DEN Enews

Join faith groups across the province in exploring the benefits of installing EV Charging Stations in your faith building parking lot as a way to support your community, reduce Green House Gases, and visibly strengthen the NS charging network.

Even if you are not sure about your faith building needing or wanting an EV charging station, you are encouraged to submit an intake form which will put you on the list for a free site assessment. Molen Electric can provide up to 30 assessments and only 4 faith groups have signed up to date.

June 18th is the last webinar. Sign up here:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/faith-in-motion-ev-charging-for-faith-groups-tickets-1367129353699?

If you are unable to take part in the live webinar, please view the video below of a previous one. The deadline for applications for free site assessments is June 29th.

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From People Not Plunder: “Community information meetings in affected areas have drawn hundreds of Nova Scotians from all walks of life to learn more about the dangers of uranium exploration and mining, and municipal councils in Pictou, Lunenburg County, Annapolis, and West Hants have all voted in favour of calling for a pause in the government’s headlong rush to extract.

Tim Houston sure kicked a hornet’s nest on this one!

Though we found out yesterday that no companies bid on these 3 RFP areas, we know that this is not the end of our resistance. One uranium-mining company, Solterra Geo-Resources (CEO Jeff Burke) has taken out 211 additional leases for exploration. And there will be others. We need to show these uranium mining companies that they are NOT welcome in our communities!”

Here are opportunities to make your voice heard:

The Many Vs. the Money, hosted by the Council of Canadians and others.

Wednesday, June 18th from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. NSCC Institute of Tech 5685 Leeds Street in the front atrium

A gathering of folks concerned about society’s most pressing issues, including how economic elites are using our current tough times to drive their own agendas, “disguising their corporate wish lists as solutions to Canadians’ problems.”

People Not Plunder will have a table at this event where you can help make buttons, fold flyers, make/paint signs (or pick up a readymade No Uranium lawn sign!), or purchase a t-shirt.

Noon hour rally/pizza party at MLA Tim Halman’s office  

Friday, June 20^th from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm(ish)

Please RSVP to [email protected]

We will meet in the parking lot behind the Main St. Swiss Chalet.

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From the South Shore Council of Canadians:

We are so lucky to live in Canada's Ocean Playground!!  Let's work together to keep our beaches and coastal waters healthy!

To satisfy its requirement to receive public input about its Coastal Classification System, the Government of Nova Scotia conducted an online survey from mid-February to mid-March 2025. The Province's survey was poorly advertised and vague; it was more of a checkbox than genuine public engagement.

But what do Nova Scotians truly know and how do they feel, about the Province's aquaculture industry and open-net pens? Healthy Bays Network has launched a survey to explore these questions and assess the social license surrounding open-net pen expansion. HBN wants to hear from at least 1000 Nova Scotians on these issues, and plan to summarize our findings in a “What We Heard” report to be published in August 2025.

Healthy Bays Network has prepared a survey to assess public awareness about this controversial local issue. The survey should only take 10 – 15 minutes to complete.

The survey will close on July 15, 2025, and the results will be published online

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At the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, the UK government announced plans to ban bottom trawling in 41 offshore marine protected areas.

If implemented, this could protect 30,000 square kilometres of seabed, an area double the size of all England’s terrestrial national parks combined. These underwater sanctuaries are home to sharks, rays, corals, and other marine life that desperately need safe, undisturbed spaces to recover and thrive.

Do you believe Canada should strip away critical environmental protections while silencing public participation in decisions that impact nature, wildlife, and communities? The Building Canada Act proposed in Bill C-5 is a dangerous step backward, and the federal government is trying to rush it through Parliament without proper scrutiny and debate. This would give massive power for projects designated as having “national interest” to move forward by bypassing critical reviews under environmental or even health and safety laws. This is without democratic oversight or public input, and without free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous communities. Please add your name to stop the Building Canada Act from weakening environmental oversight, risking endangered species, ecosystems, and our health, undermining Indigenous rights, and eroding our democracy!

Our oceans are being plundered for profit by the fishing industry. This petition includes a short video that explains how bottom trawling destroys entire deep-sea communities and can change entire ecosystems. New Zealand is a world hotspot for biodiversity. The marine wildlife includes about 1400 species of fish, 1500 species of sponges, 3600 species of mollusc, over 1000 species of seaweeds, and around 1100 species of jellyfish, anemones, and rocky corals. Help protect our underwater environment by adding your name to push the New Zealand government to ban bottom trawling on seamounts and to stop issuing permits for bottom trawling in international waters.

Did you know that octopuses can solve puzzles, use tools, and even recognize individual humans!  These fascinating and majestic creatures thrive in the wild. Instead of respecting and appreciating them, octopuses are at risk of becoming the next victims of a cruel and unnecessary industry: commercial farming. In these farms, they will be crammed into overcrowded tanks, and they will suffer from stress, injury, and early death. In addition to the cruelty of farming, the environmental impact is severe and comes with pollution, antibiotics, and pesticides leaching into our oceans and harming other marine life. The OCTOPUS Act is a solution and a bill that can help protect these animals and our oceans. Add your voice to this petition to demand commercial octopus farming in the U.S. be banned and to ensure no farmed octopus is imported into the country. 

