Student presentation “Green Living in Ottawa”

Green Living in
Ottawa
Introduction
The aim of this project is to present a few large scale
“green” initiatives in Ottawa, as well as show how these
initiatives have measurably reduced pollution, and increased
awareness of the importance of sustainability. We will go on to
consider a final sustainability initiative that is ideal for graduate
students wanting to get involved.
“It’s not easy being green”
http://images.quickblogcast.com/
1. Ottawa Blues festival & the Green Team
The Ottawa Blues
Festival is an annual two week
music festival that features
dozens of popular domestic
and international bands.
Each year, there is a
“Green Team” that is recruited
to manage waste and teach
other festival volunteers ways
to be more sustainable.
http://media3.washingtonpost.com
1.1 The Green Team – Volunteers’ perspective
‘It gets dirty’, Martin one of the
volunteers told us. Clearly a
commitment to helping the
environment is needed to do this
job.
The Green Team picks up
recycling and compost bags and
sorts compost at the end of the
day.
The incentive to do so, besides
having a green conscious, is that
after 6 hours of work volunteers
get free passes to the festival.
1.1 The Green Team – a typical day
The green team begins their shift
with a meeting organized by the
area leader where they discuss any
changes for the day. For example,
(‘Forks are plastic today, pay
attention to forks’)
After the meeting they start
sorting the garbage that has been
previously collected. Sorting refers
to opening bags and separating
recyclable items from garbage.
1.2 Ayn - The Green area leader
Ayn is the group area leader of the green
team. She is committed and enthusiastic. She
views the whole experience as an educational
opportunity.
The volunteers not only sort garbage but also
stand in front of the garbage bins and help
people sort their own garbage as they are
throwing it away.
Daniel Spence invented the cup sorter which is
an attachment to the side of the garbage can
to put beer cups in.
All the plates, cups and napkins are
compostable, they are made of corn and are
just as solid as regular ones. A pre-selected
vendor supplies these to us.
1.3 Help from the City of Ottawa
The City of Ottawa lent recycling bins to the
event.
Also, food vendors have to comply with the
recycling regulations of the festival. For
example, everyone reuses all garbage
gloves and garbage bags are also reusable.
“Fill your water bottle” stations are at the
event. There is a public one and one for
volunteers.
As Ayn had initially stated, the Green Team
also educates others at the event. There is
an Education shift where volunteers can
learn and teach green facts, for example
how many ways does it take to break down
plastic cups.
1.4 Some more information
•175 volunteers this year.
•Green Team started 5 years ago.
•There is a new project each year.
•Next year there will be more supervisors
employed.
•40 people per shift.
• Volunteers are provided with a family dinner
•All shifts are 3 hours long.
The job seems to attracts “green savvy”
people and many get their friends to
volunteer. The motivation is therefore rooted
in “giving back”. There is a wide diversity of
age ranges/demographics of volunteers.
The Green Team gets the “rock star”
treatment at the event and overall they have
a lot of fun!
1.5 Specific measures
The model employed by the Festival is
sustainable due to its branding and the
initiatives in place that ensure that people will
continue to volunteer and the program will
continue to grow.
However, much of the work the green team
does is not measurable. While what the team
has to do is very clear and they are committed
to working simply due to their personal
motivation of doing a good job and ‘giving
back’ what they collect however is not
measured.
What makes this model complex is the fact
that it relies on volunteers, therefore the
question becomes how enforceable can
demands be made on volunteers to meet
certain measures.
http://www.jjneedles.com
1.5 Specific measures (cont’d)
The second issue is actually measuring all the garbage
collected. The idea would be to motivate volunteers to collect
as much garbage as possible to beat previous years’ targets.
In terms of a ‘green’ model for festivals this seems like a very
optimistic example that should be extended to other festivals.
For example the South by Southwest Festival in Austin Texas is
one of the largest music festivals in North America, and it is
trying to be environmentally sustainable through a number of
measures, http://sxsw.com/sustainability. However there is
no Green team.
In a city that has been named as the Greenest city in America,
and who has as residents more than 50, 000 students from
the University of Texas alone, the Green Team would
undoubtedly be an overwhelming success at South by South
West as well as its other many music festivals in the city that
is well known as the Live Music Capital of the World.
http://www.goolliver.com
2. Bridgehead – an interesting Business Model (M)
After the Blues festival , the MBA
green team felt like having a little
break. So we wondered what is the
perfect address for a thirsty ecosensitive inhabitant living in Ottawa ?
