Environment Hamilton has completed many projects over the last two decades! Browse through the list below to find out more about what we've done.
Led by City of Hamilton staff from the Air Quality & Climate Change Office, in collaboration with Dr. Matthew Adams from the University of Torontot, and Environment Hamilton, this initiative gathered air quality data across every ward in the city. Collection was done using passive air samplers that will collect 30 day samples, 4 times per year to capture information during every season. Monitoring also aimed to assess whether air pollution impacts are equitably distributed across the city or whether some community members bear a heavier burden.
Our Bicycle Air Monitoring or BAM! initiative was launched during the summer of 2014. BAM depended on volunteer pedal power - offering cyclists an opportunity to track local air quality while they ride their favourite routes. BAM volunteers borrow an air particulate monitor and a compact gps unit for a week at a time. They gather air particulate data as they ride and that data is ultimately uploaded to an on-line map that displays all of the air particulate data gathered by our citizen scientists.
Environment Hamilton and the Hamilton Naturalists' Club led a working group to explore a possible Biodiversity Action Plan for the City of Hamilton. On February 19, 2020, the City’s General Issues Committee passed a motion directing that City staff investigate the development of a Biodiversity Action Plan. On April 7, 2021, the Planning Department presented the Biodiversity Action Plan Feasibility Framework to the GIC and it was approved! BAP work began officially in August 2021.
The Community Fossil Free Plan (CFFP) is a policy paper intended to reduce fossil fuel dependence in the City of Hamilton. It is a youth-created plan that integrates community political advocacy, environmental research, and extensive governance consultation.
Energy Benchmarking for Faith Communities
Environment Hamilton, in collaboration with Faith & the Common Good (FCG), delivered a three year pilot where Hamilton faith communities were invited to participate in tracking their energy consumption. Launched in 2017, FCG's Energy Benchmarking Program is helping faith communities take practical and economical climate action by lowering their energy use and emissions.
Friendly Streets Hamilton was designed to engage community stakeholders in working towards more walkable, bikeable neighbourhoods. Having built a strong network of community partners, a toolkit has been published to help citizens engage and empower others on this topic. The project paid special attention to the need for friendlier streets for black, Indigenous, and other racialized community members.
Environment Hamilton’s Good Food Box Program worked to ease food insecurity by making affordable fresh local produce accessible to all Hamilton residents, including vulnerable neighbourhoods. Participants signed up and paid for a low-cost selection of local fresh produce that was available for pickup at select locations across the city once a month.
Hamilton Community Climate Action Network
The Hamilton CCAN was created to provide spaces for keen community members to come together to talk about the climate crisis and actions people can take in their own neighbourhoods to make a difference. The network facilitated neighbourhood-to-neighbourhood learning, and provides support from Environment Hamilton via our existing projects and advocacy work.
Let's Get Growing in Ward 3 organized and distributed seeds to Ward 3 residents, in partnership with Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann.
Mind How You GROW cultivated understanding through information sharing, public forums and workshops, and community hikes and tours – all to help community understand the critical connections between planning for Greenbelt resilience and effective urban growth management, and to encourage community action to get us there.
In August 2023, Environment Hamilton partnered with the Hamilton Center for Civic Inclusion to launch an outdoors group called New Petals. Programming was open to racialized folk of all ages and skill levels, and included no-cost introductions to vegetable gardening, birding, hiking, canoeing, camping and more.
Planning Applications Review & Response Team
The PARRT brought together Hamiltonians to track and comment on planning applications via the City of Hamilton.
This project trained community volunteers to monitor combined sewer and storm sewer outfalls discharging into Red Hill and Davis Creeks in east Hamilton.
Endorsed by the Ontario Lung Association, Trees Please Hamilton was designed to improve Hamilton’s air quality through strategic planting of native trees, shrubs and plants in six lower city neighbourhoods using air quality data to focus on high-impact areas. Trees Please Hamilton was a project in collaboration with The Hamilton Naturalists’ Club.
Environment Hamilton is proud to partner with the Mohawk Centre for Climate Change, Hamilton Blue Dot, and the public and separate school boards to have hosted several youth eco-summites at Mohawk College's Fennell Campus. Over 900 students attended the 2019 event and learned firsthand from our 4 2019 EcoHeroes.
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