Master Composter Course – registration now open!

The Riverview and Lord Roberts CLER Program is happy to announce that we are co-hosting a Master Composter 18-hour workshop (spread out over four convenient dates and times – see below.)

The Green Action Centre’s Master Composter Program is an in-depth course where the applicant, once trained, is required to complete 30 hours of volunteer time within two years to achieve certification. Volunteer time is gained through participation in activities that promote composting to residents, businesses, schools, and other community members. The four-day workshop schedule is as follows:

Sep. 30   6:30-9:30pm at the Riverview Community Centre, 90 Ashland Ave.        Oct. 1   9pm-3pm at the Riverview Community Centre, 90 Ashland Ave.
Oct. 14   6:30-9:30pm at the EcoCentre, 3rd Flr – 303 Portage Ave.                           Oct. 15   9am-3pm at the EcoCentre, 3rd Flr – 303 Portage Ave.

Master Composters receive free training, invitations to special events, a resource kit and the ability to promote composting in your community with confidence! Apply here!

Smart Trips Challenge – take the sustainable route!

We are looking for 10 participants who normally drive a car to work to volunteer to commute to work using a more sustainable means of transportation for the work week of Sep. 12-16. If you want to bus, we’ll buy you a 5-day bus pass; if you want to cycle, we’ll give you a bike computer to track your mileage; and if you want to walk, we’ll give you a pedometre and an umbrella.

According to CBC, car emissions alone account for 25 percent of our countries greenhouse gas emissions. You can reduce your impact by signing up for our challenge. E-mail raimey.gallant@rvlrclimatechange.com to sign up, and let her know if you’re interested in starring in our Smart Trips video. This just in: All 10 participants will also receive a Dynamo Front 3-LED Bike Light, courtesy of Green Action Centre.

Free Home Energy Efficiency Workshops!

It may be hot and sunny now, but fast forward a few months, and keeping it balmy inside your home will be easier said than done. We want to make it easy for you. We’ve put together two free home energy efficiency workshops to help you not only reduce your greenhouse gas emissions but to reduce that final tally on your winter Hydro bills as well! We’ll show you quick and easy tricks to weatherproof your home, and we’re even going to give away free supplies to take home for everyone who attends! We will also be giving away two free backyard composters at each workshop! E-mail raimey.gallant@rvlrclimatechange.com for more information.

Choose between two workshop dates:

Thurs., Sep. 15  from 7-8pm at the Riverview Community Centre
or
Tues., Sep. 20 from 7-8pm at the Riverview Community Centre

2011 Sustaina-Families prize worth getting sustainable for

Wow! We can’t thank our prize sponsors enough. We just finished putting together the prize for the grand prize winner of the 2011 Sustaina-Families Challenge, and it will be valued at well over $300. The prize includes:

• A one-month adult bus pass
• A $25 gift certificate from the South Osborne Safeway
• A two-class pass from Yoga Shala at 440 Don Ave.
• A golf shirt and hat made from recycled materials and a putter from Assiniboine Credit Union
• A series of books for the whole family from the Manitoba Securities Commission (as well as piggy banks for all five Sustaina-Families!)
• A rain barrel from the Riverview and Lord Roberts CLER Program (that’s us!)
• A Dynamo Front 3-LED Bike Light from Green Action Centre

The chance to enter the contest is now closed, and we’ll be contacting the five families who have been chosen to participate very soon.

South Osborne Tree Banding Blitz – 27 Block Captains so far, but still need more!

Already, the South Osborne Tree Banding Blitz is promising to be a success. We have suppliers lined up, we are working with the Coalition to Save the Elms (also known as Trees Winnipeg), and we have 27 Block Captains or Co-Block Captains covering 57 blocks in the South Osborne area!!! We still have orphaned blocks that we need Block Captains for though, so if your street is listed here, or if you would like to volunteer to be a Block Captain for one of these streets, please e-mail raimey.gallant@rvlrclimatechange.com with your name, address and phone number, and we will get you everything you need. You can also check out the Facebook Event.

Free Bikes promotion more popular than expected

The South Osborne Bike Hub is busy getting adult bikes road-ready for the Free Bikes promotion. Together with SOBH, the Riverview and Lord Roberts CLER Program is giving away eight adult bicycles in total to area residents. We’ve already had overwhelming interest in the bikes, and we wish we had more to give away!

But wait! There is still a way to get a very reasonably-priced bicycle from the South Osborne Bike Hub! Just head down to the bike hub on Monday or Thursday evenings (except holidays) from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and ask about how you can pay $25 for a partially-built bicycle that the uber-talented volunteer mechanics will show you how to fix up yourself.

South Osborne Tree Banding Project

I have a dream for South Osborne this fall: to band every single tree.

Why? So that the beautiful trees that we have in South Osborne will be here for this and future generations.