We found this right place and it is
called Bridgehead.
This company decided to take up the
challenge of promoting fair trade and
the environment while offering a high
quality
customer
experience.
According to us, their mission is
accomplished!
2.1 Promoting fair trade
Bridgehead has decided to follow
fair trade principles since they
started in 1981.
100% of the company’s coffees and
teas are fairly traded and certified
as such by Trans Fair Canada,
which
is
an
independent
institution.
This certification guarantees that
coffee and tea are purchased from
small-scale farmers in developing
countries and grown in a
responsible
and
progressive
manner.
2.2 Organic raw materials
At Bridgehead, 100% coffees and teas
not only come from Fair trade but also
are certified organic.
The Organic Crop Improvement
Association (OCIA) certifies the coffee
roastery and the growers that supply
Bridgehead.
Some of the growers also benefit from
a certificate of the International
Federation for Organic Agricultural
Movements (IFOAM).
Bridgehead also tries to use
other organic products that come into
the composition of its drinks and bites
such as milk, cream, nuts, and spices.
2.3 Protecting the Environment
Bridgehead
has
a
very
strong
transportation policy to reduce the
pollution due to deliveries. The company
shares a vehicle called Vrtucar and sources
from local companies for milk, cream, and
honey. Reusable shipping containers are
also used to transport coffee and kitchen
goods to the coffeehouses.
Coffee shops are also famous for the
amount of garbage that they produce
every day. Therefore, Bridgehead has put
into place a recycling composting program
to deal with the paper, glass, plastics and
metal…
The company also conduces constant
research to improve its packaging and the
cleaning of its products.
3. YEP & the Eco scavenger Hunt
What is YEP ?
The Young Environmental Professionals
(YEP) of Canada is a national
organization dedicated to creating
opportunities for young and emerging
environmental
and
sustainability
professionals.
2.1 YEP
Promoting green living… (YEP’s actions)
YEP operates under three key principles - Education,
Engagement, and Employment - as the foundation for its
actions.
The first principle for capacity building is education. YEP
contributes to the education and increased capacity of its
members by providing learning and development
opportunities such as networking with other environmental
professionals, monthly meetings, speaker sessions,
workshops, and discussion forums.
YEP's second founding principle is engagement, which YEP
facilitates by establishing a forum for young and emerging
environmental professionals to build relationships and find
opportunities for leadership in their communities.
YEP's third principle is employment, which is supported by
connecting members with employers, circulating job
opportunities, matching members with mentors, providing
career toolkits, and hosting
workshops.
2.2 The Eco scavenger Hunt
We participated in the Eco Scavenger Hunt were we
had to find clues related to Green buildings and
initiatives around the city. This was an opportunity
for us to discover Green Ottawa as well as network
with other young people who have the same
interests.
This is another winning model to perpetuate in
Green Cities. Boulder Colorado is know for its liberal
views and green consciousness. However the closest
initiative is the Green Zone offered by the Boulder
Chamber:
http://www.boulderchamber.com/greenzone.aspx
Boulder is another young student city, and just like
Austin is well known for sustainable living, with more
than 40,000 students living in the city. Therefore an
organization such as YEP would thrive in cities such
as Boulder and Austin in the US. Canada’s innovative
sustainable models have great potential to be
implemented in other places across North America
where there is a thirst for Green!
Moving forward – Net Impact
Net Impact is an international network of
graduate
business
students
and
professionals who are committed to
creating
a
more
socially
and
environmentally sustainable world through
business. Currently, Ottawa does not have
a Net Impact chapter, and we are
considering starting one.
Net Impact chapters hold sustainability
events, attend the annual Net Impact
conference, offer resources to the chapter
members to help “green the campus,”
change curriculum, make an impact at
work, and help provide consulting services
to non-profit and small businesses.
http://www.antiochne.edu
Conclusion
Ottawa is truly a city that shows concern for the
environment. It hold events that strive to be as
sustainable as possible, it has many associations for
environmentally concerned people to gather and help
improve the environment, and it has a breadth of
careers in the sustainability field (Environment
Canada, Sustainability Consulting companies, and
Green Real Estate Agents, to name a few).
The only way to preserve Ottawa’s natural beauty and
support the other environmentally aware citizens is to
attend events, initiate programs, submit your views to
the government, and provide recommendations to
organizations on how to reduce pollution levels.
http://www.vacationideas.me
The End!
Kathryn Emmons, Gabriella Golumbovici, Marie- Amélie Tiriau