As we push for positive global change, there are those who push against it for personal profit. Rainforests are being logged and set on fire to make way for cattle and industrial soy farms. The EU wants to help improve the protection of forests by banning the import of products associated with deforestation starting this year. This applies to wood, coffee, cocoa, rubber, palm oil, beef, and soy, as well as products made from them, such as furniture, paper, chocolate, and tires. The problem is lobby groups are up in arms and after stopping this new regulation for deforestation-free products from taking effect. For months, industry and trade lobbyists, plus governments of many countries, have been applying massive pressure to weaken or delay the regulation. Use this petition to exchange the lobbying pressure with the strength of global community by telling the EU to not give in but maintain its ban on products from deforestation

What do Costco Canada, Loblaw, METRO, Pattison Food Group, Sobeys, and Walmart Canada have in common? They lack due diligence and all fail to take accountability for the seafood they sell. The Outlaw Ocean Project exposed a slew of atrocious human rights abuses such as slavery in China’s fisheries and seafood processing plants, worker rights violations, and illegal antibiotic use in farmed shrimp and processing plants in India. Issues like this have long been reported across global seafood supply chains. New Seafood Progress reports show that none of Canada’s major retailers are providing updates or reporting plans on how to clean up their supply chains. Join in asking for a simple formula to be put in place that assess adverse impacts, ceases and prevents these impacts, tracks results, and communicates how the impacts are addressed. With your support, we can help these huge businesses take responsibility by demanding the seafood sold is free of human rights and environmental crimes. 

Enviro Days

Grandma was thrilled to be invited as an exhibitor at the Meibec-CanExel Environment Day in East River this past week. It’s one of the last big springtime gatherings where gardeners, plant lovers, and eco-enthusiasts come together. There's always a real buzz in the air—seed sharing, plant buying, chatting with friends, and soaking up some sunshine.

Everyone brings along a tin or two for the local food bank, signs in, and gets a ticket. From there, it’s off to explore!

Bringing in vendors and exhibitors—like seed libraries, composting advocates, and a Diocesan Environment Network rep, creates learning opportunities. These booths can be interactive and hands-on, helping attendees see real-world environmental solutions in action.

After taking in the booths, there are usually snacks served from the kitchen window and maybe a talk or two about soil health or clever garden tricks. The 4H Club puts on a BBQ & plant sale

The day wraps up with a nice treat—remember the ticket they gave you? Give that to the folks out back and they give you two bags of mulch or soil to bring home. The best part? It’s all free with your food bank donation. That’s community care in action.

Planning an Environment Day is about so much more than protecting the planet. It’s about bringing people together to learn, share, and feel hopeful. When the giveaways, like seed packets and planting kits, disappear early, it’s a sure sign the community is hungry—not just for free stuff—but for ways to make a difference.

In the end, it’s a joyful day filled with learning, laughter, and love for the earth. And Grandma can’t wait to go again next year!

Garden Boxes

Guess what can be a great thing in life as you grow older? It’s surprising to everyone that you can do new things or simply make something no one has time to do. For Grandma, it was making this year’s new community garden boxes.

I watched the how-to video a dozen times—it looked easy enough. Of course, reality set in with measurements. My younger neighbour showed up mid-build with a brad gun, drill, and some serious 3-inch screws to reinforce the base. Two garden boxes—done before lunch!

The next morning was added the wire mesh and weed barrier. A bit fiddly, but nothing too hard. Soon, with the help of a truck and some strong neighbours, the boxes were set up behind the Blandford Community Centre. That makes seven—yes, seven, community garden boxes in Blandford. Two more gardeners will be getting their hands dirty this summer.

And guess what we learned? Maybe the boxes could be 4 inches lower for better wheelchair and walker access. Luckily, this year’s gardeners don’t need the extra accessibility, but we’ll keep that in mind for next time.

Oh, and I’ve decided I want a Brad gun. If you have arthritis in any part of your hands, this tool will let you build without pain from hammering in nails.

Now, what can I build next? Stay tuned!

Something to eat

Grandma is always going through a cupboard or two a week. This week she found Cheerios that we opened back in January. Time to use them up. Remember that you can always add raisins to cookies. Mine were plain but disappeared when friends came to visit.

Cheerios Cookies (Grandma style)

½ cup margarine, butter or canola oil

1 scant cup sugar (or half a cup of honey or maple syrup)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

1 cup oatmeal

3 cups (crushed) Cheerios

Dash of salt if you can use it

1 tsp baking powder

(If needed) a drizzle of milk to make everything sticky enough to hold together

I roll them in balls and flatten or drop them by spoonfuls. Bake for about 10 minutes per pan at 350.