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Our contributions to a clean climate include:

The climate is changing, putting our ecosystems, economic livelihoods and even way of life at risk. All levels of society, from global to individual, need to act strategically to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. From supporting the health of our watersheds and oceans, to sustaining an innovative circular economy, to reducing the waste we produce, Clean Foundation is working with local champions across Nova Scotia and beyond to ensure the longevity of our environment.

CLEAN CLIMATE

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Ship-to-Shore

Ship-to-Shore engages commercial fishers on waste management in harbours and on fishing vessels. Through targeted education and outreach, infrastructure support and our garbage & recycling ‘boat bins’, more and more fishers are returning waste to shore for proper disposal.

Supported by:  Fisheries and Oceans’ Small Craft Harbours program / Nova Scotia Environment / Divert Nova Scotia

Our impact this year:

2 new harbour assessments and 30 follow-up visits, bringing the total number of participating harbours to 166

20 captains engaged and 4 harbours visited and assessed

on Prince Edward Island

Completed our 5-year plan to visit all Nova Scotia harbours, with 94% now having adopted at least one recommendation

20 captains received a boat bin and evaluation this year

354 fishers engaged through on-the-ground meetings

Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up

The Great Nova Scotia Pick-Me-Up is the biggest volunteer-driven community clean-up program in Nova Scotia. Clean provides supplies and support to participants (individuals, groups, businesses, schools) to carry out community-based clean-ups across the province. 

Litter is unsightly, poses health risks, affects water quality, and wildlife often mistake it for food. Nova Scotia is a surrounded by ocean and 80% of the massive amount of plastic ending up in the ocean is coming from land. Launched in 1992, our Pick-Me-Up is the longest-running litter clean-up program in Nova Scotia.

Supported by:  GLAD Canada / City of Halifax / Divert Nova Scotia

Our impact this year:

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Clean Watersheds

Over centuries of settlement and development, many of Nova Scotia’s streams and watersheds have been damaged. Watercourses that once meandered with deep pools, fast riffles and overhanging vegetation have become straight, shallow and exposed to the elements.

Rather than being occupied by bountiful Atlantic salmon and brook trout, some streams are now home to invasive small-mouth bass and chain pickerel. Our Clean Watersheds program works to improve and restore streams back to their original health. 

Supported by: NSLC Adopt-a-Stream / Department of Fisheries & Oceans Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program / 

Labatt / Halifax Regional Municipality / TD Tree Days / Forest Recovery Canada

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Atlantic Reef Balls

Artificial reefs are designed to create or restore marine habitat by fostering the growth of an ecosystem that supports fish and shellfish populations. In addition to providing shelter and protection to fish species, artificial reefs support the growth of algae, which is a foundational piece in the ecosystem. Atlantic Reef Balls also serve as habitats for spawning and reproduction.

Clean has created a network of 5 habitat nodes totaling over 81,000 m² throughout Halifax Harbour, running from McNabs Island through to the Bedford Basin.

Our impact this year:

Our impact this year:

Completed the monitoring period for 2 of our 5 sites. The remaining sites will continue to be monitored twice a year, with all sites completed by 2020.

Deployed 32 reef balls in the Halifax Narrows to restore 5,760 m² of marine habitat.

This brings the total number of reef balls Clean has installed in the Harbour to 422.

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Fix-it-Fair

In our economy it can be easier to buy new rather than extend the life of a product or share it with someone else. Ease of disposal and replacement creates unnecessary levels of waste both from the products themselves and product packaging. Building on the success of the 2016 event, we hosted our second Fix-It-Fair at the Halifax Forum during national Waste Reduction Week to bolster and celebrate the local repair economy. 

• Completed monthly water quality monitoring at 23 sites throughout the summer

• Completed  one full fish habitat assessment at Gammon Lake Brook and one partial fish habitat assessment at Morris Lake Brook

• Completed 5 culvert assessments

• 68 Volunteer hours contributed to planting trees in the riparian zone of Frenchman Brook and cleaning up 200 lbs of litter from the  riparian zone of Ellenvale Run

• 160 volunteer hours contributed to planting 750 native trees in Dartmouth and Halifax along riparian areas and in urban parks and green spaces in need of trees, through 4 tree-planting events

1,349 bags (1,731 lbs!)

of recyclables collected and recycled

11, 483 clear bags (83,624 lbs!) 

of litter picked up

203 clean-up events with 9,779 volunteer participants (56,029 volunteer hours!)

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Coastal Restoration

In 2017, Clean was named as a recipient of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans'

Coastal Restoration Fund, a new five-year funding stream to support marine habitat restoration work in priority areas.

