The Enviro Crew is You!

The Enviro Crew of Old Ottawa South is growing! In less than 4 months, we have had lots of interest from the community, a few projects on the go, and over 100 members in our Facebook group.

We want to let you in on a little secret

Although we currently have about half a dozen core members, and have our sights set on eventually becoming a committee of OSCA, if you live in Old Ottawa South and care about the environment, then the Enviro Crew is YOU! A community goal of the Enviro Crew is to help elevate neighbour-driven environmental projects to make Old Ottawa South greener, lower carbon, less wasteful, and more sustainable. As we all know, an individual’s actions — multiplied by hundreds or even thousands — really start to have an impact. Although we are definitely looking for volunteers in a more formal capacity, you don’t have to join or commit to make a difference. Every action is important.

How will we do this?

Many of us have good ideas, but we need a little encouragement and a few helpers to make it a reality. If you have an idea for a simple environmental project, we suggest posting it to our Facebook group. Include a picture if possible and a little description. Put it out there and your eco-conscious neighbours will support you and help you.

We have seen this work for a number of projects so far. For example, we just successfully launched a very casual plastic gardening pot pickup/drop off to divert hundreds of gardening containers from landfill to be reused at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden for plant distribution. Another member planted a small oak tree off Bronson Avenue after someone offered up the sapling. We also helped a neighbour collect empties to be donated to Operation Come Home, which is much more environmentally beneficial than simply recycling them as many people, understandably, are doing these days. Part of the beauty of this is that most of these Enviro Crew neighbours had never met each other before and the projects took very little time to develop.

With these projects, we believe we are building a culture of neighbours helping neighbours. We are empowering people to get involved in the environment in ways that are tangible and community-based. There is something really amazing about having impromptu enviro projects pop up around the neighbourhood. We are looking forward to seeing what comes next!

Our Facebook group is called Enviro Crew of Old Ottawa South. It is open to all Old Ottawa South residents. You can also email us at envirocrewOOS@gmail.com.