EcoFriendly West
Encouraging environmental initiatives in Western Canada with an online publication (ecofriendlywest.ca) and the Nature Companion website/app (http://naturecompanion.ca)
- “When it comes to vertebrates, no class of creatures is more different, more abhorrently Other, than snakes. If there is room for them in our psychological ark, there’s space for everyone” www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/steph...
- Harriet Rix points out “we share one world with trees and one need for survival.” We underestimate trees at our peril
- Friends of Cortes Island monitor and preserve the health of local ecosystems. This includes maintaining regional parks and trails, surveying for western screech owls, and watching out for rough-skinned newts on the road www.friendsofcortes.org
- Speaking up for nature, BC seed bank, renewable community energy, and EVs cut air pollution - EcoWest News, February 3, 2026
- Insects overwinter in Cow Parsnips’ dry hollow stems that can also be used to make toy flutes and whistles www.naturecompanion.ca/plants/cowpar/ #NatureCompanion
- By learning from other whale populations, Canada’s humpback whales are regaining cultural knowledge, such as bubble-feeding techniques, that will help them survive
- Frostlines: A Journey Through Entangled Lives and Landscapes in a Warming Arctic by Neil Shea asks the question: What can it mean, for all of us, if the north ceases to be cold? www.neilshea.net
- Reposted by EcoFriendly WestAfter a year of severe wildfires and drought, a group of Manitoba organizations is calling on the province to focus on climate solutions in its 2026 budget. @jsrutgers.bsky.social reports: thenarwhal.ca/manitoba-cli...
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- Remai Modern Art Gallery, Saskatoon, is hosting a hands-on workshop bringing together art, ecology, and land-based restoration on Feb. 7 remaimodern.org/events-gathe...
- Repairing clothes and farm machinery; too much/too little water; and caring for birds, bats, and salamanders - EcoWest News, January 27, 2026
- New evidence suggests that conserving forests, wetlands, and soils is critical not just for biodiversity, but for sustaining the rainfall that global agriculture depends on.
- Pikas eat grasses, weeds, and tall wildflowers, drying and stacking food for the winter and bringing it into their burrows once winter arrives www.naturecompanion.ca/animals/pika/ #NatureCompanion
- Amplify is a blueprint for boosting your activism and building support for the causes you care about, featuring fan-building tactics from the music industry and the voices of today’s most passionate change-makers www.adammet.net/amplify
- From plants and pollinators to the clash between environmental stewardship and human ambition: Community leaders & books, December 2025
- Snow buntings are extreme cold specialists. Find out how they’re coping in a changing climate with Nature Manitoba, Feb. 3 www.naturemanitoba.ca/discovery_ev...
- Indicators of ecosystem health; energy options, from coal to nuclear; a car designed for darkness; and turning rainwater into an asset - EcoWest News, January 20, 2026
- Reposted by EcoFriendly WestHow to get into nature.
- Germany has 847 energy co-ops, and there are 713 in the Netherlands. Canada has 82. While central electricity generation and distribution has worked well in the past, community energy co-ops could play an important role in a more distributed system that is resilient under climate change
- Martens are good climbers and often make their nest in a tree where 2-4 young are born in March or April www.naturecompanion.ca/animals/mart... #NatureCompanion
- The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025: “Science writing is art. It is also information, arguments, and activism. It kindles sparks of wonder and rings bells of alarm. It names and documents the horrors, and paves the pathways toward hope.” www.harpercollins.com/products/the...
- Join Alberta Wilderness Association for a short winter hike by moonlight on Feb. 1 www.albertawilderness.ca/product/adve...
- Fun ways to celebrate Dark Sky Week, green hair salons, spa treatments for whales, and peatland restoration: EcoWest News, January 13, 2026
- The EcoFriendly West Fund is pleased to support the Southern Interior Land Trust whose goal is to conserve and restore land for wildlife in the Okanagan region siltrust.ca/about-us/
- In winter, Mountain Goats move to south/southwest-facing mountain slopes and windswept ridges where it will be easier to find food www.naturecompanion.ca/animals/moun... #NatureCompanion
- Car headlights produce sudden bursts of bright light directed horizontally and reaching directly into areas that would otherwise remain dark. They’re one of the most widespread and least understood sources of artificial light at night.
