Survey on future transport plans for Metro Vancouver 

Metro Vancouver is planning ambitious changes to the ways we get around over the next 30 years, and they want to hear from all of us. 

You may have taken their first survey in the fall. After hearing from the public and many other stakeholders in Phase 1, they’ve come up with goals and key actions to take us into the future.  

The Phase 2 survey takes about 15 minutes to complete (including the time to view their jazzy videos about each key action). The survey is open until May 14.   

Transportation is a leading cause of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions on the Lower Mainland. We need ambitious plans and changes to the way we move if we have a hope of limiting climate change. Metro Vancouver's new plans are exciting, and we need to let them know we support their vision.

Take the Transport 2050 survey

Calling all doctors & NPs

Nature prescriptions were named one of the top 8 global wellness trends in 2019. And it's no surprise—research shows that people who spend more time in nature enjoy better mental and physical wellbeing.  

Physicians and nurse practitioners are invited to an online interactive workshop on Canada's first national, evidence-based nature prescription program. Learn how you can apply the PaRx program's tools to improve the health of your patients and the planet.  

Date: Tuesday, May 25
Time: 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Format: Zoom
Register on Eventbrite 

Presenters  

The workshop will feature Dr. Melissa Lem, a Vancouver family physician who also works in rural and northern communities within Canada. Director of PaRx—Canada's first national nature prescription program, powered by the BC Parks Foundation—and President-Elect of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Melissa has been researching, writing and speaking about the nature-health connection for over a decade.  

Dr. Lem will be joined by Jennie McCaffrey, an educator focused on facilitating connections to nature and inspiring behaviour change for the health of our planet and ourselves. Most recently Jennie worked with the BC Parks Foundation to launch the Healthy by Nature initiative.

Register for the PaRx workshop

BC Hydro wants input on rates 

Transportation and buildings are both major emitters of GHGs. To combat this, many drivers are switching to electric vehicles while homeowners are changing to electric heat pumps for heating and cooling their homes.  

But a major obstacle to wider adoption of both these clean technologies is BC Hydro's rate structure for electricity, which charges an increased rate after a certain threshold of use is passed. 

Hydro is considering several options to address this problem, and they're looking for public input on options for future residential electricity rates.  

In this first phase of public engagement, BC Hydro is looking to understand how you use electricity and what matters to you when it comes to your electricity costs. 

Help shape your future electricity rates

MOTHERLOAD screening & panel discussion 

With Go by Bike Week coming up, what better way to kick things off than by watching a documentary on the joys of hauling around your kids – and everything else in the world – on your souped-up cargo bike?  

MOTHERLOAD follows director Liz Canning on her quest to understand the increasing tension between modern life and our hunter-gatherer DNA – and how cargo bikes offer a solution.

Liz's experiences as a cyclist, as a mother, and in discovering the cargo bike world, teach her that sustainability is not necessarily about compromise and sacrifice, and that there are few things more empowering in an age of consumption than the ability to create everything from what seems to be nothing. 

Watch the MOTHERLOAD trailer

Co-hosted by the Maple Ridge Climate Hub and HUB Cycling Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows, this free screening runs from May 28 through May 30, with a panel discussion the evening of May 31. The event will definitely get you in the mood for Go by Bike Week, May 31 - June 6. 

REGISTER for the MOTHERLOAD screening & panel discussion

Feel free to forward this newsletter

At this critical time in the race to combat climate change, it's crucial that we stand together and act in big and small ways to move our community to a low-emissions future.   

You can take one simple step today: forward this newsletter to friends and family members, neighbours and co-workers. One of the most effective ways to fight climate change is simply to talk about it. By sending this newsletter out into your world, you are talking about it, and helping others join the conversation. 

Sustainably yours,

The Maple Ridge Climate Hub team 

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