30th Annual Emerald Awards | Alberta Emerald Foundation

Alberta is home to leaders and innovators, each demonstrating a unique approach to environmental stewardship.

The Emerald Awards showcase those who raise the bar in addressing local, regional, and global environmental & climate issues. In doing so, a standard of excellence is set that inspires others in their own practices.

The 30th Annual Emerald Awards took place virtually on June 1st. If you missed it, you can watch it for free on our YouTube channel and read the digital program!

Legacy categories

Celebrating an organization or individual’s legacy of environmental excellence in addressing and mitigating the effects of local, regional, and global climate and environmental issues.

The 2021 Legacy Categories are:

Business presented by Edmonton Community Foundation
- Showcasing an organization engaged in commercial, industrial, or professional activities that have demonstrated a meaningful commitment to an environmentally sustainable future.
Community Group or Nonprofit presented by Syncrude Canada Ltd.
- Recognizing associations dedicated to furthering a particular social cause or advocating for a shared point of view that has demonstrated a significant commitment to the environment through their actions.
Education presented by Alberta Beverage Container Recycling Corporation.
- Acknowledging those that have raised the bar by showing leadership and creativity in educating students of all ages about environmental matters.
Youth presented by City of Edmonton
- Recognizing people, 25 years of age and under, who have made meaningful contributions and have taken positive action to improve the environmental health of their community.
Lifetime Achievement presented by Capital Power
- Celebrating environmental leaders who, throughout their lifetime, have made contributions of outstanding environmental significance.

project/initiative categories

Showcasing the Albertan environmental projects and initiatives that have addressed and mitigated the effects of local, regional, and global environmental issues by achieving excellence aligned to certain environmental priorities.

The 2021 Project/Initiative Categories are:

Water presented by Jamieson Laurin + Co.
- Recognizing projects and initiatives that demonstrate excellence through the monitoring, management and/or stewardship of water and watersheds.
Air presented by City of Calgary
- Recognizing projects and initiatives that improve air quality.
Land presented by Alberta Real Estate Foundation
- Recognizing projects and initiatives that demonstrate excellence in sustainable land use.
Energy presented by Yellowbike Solutions Inc. & Bioenergy Solutions Inc.
- Recognizing projects and initiatives that positively support the evolution of our province’s energy systems.
Waste Management presented by Alberta Recycling Management Authority & Beverage Container Management Board.
- Recognizing projects and initiatives that innovate the repurposing, reduction, and disposal of waste in an environmentally conscious way.
Infrastructure
- Recognizing environmental advancements in the ways we design, construct, and travel.
Public Engagement & Outreach
- Recognizing programs and initiatives that educate and empower the broader public by teaching the necessary skills to make informed environmental decisions and take responsible action.
Shared Footprints Award presented by Government of Alberta.
- Recognizing those who have exemplified land and water stewardship, built shared knowledge, improved air quality, reduced land disturbances, and encouraged ecotourism.

Air

Award Recipient

We Care About the Air You Breathe

Calgary Region Airshed Zone

Air quality monitoring has only been available to large cities with a population of over 30,000 people. However, the cost of the stations are over $250,000 for set-up and another $72,000/year for operating costs. In the Calgary region, only 4 stations have been able to operate. Now with the Portable Air Monitoring Laboratory (PAML) program (2018-2022) and the Purple Air Program, CRAZ is able to offer air monitoring bringing ...

Shortlist

Community-Based Air Quality Monitoring

Alberta Capital Airshed

Alberta Capital Airshed (ACA) empowers local residents and organizations to be citizen scientists by hosting ACA air quality monitors. The data captured tells a story of neighbourhood air quality which can be compared with other locales, contribute to our regional air data analyses, and connect with our school education and community outreach programs. This network within Metro Edmonton is currently at 36 locations and quickly growing!

visit ...

Business

Award Recipient

YYC Growers and Distributors

YYC Growers is a social enterprise working to distribute wealth in the area of food production and distribution. They are dedicated to pioneering new ways of working and organizing to create healthy, local food systems.

YYC Growers as a farmer-owned cooperative provides Calgarians with a weekly subscription to a box of locally grown vegetables, either for pick-up at a nearby location or delivered right to their door. ...

Shortlist

Integrated Sustainability

Integrated Sustainability is a specialized international project integrator for water, waste, and renewable energy infrastructure, servicing all sectors including energy, mining, and municipal.