- In Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing, Lili Taylor shares her surprise and delight in observing birds, from bluebirds nesting in her backyard to migrating birds viewed from the top of the Empire State Building www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/743576...
- Taking a look at urban wildlife in Regina and Saskatoon, deer in Oak Bay, and coyotes in Edmonton
- ICYMI News, nature, and climate action in Western Canada ecofriendlywest.ca/ecowest-news...
- Fraser Valley Conservancy has turned a puddle into a wetland habitat in Williams Park, Langley fraservalleyconservancy.ca/what-a-place...
- From chopsticks to tables, converting school buses from diesel to electric, a beaver hotline, and free power - EcoWest News, January 6, 2026
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- The Alberta government is proposing a major overhaul of the Bow Valley’s trail network with the new official routes grouped together in areas where they will have less impact on wildlife
- Bighorn Sheep are social animals living in groups in alpine meadows and on mountain slopes. The males and females only mingle during the fall mating season www.naturecompanion.ca/animals/bigh... #NatureCompanion
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- Should I pour this (leftover sauce, sour milk, paintbrush cleaning water) down the sink? Probably not – and here’s why
- The ChopValue franchise takes discarded chopsticks out of the trash and turns them into tables, coasters, cutting boards, and other items - 350,000 chopsticks a week from Vancouver International Airport, Simon Fraser University, and various restaurants
- The Manchester Pigeon Rehab Facebook group’s 3,000 members work collaboratively, each contributing specific skills, to rehabilitate injured pigeons
- The Amazon’s stingless bees, key rainforest pollinators, have been granted legal rights. This makes the bees visible and affirms their essential role in preserving ecosystems.
- Australians are being offered 3 hours of free power to encourage them to schedule their activities to take advantage of the boost in solar power at midday
- Western Larches are up to 150-200 ft tall and 4-7 ft in diameter. The first branches are often 50 feet up the tree. The bark can be up to 6 in thick www.naturecompanion.ca/trees/westlar/ #NatureCompanion
- As cocoa production plunges, scientists are enhancing the flavour profile of carob, a climate-resilient plant grown in the Mediterranean
- Electric trucks, vans, and bikes are a common sight in Europe. Here are two examples from Belgium’s bpost
- Let’s show some respect for pigeons. They’re the unsung hero of every major city in the world
- The fruit of American Hazelnuts has a ruffled wrapping. The fruit of Beaked Hazelnuts is long, tubular, and beak-like (hence its name) www.naturecompanion.ca/trees/hazel/ #NatureCompanion
- Recycled cooking oil is keeping down the dust on dirt roads www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
- Why Rats Laugh & Jellyfish Sleep and Other Enchanting Stories of Evolution by David Stipp is “a paean to the art of asking interesting questions and formulating reasonable answers” davidstipp.com
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- One School One Farm Shelterbelt Project is inviting Saskatchewan schools to sign up to grow and plant yellow coneflowers this spring www.facebook.com/ShelterbeltP...
- EcoWest News highlights: 1) Living with water; 2) protecting SK peatlands; 3) Household savings from heat pumps; and 4) New all-season resorts in AB
- A section of the bike parking garage at Rotterdam Central train station
- Garry Oaks are the only species of oak native to British Columbia. They grow in a narrow strip along the eastern coast of Vancouver Island and on the Gulf Islands www.naturecompanion.ca/trees/garry/ #NatureCompanion
- Conservation Confidential: A Biologist Investigates the Clash Between Progress and Nature by Alberta biologist Lorne Fitch explores the clash between environmental stewardship and human ambition rmbooks.com/products/con...
- Community Leaders & Books, November 2025: from hiking and grassland birds to plant spirals, the Earth’s deep past, and Manitoba lakes
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- Fort Whyte Alive is a reclaimed urban green space offering nature exploration and outdoor recreation. Their award-winning visitor centre meets commercial PassiveHouse standards, a first for Manitoba www.fortwhyte.org
- EcoWest News highlights: 1) A National Peatland Strategy; 2) A second dark sky preserve in Manitoba; 3) Bees in North Vancouver; and 4) Precipitation in Saskatchewan
