EcoWest News, September 16, 2025

Welcome to EcoWest News, a weekly round-up of news and resources that you can put to use in addressing environmental issues and protecting the wild in your community.

Across the West

The new federal program offering free heat pumps and retrofit subsidies in Manitoba will build on the provincial government’s existing affordable energy plan. [The Narwhal]

Winnipeg city planners want to explore opportunities for using excess heat from existing buildings and below-ground heat to power a district thermal energy system on Graham Avenue. [CBC]

A United Church chaplain in Saskatoon wants people to connect with trees as relatives not resources. [CBC]

“Fire can contaminate reservoirs as well as burn homes. Experts say protecting watersheds must become as urgent as protecting schools or hospitals.” [The Narwhal]

Medical professionals and First Nations leaders are calling on the BC government to study the health impacts of LNG production. “The choices being made today about LNG and fossil fuel expansion will directly shape the safety, well-being and future of our communities.” [The Tyee]

BC municipalities are concerned about the province’s decision to not extend its producer responsibility program to include recycling mattresses. [Richmond News]

A hereditary chief with the Ahousaht Nation is calling on the federal government to cancel its plan to ban open-net fish farms along the BC coast. The Ahousaht Nation are monitoring and establishing strict protocols for the fish farms while receiving income and employment opportunities. [CBC]

Across Canada

Fracking sites are often close to residential communities, but many of the chemicals being used haven’t been identified. Advocates say fracking chemicals should be listed on the National Pollutant Release Inventory to protect communities’ right to know. [The Energy Mix]

Avoid solar scams by buying from a reputable solar company. Your system should pay for itself in 10 years. [David Dodge]

Around the World

Changes in solar and wind generation by country from 2021-2024: China leads on change in annual generation. Finland leads on the greatest change in per capita generation. Lithuania tops the list for the greatest change in solar and wind’s share of electricity generation. [Sustainability by the Numbers]

Africa has developed a common climate roadmap, presenting Africa as a continent of solutions and demonstrating “that it’s moving from the margins of global climate decision-making to the center.” [Grist]

Steelmakers and companies that depend on steel production are investing in ideas that could lead to greener steel. In Colorado, Electra is using chemical solvents and electricity to extract high-grade iron from low-quality ore. [Anthropocene]

Electrical utilities in California have started installing solar and battery microgrids in remote, wildfire-prone areas to help prevent wildfires. [Mother Jones]

Placing solar panels over canals in agricultural regions could create power and prevent water loss. [Mother Jones]

Making a Difference

The District of Tofino, BC, is banning the sale of 1 litre and under plastic water bottles effective April 22, 2026. [CBC]

Two Saskatchewan landowners have partnered with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to protect 25 hectares of Prairie grassland, the home base for Sage Creek Prairie School that offers outdoor education programs. [Nature Conservancy of Canada]

Biodiversity

“People don’t connect with the ocean the way they do with land. You can see a forest being cut down. But it’s much harder to visualize what bottom trawling or coral bleaching looks like. That disconnect means the ocean gets very little attention.” [Icarus Complex]

Small herbivores such as grasshoppers and prairie dogs enhance grassland soil to a greater degree than larger herbivores such as bison and cattle. [Phys.org]

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/apmckinlay/29760568974

EcoFriendly West informs and encourages initiatives that support Western Canada’s natural environment through its online publication and the Nature Companion website/app. Like us on Facebook, follow us on BlueSky, X, and Mastodon, or subscribe by email.