Over the last decade, they have helped industry tackle their most pressing needs from a sustainability lens that has been integral to the way they conduct business. As an employee-owned company, their entrepreneurial spirit enables them to drive to the root of some of ...

Future Ancestors Services Inc.

Future Ancestors Services is an Indigenous and Black-owned, youth-led professional services social enterprise that advances climate justice and systemic barrier removal with lenses of anti-racism and ancestral accountability. Through an intergenerational team of professionals and advisors, this Alberta-based enterprise provides speaking, training, research, consulting, and social media services internationally. While centering decolonized and Indigenized practices, they support their clients and community in addressing systemic issues that disadvantage groups of ...

Community Group or Non-Profit

Award Recipient

Solar Alberta (AKA Solar Energy Society of Alberta)

Solar Alberta has been providing public education about renewable energy and energy efficiency for 30 years. Over that time, we have transitioned from a largely Edmonton-based club of solar enthusiasts installing their own solar modules, to a province-wide hub connecting the general public to solar installation professionals. We are a trusted authority on solar education and policy.

In the last five years, Solar Alberta ...

Shortlist

Water Movement

Water Movement films expert Indigenous Water Treatment Operator, Warren Brown of Lytton First Nations, for the platform’s video learning library.

Based in Calgary, Water Movement fills a void in an often-fragmented industry and bridges the connection between Indigenous water treatment operators whose work is vital to the health and well-being of countless communities. Through the joint efforts of industry professionals and university students, it provides a collaborative ...

Pioneer Trail North Foundation

Richard DeSmet grew up close to the land that is now home to the Pioneer Trail North Foundation. The pristine native forest, grasslands and wetland habitat north of Edmonton was his backyard, his outdoor classroom.

Later, with his wife Vera, they continued to live close to the land. They were first to sign up with Alberta’s Natural Area Volunteer Stewards Program. In 2001 they received the provincial ...

Education

Award Recipient

Lacombe Composite High School’s “EcoVision”

5 time winner of A+ for Energy Award

Caring for the Watershed Contest 2014 1st Place Winners for Aquaponics Food System & 2016 2nd Place Winners for the Lacombe Irrigation Foods Experiment(LIFE)

Emerald Ron Kruhlak Award in 2017 for Bee Wise project

2018 Canadian Green Building Council Greenest School in Canada

2019 teacher won PM’s Award for Excellence in Teaching

...

Shortlist

Vincent Massey Jr. High School’s “Building a Community”

For the past 4 years, Vincent Massey Junior High has partnered with Morley Community School to do an outreach project bringing together the two communities.

They have had students taking part in recognition of land ceremonies, youth leadership opportunities (teambuilding, environmental stewardship, work with elders) in the hopes of fostering a future together that can truly be meaningful, powerful and relevant to their future.

With ...

Evergreen Theatre Society

Flagship programs:

Artist-in-Residency – Professional artists work with schools for 1-2 weeks to teach drama, script-writing and performance skills in conjunction with science/environmental themes. Students perform an “eco-palooza” showcase with each class presenting an original “mini-play” based on science and stewardship concepts. Touring Shows – 50-minute signature science/environment themed show featuring 2 professional actors performed in school gyms. All shows incorporate catchy music, curriculum-based scripts, exciting sets, props, ...

Energy

Award Recipient

Charting the Path to a Sustainable Future: Fort Chipewyan Off-grid Solar Farm & Storage

ATCO and Three Nations Energy (3NE)

Photo: Aerial view of the Fort Chip Microgrid Project (Courtesy of 3NE).

Fort Chipewyan (Fort Chip), a remote community of 1,000 people, has traditionally relied on diesel generation for its electricity, due to not being connected to the main Alberta power grid. Every year, diesel is transported by trucks on winter roads that are only open for a six-week period. The community was outgrowing the existing diesel ...

Shortlist

Virtuoso Energy

To date, Virtuoso Energy (VE) has completed over 500+ renewable energy projects in solar energy, EV charging, and energy efficiency solutions. VE is proud to share that all its projects were done with no accidents to date and were always operated with the consideration of its clients, its workers, and the environment.

In 2020 and 2021, VE won the Consumer Choice Award for the category of Solar ...

Edmonton’s Change Homes for Climate Solar Rebate Program

City of Edmonton

Launched on July 29, 2019, the Change Homes for Climate Residential Solar Program is a rebate program that lowers the cost of solar panel installations for Edmonton homeowners. As of January 2021, the program catalyzed the installation of more than 240 rooftop systems totaling over 1.8 MW of solar capacity, bringing Edmonton’s total installed solar capacity to 18.8 MW.

