I love living in Toronto, but it has it's problems.

Garbage collection in residential areas should be handled the same way it is in business areas. Businesses are required to buy CITY OF TORONTO garbage bags (which are pricey) to encourage people to reduce waste. I think this would work for homes. My girlfriend and I put out a single garbage bag every two weeks, but some of my neighbors put out as many as six!

Bike safety is a joke in Toronto. I have been hit twice while riding on the Danforth, a road that is wide enough to support a bike lane, but lacks one. People treat it like a highway. It is not.

The TTC is efficient and clean. But the price is absurd. Start taxing those car owners and set up tolls everywhere!

I'll talk about biking too, but I've got a different perspective than John above me. Cycling is great in the old city of Toronto, but in the former boroughs, developed post-WWII, it's understandably hectic.

I do agree with John that a lot of drivers still speed too much and don't take enough care considering the potential for harm they can inflict, but things are changing, slowly.

I'm noticing a lot more cyclists on the roads this year with the higher gas (and TTC) prices and environmental consciousness, and it seems like more and more people are more aware of cyclists lately.

The "BikePlan" (getting signed, marked routes to cover 1000 km) is behind schedule, for financial reasons, but there have been steps in the right direction - like some TTC buses now have bikeracks, and there's a new "mobility hub" at Exhibition place which integrates GO trains, the TTC and cycling lockup facilities.

I like the fact that we have organic waste recycling. But like Johnny said, we still need to reduce our garbage output significantly.

I also agree that transit is getting too expensive. I deal with it by walking everywhere as much as possible, which keeps me fit and lightens my impact on the health system and the environment day to day-- I'd love to see some kind of tax cut for a good pair of walking shoes once a year instead of the numerous business ones available to me for driving a car or calling cabs.

Toronto the Good:

We're adding more green roofs, there's even one on top of City Hall! A wee itty bitty one.

There's also the very very cool EnWave project which uses the constant temperature of the water deep in lake Ontario to run air conditioning in big buildings in the downtown core.

We still have streetcars and the subway system (though expensive) is pretty good.

Our bike lockup posts are free, plentiful and provided by the city.

People in many parts of the city (the Annex, Kensington Market, Leslieville, the Danforth) are very eco-friendly and eco-aware.

FoodShare is a program that bulk buys locally grown produce and also helps with community gardens around the city.

Tons of trails in the city's many ravines.

The Bad:

Toronto used to be considered one of the best biking cities in North America but it's dragged its feet for soooo long. Cycling in this city has its bright spots but there are too many bad and unsafe spots in the city.

Transit fares keep going up and service keeps slowly sliding downwards.

Toronto has many newcomers that speak dozens of languages which means getting eco-info can be challenging.

Our PM is a Kyoto-hating, Bush-lite. Fortunately no-one in Toronto voted for his party.

The Ugly:

Our garbage crisis. We're trucking garbage to Michigan and we need to get serious about reducing or cutting it down altogether.

Smog. We had 40+ smog days last year and according to our board of health 1500 or so Torontonians die of smog each year.

The Gardiner/Lakeshore Boulevard. Two highways (one elevated) cut us off from our lakefront.

According to the city website, Toronto is currently undergoing pilots of the Green Bin Program, which is collection of organic material separate from regular garbage. Hamilton, where I live, has just started this program city-wide, and I've been really glad to see how much of the garbage that used to go to landfills will now be reused for compost. We've only had our Green Cart for a week, but a high percentage of our garbage goes in it, and it makes me more aware of what we're throwing away.

Toronto certainly has it's highs and lows. The TTC is struggling but is still pretty good for getting around. Definitely overpriced though. When travelling in groups of 2 or more it's often cheaper to drive and park or take a cab than to take the TTC.

Personally, I bike everywhere. Rain or snow, hot or cold. Toronto could do much to help cyclists but the biggest problem I see is drivers who are too caught up in their own little worlds to see what's going on around them. More bike lanes would definitely be a good thing but then drivers need to know how to interact with those lanes. 2 of the 3 times I've been hit were the result of people who pulled up beside me while I was in a bike lane and then decided to make a right hand turn right into me. All I can guess is that they thought they had passed me. Most drivers don't realize that many regular cyclists are traveling 30-35km/h.

