The Cornwall Carbon Reduction Initiative (CCRI) will be undertaking a new project this year, thanks to a new $63,700 grant from the Community Go Green Fund. Jim Brownell, MPP for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry, congratulated the CCRI for its continued efforts.

“As citizens of this community, we all have an impact on our environment, whether we are aware of it or not,” said MPP Brownell. “The Cornwall Carbon Reduction Initiative continues to do an excellent job of educating the people of Cornwall and area, and in particular our youth, about our carbon footprint, and providing suggestions on how to minimize that impact.”

The grant will be used to hire a project assistant and deliver an innovative educational program called the Climate Awareness Project (CAP) for Youth. “The Community Go Green Fund shares our goals of promoting long-term behavioural change to reduce humanity’s impact on climate change,” said CCRI Chair Naresh Bhargava. “We are very happy to receive this grant to expand our education programming.”

Founded in 2006, the Cornwall Carbon Reduction Initiative is a grassroots organization dedicated to providing outreach and education activities about climate change and greenhouse gas reduction. Through an approach tailored to our community, the CCRI promotes long-term behavioural change and directs measurable actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Cornwall’s residential, commercial, and institutional sectors. For more information, visit their website at cornwallcarbonreduction.ca.

The Community Go Green Fund is a program of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. It is a four-year, $6.6-million program that came into being under Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan, announced in 2007. In its first two years, the Community Go Green Fund has committed $4.65 million to community projects throughout Ontario.