Wasaga Beach Climate Action Team

09/03/2026

WASAGA BEACH ALL CANDIDATES MEETING
Your vote shapes your community, and all-candidates meetings are where you get the real facts.
All Wasaga Beach Candidates for Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Councilor, have been invited to participate.
Moderator: Gillian White, PHD, Director at Trillium Foundation and Board Member at Escarpment Corridor Alliance.
Sponsored by Escarpment Corridor Alliance, with support from Friends of Nancy Island & Wasaga Beach Park and Wasaga Beach Climate Action Team.
Don't let others decide your city's future—show up, listen, and vote smart!
October 2 from 6:00 to 8:30pm (Doors open at 5:30)
Wasaga Beach Recplex
https://wasagabeachclimateaction.com/all-candidates-meeting/
Mayor Brian Smith, Leslie R. Farkas, Mark Winegarden, Marilyn Broughton - RAVEN for Wasaga Beach, TanyaSnell, Deputy Mayor of Wasaga Beach, Mike Foley for Deputy Mayor of Wasaga Beach, Re-Elect Joe Belanger Councillor Wasaga Beach, Ellen Timms for Wasaga Beach Council, FayeEgo, -Rose Dileo For Councilor, Re-Elect Richard White Councillor Wasaga Beach, Gale for Wasaga Beach Councillor, Elect Carrie Plater for Wasaga Beach Council, Graves, Mihalic, Kendra Marr - Councillor for Wasaga Beach 2026, Robinson, Aldona Barysas-Oleinikas, (Moe) Mowat

Your vote shapes the future of your community. Your participation starts by showing up to the All Candidates Meeting.

08/31/2026

WBCAT encourages all Wasaga Beach municipal elections candidates to sign this pledge.
The CLASS pledge is a voluntary, non-partisan educational tool for municipal candidates. It gives candidates an opportunity to indicate their support for integrated municipal decision-making that considers social, environmental, and economic impacts together. Candidate signatories are shared publicly for transparency. Inclusion on this page does not constitute an endorsement or opposition to any candidate.
Community Leaders for a Sustainable Simcoe (CLASS) is a non-partisian effort to encourage and support constructive participation in democratic decision-making at the local level.

Interested in learning which candidates support healthy, sustainable communities in Simcoe County?

Find our Community Leaders for a Sustainable Simcoe (CLASS) pledge signatories on our website.

https://simcoecountygreenbelt.ca/class-signatories/

08/31/2026

Read August 2026 WBCAT Newsletter and Nominate a Business for a Green Certificate Award (Deadline September 6)

Furthermore, proactive sustainability ensures strict compliance with tightening environmental regulations, future-proofing your business while actively protecting the planet and boosting your bottom line.

08/30/2026

Collingwood Climate Risk Assessment and Adaptation Plan was done with third party consulting, it did cost $85k which 70% of it was funded by Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Fund, so cost was $25k. Small investment with great potential return. The Town of Wasaga Beach should do the same.
https://engage.collingwood.ca/climateadaptation?

Project category Environment, Conservation & Sustainability Project state Active Image Climate Risk Assessment and Adaptation Planning Preparing Collingwood for climate impacts and protecting our community, natural spaces, and everyday services.  Current Status Since the project launched, the Town ...

08/28/2026

Read WBCAT article in What's up? Georgian Bay magazine: "Beyond the Plastic Bag: Choosing a Better Way to Shop
The Truth About Shopping Bags"

Plastic shopping bags may be small, but their environmental footprint is anything but small.
Made primarily from fossil fuels, conventional plastic bags require energy and resources to manufacture and transport. After a short useful life, they can persist in the environment for decades or longer, breaking down into smaller plastic particles and microplastic rather than truly disappearing. Bags that escape waste systems can pollute waterways, harm wildlife and contribute to the growing plastic pollution problem. Canada generates nearly 5 million tonnes of plastic waste each year.