Garbage collection is definitely one area the city is doing well, although residents could do better. The green bin compost program has reduced our household garbage output to about 2/3 of a bag every 2 weeks. Although I still constantly find myself picking paper and glass products out of friends garbage bins and putting it into the recycling box.

Toronto needs to bury the Gardiner, add tolls to the DVP and inplement some pedestrian only areas in the city. Kensington market's pedestrian sundays are a start but this should be taken a lot further.

Toronto's big problem from my perspective is energy consumption. I'm constantly telling people to turn off their computers and monitors at the end of the day, turning lights off that others have left on and trying to convince people that they won't die if they don't have the air conditioner on max or turn the heat down a notch and put on a sweater.

The most exciting thing I've seen growing in the past year is awareness of where our food comes from. More people are making an effort to buy organic foods and even better, to buy them locally. Backyard vegetable gardens seem to be popping up all over the place. Let's hope this movement continues to grow.

Toronto is a great city with even greater potential. I get the feeling most people want to make the city better and just need to be shown how (I'm excluding the 905 region, Toronto's vast sub-urban lands, from this thought).

The GTA/905 region is probably the most disheartening of all things to do with Toronto, this endless sprawl of sub-urban cookie cutter housing, where people are content to pretend that nothing is wrong in the world so long as their lawns are green and weed free. Ontario's best farmland, all bulldozed into flat sprawls to make development easier. What a waste...and for waht? So SUV driving families can let their dog crap in the backyard that they rarely use anyway because half the year it's too cold to hang out in anyway.

I'm finding more reasons to visit Toronto in the near future. I would like to visit two of our current vendors in the burbs, and there is a company that makes recycled plastic flooring, and a company that makes recycled rubber sheet that I want to check out. I definitely want to visit some of the locations of eco-interest in town.

Anyone have time to send me some ideas? You can click on my typekey and get my email.

Sorry, I was the one considering visiting Toronto.

Typekey dumped me without warning, again. You'd think I was using dialup or something.

Biking in Toronto is ok, if you stick to sidestreets and are extremelyconfident on your bike (enough to take a lane or sit mid intersectionwith cars passing at 70km/h to make a left turn).

Basically in the 15 years of commuting by bike and thinking about these thingsconstantly, I've come to a few conclusions:

• 1) bikes and cars are too different in all aspects (size, speed,maneouverability, exposure to injury and weather) to be safely mixed inregular traffic. Human nature's trend to take advantage of the weak is toostrong and wont be curbed easily without a physical barrier or seperate paths(or forcing drivers to strap their children to their bumpers :).
• 
  2) cyclists are not considered important by the govt, except to the pointwhere sympathetic non-cyclists think they should be. The electorate is all thats important, and overwhelmingly the electorate does not bike to work. Cyclists are hippies/anarchists/dont have jobs and arent an important votingsegment, so they dont matter because there's no recourse to not servicing their needs. So no one wants to cycle because there're no resources spent onit and it sucks. So no one cycles, so few voters are cyclists. Chicken and egg.
  


• 
  3) Toronto is a city full of money, professionals and protestant work ethic.To cycle to work suggests a certain laxity, a certain mirthfullness; that life and work arent serious. If you cycle you arent a serious player, you're not acitizen. "Cant wear nice clothes cycling to work, which are required" is moreoften than not the explanation I hear. Riding a bike isnt a great way to showoff your Bling Bling which alot of people like to do with cars ("nice clothes at work = nobleman who came in a carriage not on a horse/walking in muck" -nice ancient philosophy of social status based on imperialistic power/accessto resources.) However, some inventive people out there are starting to makesome really nice bikes (good on them cuz god knows we wont cure humans of pride, ever - need to tap into it.)
  


• 
  4) people arent ready to make the sacrifices required because they see them as sacrifices. They dont see their car-addictions are an abuse they need to stopto obtain an ADVANTAGE ('stopping heroin is an ADVANTAGE not a penalty' kindof idea) - they see it as a SACRIFICE - giving up a convenience thats so incredibly expensive for everyone (smog-related deaths, global warming, etc).This attitude that they deserve a car will prevail until a generation grows upwith expensive gas prices (which is being born just now) and social mores are adjusted.
  

