The making of a “No More Noise” activist
How does someone become a noise activist? Often, it’s a natural response to uncontrolled and damaging noise in your environment that otherwise won’t get addressed. Ingrid Buday — the founder of No More Noise Toronto — realized that she needed to take action against a growing noise problem in her community. She began to notice an increase in volume since 2019 and started measuring the noise. Then she took classes in how to build noise-mapping tools, and analyzed what changes in local governance influenced the noise increase. And she reached out to the local community, with an enthusiastic response.
The results thus far are impressive. No More Noise Toronto has the attention of city and provincial officials, and Ingrid’s “Not 311” survey/complaint tool has collected over 10,000 noise reports, which appear as data points on a map. Zoom in, and you can view noise clusters in Toronto. Tap on a data point, and you can read the noise report.
“We need to grow smart, because how you start is also how you finish.”
Showing up
Ingrid emphasizes the importance of showing up and speaking up. The organization has an active membership, and Ingrid hopes to engage them more with local planning and housing committees. And although her primary focus has been in Toronto, she recently participated in a forum on pickleball noise in California.
Listen to the podcast
In episode 31 of Soundproofist, we spoke with Ingrid Buday and Dr. Arline Bronzaft. In this interview, Ingrid describes some of the noise challenges, local issues, strategies, and future plans for the organization. You can listen to it here, or through your favorite podcast provider, such as:
Apple Podcasts | Amazon | Spotify | Castbox | Himalaya
Learn more about noise:
- Noise News — sign up for the newsletter!
- ESRI – Tools for building a noise map
- Toronto’s Municipal Code 591 for Noise (2009)
- Quiet Coalition – Measuring Noise at the Bedroom Window
- “Hack Night #423- Toronto’s Noise Bylaw Review” – YouTube, with Ingrid Buday
- Global News: “Toronto woman takes excessive vehicle noise issues to city hall“
- Now Toronto: “‘Cities don’t need to be loud,’ Toronto advocacy group eagerly waiting for city’s update on refining noise bylaw”