A critical piece of this project will be establishing a strong partnership with First Nations communities to determine traditional habitat ranges and uses, to understand how the arrival of European settlers has impacted traditional species distribution and composition, and to build capacity within First Nations communities to complete independent restoration and monitoring work in the future. The success of this project will also require partnerships with technical experts, in both the restoration and community engagement fields.

Project Partners include: CB Wetland Environmental Specialists / Dalhousie University / COINAtlantic /

Nova Scotia Nature Trust / Restore America’s Estuaries / St Mary’s University / Quirk VR

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Municipal Climate Adaptation Initiative

Clean’s work with these communities is funded

through FCM’s Climate Adaptation Partner grants

available through FCM’s Municipalities for Climate

Innovation Program (MCIP). MCIP, delivered by FCM

and funded by the Government of Canada, is a five-year, $75-million program designed to support and encourage Canadian municipalities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. Clean is one of 12 grant winners across Canada, and is the only winner in Nova Scotia.

Supported by: The Federation of Canadian Municipalities / Government of Canada

In January 2018, Clean was chosen by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) to help seven Nova Scotian communities – Annapolis, Cumberland, Digby, Kings, Halifax, Lockeport, and Yarmouth - enhance their capacity to respond to climate change risks and reduce their vulnerability to these risks.

Supported by: Department of Fisheries & Oceans  

Supported by: Environment and Climate Change Canada's Environmental Damages Fund

Installed 15 awareness signs at Nova Scotia harbours 

Supported by: Divert NS / Nova Scotia Environment / Halifax Dump and Run / McInnes Cooper / Halifax Solid Waste / Radio 96.5 

Our impact this year:

Over 250 attendees and 7 interactive workshops

25 local repair businesses, plus on-site repair cafe

New this year:

food waste/rescue, furniture repair,

and direct sale of upcycled craft items

Launched FixitAtlantic.ca, a dedicated blog with original videos and essays highlighting local repair businesses and initiatives

Total area restored: 36,471 m² through
• Remediating 2 culverts (Morris Lake Brook and Gammon Lake Brook)
• Creating 26 step pools in Frenchman Brook
• Removing 15 debris jams from Gammon Lake Brook
• Installing 2 low flow barriers in Gammon Lake Brook and Frenchman Brook

•Enhancing 85m of thalweg (creating deeper sections of the stream for fish passage)

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Runoff and Play!

Natural playgrounds are designed to utilize the inherent features of the landscape to encourage creative and imaginative play and help kids interact with their outdoor environment – something that is becoming increasingly important as more of our time is spent indoors engaging with electronics rather than the natural world. This special playground at the Prospect Road Community Centre was built to be not only a fun place for children and youth to connect to nature, but also to act as a demonstration site for stormwater mitigation and climate change adaptation options for other community centres and groups.

Supported by: TD Common Grounds / Prospect Road Recreation Association / Nova Scotia Community Cultures and Heritage

Built a natural playground that includes: 

Climbing boulder

Hill slide

Stepping stumps  

Chalkboards

Built a rain garden to highlight and engage the public in stormwater management practices

Engaged 56 youth in a “kids consultation” to better understand what the children who use the area would like to see put in;

47 volunteers contributed time to putting in the rain garden and prepping the site for the playground to be installed

HomeWarming

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CLEAN ENERGY

Our contributions to clean energy include:

Energy is one of the big issues of our time. Energy efficiency and renewable energy sources can help people save money and improve the environment. From home energy assessments to energy education, from innovative financing to reducing energy poverty, Clean works on solutions that help power a greener economy in the Atlantic. 

It’s important to us that people living with lower incomes benefit from energy efficiency. That’s why Clean Foundation and Efficiency Nova Scotia offer HomeWarming, helping homeowners save money on heating and cooling bills, feel more comfortable, and reduce their carbon footprint. 

HomeWarming offers free home energy efficiency upgrades to eligible homeowners. Clean retrofits electrically heated homes and Efficiency Nova Scotia addresses non-electrically heated ones.
 

Home Energy Assessment

Clean helps Nova Scotians learn how they can reduce their energy consumption, save money on heating & cooling costs, and lower their greenhouse gas emissions. A home energy advisor provides participants with a current EnerGuide rating, a detailed analysis of their home, upgrade recommendations, information on rebates, and the potential energy rating of the home after retrofits.  

Home Energy Assessment is an initiative of Efficiency Nova Scotia – 

Clean Foundation is a provider of this initiative.

Clean Energy Financing

Residents of four Nova Scotian municipalities can upgrade their homes’ efficiency, install clean energy options, save money now and into the future…and pay for the retrofits at a pace they can afford. 