Until it is seen as an abusing moral sin to waste energy and pollute the environment, people will continue to do it as if it were their birthright (just look south for the pinnacle of this attitude).

For those forces trying to change, they're woefully underpowered. Its a hilarious thing to watch the ineffective ARC ('advocacy forrespect for cyclists' - "asking nicely for respect for cyclists and notgetting any and scratching heads wondering why drivers are still jerks and the city doesnt care" is more like it) AND the Toronto City Cycling committee (at City Hall) trying to jam bikes onto already crowded major streets that were NEVER designed for bikes! (Withness the triumph of the 1-foot-wide bikelane on Spadina! What a joke - just use Huron instead from Queen to Dupont, whole road to yourself, and leads to the Poplar Plains/Russel Hill bikes lanes (that lead all the way to the 401 on sidestreets) that arent deadly like Avenue/Yonge/Mt Pleasant/Bathurst up the Davenport escarpment).

The city is *FULL* of sidestreets that go everywhere (except at key pointsover ravines/across railways/highways where only major streets cross :/ ) and yet these groups continue to advocate major-street cycling. That's a nice way to get killed. I've had 0 accidents (knock on wood) in my 15 years of commuting >20,000 km by using side streets (and being very aware).

There are a huge number of one way streets around the extended old-Toronto area (Eglinton/Jane/lake/Victoria Park), that are more than wide enough forbikes (and are perfect for contra flow bike lanes, which now exist on MontroseAve) -- USE THEM! The idea that cycling safely is stopped because we cant use one ways setup for traffic and noise calming efforts to satisfy rate payers is ridiculous. (Huron is a perfect example as per above, despite the one ways south of Dundas).

Cars are still king here, and the drivers know it. They go all tribal if you suggest (in legislation or by taking a lane) that bikes deserve any resources. Ill wager that less than 1% of the money per passenger-mile that cars get is spent on biking by the all levels of govt. Montreal is notoriouslybike-averse and yet they have bike lanes seperated by barriers (tho I wouldnt venture outside them!)

If we want to promote any eco friendlyness, avoid peak oil and global warming, encourage fitness, or even just stay out of traffic jams, we have to promote cycling in a serious way. The foot dragging on turning the ripped up CPrailway lines into a commuter path from the Junction to Union is a prime example. It's an extremely cheap project and yet its taking years. There's no will cuz its not important: it's just cyclists at stake here. Who cares?!

--

Dont get me started on transit, (except witness the failures of the city to get a St Clair dedicated light rail system in place, because of the special interests of a few 1000 store owners that trump the interests of 50,000 commuters per day! LOCAL POLITICS ROCKS! A ittle bit of a corruption goes furthest at this level! We dont even *TALK* about a pedestrian mall/dedicated lightrail on queen street. People would be thrown out of office for suggesting constructing it, despite the obvious dire need for it.

--

Proof of the failure of transit in Toronto: What the Subway Should Have Been By Now (also known as "A SHEPPARD LINE?!? Where's my EGLINTON LINE?!"),A Triumph of Special Interests, Corruption, and Fossil Fuel Culture:

http://www.harmsen.net/projects_ttc.html

If you are planning a visit to Toronto, aim for September 8-10, 2006 if you would like to check out the Annual Vegetarian Food Fair. It is the largest one in North America, admission is free, and it takes places in a beautiful park-like setting by the lake. http://www.veg.ca/foodfair

For a listing of Toronto's numerous veggie restaurants, as well as listings for organic markets and enviro stores see http://www.veg.ca/directory.

btw: Toronto has many more cyclists than I have seen in American cities which may explain why accidents stand out. I stick to the side streets.

Air quality can be extremely poor in the summer, which makes it difficult to enjoy the city's many green spaces. Recycling and composting are fairly well-implemented in homes and public places. Biking can be dangerous; drivers can be aggressive and unapologetic. Biking across town is an adventure only for the experienced. Public transport is okay--not as extensive as it should be given the volume of use. Organic food is widely available. Holistic medicine has widespread acceptance. There's a regard for nature in the culture and people tend to love being outdoors.

Overall, the government's refusal to plan and invest in green infrastructure is disturbing, particularly given the widespread support from downtowners for such things.