The program helps ensure a smooth and convenient ...

Infrastructure

Award Recipient

The Confluence

Located in the Summer Village of Waiparous, Alberta, this unique, environmentally regenerative, 2,238 sq.ft. residence is one of the greenest homes on the planet! Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), Woodpecker European Timber Framing, and an Alberta family have partnered to construct a one-of-a-kind home in the foothills of southern Alberta — one that produces more energy than it uses, captures water on-site, and creates a positive impact on ...

Shortlist

Net Zero Renovations

Solar Homes Inc

Solar Homes Inc. designs and implements plans for homeowners to get their homes to Net Zero, helping homeowners achieve their goals of emissions reductions, improved comfort, or reduced operating costs. This is achieved sometimes in a single dramatic renovation or phased over several years with a defined plan and achievable end goal. Currently, Solar Homes Inc’s completed projects represent hundreds of tonnes of reduced annual emissions. Leveraging his and ...

Land

Award Recipient

Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation; 10 Years of Grassland Education

Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation

In 2011, Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation and Alberta Parks officially opened Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park to the public. Glenbow Ranch protects 3200 acres of native fescue grasslands and is an active cattle ranch. The Park is home to creatures big and small from moose to bumblebees, and spans 10 kms of the Bow River.

For 10 years, they have worked tirelessly to educate visitors, young and old, ...

Shortlist

There are no other finalists in this category.

Lifetime Achievement

Award Recipient

Pat Letizia

Pat Letizia has worked with Alberta Ecotrust Foundation for 25 of its 30 year history and led the organization as Executive Director and CEO for over 20 of those years.

In the past 25 years, she has had many achievements as a leader, partnership broker and advocate for Alberta’s environmental nonprofit sector including:

Leading environmental grant programs that have disbursed over $11M to 734 environmental projects ...

Shortlist

Dirk and Nanja Struck of the Barrelman Inc (Honourable Mention)

The Barrelman Inc started as a pilot project 20 years ago after Dirk Struck and Nanja started seeing hundreds of food-grade plastic barrels were going into landfills at their work due to high recycling fees at the time; Dirk and Nanja decided to repurpose these barrels into a rainwater harvesting tool, rain barrels, to reduce plastic waste and help organizations like Green Calgary to fundraise for climate education. Their ...

Public Engagement & Outreach

Award Recipient

Defend Alberta Parks: A community-driven project to keep Alberta’s provincial parks protected.

Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) - Northern Alberta Chapter, CPAWS Southern Alberta Chapter, and the Alberta Environmental Network

With the help of thousands of volunteers and supporters from across Alberta, the goal of Defend Alberta Parks is to ensure the province’s parks remain protected within the Alberta Parks system. The campaign began in February 2020 to oppose the Government of Alberta’s decision to delist and close 175 provincial parks (the “Optimizing Alberta Parks” plan). Throughout 2020 our team worked to raise public awareness of the issue, address ...

Shortlist

Creating Environmental Literacy Among Alberta’s Future Generations

Alberta Tomorrow Foundation

Alberta Tomorrow’s free, data-rich, online, interactive planning tool is designed for students, teachers and all Albertans interested in the future of our province. Originally created in 2005 by Matthew Carlson and Dr. Brad Stelfox of ALCES Landscape & Land-Use Ltd the simulation tool introduces students to real life decisions and tradeoffs, while building environmentally mindful citizens of the future. The program has grown quickly in scope and reach under ...

WILD Outside Youth Leadership Program with CWF

Canadian Wildlife Federation

WILD Outside is a national conservation-based youth leadership program designed for youth ages 15- 18. It is free and fully inclusive. By participating in this unique and flexible program young Canadians (including Albertans) experience opportunities for personal growth while developing and encouraging their own “conservation ethic.” Youth enjoy opportunities for outdoor adventure and immersive nature experiences. They also connect with other local participants in the planning and delivery of ...

Shared Footprints Award

Award Recipient

Vermilion River Watershed Restoration and Enhancement Project

Vermilion River Watershed Alliance

In the spirit of shared environmental goals and collaboration, the Vermilion River Watershed Alliance (VRWA) worked with local, agricultural landowners, municipalities, and students to enhance and restore over 20 kilometres of riparian areas along the Vermilion River, creeks, and tributaries and 157 hectares of wetlands within the Vermilion River Watershed. In partnership with the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance, and through grant funding from the Alberta Government and Environment and ...

