that evaluates, audits and recognizes fleets for their efforts in reducing smog
and greenhouse gas emissions, fuel use and costs. The review is expected to be
done this April.
Clean-Up Crew Looking for
Feedback
The Ontario Public Interest Research Group
is looking for feedback from the general public as to how they can improve
community support for their annual Speed River Clean-Up program. “The spark has
gone out of it,” said Alison Morrison, Speed River Project co-ordinator with
OPIRG told the Tribune. “Our numbers are dwindling, and we’re not even sure of
the impact of sending 200 people into the river on a Saturday morning.” The
Clean-Up, which happens every June, recruits volunteers from the community to
wade out into the Speed River, and along its banks, in order to clean-up garbage and debris.
Among suggested improvements, Morrison offers the possibility of moving the
Clean-Up’s base from Royal City Park to Riverside Park, but Morrison says that no changes will be made without public
input. “The neat thing about a clean-up is that it’s so simple and it’s a
gateway for anybody who has a little bit of an interest in environmental
issues,” said Morrison. If you’re interested in giving OPIRG your feedback,
then put this address into your web browser: http://speedrivercleanup.freeforums.org/
It’s War: Kitchener vs. Guelph
Who would have guessed that when a
19-year-old Kitchener woman was charged with mischief in a dust-up between
Olympic torch security and anti-Olympic protestors in December, that it was a
sign of things to come. That’s right, Guelphites, it’s war and the K-W has been
hitting us pretty hard the last few weeks. First, a Kitchener man was
charged with mischief after phoning Waterloo Regional
Police over the Valentine’s Day weekend and telling them that he planted six
pipe bombs inside Polycon Industries in Guelph after they fired him. Guelph Police
evacuated the plant and searched it and presumably found nothing since the
51-year-old man was charged merely with mischief. Next there was the case of
six Kitchener men charged with a string of electronic
store break-ins across Guelph and Waterloo Region. Come on, citizens! I say let’s leave the inter-city rivalry where it
belongs: on the ice at OHL hockey games with the Storm and the Rangers.
