Latest News
Keeping the Fire Going
Sustainable Waterloo Region | September 8, 2011
In my last post, I framed my upcoming vacation as a mix of adventure & renewal. Following this theme, the night before being back in the office I wrote this update. — Renewal: In Search of Work Life Balance When I had set off on an extended time away from the office about a month ago, […]
Lessons from XCG: Changing Their Baseline
Sustainable Waterloo Region | August 31, 2011
XCG Consultants Ltd. was founded in Kitchener in 1990 when 2 engineers, (Richard Rush and Stephen Nutt) left a large consulting firm to launch a practice of their own (hence XCG; ‘Ex Canviro Guys’). Since then, their team of environmental scientists and engineers have been practicing environmental leadership in five offices in Canada and the […]
Organizational Culture – on a Budget!
Sustainable Waterloo Region | August 18, 2011
Earlier this summer, some friends of Sustainable Waterloo Region nominated us for the prestigious Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures award, presented by Waterstone Human Capital. It was a challenge for us to decide whether or not to go ahead with this application, particularly because, although we pride ourselves on our organizational culture, as a […]
Collaborative project receives funding to take action
Sustainable Waterloo Region | August 3, 2011
Local partners commit $205,000 to The Climate Collaborative to support the development of a community-wide greenhouse gas inventory and action plan (WATERLOO REGION, ON) August 3, 2011 – Sustainable Waterloo, REEP Green Solutions, and the Regional Municipality of Waterloo announced today that they are collaborating to take community-wide action on climate change. Thanks to […]
Canadian Sustainability: Local Responses, Global Impact?
Sustainable Waterloo Region | July 26, 2011
Later this fall in October, I will be attending the 9th Annual Canadian Business for Social Responsibility Summit in Toronto. This event will focus on how Canadian business is perceived globally – how do Canadian initiatives impact our bottom line and world beyond our borders? Given corporate Canada’s global operations, international supply chains, and culturally diverse workforce […]
Adventure and Renewal – On Hiatus July 22 – Aug 22
Sustainable Waterloo Region | July 15, 2011
I’m writing this on a Friday afternoon. Like most days my head is full of ideas & excitement, my heart feels fulfilled, but I am absolutely exhausted. One telling sign was earlier this week – I found myself growing increasingly frustrated when having a hard time understanding a colleague, a routine discussion where in the […]
The Most Important Decision at any Start-Up & A Welcome to Cam Scott!
Sustainable Waterloo Region | July 4, 2011
Of all decisions we make at Sustainable Waterloo Region, hiring full-time staff is – without a doubt – the most important one. This probably wouldn’t even conjure up much debate amongst local entrepreneurs, and the reason is a no-brainer: organizations are the people that contribute to them. When you do a good job hiring superstars, […]
Environmental Labels and Certifications Primer
Sustainable Waterloo Region | June 13, 2011
Businesses and individuals are increasingly striving to reduce the environmental impacts of their purchasing decisions. As consumers have demanded environmentally responsible alternatives, providers have begun offering lower impact (often called “greener”) products and services. Unfortunately, it can be difficult for consumers to objectively evaluate a product or service’s relative level of environmental impact on their […]
The Region of Waterloo’s GHG Reduction Plan
Sustainable Waterloo Region | May 26, 2011
Just over one year ago, I was thrilled to have the Region of Waterloo join the Regional Carbon Initiative as an Observing Organization – the first step in working towards a corporate GHG reduction commitment. On the recommendation of David Roewade, their Environmental Sustainability Planner, Regional Council adopted a report that had the Region join […]
Commuting and the Impact of LRT
Sustainable Waterloo Region | May 16, 2011
In a press release last week, Sustainable Waterloo Region highlighted a few of the benefits that light rail transit would bring to our Region, including reducing need for costly parking spaces, recruiting top young talent, and reducing GHG emissions. We reported that, of those keeping track, commuting emissions constitute more than 24% of a Regional […]