Joe Pantalone released an ambitious, if at times vague, environmental plan earlier today, the key components of which are a commitment to Transit City and the maintenance of public control over Toronto Hydro. But while Pantalone's platform on the environment is miles ahead of his fellow candidates, at this point, it's dubious whether it will factor much into the mayoral race.

With the most recent Nanos poll showing the current deputy mayor at 16.8 per cent of the decided vote, his odds of victory are remote. Like Sarah Thomson's bike plan, Pantalone's desire to "roll out the green carpet" will most likely come to naught - which, if you care about the environment, is a shame.

On Monday night I went down to the old re-purposed high school that is the FoodShare headquarters for a fun and informative night on how to best get worms to eat your garbage. And those little suckers can EAT.

The first ever Toronto Carrotmob attack will go down this Saturday April 10th at G's Fine Foods on Bloor. What's a Carrotmob attack? It's a 'buycott' - an organized consumer effort to reward businesses who pledge to invest in environmentally sustainable initiatives.

During February, local businesses in the Annex bid against one another in order to host Toronto's first Carrotmob, and G's Fine Foods won the bid by pledging to spend 100% of their revenues from the consumer mob on energy efficient renovations for the store. They also pledged to start carrying 15 new Local Food Plus (LFP) certified products.

Earth Hour 2010 was a bit of a disappointment in Toronto. Those hoping to catch a glimpse of the city shrouded in darkness were instead treated to a modest display of energy conservation. Even a quick glance at photos from last night reveal a waning interest in the hour-long ritual.

Things are about to get a lot greener around Toronto -- well, at least when looking down from above. On January 31st, two environmental initiatives designed to foster a more sustainable urban landscape will take effect: a new Green Roof Bylaw and a tougher version of the Toronto Green Standard (TGS).

Both the Green Roof Bylaw and the updated TGS are key elements of the City's Climate Change Action Plan, which aims to reduce Toronto's greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

Disposal of Christmas trees in Toronto is really quite simple, and pickup by city garbage collectors is happening over the course of the next few weeks.

Now that the holiday season has come and gone (unless, of course, you follow the Julian calendar), the 100,000 or so households that had decorated trees are going to want (and need!) to get them out of the house before their needles shed completely and end up everywhere.

But there is a proper way to do this... unlike in the photo above!