Did you know that the much of the wastewater in Hamilton is treated in a plant that partially powers itself?  If you go down to the Woodward Avenue wastewater treatment plant, you will see what looks like a big globe.  This is where the action takes place.

In this sphere, bacteria are digesting waste products in an anaerobic (without oxygen) environment.  The bacteria break down pollutants into methane.  The methane is transported to a generator and burned to create power.  The plant produces 1.6 MW of power every day and offsets about a fifth of the wastewater treatment plant's total daily load.
For more information, visit this fact page from the Ontario Power Authority or this paper describing some of the challenges that had to be overcome.

In Hamilton, Yes We Cannon has been engaging and empowering the community over a common goal – improving cyclist and pedestrian safety in the lower city by creating a bi-directional bike lane on Cannon Street. 

Yes We Cannon is a citizen’s group focused on creating a safe transportation route for cyclists along Cannon Street in Hamilton, Ontario. Officially launched in May 2013, Yes We Cannon and has been a great success. More than 2,300 residents signed a Yes We Cannon petition calling for segregated, bidirectional bike lanes on the fast-moving, four-lane artery and on September 5th, city councilors approved a pilot project which would place bike lanes on Cannon Street between Sherman Avenue and Bay Street. Grassroots efforts were the main push behind the pilot project creating the longest stretch of protected two-way bike lanes in the City and providing a safe cycling route from east to west across the lower city. 

The Yes We Cannon campaign only launched in May of this same year but gained widespread support throughout the City of Hamilton through various outreach and engagement initiatives, including riding with students on Bike to Work Day in May and a Bike Parade in June, which resulted in the motion to create the bike lane. 

The Yes We Cannon campaign has been a great success and over the past month members took time to celebrate all of their hard work and, of course, separated bike lanes on Cannon! This great success for active transportation in the City of Hamilton was paired with others including support for a bike share system as well as a Pedestrian Mobility Plan. 

For more information about Yes We Cannon, please visit their website or Facebook Page.