Thank you to Nina Newington for her article shared in the SOOF newsletter for May 3rd. Nina writes: Across Nova Scotia, people are showing up. In the wake of rallies at the legislature that drew thousands of people, people are keeping up the pressure in opposition to ill-advised budget cuts. On Facebook there are so many well-thought out and researched posts critiquing this government’s extractivist projects, it’s hard to choose what to repost. Hundreds of people showed up for, and called out, fake consultations around fracking. The Assembly of Mi’kmaw Chiefs has unanimously refused to accept fracking on these unceded lands. Mi’kmaw water protectors and settler residents are challenging the siting of gas plants in Pictou County, and the Municipal Council voted to ask the province for a new review process, one that would be open to non-fossil fuel technology options.

NIna concludes her post with: Climate change won’t vanish like a mirage. Nor will nature loss. But a contagion of boldness has come upon us here in Nova Scotia. Time to reforest our hearts.

I love that line - a contagion of boldness. Thank you Nina. It echoes Grandmother Birch in her newsletter of April 28th where she writes of leaving the insects to feed on her garden without fear or upset. It’s all about an interconnectedness with nature. We need boldness to see that a leaf full of holes, a chewed on parsley stem, or an apple stung and scarred is the tell-tale sign that spins the world’s story of connectedness. The world as a web – where plants feast caterpillars.  Where caterpillars grow baby birds. Where baby birds fledge into iridescent hummingbirds, that in the early morning dew nectar on evening primrose flowers.  Where the heady night scent of the evening primrose draws a luna moth. And when the moon rises, the darting, diving little brown myotis (bat) flies synchronized with moths in ancient aerial acrobatics.  Where time falls away.   

The Earth needs our boldness right now. Boldness to stand up for those things that will reduce climate change and boldness to stand up against those things that will acerbate climate change. This boldness can be contagious and the season of Creation is a wonderful time to encourage others to accept that contagion.

Living Water

This year’s Theme, “Living Water”, is inspired by a powerful biblical vision of hope and ecological healing. Set amid exile and loss, the image of living water flowing from God’s sanctuary reveals divine healing that renews land, water, biodiversity, as well as human responsibility towards the whole creation. Join the global ecumenical family and start planning now how you and your community can celebrate the Season of Creation as a special Season of renewal and mission.

Take Back the Power - Thursday, May 7th,  6:30 PM

Bridgewater Fire Hall, 81 Dominion Street, Bridgewater. 

Now more than ever, people across Nova Scotia are feeling the pressure of rising energy costs, growing inequality, and a system that isn’t working for our communities or environment.

This event is part of a growing movement to take back the power and explore how we can build an energy system that puts people first. Join us to share ideas, connect with others, and learn more.  Together, we’ll hear from community leaders and organizers working across issues like affordability, climate action, and energy justice, and explore how we can work towards a more equitable system. Join us for an evening of conversation and collective action. This is a space to share ideas, meet others, and be part of shaping a better energy future.

Important Details:

Doors open at 6:00pm. Light refreshments will be provided.

Please park in parking spaces with white lines. Parking spaces with red lines are for firefighters only.

Ramp access on the  back side of the building. Hall is on the second floor, which is accessible by elevator. 

For more info and a chance to register (not necessary; you are most welcome to just show up!), please see the Facebook event page: Take Back the Power, Bridgewater

For more info:  [email protected] 

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Shared Resilience: Stories of Extreme Weather Adaptation

Learn about real-life examples of communities, individuals, and groups actively working on increasing local resilience to extreme weather events.

May 13th, 2026 - Resilient Forests: History, Humans and Healthy Ecosystems

To Register for this webinar: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cIO7_ro8Rzy_f0ljrMJGug#/registration

Did you know over 90% of new electricity added globally is renewable! Costs for solar, wind and battery storage continue to fall, and while new projects can be built within months. Canada’s largest city wants to get involved by investing in local renewable energy. This will improve Toronto's air quality, add local green jobs, lower electricity bills, and phase-out gas plants along the waterfront. Instead, the Doug Ford government is ramping up the use of dirty gas-fired electricity, which has increased from 4% in 2017 to 19.3% in 2025. In addition, both Ford and Carney are looking to build high-cost, slow to deploy U.S. nuclear reactors. Wind and solar energy can keep our lights on at less than one-third the cost of new nuclear reactors. We are going in the wrong direction. The shift to renewable electricity is no longer a future concept, it’s happening now. Take a moment to tell Canada and Ontario’s leadership to invest in low-cost renewable energy rather than gas and high-cost nuclear reactors.

