The B.C. government is providing a total of over $192,000 in grant funding to 14 communities/regional districts to encourage residents to replace their old wood stoves with cleaner burning models that will improve personal health and air quality, Environment Minister Terry Lake announced last week.
The Regional District Okanagan- Similkameen will be one of the 14 recipients of the grant funding.
The province’s goal is to have close to 700 stoves exchanged across the province in the coming year.
Since 2008, the B.C. government has partnered with the BC Lung Association to run the Provincial Wood Stove Exchange Program. To-date, the B.C. government has put over $1.8 million towards the program, which has resulted in over 5,000 old wood stoves successfully replaced.
There are approximately 116,000 older model stoves currently in use around the province that can affect the health of homeowners, their neighbours and overall air shed health.