• Develop a climate change mitigation action plan for your municipality.
  • To get you started, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities has put together a useful Model Climate Change Action Plan for Municipalities for their Partners for Climate Protection program.

• Explore ways to make your community more walkable and bikeable.
  • The Active Transportation Committee of the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities has lots of online tools to help your municipality get more people out on the sidewalks and out riding their bikes.
  • Pathways for People is an initiative of Recreation Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness. Adminstrative Partners include Ecology Action Centre and The Heart and Stroke Foundation. Check out their website at pathwaysforpeople.ca 

• Make your community idle-free. A partnership of the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities, Clean Nova Scotia, NS Environment just released an anti-idling toolkit for municipalities. It contains tips on anti-idling bylaws, municipal policies and public outreach campaigns to save fuel and reduce harmful air emissions.  

• Start a community garden. Growing your own food is a great way to reduce the food miles (and transportation carbon footprint) or the food you eat, even if you live in the city. If you live in the Halifax Regional Municipality, check out:

  • The Peninsula Urban Gardens Society
  • The Ecology Action Centre’s Food Committee
  • Imagine Bloomfield
  • Capital Health’s Common Roots Urban Farm 

• Create renewable energy.
  • Nova Scotia is moving towards more renewable energy and you can be part of the shift! Visit www.nsrenewables.ca to find out more.

• Help your community plan for the impacts of climate change.

  • Check out the Climate Change Adaptation page for more information about the impact of climate change on Nova Scotia and tools to help communities adapt.

Do you have more ideas for what your community can do? Please contact us.