Building Markham's Future Together:

Environment

Human activity is significantly changing the environment on a global scale. Markham’s air, land, water and habitats are all affected. We urgently need a coordinated strategy to promote a sustainable community.

Here's our plan:

Create a Green Print strategy for Markham.

This will include:

• Policies to protect air, land, water, habitat and all living species
• A multi-year, multi-language education and communication strategy
• Partnerships with all levels of government to endorse and support sustainability
• A comprehensive Climate Action Plan

Adopt green building standards and green community standards.

We want to make Markham the recognized leader in environmental standards.

Develop and implement a community-wide zero waste strategy.

Just 30 per cent of Markham’s waste goes to landfill – the best record of any community in Canada. We want Markham to adopt best practices to move toward a zero waste ecological footprint policy as a baseline and model for residents to follow.

Prepare an enhanced Markham's beautification policy.

We want to build on our existing programs to improve our parks, streets and natural areas.

Develop strategies to maintain healthier, greener communities.

This includes boosting local food production, building more bike paths and walking trails, and improving the safety and security of our neighbourhoods.

Develop a funding strategy and modeling tool to support these initiatives.