Shortlist

Happiness By The Acre

We are working on multiple fronts to improve soil health, water health, wildlife habitat, local economics, and improve food quality and security within Alberta. Within that framework we have the following core activities:

Holistic Planned Rotational Grazing of cattle and poultry. Ethical, humane, and low-stress livestock practices. Extensive riparian and wildlife protection. Extensive installation of ecobuffers and native species plantings. A commitment to paying staff above living wages ...

Waste Management

Award Recipient

Styro-Go Foam Recycling

Styro-Go Canada Inc.

Styro-Go recycles polystyrene onsite for clients. There is virtually no other option for polystyrene recycling in Alberta for both residential and Industrial/Commercial producers. Styro-Go processes polystyrene waste- a generally single-use, hard to recycle plastic from residential sources as well as furniture & appliance, technology, pharmaceutical, and even forestry companies across Alberta. Styro-Go’s efforts are reducing waste and extending the life of landfills across Alberta.

VISIT THEIR WEBSITE ...

Shortlist

Change.Toothpaste Inc.

Change Toothpaste offers pre-packaged toothpaste tablets without the need for plastic packaging. We chose compostable packages to eliminate any traces of our product left in the environment after consumption. We also have retail stores selling Change Tablets, including locations that offer refill solutions to eliminate packaging.

As of October 31, 2019, we have over 5000 customers that have purchased more than 8300 months of toothpaste. The average ...

Fundraiser Sales

Cleanit Greenit Composting Systems Inc.

Since 2001 Cleanit Greenit Composting Systems Inc. (Cleanit Greenit) has organized an annual Compost Sale Fundraiser Event in Edmonton and surrounding areas for non-profit groups. Cleanit Greenit provides a unique opportunity for schools, community leagues and other non-profit organizations to raise funds while supporting the environment.

The program is designed as a simple and efficient fundraising program. Cleanit Greenit provides participating groups with all the supplies needed ...

Water

Award Recipient

Pigeon Lake Watershed Management Plan – Caring for the Lake Together

Pigeon Lake Watershed Management Plan, Steering Committee

This project demonstrates the power of the Pigeon Lake Water Management Plan to strengthen community collaboration and deliver action across jurisdictions. In 2006 and subsequent years, Pigeon Lake experienced blue green algae blooms, fish kills and public health advisories—leaving local residents and politicians, looking for answers. It was quickly acknowledged that collaboration, across all 12 municipalities, was essential to executing effective watershed management. The development of the Plan progressed ...

Shortlist

The WaterSHED North Saskatchewan River Monitoring Program

A collaboration between Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP), EPCOR, the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance (NSWA) and the City of Edmonton

Effective long-term sustainable management watersheds require a solid scientific understanding of the links between watershed processes and changes in water quality, quantity and overall ecosystem functioning.

In this project, AEP, EPCOR, the NSWA and CoE partnered to implement a modern and enhanced river monitoring program for the NSR called WaterSHED (Water: Saskatchewan Headwaters Edmonton and Downstream). By combining consensus-based, multi-stakeholder priorities with sound science, a comprehensive network ...

The Bioengineering Demonstration and Education Project

City of Calgary/Government of Alberta

The City of Calgary and The Government of Alberta have partnered to create a project that demonstrates how bioengineering can be used to improve fish habitat and stabilize erodible river banks. Their goal is to increase awareness and understanding of how soil bioengineering structures are built, what benefits they can bring to our watershed, and how they might be used to mitigate the impacts of future flood events.

...

Youth

Award Recipient

Lives With Less Plastic – Jade Janzen

In Grade 7, Jade completed a Social Studies plastic. The amount of single use plastic that is used by individuals in Canada bothered her and she wanted to do something about it.

She began talking to businesses, councillors and the mayor of Cochrane, and gave a presentation to Town Council asking them to ban single use plastic bags and straws. Shortly after that, the Federal government announced ...

Shortlist

PlantForever

PlantForever was founded in 2017 by environmentalist Marmik Patel, who was 15 at the time. When Marmik noticed a potential for urban forest development on private property, he decided to take action. A year after planting his first tree, he incorporated PlantForever as a nonprofit. Over the next year, Marmik established a system for tree planting, where homeowners register, and volunteers plant at their home. It was at this ...