Volunteer Corner

VOLUNTEERS ARE THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND ECOLOGY OTTAWA

We depend on volunteers to get the word out, organize events, monitor city council, research innovative solutions to urban environmental problems, and raise funds. Together we can make a big difference and a small contribution of your time can go a long way. Please consider being part of the Ecology Ottawa team.

How Do I Volunteer?

It’s easy!

1. Click here to read an Introduction to volunteering with Ecology Ottawa. Then, please take a minute to fill out this Volunteer Questionnaire and Volunteer Agreement for new volunteers. When you are finished, please submit the forms to our volunteer coordinators at volunteer@ecologyottawa.ca or drop them off in person at our office, 1 Nicholas Street, Suite 430, Ottawa.
2. Current volunteer opportunities are posted regularly in the Volunteer Corner on our website (scroll down to view them). You will also be added to an e-mail list for Ecology Ottawa volunteers and will begin receiving regular emails about volunteer opportunities.
3. All new volunteers are welcome to attend our various committee meetings (Council Watch, Events Committee, etc).
4. Keep us up to date on any particular skill or new interest that you have. If we need to find someone on short notice we use the information contained in your Volunteer Questionnaire to get in touch with you.
5. It’s a two-way street so if you have a specific idea please contact us and we may be able to support you. We’re always looking for volunteers to take the lead on a great idea.
6. Finally, do not forget to sign-up for our electronic newsletter, Ecology Ottawa Updates, to stay informed about how you can get involved in important environmental issues in the city of Ottawa.

Thank you for offering to volunteer with Ecology Ottawa and welcome to the team!

Current Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteer Coordination Communications Volunteer

We are looking for someone who is interested in joining the Volunteer Coordination team in the role of Communications. The volunteer would be responsible for preparing and sending out the Ecology Ottawa bimonthly Volunteer Update to our volunteers. As well, the volunteer would send out additional e-mails to our volunteers throughout the year when needed. This person would also be responsible for the Volunteer Communications Strategy as a whole. This position requries a commitment of 2-4 hours per week.

Event Planning Volunteers Wanted

We are looking to organize Point of Entry and Ask events for Ecology Ottawa to raise funds and awareness about the organization. If you have experience with these kinds of events or have event planning experience this is a position which would be of interest to you.

Please contact jdubins@gmail.com if you are interested in this position.

Data Entry Volunteer Needed

We are looking for a reliable volunteer who can help us enter information into our organization’s database. This position requires you to be available for 2-4 hours weekly. We are hoping you can make a long-term commitment (1-2 years). This position involves working with confidential material and it is critical that the volunteer is able to maintain strict confidentiality. Previous experience working with databases and data entry would be an asset. Provide a resume and two references when applying for this position.

Please contact valentin.mueller@ecologyottawa.ca if you are interested in this volunteer opportunity.

High School Students in Orleans – Help Clean Up the Ottawa River

Ecology Ottawa is inviting high school students in Orleans to earn their volunteer hours with us and help us prevent sewage from being dumped into the Ottawa River. We are looking for help distributing information and getting petitions signed. For more information or to volunteer, please contact janice.ashworth@ecologyottawa.ca or 613-860-5353.

Community Demographics Researcher

We are looking to complete a study of the environmental engagement of communities across Ottawa. This would include looking at the demographics information, the existing organizations operating in the area, previous actions related to environmental issues, etc. A template will be provided. Please contact janice.ashworth@ecologyottawa.ca or call 613-860-5353 if you are interested.

Waste diversion researcher

In 2012, the city of Ottawa will continue to develop a long-term Waste Plan to determine how it will meet its waste diversion targets and what it can do to promote the 3 Rs (reduce, re-use, recycle).

Ecology Ottawa would like to determine what other municipalities have been doing to increase their waste diversion rates and what Ottawa can learn from those experiences.

Ottawa’s current waste diversion rate is 42%. Compare that to Markham, Ontario’s 72% rate and the city of San Francisco’s 77% rate, and it is clear Ottawa could be doing more. As Joanne Chianello pointed out in her Ottawa Citizen column Dec. 13, 2011: “The long-term diversion rate goal for [Ottawa] is 67 per cent by 2042.” That rate is already being surpassed today by a number of municipalities.