Plastic bags also have a climate impact. Producing plastics requires fossil fuel extraction and energy-intensive manufacturing, generating greenhouse-gas emissions throughout their life cycle.
Ontario has already taken an important step: since December 2022, Canada's federal Single-Use Plastics Prohibition Regulations have prohibited the manufacture, import and sale of conventional single-use plastic checkout bags. Ontario's new producer-responsibility Blue Box system, fully implemented in 2026, also expands standardized recycling of many plastic and paper packaging materials.

But replacing plastic bags with any reusable bag isn't automatically an environmental win.
Reusable bags require resources, energy and water to manufacture. A heavy cotton tote, for example, can have a much larger production footprint than a lightweight bag. Life-cycle assessments show that the environmental performance of different bags depends heavily on their material, weight and—most importantly—how many times they are reused. Canada's own guidance emphasizes that reusable bags need to be used repeatedly to maintain their environmental advantage.

So, what's the best choice?
The most environmentally friendly shopping bag is usually the one you already own and use repeatedly.
A durable bag made from recycled polyester or recycled plastic, a long-lasting polypropylene grocery bag, or a sturdy fabric tote can all be good choices when used many times. Cotton can also be reasonable when a bag is used for a very long time—but buying large numbers of new cotton totes simply because they are marketed as "eco-friendly" defeats the purpose.
Even better: reduce the need for bags altogether. Bring your bags, use a reusable shopping basket or bin, and when practical, reuse cardboard boxes.

And there is a bigger policy opportunity.
Ontario and municipalities could go beyond simply banning single-use bags by encouraging reuse systems: standardized reusable bags that retailers collect, sanitize and put back into circulation; incentives for customers who bring their own bags; and "no bag needed" discounts. Municipalities could also work with local retailers on bag-reuse programs and public education. Let’s encourage our South Georgian Bay municipalities and local businesses to do so.

The goal shouldn't be to find the "perfect" bag. It should be to use fewer bags, keep the ones we have in service for as long as possible, and design a system where reuse—not replacement—is the norm.
Life-cycle assessments remind us that the real environmental question isn't simply "What is the bag made of?" But it's "How much do we use it, and what happens to it at the end of its life?"
Go to Page 4:

Dive into our extensive resources on the topic that interests you. It's like a masterclass to be explored at your own pace.

08/25/2026

Such a good news story.!!
Glad that WBCAT got to be part of the story by planting a pollinator Garden at Beach area 5 this year.

08/24/2026

WASAGA BEACH ALL CANDIDATES MEETING
Your vote shapes your community, and all-candidates meetings are where you get the real facts.
All Wasaga Beach Candidates for Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Councilor, are invited to participate.
Moderator: Gillian White
Sponsored by Escarpment Corridor Alliance, with support from Friends of Nancy Island and Wasaga Beach Climate Action Team.
Don't let others decide your city's future—show up, listen, and vote smart!
October 2 from 6:00 to 8:30pm (Doors open at 5:30)
Wasaga Beach Recplex

08/22/2026

Congratulations to the Town of Collingwood for taking action to reduce emissions, protect natural assets, support sustainable growth, improve energy efficiency, and strengthen community partnerships.. Way to go.

Collingwood is taking action to build a more sustainable and resilient future.
The Sustainable Collingwood Plan, recently endorsed by Council, outlines how we will work together to:
🌿 Reduce community emissions by 55% by 2040
🚶 Expand sustainable transportation choices
🏡 Improve the efficiency of resilience of buildings
🌳 Strengthen natural areas and infrastructure systems
🤝 Support community-wide climate action
Read the full plan at https://www.collingwood.ca/town-services/documents/sustainable-collingwood-plan

08/22/2026

Don't miss the Last Weekly Shoreline of the summer, Tuesday Aug 25, 1:00 to 3:00pm at Beach Area 5 with Georgian Bay Forever

Join WBCAT and Georgian Bay Forever for Shoreline Clean-up every Tuesday from 1:00 to 3:00pm at Wasaga Beach Area 2.