Last week we celebrated all the hard work and impressive achievements by our members, and shared some important information about Sustainable Waterloo Region and our vision for the future, which was the theme of the Evening of Recognition event and our 2015 Year End Report.
The presentation at Evening of Recognition started with some insights into the past of sustainability, specifically in Waterloo Region, such as the Blue Box program, which started in Kitchener in 1983 and is now used throughout Canada.
One important benefit to membership of our programs is recognition, which is why a large portion of the night was dedicated to our member awards. We are so proud of all of our members, but want to give a special shout out to our 2015 award winners.
RCI Awards
- Rookie of the Year Award – David Johnson R+T Park
- Most Active Member – AET Group
- Greatest GHG Reduction – MMM Group
TravelWise Awards
- Most Active Member – City of Cambridge
- Leadership and Innovation Award – Wilfrid Laurier University
- Greatest Increase in Sustainable Commuting – Crawford & Company
Sustainable Waterloo Region Awards
- Champion of the Year – Anna Marie Cipriani of the City of Waterloo
- Environmental Awareness Award – Wilfrid Laurier University
- Partner of the Year – Cora Group
Moving forward, we shared a huge announcement about our Regional Carbon Initiative (RCI), which we are revamping to become the Regional Sustainability Initiative, a more holistic reporting program. All current RCI members and any future members will be part of this program when it fully launches. The Regional Sustainability Initiative includes waste and water reporting in addition to the existing carbon reporting. We are still making sure all the details are just right before implementing this new program, but stay tuned for updates in 2016. Also stay tuned for updates this year on our Centre for Sustainability Excellence (CSE), a net-positive building that we will be building with the help of partners in the near future.