I have to agree with the poster previous who mentioned the high immigrant population as a challenge to greening the city--the language barrier is a big problem. (As a slightly off-topic example, the city only just began a PSA campaign explaining 911 emergency service in different languages this year, after several well-publicized and preventable child deaths.)

But more than that, it's expensive to get by here, speaking as a recent immigrant. Salaries are vastly out of line with the current cost of living. People are more concerned with finding work and covering housing and energy costs than with sorting through information about ecological correctness in languages they may not be fluent in. Thus, short-term thinking rules here.

People garden in their backyards or in public allotments...with Miracle Grow. People wash their driveways and sidewalks with a hose every day, because the water waste PSA's are in English only. People get out and walk in Kensington Market and Chinatown on the weekends...and cover the ground with a thick layer of litter.

Toronto's heart is in the right place but it's going to take some education. The government could do so much to help guide good intentions, but isn't. I can't really understand why.

Toronto has its good and its bad spots. I cycle in Toronto a lot and I have only had minor run ins with drivers. I do agree that transit is getting expensive, but I've been in living in England for the past 4 months and it's more expensive here.

As for renewable energy, Toronto is slowly moving forward. We've got the Enwave project, the turbine at the Ex (there will be a new one soon) and there's also a student project at UofT that aims to put one on top of Robarts Library (esc.ele.utoronto.ca) I think people are ready for it, but there aren't a lot of government incentives as of yet. All in all though, Toronto is a good city to live and I think eco-consciousness is on the rise because of the waterfront issues, the TTC, smog days and the like.

Probably one of the best features of Toronto is that on the municiple level of government there are lots of programs to help residents use less. www.toronto.ca/environment.

And changes are happining - green bins for apts by 2008; recently held 2nd annual green awards hosted by the city; and the popularity of Enviroment days held around the city.

Biodiesel is available in Toronto! Here's a cut and paste from http://www.greenincubator.com/aboutbiodiesel/buyingbiodiesel.htm

Topia Energy BioDiesel - Stohos Gas Bar
1001 Queen Street East (corner of Pape)
Toronto, ON
Hours of operation: 24 Hours / 7 days a week

Directions:
Station is located on the southeast corner of Queen St. East and Pape St just east of the DVP. The station can be entered from either Queen or Pape.

If you are in Toronto in early November, check out the Planet in Focus Environmental Film and Video Festival.

It always offers up an interesting selection of films. It is great to see a festival using film and video as a catalyst for change and awareness.

Here is the festival's website:
www.planetinfocus.org

http://spacing.ca/

And thats all I have to say about that :)

I've been looking for earth friendly dog products but so far there is only one site that really seems interesting: www.earthdoggy.com

I especially like the Earh Dog collars and leashes and the Big Shrimpy dog beds. Unfortunately, there are not too many green dog product sites and Earthdoggy.com seems to carry some really unique products.

The University of Toronto has had a great Environmental Studies program through Innis College for many years now.

One of Toronto's biggest stumbling blocks: immigrants. As a landing point for many of Canada's new immigrants, Toronto has grown enormously since the '60's. Without adequate dispersal incentives, Toronto accumulates the people and their associated issues of overpopulation and diverse cultures, "green" or not. While greedily pocketing the burgeoning urban-generated taxes, Canada doesn't compensate enough any of its new "city states" for their disproportionate share of the burden. Many new immigrants either lack the language skills, the social acceptance, the confidence, or desire to participate in local politics, and most need time to grow the roots necessary to care for their new community. That Toronto has managed over the years to at least keep its head above Lake Ontario is laudable.

Our initiative 'Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market' is unfortunately the only one of it's kind in Toronto.

Kensington Market becomes a car-free zone from 12noon - 7pm on the last Sunday of every month from May to October 2006.

We've been doing our best via this community based, volunteer run initiative to show Torontonians an alternative vision of our city streets and provide them with a clean air pocket in downtown. As you may have already guessed from the posts above mine - cars rule the roads here.

For more information about Pedestrian Sundays please visit www.pskensington.ca.

See you in the streets!

