Halton Environmental Network

Halton Environmental Network (HEN) will advance education about environmental issues, with a focus on climate change, providing strategies and opportunities for mitigation and adaptation, and by providing educational programs, events, workshops, research, and training for the community of Halton.

Halton Environmental Network (HEN) propels climate action and environmental sustainability in Halton, by educating and building awareness in our community. As a grassroots organization, supporting our community since 2004, HEN is recognized for its successful community programs:   Greening Sacred Spaces Halton-Peel ,  Halton Food,   Halton Green Screens ,  Generation Green , and  OakvilleReady . HEN is also the architect and backbone agency of the  Halton Climate Collective .

HEN networks with others and brokers partnerships with diverse stakeholders to:

• educate and raise awareness for climate action in Halton municipalities
• advance local climate and sustainable environmental policies
• deliver free environmental education to more than 20,000 local students
• host community charrettes and political debates
• organize free waste diversion services for special events
• support greening in faith-based organizations
• establish and support community gardens and
• advise local municipalities, organizations and businesses.

HEN strives to create a community of engaged climate stakeholders that work together to build a greener and more sustainable community. At its heart, climate action is about caring for all people and our planet. Generation Green showcases how every action counts.

Generation Green is a youth-led initiative with the goal of engaging Halton students in climate action leadership and supporting them in their commitment to greenhouse gas emission reductions in order to drive change and action in their communities.

Climate change is one of the most important environmental issues of our time. Climate change is caused by the increase in concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. These increases are primarily due to human activities such as the use of fossil fuels for transportation, heating and cooling our homes, as well as waste like plastic or food waste. Generation Green empowers youth to see how every action, no matter how small, can have a large impact. With the support of the Halton Climate Collective (HCC), Halton District School Board, Halton Community and Halton Environmental Network, each student completes a project that reduces their community’s greenhouse gas emissions, taking action for the climate.

Applying knowledge learned from the conference and journey, the students have the opportunity to plan and implement greenhouse gas reduction and mitigation efforts into their communities. That could mean their school, an extracurricular or just in their neighbourhood. It was really up to them how they wanted to create actionable change.

In the first year, 2019-2020, 42 projects were completed resulting in 22 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCo2eq)! In the second year, 126 projects were completed with over 150 Halton District School Board students. During the 6-week period, students designed a project that aimed to reduce as much greenhouse gases as they could. 

Students were given the opportunity to select from 4 different categories: Transportation, Home Energy, Waste/Food Waste and a Mix of Topics. Each of these respective categories, greatly contributes to increasing GHG emissions in our community. The first step for students was to calculate their  ‘Baseline’ emissions - based on how they would normally act. Thereafter, they measured their ‘Program emissions’ through their specific action to actively reduce GHG. The impact created was the difference between these two scenarios. 

Check out more about the projects and GHG calculations in our  Generation Green Toolkit .

The results below show how far we have come since the beginning of Generation Green and the massive impact youth can have in creating a more resilient, sustainable world!

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation projects focused on how we commute from one place to another. This involved projects that looked into biking, walking or using public transport instead of driving as well as looking into GHG emissions produced by the transport of everyday goods like food, clothes and other household items. See how much GHG was reduced:

Click the lower-left "circle" icon of a map to view the legend or click on each municipality to view their individual statistics!

WASTE

Waste projects looked into what we throw away. Waste projects focused on diverting items from going to the landfill and trying to refuse, repurpose, reuse, reduce, and recycle. These projects also looked into Food Waste and how much impact a meatless diet or reducing the amount of food waste can have in reducing GHG emissions.  See how much GHG was reduced:

HOME ENERGY

Home Energy projects focused on how to reduce GHG emissions caused by electronic appliances within homes and schools. These projects looked for creative ways to consume less water or energy to reduce GHG emissions within our infrastructure. See how much GHG was reduced:

MIX OF TOPICS

These projects combined a little of all the topics above to reduce as much GHGs as possible. Check out  Generation Green  for more information on the individual projects. See how much GHG was reduced:

Click on Oakville and move the slider to compare the GHG reduction!

In total, 23.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents of greenhouse gases were reduced!

Check out our  website  to learn more about what is happening in the Halton Community! Also, take a look at  Climate Collective's Resources  for insight on climate action plans, statistics and news.

Find out ways to get engaged by checking out our calendar for upcoming events and our  YouTube channel  for past webinars.

Go to our website to find out more about our partners and to become a partner with HEN and help us enact change.

HEN  Homepage 

HCC  Collective Action webpage 

Connect with us! Follow our newsletter, or connect on social media. Volunteer with us - Email  volunteer@haltonenvironment.ca  to join us and help us take action for the climate.

 HEN Twitter ,  HCC Twitter  ·  HEN YouTube  ·  HEN Facebook  ·  HEN Instagram ,  HCC Instagram 

Land acknowledgment

As a community, we have the responsibility to honour, care for and respect all the Creation gives to provide us with life. This includes the land, water, air, fire, animals, plants and our ancestors.

The Anishinabek Peoples have utilized this land for millennia and we would like to acknowledge their direct descendants, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, as the rightful caretakers and titleholders of this land upon which we live, work and conduct ourselves. We acknowledge our treaty relationship and responsibilities to both the land and these original peoples.

We also recognize that this land is rich in pre-contact history and customs, which includes the Anishinabek and Haudenosaunee and since European contact, has and continues to become home for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. And it is in the spirit and intent of the Dish With One Spoon, wampum agreement whereby we will collectively care for and respect the land, water, animals and each other in the interests of peace and friendship and for the benefit of not only ourselves but of our future descendants.  

The HEN Office resides on Treaty 22, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. For more information on Treaty 22 go to:  http://mncfn.ca/treaty2223/ 

Thank you to Ryerson for creating this story map