We invite you to join us for Earth Day!

The Convent Glen-Orléans Wood Community Association’s Environment Committee is running a ‘Cleaning the Capital’ event on Earth Day – Saturday, April 22, 2023. Check out our event page on Facebook.

Each spring and fall, residents across the Ottawa area volunteer to clean and beautify their neighbourhoods as part of the Cleaning the Capital Program.

All are welcome (all ages and all abilities)! We will provide clean-up supplies like garbage bags, nitrile gloves, and recycling bags starting at 9 a.m. at Cairine Wilson Secondary School. You can come as a group, or individuals. We will have some ideas of areas we think need cleaning up but participants can also choose to clean their own streets or parks nearest their homes.

After the clean-up, we will thank our volunteers and community members with free refreshments and a raffle at Cairine Wilson Secondary School between 12pm-2pm.

This is an excellent opportunity for students to earn volunteer hours. Please bring a printed form for organizers to sign.

If the event is rained out, it will be rescheduled for Sunday, April 23rd.

RSVP to the event on Facebook: https://facebook.com/events/s/earth-day-cleaning-the-capital/137080929121093/

If you are interested in purchasing a sponsorship package, or donating a prize for our raffle, please contact ConventGlenOrleansWood@gmail.com. Please also write to us if you require any accommodations during the event.

We hope you can join us make our community a cleaner, greener place!

30th Anniversary of Cleaning the Capital

Registration opened on March 15^th! Join the thousands of community volunteers who demonstrate their civic pride by taking an active role in keeping our city clean and green. This year, we are celebrating the 30^th anniversary of the Cleaning the Capital campaign.

Register your cleanup project by May 1^st. Then, get cleaning any time between April 15^th and May 31^st. Cleanup kits which include garbage bags, recycling bags, and gloves will be available for pick up at 10 City of Ottawa facilities, three more than years past.

Important Cleanup Project tips:

• If you can, please take all collected waste/litter back home and set it out on your regularly scheduled waste collection day. Remember to respect the 6-item limit. Visit Garbage and Recycling for more information.

• If you can’t take it home, or if you have collected large quantities of waste/litter, please contact the Cleaning the Capital team at cleaning@ottawa.ca (email is preferred) or 613-580-2424 ext. 13458 on the day of your clean up so that we can arrange for on-site pick up. Remember to provide your registration number, quantity of bags, exact pickup location, and a photo of the waste/litter you have collected. Please note: Waste/litter pick-up will occur during regular business hours (Monday to Friday). Pick-up requests submitted on weekends will be actioned on the next business day.

• Leave the leaves! Leaves should be left in open spaces that are maintained by the City, including parks and an in all naturalized and natural areas. Fallen leaves provide food and shelter for many species of butterflies and bees.

• Save your registration code to submit the online Cleanup Report for each project you completed by June 15, 2023. Cleanup reports help staff measure the impact of this campaign.

Important dates for 2023:

• March 15 – Registration opens
• April 15 to May 31 – Cleaning the Capital Spring campaign
• April 22 – Earth Day
• May 1 – Last day to register your cleanup project
• June 15 – Deadline to submit your cleanup report online

Updates from the Bridge Committee

The Bridge Committee continues to work towards a Door-to-Door Campaign to inform the community about the consequences of an Interprovincial Bridge being built in the east end of Ottawa. This is a huge undertaking, and we are taking it very seriously because we are keenly aware of what is at stake. Many volunteers will be needed to share the workload, and volunteers will ideally be knocking on the doors of their friends and neighbours. If you are interested in helping out with that project or anything else, please contact us at CGNbridgecommittee@gmail.com .

One concern we will be discussing with the community is the impact of adding 25,700 vehicles daily to highway 174 should a bridge be erected in the Greenbelt. Imagine that, after the traffic jams we have seen when just one lane of the highway was closed recently due to work on the LRT. We must remember that widening the highway isn’t part of the bridge plan; that will fall to the city, which does not have the funds for that work. Our lives in the east end will be changed for sure!

Stay informed! Find the Coalition to Stop the Bridge on Facebook and participate by supporting this Door-to-Door campaign. For more information, please check out the Bridge Committee’s webpage.

Transportation Master Plan Workshop

A number of organizations are coming together to organize a workshop on the city’s Transportation Master Plan. It is tentatively planned for Saturday, April 15^th from 9 to 2 at the Jack Purcell Community Centre off Elgin Street, near Lewis Street.

Keep an eye on Ecology Ottawa’s Facebook page for updates.

Tips for Pothole Season

Spring is a rough time for the City’s roads as ice melts and potholes appear to multiply.

Please call 3-1-1 if the pothole issue is related to the following:

• Construction activity (square or rectangular cut in road)
• An immediate hazard to people or property
• Personal accessibility
• A traffic-related issue (such as traffic signals or traffic signs)

For all emergency requests call 3-1-1. If this service is not available to you please call 613-580-2400. All other Service Requests will be triaged and addressed as operations allow.

You can also report potholes online via ServiceOttawa which even allows you to upload photos – here’s a direct link to the pothole reporting form:

https://so311.serviceottawa.ca/selfserve/?reqId=2000164&lang=en&form=Road_Maint_Surface.Pothole

National Volunteer Week

April 16^th to 22^nd is National Volunteer Week for 2023.

The National Volunteer Week theme for 2023 is Volunteering Weaves Us Together. This reveals the importance of volunteering to the strength and vibrancy of our communities through the interconnected actions we take to support one another. These diverse forms of sharing our time, talent and energy strengthen the fabric of our community.

Through volunteering we experience our interconnectedness, making our lives more meaningful. Getting involved in various ways, we find friendship, develop trust, and link our relationships. Threading these connections, we come to belong as we contribute towards the same goals.

Knowing our volunteer contributions are valued and meaningful creates a greater sense of purpose and dedication. From helping build a home, cleaning up a park, or coaching a sports team to cooking for an ill friend, checking in on a neighbour, or helping a stranger cross the street, each action we take impacts our community’s overall wellness, now and for future generations.

During National Volunteer Week 2023, we celebrate our collective impact: through our kindness, generosity and commitment to volunteering, we weave our lives together.

The CGOWCA is run entirely by volunteers including the Board of Directors, the Community Rink Team, the monthly Newsletter, the website, and our events. Thank you to each of you.