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The York Region Environmental Alliance (YREA) was formed initially in 1999 to campaign against the cosmetic use of pesticides, but has continually expanded its mandate to address ecological and sustainability issues that impact human health and the health of our environment. With a current staff of 3 part-time employees, a volunteer board of directors from York Region approves, oversees, and assists with other members various projects. YREA reaches thousands of people annually in York Region, the Greater Toronto Area, and beyond through community events, workshops and seminars, and its newsletter and website. YREA is continually asked for input on municipal issues, with a strong record of working effectively to influence public policy and community behaviour through a number of initiatives.

Organization
The YREA Board of Directors is made up of volunteers from around York Region, and meets regularly to approve any projects presented. The Board also oversees the projects, which are executed by various members of YREA and other volunteers. The Board is lead by its Executive Director, Gloria Marsh, winner of the 2012 Moraine's Hero Award, which is a paid part-time position. As volunteers are bulk of the participants in YREA, another part-time paid positions is the Communications and Community Outreach Coordinator. The last part-time paid position maintains the YREA website, one of the main outreach tools YREA uses.

Funding
The YREA is supported through donations from individuals and local organizations, and grants from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

GREENWORKS
This is a quarterly newsletter produced by the YREA on their website, although other like-minded organizations/individuals can submit articles. GREENWORKS contains timely environmental information, which has discussed issues such as Garlic Mustard effects on Ontario's Maple Forestry, energy efficient lighting, green bins, and the terminator gene.

Our Ecological Fotprint
Our Ecological Footprint is a 12-page document published in 2007, demonstrating how to measure human impact on the natural environment. Through making small but significant changes people are shown how they can reduce their demand on the world's resources, distributed to over 40,000 people. A comprehensive, educational presentation was developed on this subject which has been presented to high school and adult audiences. As a result of this project, York Region Printing, which publishes the Toronto Star and numerous Metroland newspapers. became an Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified printer, using FSC newsprint and paper. This program is still in demand and has been updated to continue presentations in high schools and colleges.

Organic Lawn Care
YREA designed this seminar along with an accompanying lawn care fridge calendar for workshop attendees as well as non-attendees. The calendar is in its third printing and has reached over 15,000 people. In partnership with municipalities and retailers, YREA has led over 80 organic lawn care workshops. These seminars were initially intended to encourage a pesticide reduction strategy among homeowners. They have since evolved to show residents how to adapt to Ontario pesticide legislation, stressing the benefits of naturalization of properties.

Shop Like the Planet's Watching
This multi-year campaign is geared to showing members of the community how they can do their part to address sustainability, conservation, climate change, waste reduction and depletion of non-renewable natural resources by becoming eco shoppers and greening their purchases. Since the launch of this campaign on Earth Day 2010, we have reached nearly 30,000 people in York Region through the publication, seminars and events we have attended. Our workshops have been presented at schools, libraries and community centres; to social groups and municipal staff and employees in their workplace as Lunch and Learns. Information from our booklet has been incorporated into York Region’s high school environmental studies curriculum and Kortright Centre education programs. .

The Idle-Free Community Challenge
As a result of YREA’s friendly citizen Anti-Idling Challenge between Newmarket and Markham, both these municipalities created the stiffest anti-idling bylaws in all of York Region. YREA was commended by the federal government Eco Action website on the success of this campaign.

Municipal Election Questionnaire 2006
During the Municipal Elections within York Region in 2006, a questionnaire was sent to all candidates. The four key areas addressed were greenhouse gas emissions, planning for sustainability, waste management and pesticide by-laws. This was a useful tool for voters to see what stance the candidates had. But it also showed candidates and municipal staff, who develop policies, which issues were of concern to citizens. Four of these issues have subsequently been addressed in municipal policies and official plans with five municipalities adopting pesticide bylaws ahead of provincial pesticide legislation.

Municipal Election Questionnaire 2010
Similar to 2006, in 2010 another questionnaire was sent to all candidates. These issues have been addressed;
 * Clean Air Bylaw: The air quality of York Region is worse than Toronto, Hamilton, or Oshawa. Bylaws were suggested to enable monitoring and reduction of emissions.
 * Trees: The collective Age/Size replacement of trees within York Region. For example, if a 50 year old, 5’ wide tree is cut down, it should be replaced with the equivalent. either ten 5 year old trees or ten 6” diameter trees.
 * Invest in green technology: Outdated and inefficient forms of energy production/use and waste handling need to be replaced. Investments can also be impartant to job creation in York Region.
 * Sustainable Development: The goal is for a more compact, mixed use, affordable building model that includes a sustainability checklist.

YREA Future
YREA’S strategic plans for 2012 to the foreseeable future is to initiate and participate in a local, sustainable industrial hemp economy by promoting this viable crop in York and surrounding regions and by developing a hemp based valued added secondary processing social enterprise venture in a collaborative endeavour for the benefit of our communities.