Green Gift Guide: Give the gift of conservation!

Stumped for gift ideas? Why not plant a tree, adopt an acre or support water quality protection right here in the Rideau Valley!

The Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation works hard to protect Ontario's prettiest little valley: conserving wetlands and forests, supporting tree planting and shoreline restoration, and promoting pristine water quality through research and monitoring.

This holiday season, you can push this critical work even further while giving the gift of conservation to all those nature-lovers on your nice list. Consider these five unique gift ideas and make it a truly green Christmas! 

1. Tree planting: Put some trees under the Christmas tree! Our Foundation offers two ways to plant trees for your friends and family: memorial trees and special occasion trees. In both programs, we plant native locally-grown seedlings across the watershed and care for them until they take their place in a vibrant new forest of the future. You can send a personalized ecard to the recipient just in time for the holidays! More here: https://www.rvcf.ca/ways-to-give/special-occasion-tree-planting 

2. Go carbon neutral: Take #GreenChristmas to a whole new level and go carbon neutral! We can help you calculate your family's carbon footprint for the year and translate it into trees to be planted across the watershed. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air and capture it in their wood cells as part of their life cycle. Make it a truly green Christmas this year! More here: https://www.rvcf.ca/ways-to-give/carbon-neutral-program

3. Adopt an Acre: When you adopt an acre in someone's name, you help protect more than 8,200 acres of wetlands, forests and shorelines right here at home in the Rideau Valley. These crucial habitats are hard at work reducing our risk of floods, cleaning our water, stopping erosion and storing vast amounts of carbon to keep our communities healthy and resilient in the face of climate change. More here: https://www.rvcf.ca/ways-to-give/adopt-an-acre

4. All Access Pass: Give the gift of quality time! A $50 annual pass allows the whole family to enjoy the natural beauty of our watershed at 11 conservation areas. This pass covers parking and boat launch fees all year long, including at our three public beaches. Visit www.paybyphone.com and use code 5222.

5. Wonderful water: Make a splash for your water-loving loved ones with a gift to the Williams Water Endowment! This fund supports local water quality research and rehabilitation, shoreline naturalization, low-impact development projects and outdoor education programs to protect the foundation of any healthy watershed: clean, pristine water! More here: https://www.rvcf.ca/ways-to-give/william-water-endowment-fund 

This holiday season, the gift of conservation isn't just for the people on your nice list. It's a gift for our communities, our future and our planet – one that keeps giving for generations to come. Learn more at www.rvcf.ca!