Canada’s electricity demand will double, or even triple, by 2050. We need a power grid that provides for this future with clean, reliable, and affordable electricity. Join the petition calling on our government to invest $20 billion over five years in new electricity transmission connections between provinces. This financing would include supports for training workers and Indigenous-led projects. More than 100 organizations have been urging federal leaders to make this major investment. It would upgrade and build a truly Canadian east-west grid supported by renewable power and Indigenous-led energy projects. Help demand nation-building action for Canada’s renewable energy future.

Canada’s largest public pension funds are considering investments in risky LNG projects in British Columbia. LNG is not the solution that the industry and federal government have greenwashed it to be. It’s expensive, volatile, and polluting, all the way from fracking to liquefaction to export. Facilities built near waterways threaten coastal communities and marine wildlife with increased tanker traffic and industrial activity. Meanwhile, renewable energy is cheaper, more stable, and growing worldwide. Our retirement savings shouldn’t be gambled away on projects that are harmful to communities and the climate, and violate Indigenous rights. Send an email to pension fund CEOs saying you want your pension to be invested in a clean and affordable future. 

At the end of April, dozens of national governments convened in Colombia for the first-ever “Transition Away from Fossil Fuels International Conference.” The goal of the conference is to accelerate the rapid and just phase out of fossil fuels. This transition is hindered unless we address the issue of our world’s banks financing new coal, oil, and gas projects. The Spanish government participated in this conference in Latin America. Santander is Spain’s largest bank and the world’s largest financier of new fossil fuels in Latin America. They bankroll new oil and gas projects that destroy the Amazon, violate rights of Indigenous Peoples, and accelerate the climate crisis. This petition gives anyone a chance to demand Santander executives stop financing fossil fuel expansion, in Latin America and beyond.

Editor’s Note from Jesse: The petitions this week ended up with a theme of clean energy and the role finances play in furthering fossil fuel projects. Did you know you can help push for this to shift in individual ways?  We have more options than asking our banks to invest better or choosing the greenest bank, we can also participate in eco-investing. This allows you to put your money in funds or companies that support renewable energy or other green and social areas. This is also called responsible investing or impact investing. SRIs (socially responsible investing) and ESGs (environmental, social, and governance) are investing principles, strategies, and frameworks used to prioritize environmental and social issues. You’re able to ask your bank about these options, and demand they support and expand them. If you are invested in direct investing, there are many green, Canadian companies on our stock markets. Investing in these could help propel them to success instead of contributing to huge profit-piling corporations causing harm. If you’re interested, you can contact me for a collected list of nearly 50 stock exchange options. They are all Canadian and mainly green investing options, such as renewable energy that will help our transition away from fossil fuels. ([email protected]). 

Canada’s own pension fund is needing to be pushed away from investing in fossil fuels. Read an article of how our youth are taking one of the world’s largest financial institutions, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, to court for climate risk. This lawsuit is the first in the world to argue that a pension fund has a legal duty to consider climate change in its decisions: Young Canadians sue Canada’s largest pension plan - Ecojustice | Ecojustice

  Litterbugs

Litter has become one of those quiet irritations in Nova Scotia that isn’t so quiet anymore. You see it along the roadside, tucked into hedges, scattered near bus stops, and, heaven help us, welcoming visitors along some of our most travelled scenic routes.

And it’s not because Nova Scotians don’t care. Quite the opposite. There are volunteers with gloves and good hearts picking up after others every single season. There are organizations, municipalities, and even schoolchildren doing their best to keep things tidy. But still… the wrappers blow, the cups roll, and the cigarette butts gather like they’ve been invited.

So what’s going on?

Part of it, if we’re being honest, comes down to convenience, or rather, the lack of it. Over the years, public garbage cans have quietly disappeared from many places outside downtown Halifax. Changes to household garbage rules meant fewer public bins, as some folks were using them to sidestep limits at home. Sensible policy, perhaps, but it left a gap.

Now, imagine you’re out for a walk. You’ve got a coffee cup in hand, and you finish it halfway along your route. You look for a bin… and walk, and walk, and walk some more. Not everyone will carry that cup for kilometres. They should, yes, but many won’t. And so down it goes.

The same happens at community mailboxes, bus stops, trailheads: places where people gather, pause, and often have something to throw away. Without a bin nearby, convenience wins out over good intentions more often than we’d like to admit.

There’s also something a bit human at play, those old familiar habits: “No one will notice.” “Someone else will pick it up.” “There’s already garbage here, what’s one more?”

That’s how litter grows, not in great dramatic heaps, but one small careless moment at a time.

Now, to be fair, many people and organizations are working hard to turn the tide. Groups like Clean Nova Scotia and RRFB Nova Scotia organize cleanups, education campaigns, and community efforts like the Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up. The Government of Nova Scotia supports initiatives through youth programs, highway cleanups, and partnerships such as Adopt-A-Highway.

