| Last month we were proud to announce that House of Friendship – a Regional Carbon Initiative (RCI) member since June 2011 – is the most recent Silver Pledging Partner of the RCI, having committed to reduce their carbon footprint by 40% per square foot over the next 10 years. We’ve also now begun planning the next RCI event season (Sept 2013 – June 2014): feel free let us know event topics or speakers you’d like us to consider. And if you’re interested in increasing your organization’s exposure across Waterloo Region’s sustainability cluster, sponsorship opportunities are now available for the upcoming season. Please read on for details about these items and more. All the best, Mike Morrice Executive Director Sustainable Waterloo Region |
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| New Pledging Partner Conversion – Congratulations! | |||||
.jpg "House of Friendship (JPEG)") |
House of Friendship Silver Pledging Partner 40% intensity GHG reduction over 10 years RCI Member Since: 2011 | ||||
| Renewing Regional Carbon Initiative Members | |||||
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Athena Software Gold Pledging Partner 60% intensity GHG reduction over 10 years RCI Member Since: 2009 |
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Centre for International Governance Innovation Observing Organization RCI member since: 2011 | ||||
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Cober Evolving Solutions Observing Organization RCI member since: 2011 | ||||
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Community Support Connections – Meals on Wheels and More Observing Organization RCI member since: 2012 | ||||
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Ernst and Young LLP Pledging Partner 20% absolute GHG reduction over 10 years RCI member since: 2010 | ||||
| If you are interested in joining the Regional Carbon Initiative as either a Sustaining Partner, Pledging Partner or Observing Organization, please visit the Sustainable Waterloo Region website or contact Mike Morrice with any questions.
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| Upcoming Sustainable Waterloo Region Events
2013/2014 Regional Carbon Initiative Event Season
With our final technical workshop of the 2012/2013 event season behind us, our team has begun planning for the next season and we need your input! Our events provide attendees with the networks, direction, and inspiration for building environmental sustainability into their organization’s culture. We’re looking for topic and speaker suggestions that spark your passion for sustainability. This could include stories of sustainability successes in our community or could be challenges that you seek guidance in overcoming. If you have any suggestions, please forward them to Lisa.Chapman@sustainablewr. |
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| SWR Updates And Collaboration Opportunities
Regional Carbon Initiative Event Sponsor
During the 2012/2013 event season we hosted hundreds of members in the local business community for our educational forums, technical workshops, and our Evening of Recognition. We appreciate all of the help that our Event Sponsors provide, recognizing organizations such as Sun Life, Blackberry, and Teledyne DALSA for their contributions at our events. Is your organization interested in being recognized for enabling action within the Waterloo Region Sustainability network? If so, check out our sponsorship package here or contact Lisa.chapman@sustainablewr.ca. Sponsors who confirm their participation by July 19th will recieved additional recognition in our community update.
Host a Regional Carbon Initiative Event Throughout this past year, organizations such as the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo North Hydro, and the THEMUSEUM have hosted our events. Could your office meeting space host a breakfast technical workshop for 40-50 people? Or an educational forum for 90+ people? If you would be interested in sharing your space for use during our 2013/2014 event season, please contact Lisa.Chapman@sustainablewr.ca with details.
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| Recommended Environmental Research, Ideas, & Community Events
The 3% Solution Could Save US Businesses $780 Billion Within 10 Years A joint report published by the World Wildlife Fund and the Carbon Disclosure Project outlines an analysis that could save companies billions as well as help the corporate sector contribute to the goal of avoiding pushing global temperatures over 2°C above pre-industrial levels. The 3% Solution: Driving Profits Through Carbon Reduction provides an analysis demonstrating that US businesses can act now to reduce emissions by an average of 3% annually, which would amount to savings of $780 billion over the next 10 years and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 by 1.2 gigatonnes of CO2 from 2010 levels.
North America’s 2013 Most Sustainable Cities Ranking Announced Corporate Knights, the Toronto-based media and investment research company, announced its ranking of North America’s Most Sustainable Cities for 2013.Cities were assessed on 28 indicators spanning five categories of sustainability: environmental quality; economic security; governance and empowerment; infrastructure and energy, and social well-being. The supporting research included a survey completed by many of the ranked cities, along with publicly available statistics. Overall, 20 cities across North America were included in the ranking, with 15 from the United States and five from Canada.
Environmental Commissioner Warns of Setback in Fight against Climate Change Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller says the government’s long-term energy policy could wipe out some of the gains that have been made in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Gord Miller released “Failing our Future,” his 2013 annual report on the progress made in working towards the GHG reduction targets outlined in the government’s Climate Change Action Plan.
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