Success Stories

Thousands of us have participated in Take Action alerts.
We are making a difference right now.

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Carol McMullen won’t sit idly by
November 2, 2007

Last January Carol McMullen, a long-time donor and supporter of the David Suzuki Foundation, noticed the buses in her home city of Guelph, Ontario were idling at transfer points for upwards of 5 minutes. She wrote a letter and, to her surprise, only a few months later Guelph Transit announced a new anti-idling policy.

“I thought if I started maybe in 5 years something might happen. I didn’t have any ‘ins’. I don’t know anybody. I was just Joe Citizen.”

Carol was skeptical initially that she was savvy enough to address climate issues on her own. So what got her engines revving? Motivated by her son’s activism and her own participation in the David Suzuki Nature Challenge this year, Carol approached us for some resources. Brian Yourish, a member of the Foundation’s climate change team, gave Carol some information and encouragement and soon she felt comfortable contacting her representatives.

Initially, the response was cautious. Carol was given a host of reasons why the buses were required to idle. Transit concerns ranged from winter onboard temperatures to bus security and engine maintenance. Carol realized she was entering into a cost/benefit discussion and suggested a city engineer could better speak to the more advanced concerns. A representative of Guelph’s Transit Services said they’d look into it and see what they could do. And that was the last she heard.

Then, in June, on Clean Air Day, Guelph Transit launched their newly crafted anti-idling protocol. Carol was flabbergasted.

“I’ve never been an activist outside of my own lifestyle. I really didn’t expect that there would be a change that directly and that fast simply by one person and one letter.”

Carol won’t stop there. This success has inspired her to talk to her city officials about another needless source of airborne pollutants - the mowing and trimming of public spaces during times of drought.

“Really busy people can do this”, says this mother and professional. “It’s not as overwhelming as I thought it was. And that had been my feeling about the environment. You can get frozen into inaction.”

If you feel your city or town could benefit from an anti-idling policy here are some resources to get you unstuck:

• Driven to Action urban sprawl tool kit.
• Natural Resources Canada, on their "Idle-Free Zone" website.
• Vancouver City Council enacted a bylaw prohibiting parked vehicles from idling for more than three minutes. You can learn more about this here.

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August 1, 2007

Your letters to the Premier of BC through our Take Action, and your donations to the Foundation have helped to protect huge old-growth cedar trees for future generations. Coastal First Nations have made an agreement with the BC Agriculture and Lands Minister, who has just announced protective laws for monumental cedars on the southern part of the Great Bear Rainforest under an Ecosystem Based Management plan. Foundation staff helped to draft the original Ecosystem Based Management plan for the area, which included protection of monumental cedars.

The protection of so-called "monumental cedars" - giant trees valued for cultural purposes and their ecological characteristics-- was a major campaign focus for the David Suzuki Foundation between 2004-2006. These ancient giants, which are at least 100 centimetres in diameter and range from 160 to 230 years old, have many traditional uses from the construction of totem poles to canoes, and when "dead" these trees become the host for a multitude of wildlife—from bears and birds to insects and fungi—making these trees a true anchor of the ecosystem.

While this does not end of the struggle to protect our ancient temperate rainforests, the new law does signal that you have increased government’s attention to preserving our vital ecosystems.

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May 2007

That’s right: you can put this one in the history books.

On May 16, 2007 all parties voted to pass the Ontario Endangered Species Act.

Ontario’s leading environmental organizations are hailing Ontario’s new Endangered Species Act as the best in the country. The new law balances a strong, science-based approach to protecting endangered plants and animals with the flexibility needed to address socio-economic concerns.

Thanks so much to those of you who wrote in to support this legislation. You have helped to ensure that endangered species in Ontario have a better chance of survival and recovery.

But that doesn't mean we are going to rest on our laurels.

The David Suzuki Foundation will be watching to make sure that strong habitat regulations and recovery strategies for woodland caribou and other imperilled species are implemented without delay.

Your efforts are a vital part of the David Suzuki Foundation’s campaigns to help preserve our natural heritage.


Thank you,

Rachel Plotkin
Biodiversity Policy Analyst
The David Suzuki Foundation