Forty-two Grade 4 students from Westmount Charter School, their two teachers and one highly-committed parent volunteer created PEEL, a literacy program that empowers students to understand the environmental, social and economic challenges and opportunities around energy consumption, climate change and sustainability. With the support of over 25 energy-sector organizations, PEEL has inspired students and parents to evaluate their energy usage through environmental initiatives such as an EcoFair, weekly nature field ...
According to Cree legend, “Leaders will be those whose actions speak the loudest; the ones that have demonstrated wisdom and courage and have proven that they work for the benefit of all.” Adopting this philosophy, Clandonald School created Warriors of the Rainbow, a clan of environmental stewards dedicated to the preservation and beautification of the natural world. For the past 12 years, the Warriors of the Rainbow have established a ...
Many schools in Alberta are challenged with vehicle congestion and idling around school drop-off and pick-up points. A student-leadership group at Captain Nichola Goddard School found a solution to this environmental and safety risk. The Green Commuting Hubs program invites students to meet in various established hubs and, accompanied by a Grade 9 hub leader, walk to school together. The initiative improves air quality and reduces the school’s eco-footprint, while ...
This Alberta-based online multi-media storytelling project documents the clean energy revolution by sharing inspiring, fact-based stories of people engaged with clean energy solutions in their homes, businesses and communities. In three years, GEF has created the single-best collection of video, audio and written content on clean energy in Canada. This popular suite of online content has helped educators, individuals, entrepreneurs, civic leaders and media understand, appreciate and get involved with ...
Since 2007, ConocoPhillips Canada School Environmental Quest has partnered with the Elements Society to fund the Destination Conservation Program, assisting schools in fostering an eco-friendly culture by reducing their global footprint and establishing student-led environmental projects and programs. Supporting 145 schools annually in Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, the program grants schools $1,000 to implement environmental and energy-saving programs, and provides resources and workshops to educators on ...
This unique program equips educators with resources, curriculum support and professional development workshops on local and global water issues, teaching youth about efficient water use, raising awareness, and inspiring independent action. In 2014, students involved in Youth Wavemakers conserved over 200,000 litres of water and reached over 14,000 Albertans with action projects on water and sanitation. Youth Wavemakers also provides an annual Youth Summit, classroom workshops, and action grants for ...
Rob and Michelle Avis envisioned Verge Permaculture as a way to provide real-world solutions to create more sustainable homes, resilient communities and a healthy eco-system; however, what they have accomplished goes far beyond teaching and gardening. Through their accredited Permaculture Design Courses, Verge Permaculture has produced a generation of graduates who apply this new integrated design philosophy with the pragmatic entrepreneurial spirit to the communities they serve. Rob and Michelle’s ...
Do It Green (DIG) is a social enterprise officially launched in August 2013, in part to help manage all the waste at the Alberta Flood Aid benefit concert. Specializing in creating zero-waste events, DIG has helped its clients including the Calgary Stampede, Comic Expo and others divert more than 10 metric tons of waste away from the landfill and reached more than two million people through public education programs. DIG’s ...
Prior to the mid-1990s, reclamation guidelines for agricultural zones were used to reclaim upland forested well-sites, resulting in open meadow instead of closed forest. Until recently, well-sites in peat-lands were reclaimed to upland forests, leaving islands of forest within wetlands. In response, Circle T Consulting initiated large-scale upland and wetland experiments in 2003 and 2007, resulting in science-based recommendations for industry and government, and improved planning, construction and reclamation best-practices ...
Reclamation research is integral to Syncrude fulfilling its commitment to return land disturbed by mining to a productive, biologically self-sustaining ecosystem. In 2008, Syncrude launched the Sandhill Fen Watershed Research Project to learn how to design and incorporate peat-forming wetlands into operational scale reclamation. The Sandhill Fen is the largest reclaimed wetland in the oil sands and the first ever landform constructed on a foundation of oil sands tailings. The ...