Researchers will explore how Ottawa could achieve higher waste diversion rates through changes to public policy.

For example, one of the things that other cities have done to increase waste diversion rates is implement a pay-as-you-throw or bag tag program, where residents pay $1 or $2 for every bag of garbage they want their municipality to pick up. Moving towards a model where producers of waste are responsible for the full life-cycle of their products (commonly refered to as ‘individual producer responsibility’) is also something Ottawa could be advocating for.

For more information, or to volunteer, please contact Trevor Haché, at trevor.hache@ecologyottawa.ca or 613-860-5353.

Promising Practices Research and Writing

Description: The Community Energy Network of Eastern Ontario has been established by Ecology Ottawa and other partner organizations (more information about the Network is available at: www.community-energy.ca).

One of the key tasks of the Network is to carry out province-wide research on emerging Promising Practices related to energy efficiency and renewable energy. The Promising Practices are being published on the Ecology Ottawa website and decision-makers at institutions across Eastern Ontario are being encouraged to undertake similar initiatives.

Volunteer Tasks:

1. Carry out research on emerging Promising Practices in one or more of the various sectors areas (such as municipalities, local distribution/utility companies (ie. Hydro Ottawa), colleges,universities and training institutions, faith-based organizations, businesses, non-profits, energy cooperatives, property owners/management, etc).
2. Ask decision-makers at the various institutions (municipality, business, non-profit, etc.)  to formally have their organization join the Network.
3. Help disseminate the Promising Practices across Eastern Ontario and encourage more uptake of energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Qualifications:
- Experience conducting research
- Good writing and communication skills (looking for someone who can write clearly and concisely, as well as someone who can conduct interviews over the telephone with experts in the field).

For more information, contact Trevor Haché (trevor.hache@ecologyottawa.ca).
Time commitment per week: 1-4 hours (or more time, if interested/available).
To review examples of Promising Practices completed so far, please visit our website, here.

Building Community Power in Ottawa

Do you live in Rockcliffe/Manor Park, Orleans, Barrhaven, or Carlingwood? Do you want to work on renewable energy and energy conservation issues in your neighbourhood? Ecology Ottawa can help you connect with others in your area to get your team rolling. We can support teams to work on various aspects of clean energy including: public education, renewable energy installations, and political support.

If you are interested, please contact janice.ashworth@ecologyottawa.ca, 613-860-5353

A list of our general volunteer needs includes the following (if you are interested please contact volunteer@ecologyottawa.ca):

Translation: We are committed to developing a fully bilingual website and we need help translating material.  We especially need people who have professional translation experience and/or training.

Databasing: We need help preparing data to be integrated into one of our databases (this does not required technical expertise).

Fundraising: Maintaining the website, producing and disseminating material and securing space for Ecology Ottawa booths at key events all cost money. Fundraising is one of the most essential ingredients to the success of Ecology Ottawa. There are a wide range of ways that you can contribute to organizational fundraising, and we would be very interested in discussing ideas with you if this is an area that interests you.

Events Planning: We need creative, energetic people to help us think of and carry out events that will make sure City Hall is not making environmentally harmful decisions and connect Ottawa to its local environment.

Boothing/Staffing Key Events: Ecology Ottawa hopes to have booths at the various festivals and events that will occur during the Fall. We will use these booths to provide Ottawa residents with information about Ecology Ottawa (and other environmental organizations active in the city) and collect signatures in support of our campaigns. We are starting to collect names of volunteers that would be willing to help prepare and staff these booths.

Council Watch: Ecology Ottawa is in large part about holding City Council accountable for its environmental performance. We have a team that puts out an annual report card on the environmental voting records of individual City Councillors. We need volunteers to help us research and write this report card.

Design Expertise: We need volunteers that can help us design posters, pamphlets, banners, and a wide range of other Ecology Ottawa material.

Research: If you have experience with research and writing and are interested in environmental policy there are a range of areas where we could use your help.

Writing:  We need good writers to help us write articles for local media.