My City run daycare (run by the same City of Toronto that implemented a wonderful Green Bin program which recycles almost anything - even diapers) does not in fact use the green bin program for diapers (do they use it at all?) and subsequently throws in the garbage EVERY SINGLE DIAPER FOR 100 INFANTS AND TODDLERS EVERY DAY! I have written the mayor and my councillor Paula FLetcher about this but have had no response but I did get added to their email broadcasts! Before this program was implemented and before daycare I actually hired a company to pick up used diapers and turn it into energy.

sprawlronto is endless, and not very different than any other suburban mess, and needs a 21st century overhaul like everywhere,

but then urban core as you can see from above, rocks:

the green bins the're talking about, over 90% participation (!) and all compstables picked up get anarobic and turned back into soil in 14 days (toronto was also the first place to have curbside recycling)

the Exhibition Place's wind turbine isnt just a wind turbine, its electrolyszing hydrogen and they run the Ex's vehicles on the hydrogen. Plus the Ex is also now going to have the largest solar array in canada (a couple of thousand panels?)

there's a Green Toronto Awards and City Hall fully supports it.

there's two competing ecological dry cleaner companies

out in the Beaches people love their Solar Cleaners

the new city green Roofs Initiatives will spurn an even greater interest in green roofs

Trdel and Minto duking it out to see who can be the grenest condo developer in town...

a yellow Bikeshare like in amsterdam (is there still that in amsterdam?)

autoshare growing so big it attracts that carshare company form boston....

and of course the green tourism map is great notonly for green-minded visitors but really for every citizen!

I have been living by Toronto's shores for 24 years and each year, little by little, the city seems to yearn to get better. To progress.

I have read some very informative posts on all things eco from some very conscious Torontians but what
I saw missing was all the talk about the revitalization of Toronto's waterfront.

The lost connection between the city
and her waterfront is something this city needs to desperately address. Not only will it spur the economy but it will help develop the well being
of its natives to work and play in.

The waterfront's history is one of industry and as it left in droves in the 70's, it left behind it a polluted and fragmented mess. The Gardiner Expressway which was built in the 60's also helped to this disconnection as it is a physical barrier between downtown and the water.

Fortunately with a new mayor (which appears in the green issue of Vanity Fair) and people finally realizing what is theirs, Toronto is on the brink of getting what it deserves. A contest of 38 teams from 15 countries on 4 continents have submitted proposals for this ambitious redesign. A winner will be decided on June 2'nd with West 8's very brave and sustainable set of drafts being in the rumor mill lead.

Once coined "a meeting place" long ago Toronto might finally get its chance to live up to its name in a way in which every one of it's citizen's can be proud of and call home.

http://www.towaterfront.ca/dbdocs/446a4425175d8.pdf

http://www.towaterfront.ca/

TTC is dirty. They never clean it. I hate toronto. I was born in toronto, now I can't stand the over popluation. TTC is 2.75 next 2 years or so it'll be $3.00 and it makes me sick all the other cities in the GTA are a little cheaper and unlimited travel within 2 hours of your transfer time. In toronto Grab more money and shit over all the people!

Toronto is a city that has many great aspects and also a few smears against its reputation. I have been to quite a few cities in Canada, the US and over seas and we do have a lot going for ourself but need to make strides of progression to reach some serious goals in sustainability.

Toronto's fluorescent bulb promo. $3 off a pack of bulbs through a coupon (available at most stores - kick ass).

Green bins. It has been mentioned and its great.

Revitalization of the waterfront and the naturalization of the brownlands. Many people don't even know that the Leslie Spit was man made from fill and now supports one of the largest migratory bird populations around.

Things to do? Just pick up an Eye Weekly! There is also the Toronto Green Drinks which is going strong. www.greendrinks.org

Biking in the city? It's really not that bad. You DO have to be aggressive though. I have been riding for years and have yet to be in an accident. It's also much faster when traffic is heavy.

TTC is pretty good. Plenty of 24 hr lines for those night owls too. Expensive.. but isn't everything.

More and more hybrids - they are really catching on in this city. I see more way more Prii then Hummers in the beaches :)

Want to escape the city without going far? Head out to the Torotno Islands via human power by renting a kayak at the Toronto Harbourfront Canoe and Kayak Center. See wildlife in the bird sanctuary and paddle to your hearts content. Another option is to hike / run / bike along the Don Trail.

The worst thing.. Urban Sprawl. Smog. No renewable energy / retrofit
rebates (yet).