As we wrap up our 11th annual Carbon Cleanse event, we want to celebrate all the incredible hard work from our participants. Over 150 participants from a dozen organisations joined us in our fun, weekly challenges, which were designed to help incorporate sustainable habits into their day-to-day lives.
Change can be overwhelming, and it’s no exception when it comes to forming new sustainable habits. This is why the goal of Carbon Cleanse is to implement sustainability into daily routines through activities that promote sustainable action, awareness, and education, all while fostering employee engagement across an organisation. Throughout the month, the teams celebrated each other’s accomplishments and efforts in sustainability, strengthening the bond between our network members.
One of the many new activities that was introduced this year is the digital declutter challenge, where participants were asked to clean up unused files in an effort to reduce energy consumption related to data centre storage.
Participants shared that quizzes and trivia were some of their favourite activities, as they were ‘a good tool to learn about impacts’. Want to see what types of challenges our network played with? Check out the Energy Enthusiast activity below!
Teams went all out in this competition. As the last week came to a close, competition intensified with teams vying for first place in a close finish. In a moment of glory, VCT claimed their first win in the history of Carbon Cleanse with a whopping total of 12,850 points! Their impressive determination and collaboration was displayed through their company-wide no-cook potluck, stuff swap, and engagement with INgage, our new employee engagement tool, helping them climb to the top of the podium this year.
Finishing in second place, MTE followed with outstanding results, blazing through the energy enthusiast challenge with a high number of participants. AET secured the third spot on the podium. Their exceptional work during transportation week highlighted their commitment to building more sustainable practices in their everyday lives.
As Carbon Cleanse came to a close, participants shared with us their experiences during their sustainability journey through reflections. In response to ‘What is one thing you think everyone should do to support climate action?’ one participant said, ‘Talk about it. Keeping it in daily conversations helps support climate action.’ Another noted that ‘Education is the key to everything, and if we continue to learn, grow, and make small changes in our everyday lives, we can change the world.’ A participant new to their sustainability journey shared that ‘Everyone should start small and look at the little things they can do to support climate action – it seems daunting at first, but if you take baby steps, it’s easier.’
We would like to extend a special thank you to Bruce Power, Explore Waterloo Region, Downtown Kitchener BIA, Gifted, Uptown Waterloo, and Township of Woolwich, for sponsoring this year’s Carbon Cleanse. Our sponsors helped us ensure that all participants were motivated to complete the challenges, helped with sponsoring prizes and encouraged us to continue sharing the importance of sustainability in our community.
We would like to thank everyone who participated and supported us throughout our 11th year of Carbon Cleanse. Through Carbon Cleanse, we hope to foster a culture of sustainability which continues beyond the month-long challenges and implements lasting change. You have shown us time and again that working together fosters real change.