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Living Green will spread its message at Open Air Dunlop this weekend

Environmental group has teamed up with the EV Society to promote electric vehicles and hybrids on Saturday
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NEWS RELEASE
LIVING GREEN BARRIE
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Living Green Barrie wants you to "tread lightly" this month. Our local environmental charity will be at Open Air Dunlop Saturday and wants to chat with you about how to get you out of your car more often.

Living Green released their Top 10 Actions for Climate for the year: each with a dedicated month of themed events, educational information, and ideas for individual actions to fight climate change. In April, the action was to reduce waste and in May they focused on planting trees. For this month, they are asking people to think about how you move around in your environment.

More than half of Barrie’s greenhouse gas emissions are from private vehicles. Re-thinking our modes of transportation is crucial to fighting climate change. Living Green is asking you to reduce time spent in a single-occupancy gas-powered vehicle. 

Consider walking, biking, taking public transportation, car-pooling, or working from home when you can. For those who are planning to buy a new vehicle in the coming years, Living Green hopes you consider making the switch to electric.

“There has never been more options for electric vehicles then there are right now; it’s exciting,” says Andee Pelan, with Living Green.

Pelan has known for a while that her next vehicle will be electric but has been trying to figure out which car would be the best option for her family and for a healthy planet.

“I need to figure out if I can afford to buy an EV; I want to know about the availability of charging stations, battery life, maintenance, and which one is going to get me where I need to go on a single charge”.

To answer these and many other questions people might have about electric vehicles, Living Green has teamed up with the EV Society this Saturday at Open Air Dunlop. The EV Society promotes interest in electric vehicles and hybrids.

They answer the question “What’s it like to switch to an electric vehicle?” by letting people chat to the owners of different EV’s. So instead of having people talk to car dealers who have a financial interest in selling their vehicles, people can learn from the firsthand experiences of those who’ve already made the switch.  

Of course, making the switch to EV’s isn’t everyone’s desire or within everybody’s financial reach. Accordingly, the Tread Lightly event will also explore other active “green” transportation initiatives. Firebird Community Cycle will be joining Living Green as well on Saturday.

Firebird is dedicated to the promotion of bicycle culture in Barrie. They offer public access to a fully equipped, do-it-yourself bicycle repair shop and will provide instruction on the repair, maintenance and building of bicycles. 

Firebird also accepts donations of bikes and parts which they refurbish and redistribute to those in need. They have diverted countless bikes from the landfill and have helped numerous people in Barrie to have access to one of the most environmentally friendly ways of getting around the city.

Living Green Barrie’s goal is to guide people towards actions that foster sustainability and climate change resiliency in our community. Besides hosting monthly educational events and workshops, Living Green is committed to planting 10,000 native trees in Barrie in the next few years.

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