Jour de la Terre and Earth Day Canada partnerships
Jour de la Terre and Earth Day Canada partnerships
Making year-long commitments through partnerships with Jour de la Terre and Earth Day Canada
In celebration of Earth Day, the Québec and Ontario regions have launched partnerships with Jour de la Terre Québec and Earth Day Canada to fund projects that will positively impact the environment and benefit their local communities.
In partnership with Le Jour de la Terre Québec, Quebec's IGA retailers launched a fund in 2008 to promote new sustainable development in communities across the province. To date, $2 million has been granted to more than 250 environmental initiatives with an additional $1 million committed for this year.
Since IGA retailers support projects that aim to protect, preserve and promote the environment, they seek initiatives that encourage residents to effectively apply the 3R principle – reduce, reuse, recycle. Municipalities, schools or non-governmental organizations can request, among others, the distribution of environmental equipment such as home composters, rain barrels and used-battery collection bins. These projects can help communities divert waste and recycle – actions that have a measurable and lasting positive effect on the earth.
To learn more about Fonds Écomunicipalité IGA, visit www.fondsecomunicipalite.org.
In April 2009, Sobeys Ontario announced a partnership with Earth Day Canada (EDC) to create the Earth Day Canada Community Environment Fund. This grassroots grant program, modeled after Sobeys Québec’s IGA Ecomunicipality Fund will create opportunities to educate and inspire action in communities across Ontario while also providing much needed financial support for local environmental initiatives.
The fund provides grants of up to $20,000 to community-based environmental initiatives, creating opportunities for not-for-profit organizations and local schools to develop sustainable projects that foster environmental education and action across Ontario. The EDC Community Environment Fund is open to all Canadian, community-based, not-for-profit organizations and schools to support environmental projects across Ontario.
Since its inception in June 2009, the Earth Day Canada Community Environment Fund has awarded more than $1 million in funding to 69 community-based environmental initiatives across Ontario. Projects include:
- The Climate Change Action Program, Scouts Canada White Pine Council, Oshawa
- The Outdoor Classroom, Terry Fox Elementary School, Barrie
- Our Green Schools Initiative, EcoSpark, Toronto
- City Stream Watch, Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation, Manotick
- Play and Learn Garden, London Regional Children's Museum, London
- Solar Greenhouse Classroom, Projet Karyne and Gisèle-Lalonde Public High School, Ottawa
To learn more about this fund, visit www.earthday.ca/envirofund.