Clean Foundation partnered with the Town of Bridgewater, and the Districts of Lunenburg, Shelburne and Digby to launch Clean Energy Financing. The municipalities offer homeowners low-cost financing over ten years, and we do the analysis to make sure residents save as much or even more in energy and heating expenses than the cost of the retrofits. The investments pay for themselves.

Our impact this year:

552 electrically heated homes were assessed

524 homes received free energy savings upgrades

Projected energy savings of over 2,505 megawatt hours

Projected greenhouse gas reductions of 718 tonnes of CO2

Our impact this year:

Our impact this year:

19 homeowners 

participated in 

Clean Energy Financing

this year

Upgrades included 

insulation, draft-sealing, windows, heat pumps, and heat recovery ventilation

The District of Barrington joined the program this year!

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Clean Net Zero

Clean Net Zero provides low-interest financing for home upgrades that dramatically reduce energy bills. The goal of these deep energy upgrades is to make homes more efficient and produce as much energy as they consume (that’s why we call it “net zero”). 

By pairing deep energy retrofits to improve a home’s energy efficiency with the installation of small-scale renewable energy generation such as solar photovoltaic, we can make homes cleaner, more comfortable, and more cost-effective to maintain.

Our impact this year:

“The HomeWarming program surpassed our expectations with the quality and extent of the work provided. 

And it’s going to make a big difference in the bills.”

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New Dawn Energy Efficiency Pilot

Clean launched its second phase of energy efficiency upgrades for

affordable rental housing in Sydney, Cape Breton. In collaboration with

New Dawn Enterprises, Clean continues to increase renters' understanding of

energy efficiency; create positive change for their electricity costs,

indoor air quality and comfort; and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

"Our house is significantly warmer now, thanks to Clean Energy Financing. Rooms that were the coldest in the house are now the warmest – and where we love to hang out."

Our impact this year:

44 rental units received assessments and upgrades

Each rental unit received heat pumps

and tenants were provided energy efficiency education

Estimated energy consumption reduction of 

107 megawatts per year

Projected annual greenhouse gas reductions of 77 tonnes of CO2 

                  263 home energy                                             assessments

141 follow-up 

assessments 

after retrofits

Supported by: Nova Scotia Power / Government of Nova Scotia

Supported by: Efficiency Nova Scotia

Supported by: Town of Bridgewater / District of Lunenburg / 

District of Digby / District of Shelburne / Province of Nova Scotia

Supported by: Town of Bridgewater/ LaHave River Credit Union, and Funded by: Natural Resources Canada 

Supported by: Nova Scotia Power / New Dawn Enterprises

Clean Net Zero

Wait! Want to watch a video before you go?

WE BUILT CAPACITY

A total of 37 people attended

a 4-part workshop training series

on Net Zero upgrades and retrofits

for contractors, tradespeople and CEAs 

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EnergyAssist

Clean launched EnergyAssist, an easy and confidential resource hub

to help Nova Scotians find free programs that reduce home energy costs.

This simple online tool guides users through a few very simple questions

– geographic region, household income, number of residents, and type of home –

to provide links to relevant programs for which the user may qualify.  

Programs are available to both homeowners and renters. All programs

identified through EnergyAssist are free of charge (with the exception of the

in-store rebate offered by Efficiency Nova Scotia, which is a reduction in the

retail price of energy efficiency products).

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Supported by: Nova Scotia Power / Government of Nova Scotia / Efficiency Nova Scotia / Salvation Army 

Mi’kma’ki Clean Energy Partnerships

Clean works in Mi'kma'ki with First Nations on energy conservation

and education initiatives. Our partnerships with Mi'kmaq communities aim to

reduce energy costs while supporting energy efficiency education and awareness.

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Supported by: Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada 

During the second year of our First Nations Clean Energy Partnerships,

72 homes were assessed and 36 homes

received retrofits in We’koqma’q First Nation. 

20

WE RECRUITED

PARTICIPANTS 

"It was a 2-page form - 10 minutes and you're done.

And it's great."

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Our contributions to fostering and supporting clean leaders include:

Strong leadership is key to achieving a green economy and sustainable society – now and into the future. We want to inspire and educate environmental leaders of all ages, to help today’s youth become the foundation of a flourishing, climate-literate, clean society. 

CLEAN LEADERS

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Clean Leadership Summer Internships

The Clean Leadership program is designed for Atlantic Canada’s clean economy. Our goal is to grow the talent pipeline for growth ventures that address a range of complex global sustainability challenges—from improving energy storage, to creating new value products within the circular economy, to defining the future of transportation and agriculture.