Even technology is lending a hand. The Litterati app allows everyday folks to photograph and tag litter, creating a map of trouble spots so communities can better understand where the problem begins.

But here’s the thing: rules, fines, and programs can only go so far. Littering isn’t just a policy problem; it’s a people problem. It’s about habits, awareness, and that quiet little voice that says, “Do the right thing, even when no one is watching.”

There are practical steps that could help. More public garbage cans in sensible locations like community mailboxes, bus stops, and park entrances would make a real difference. In neighbourhoods where bins are available, like the Hydrostone parks in Halifax, the improvement is noticeable. It’s not a cure-all, but it’s a helping hand.

And then there’s us. There is always us.

Every time someone chooses to carry that empty cup just a little farther…
Every time a dog walker packs out what their pet leaves behind…
Every time a child learns to put trash where it belongs…

That’s how change begins. Not with a grand gesture, but with a steady one.

Because Nova Scotia is a beautiful place, truly. And it deserves better than to be dressed in yesterday’s garbage.

So next time you’re out walking and you don’t see a bin nearby, think of it this way: you’re carrying more than a coffee cup. You’re carrying a small piece of care for the place we all call home.

And that, my dear, is never wasted.

Plant Exchange

Oh. I want to put in a notice for Blandford’s Seed and Plant Swap/Giveaway

Craft – Wind chimes

Grandma began making bottlecap wind chimes years ago. It felt like a sensible little act of kindness: to take those caps that would otherwise end up in a landfill and give them a second life. Back then, we didn’t even have plastic recycling. I still hang that original wind chime each season, hoping, ever so optimistically, that it might persuade the deer to dine elsewhere.

Let me show you a picture of my first one.

The ring at the top? An old spatter screen with the mesh cut out and wrapped with plarn (plastic bag cut in strips and joined to make twine) (from a time when we still had plastic bags). Nothing fancy, just something saved and repurposed.

Since then, I’ve taken to saving all sorts of “bits of plastic” throughout the year. It’s quite astonishing, really, how much we toss without a second thought—until you start looking at it through the eyes of a maker. Then, suddenly, everything has potential.

I treated myself to a small soldering tool that melts plastic holes quite neatly, and from there the mobiles took on a whole new character. Now they’re made from all manner of odds and ends: plastic thread spools (painted in cheerful colours), nasal puffers with the medicine removed, candy containers, the little plastic tubes from dog-waste bag rolls… and on it goes. There’s a bottle in the basement where I collect these treasures, waiting for the next creation to come together.

It may only be one person keeping a hundred bottlecaps out of a garbage bag, but never underestimate the power of one. A few others have caught wind of these mobiles now, and I suspect the idea will travel. That’s how change often begins—not with a grand plan, but with a small, thoughtful habit that quietly grows.

And if, along the way, we make something that dances in the breeze and makes us smile, well, that’s a lovely bonus too.

Something to Eat

When was the last time you made a good, simple goulash?

It’s one of those meals many of us grew up with, long before Hamburger Helper found its way into the cupboard. It’s hearty, forgiving, and kind to the pocketbook. You can make a big batch to freeze or a small pot for just one or two.

Start by browning some hamburger in a pot or frying pan (or use pork or turkey, whatever is on sale). Add a chopped onion and a bit of garlic and let that all soften together.

Next come the tomatoes. Sometimes a tin of tomatoes is the best buy; other times a jar of spaghetti sauce does nicely. Use a generous amount, and if it needs stretching, add a cup or two of water with a bouillon cube.

Season it up. Italian seasoning works well, and don’t forget a good spoonful of paprika. Then have a look in your fridge and toss in any leftover vegetables or bits of sauce that need using up. This is a meal that welcomes strays.

Stir in a cup or more of macaroni and let everything simmer gently until the pasta is tender and the sauce has thickened nicely. In the last few minutes, I like to add a handful of cheese so it melts in all soft and gooey.

Serve it with a slice of bread or a small salad, and you’ve got yourself a rather fine supper.

As for cost, this batch used hamburger I’d tucked in the freezer a month or two back for about $6, plus another $2 or $3 for tomatoes and macaroni. It made enough for three meals for two people, about $8 altogether. I even sent one dish across the road to a neighbour, who told me it reminded her of her father’s cooking. You know the sort, that one meal the men would proudly make every now and then, just to prove they could. (That is, if your father cooked at all. Mine didn’t.)

That’s enough for this week, my dears. Take care of yourself, and if you can, take care of someone else too.

This Grandma is sending hugs.