Greener communities
Greener communities
Celebrating Earth Day... making year-long commitments
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.
IGA retailers in Québec contributed $1 million to Le Fonds Écomunicipalité IGA, a fund managed by Jour de la Terre Québec to support sustainable development projects across the province. In February 2009, the Fund awarded grants totaling $384,000 to fund environmental improvement projects in communities across Québec. Another $510,000 of project funding was awarded in June 2009 and $104,000 was awarded in September 2009.
During its first year, Fonds Écomunicipalité IGA awarded funding to over 140 community projects, including:
- École secondaire Marcel-Raymond: The school received funding to support the introduction of in-class recycling and composting programs and provide workshops to students and teachers on these initiatives.
- Ville de Chandler: The municipality received funding to install two aerators for oxygenation of local lake water.
- Centre de formation professionnelle de l’école d’agriculture de Nicolet: The school received funding to help pay for a green roof.
- Ville de Rimouski: The municipality received funding to support their public waste battery collection program.
- Éco Nature Parc de la Rivière-des-Mille-Îles: This not-for-profit organization received funding to help re-establish native area tortoises, which are considered endangered by the Québec government, by building, installing and maintaining six floating islands that will be used to ask park visitors not to disturb the areas inhabited by the tortoises during the reproduction season.
- Ville de Shawinigan: The municipality received funding to support the distribution of composting bins and composting information to its citizens.
In April 2009 IGA retailers announced the renewal of their agreement with Jour de la Terre Québec, committing to once again contribute $1 million to the fund in the coming year.
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.
To learn more about this fund, visit www.earthday.ca/envirofund/.