Our impact this year:

Supported by: Province of Nova Scotia / Government of Canada / Echo Foundation / Shell Canada / Commission for Environmental Cooperation

Clean Schools

Our curriculum-aligned EnviroEd programming continues with our Clean School programs, which use a participatory and interactive workshop style and a solutions-based approach to environmental problems. By promoting critical thinking, student engagement, hands-on technical skill-building, and a holistic view of the human-nature connection, we strive to deepen learning that will not only increase knowledge around these issues, but also foster environmental values and commitments among students.

Supported by: Cumberland Energy Authority / Natural Forces

Our impact this year:

Clean Energy School inspired a class at Basinview Elementary to incorporate renewable energy into their classroom. They decided to get a solar PV panel on their portable to help power their Chromebook charging station and their inflatable rooftop decoration. Through partnerships fostered by Clean, the class was successfully awarded McInnes Cooper's $1,000 Make Change for Children seed funding. This solar panel was installed on the portable in March 2018. The students are now continuing the fundraising to raise enough money to install solar PV panels along the rooftop of their school to provide even more power for the rest of the school.

In the inaugural year,

1040 students

and 50 teachers

participated in

45 Clean Energy School Workshops

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EnviroEd

Our EnviroEd program nurtures the environmental awareness that students will take with them for the rest of their lives. We help children and youth develop an empathetic connection to the natural environment while learning in a classroom setting where contact with nature is often limited. 

Supported by: Nova Scotia Environment / Health Canada / Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development / TD Friends of the Environment Foundation / Terrapure / Natural Forces / Loblaws / Divert Nova Scotia 

Workshops are curriculum-aligned for each age group to facilitate smooth integration into the classroom. Our Eddie the Eco-Superhero theatre presentations use humour, rhymes, and songs to help students make a profound connection to the environment at an early age. And Eddie has entered the digital realm with our new online games in both English and French.  

Our impact this year:

• Eddie's Litterless Road Tour (in its 9th year!) reached 2,941 Primary to Grade Three students and 141 teachers across Nova Scotia

• 1,058 of those students also participated in the Waste-Less Lunch Challenge, a 30-day initiative that brings environmental education into every subject while tracking kids' daily waste reduction efforts.

Introduced a fee-for-service structure to support ongoing delivery to schools

Produced a video series for Eddie and the Air Out There, including 1 music video and 3 additional videos (in both English and French for a total of 8 videos), to make the Air Quality Health Index messaging from the live presentation more accessible in Nova Scotia and beyond. The video series was launched at the Halifax Discovery Centre.

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Clean Scholarship Award

Clean established a $20,000 scholarship fund in 2008 in celebration of our 20th anniversary. A $2,000 scholarship has been awarded each year since to a Nova Scotia graduate student (Masters or PhD) conducting research in the area of environmental studies.

This year was the final award.

Our impact this year:

In 2018 the scholarship was awarded to Garland Xie, whose research will focus on analyzing root traits to determine a framework for green roof plant selection. Selecting plants with root properties that optimize storm-water retention will bring us a step closer to making green roof technologies commercially viable in Nova Scotia.

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Membership & Coalitions

Clean Foundation is involved in many partnerships and networks, and joins strategic coalitions that advance our work. Our staff also sit on boards, steering committees, and round tables, to help support the broader environmental sector. These include: 

In partnership with Clean, impact organizations invest in training and employing current full-time students in clean tech and environmentally meaningful jobs. We help equip Clean Leaders with the knowledge and aptitude to become stewards in their communities while delivering on meaningful environmental projects during their 15 or 9 week internships. By tapping into a student’s journey mid-way through school, our program offers exposure to new green career path opportunities – while giving young minds the tools they need for future success.

Eddie and the Air Out There reached 263 Primary to Grade Three students through

1 French-language and 4 English-language presentations 

Clean Energy School guides students through a hands-on exploration of the world of electricity and energy and introduces them to a variety of renewable energy sources. They reflect on the choices they make and the advances in technology that are having positive effects on climate change. 

Clean Water School is a 3-part, experiential education initiative designed to teach Grade 7 students about watersheds and human impacts on them while showcasing scientific and water-related careers. It introduces them to lab and field skills, scientific observation, and Traditional Indigenous Knowledge concepts. 

In the inaugural year,

197 students

and 6 teachers

participated in

8 Clean Water School

Workshops

Of these 59 interns:

18 self-identified as Indigenous

28 self-identified as female

31 were from rural communities

11 were in High school

31 organizations hosted interns, including 7 Indigenous communities/businesses and 5 clean tech ventures

59 students

worked on 41 environmental projects across Nova Scotia

Clean Leadership Professional Internships

The Clean Leadership program now offers a professional internship stream (6 to 12 months), which is proudly funded through Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Science Horizons Program. This is a wage subsidy initiative to help graduates acquire work experience in STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) positions with an environmental focus.