Here are my top three reasons for wanting to see every tree banded this fall:

1. Cankerworms! Tree banding is an easy way to protect your trees from cankerworms infestations. Wouldn’t it be great if South Osborne was known as a cankerworm-free neighbourhood? The thing is that all trees need to be banded
2.  Lower Energy Costs!  Trees act as wind barriers in the winter and shade providers in the summer. “If you plant a tree today on the west side of your home, in 5 years your energy bills should be 3% less. In 15 years, the savings will be nearly 12%.” —Dr. E. Greg McPherson, Center for Urban Forest Research. 
3. Property Values! Healthy trees on your property and street add to the value of your home. Have you ever been on a street without trees? Not very inviting.

How can this dream come true? We need people to volunteer to be a tree-band captain for 2-3 blocks. We will give you an easy-to-follow guide on how to engage your neighbours, and we will also organize a tree-banding supply drop-off for your blocks, and we will give you our life-long admiration. You’ll get to experience connecting with your neighbours, making a difference in the community and a neighbourhood full of beautiful trees.

We are holding a Volunteer Recruitment Information and Questions Meeting at the Lord Roberts Community Centre on Wednesday, July 14 from 7 to 8 p.m. Please come with questions and enthusiasm!

New Facebook Group contest! For each friend you add, you are entered to win a $160 prize package

We’re gearing up for some really great events this fall, and we want to make sure your neighbours know about them too! So we’ve launched a quick and easy contest. All you have to do is add your Riverview and Lord Roberts friends, family and neighbours to the Riverview and Lord Roberts CLER Facebook Group. For every person you add to the group, you will receive 1 entry into our prize draw. Why is it easy? Facebook now tells us who added someone to the group, making your entries into the draw automatic.

Total Approx. Prize Value: $160!!!

• 1 rain barrel
• 2-class pass from Yoga Shala at 440 Don Ave.
• Parks Canada Forks National Historic Site gift pack including 1 pass to the 6,000 Years in 60 Minutes tour and 1 geocache pass, as well as a children’s backpack and 2 water bottles
• Refillable water bottle and frisbee from Assiniboine Credit Union
• Dynamo Front 3-LED Bike Light from Green Action Centre

Contest closes July 17, 2011, and in case you already added people recently, we’re backdating the contest opening date to May 18. The winner will be notified by Facebook message after July 17. Enter now by adding people to the group!

South Osborne Bike Hub a community labour of love

We recently interviewed South Osborne Bike Hub volunteers Jaret Olford and Marcia Geary for an article for The Sou’Wester, and we were very impressed with the dedication it takes to start and keep this community-led initiative going.

According to Olford, there are now 12 core volunteers, each taking turns staffing the SOBH Mondays and Thursdays, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (except holidays.)

SOBH is located in the Lord Roberts Community Centre field outbuilding, and anyone is welcome to stop by.

SOBH is grant and donation funded. In order to ensure the continuation of the bike hub, donations from owners of repaired bikes are welcome, as are donations of parts, bikes and tools.

SOBH is also seeking volunteers with or without mechanical experience. You can learn about bike maintenance from a more experienced bike mechanic while you volunteer for a great cause. Just e-mail sobikehub@gmail.com.

Why is the bike hub important? According to Olford, though it started to encourage active transportation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the hub also brings the community closer together. Geary adds that the bike hub goes a long way to teaching people about how to maintain a safe bicycle.

SOBH is open “until the snow hits,” according to Olford, adding that repair assistance is available by appointment in the winter.

Bike To Work Day Park Theatre Pit Stop hosted 72 cyclists!

Our volunteer bike mechanic Jaret Olford poses with cyclists at the Bike To Work Day Park Theatre Pit Stop

The Bike To Work Day Park Theatre Pit Stop on Friday, June 24, was a huge success! 72 cyclists visited our pit stop for free coffee and muffins courtesy of the Park Theatre Cafe and to enter the Riverview and Lord Roberts CLER prize draw.

We gave away a handful of Bike to Work Day t-shirts, a box full of Assiniboine Credit Union swag and free Winnipeg Cycling 2011 maps. Jaret Olford, a South Osborne Bike Hub mechanic was also on hand for quick adjustments.

Bike To Work Day 2011 had a record number of cyclists register across Winnipeg. 2,700 Winnipeggers took to the streets with pride, and the organizers are hoping for an even larger number of registrants on the 5th annual Bike To Work Day Winnipeg next year!

We’d again like to thank the contributors to the prize draw. We gave away:

• a Bike To Work Day t-shirt from Bike To Work Day Winnipeg
• 1 rain barrel from the Riverview and Lord Roberts CLER Program
• a $25 gift certificate from Banana Boat
• a 2-class pass from Yoga Shala at 440 Don Ave.
• a Parks Canada Forks National Historic Site gift pack including 1 pass to the 6,000 Years in 60 Minutes tour and 1 geocache pass, as well as a children’s backpack and 2 water bottles
• a blanket and laptop bag from Assiniboine Credit Union
• a $10 Park Theatre Cafe gift certificate and refillable coffee mug
• Dynamo Front 3-LED Bike Light from Green Action Centre

Riverview and Lord Roberts CLER Program Coordinator Kerri Twigg poses at the Park Theatre Pit Stop