Our Vision

Healthy Environment, Healthy Community.
Sustainable Living through Creative Community Action.

Our Mission

Promoting solutions for a sustainable environment through education, community action, advocacy and collaboration.

An Overview

With a thirty-four year history, the Conserver Society of Hamilton & District Inc.(a grass roots education and action organisation on environmental issues), grew out of CHOP (Clear Hamilton of Pollution) which started in 1969. Incorporation as a non-profit organisation followed in 1984. In the early 1990s local Chapters were formed (in Burlington, Ancaster, Flamborough, Hamilton and Dundas), functioning with a central Board of Directors which manages the Society's business affairs. Chapters hold their own meetings, host workshops on environmental topics and pursue projects of local interest which promote a sustainable community. Past activities have included: composting programmes, bicycle paths, reduction of excess packaging, environmental education, and reduction of pesticide use. Board Committees have also participated in regional waste-management, air quality and transportation initiatives. The Society established an Environmental Trust, now known as the Ed Smee Environmental Trust Fund and the Environmentalist of the Year Awards.

We have helped to limit urban sprawl and destruction of natural areas through our involvement in two Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) appeals; first, a successful appeal in Dundas in 1994 regarding the Pleasantview lands (a greenways link to the Niagara Escarpment) and recently, along with Action 2020 and Citizens for a Sustainable Community, we appealed an urban boundary expansion amendment to the Regional Official Plan of Hamilton-Wentworth. Living in and around the Niagara Escarpment, all members share a wish to help preserve this natural heritage.

We invite you to join us in our on-going efforts to protect and enhance the ecosystems of Hamilton and surrounding areas.

The Conserver Society is a member of the Hamilton Area Eco-Network.