City Council Leadership and Action on Key Issues

Environmental Sustainability

Since the new term of City Council, over 750 million has been spent to improve the City's environment including greening our fleet, purchasing clean air buses and street sweepers, planting trees, assessing environmental health impacts, reducing water and energy use, diverting waste, and restoring our waterfront. 

Dateline May 2004 – Pesticides Banned - The pesticide bylaw, designed to protect public health, bans the use of chemical pesticides to treat weeds on home lawns and general parkland (but permits their use in the event of a substantial insect infestation). Homeowners and lawn care professionals in Toronto will be required to comply with the City’s pesticide bylaw, which went into effect April 1, 2004. Full enforcement with fines for non-compliance will begin September 1, 2005 for lawn care professionals and September 1, 2007 for homeowners. City Council voted to give people time to learn about and begin using organic, non-chemical lawn care and gardening practices.
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Dateline May 2004 - Greening our Fleets - City Council adopted the "Green Fleet Transition Plan 2004-2007" that will guide the City's efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its fleet operations. The plan and related capital budget considerations promote the use of biodiesel, hybrid electric and natural gas vehicles in the fleet of about 4,000 licensed vehicles and motorized equipment.
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Dateline May  2004 – Greenhouse Gas Reducers - Toronto hosted the Climate Groups Conference of the Reducers in May 2004 which allowed delegates to hear first hand from leading greenhouse gas emissions reducers from corporations and national and regional governments and showcased international best practice and current thinking on strategies and targets for greenhouse gas emission reduction.
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Dateline June 2004 - Clean air solutions - The fifth annual Smog Summit in Toronto brought together all levels of government in the Greater Toronto Area to report on accomplishments and to share new smog and energy reduction initiatives. Commitments to a variety of joint actions were made through the signing of the Toronto and Region 2004 Inter-governmental Declaration on Clean Air.
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Dateline June 2004 - Reducing our Garbage - City Council proceeded with plans to undertake a full environmental assessment of options for dealing with Toronto's long-term garbage disposal, specifically the "residual" waste not processed in the City's recycling and composting programs. City Council agrees to urge the Ontario environment minister to accelerate the environmental assessment process, which otherwise could take many years to complete.
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Dateline: July 2004 - Cleaning our Air - City Council asked the premier of Ontario to commit the provincial government to contributing 75 per cent of the funding needed to sustain and improve Toronto Transit Commission services. City Council commits to strengthen the City's vehicle idling control bylaw in response to a Toronto Public Health report documenting human illness associated with air pollution.
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Dateline September 2004 - Environmental Expertise Toronto's Roundtable on the Environment was established to advise the Mayor and City Council on current and emerging environmental sustainability issues affecting the City.  The roundtable is guided by the City's Environmental Plan’s goals: clean, green and healthy, and serves as a forum for information and idea exchange and the promotion of innovation on environmental sustainability.
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Dateline September 2004 - Protecting our Trees - City Council approved a bylaw to help preserve Toronto's urban forest by requiring a City permit for cutting down any mature trees on private property with trunk diameters greater than 30 centimetres. Seniors are exempt from the permit fee, which is $100 a tree to a maximum of $300 for applications that are not related to developments; other fees apply to developers.
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Dateline May 2005 - Sky-high Organics - City Council supported a one-year pilot project to collect and compost organic waste, such as kitchen scraps, in residential highrise buildings. Thirty condominium and apartment buildings have been chosen to participate in the project. The green bin program for organic waste is already available to all single-family homes in Toronto.
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Dateline May 2005 - Alternative-fuel Vehicles - City Council adopted a recommendation requiring replacement vehicles to be alternative-fuel or hybrid vehicles and meet emerging technical standards. The City will take steps to ensure that corporate and emergency services fleet operations, as well as those of City agencies, comply with the policy.


Dateline June 2005 - Anti-Smog Summits Mayor Miller outlined the City’s latest commitments to improve air quality and reduce smog at the sixth annual Smog Summit, hosted by the City of Toronto.


Dateline July 2005 – Improving Recycling Sources - City Council approved a strategy requiring multi-unit residential buildings to establish recycling programs or face a financial levy for excess garbage based on the proven effectiveness of financial incentives to increase waste diversion. The City will begin applying the levy in 2006 and will help building owners or managers set up the required recycling programs in their apartment, condominium and co-op buildings.
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