Township of Wilmot Featured in Case Study
Having been a member of the Regional Sustainability Initiative since 2015, the Township of Wilmot has become the first township in Waterloo Region to set a public greenhouse gas reduction target. They are working towards reducing their emissions by 25% using 2012 as their baseline. Some of their projects are already showing successful savings in both cost and energy usage. Check out their case study to learn more
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Change Management and Sustainability
On June 13th, professionals gathered at the Walper Hotel in Kitchener for a Change Management and Sustainability event, where change management practice, tools, and how to apply them were discussed. Matthew Day, Manager of SWR’s Regional Sustainability Initiative, opened the event with a brief overview of Regional Sustainability Initiative’s end-of-year member survey. The top three goals across all members were: reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, reducing energy use, and increasing employee engagement. The goal of employee engagement stuck out because many members expressed a desire for ...
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Event Recap – It’s All About the Numbers
On May 22nd 2018, Paul Rak (President and founder of Cambridge-based VeriForm Inc.) made the business case for implementing low-technology sustainability initiatives into everyday business operations. The event took place at Waterloo North Hydro and was attended by an assortment of professionals looking to learn how to optimize sustainability, efficiency, and cost-savings in their operations.
Rak began by giving an overview of the company, when they started their journey towards sustainability, and the results the company has achieved since. VeriForm is a metal fabricating company which specia ...
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Evening of Recognition 2018 Recap
Thursday, April 12 was a big day for Sustainable Waterloo Region and the many program participants and volunteers who help make everything we do such a success.
On April 12, we celebrated our 9th Evening of Recognition.
The Turret at Wilfrid Laurier University was standing room only as sustainability leaders gathered to celebrate their successes and achievements, swap stories, and share learnings.
That the event was held at Laurier was particularly meaningful; for 10 years, Wilfrid Laurier University has played a critical role in helping SWR and all Regional Sustainability Initiative members a ...
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10 ways our volunteers ROCK!
Over the four years that I have been at Sustainable Waterloo Region, I have been repeatedly amazed and touched with the kinds of time and talent that are shared in this community to work together for the creation of a shared vision of the future. From students to community leadership, the volunteers at SWR are incredible.
I could try to articulate all the things that people have done, but my memory is, as many of you have heard me say” like a steel sieve”, so I would rather share the top 10 ways that volunteers make all of us at SWR so very grateful.
Professional expertise. Many of our volunt ...
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Volunteers Support Professional Development
I’ve been a member of the SWR team for a long time, starting as a volunteer back in 2008. The volunteer structure at SWR is very close to my heart. Over the years, I’ve seen the power of this model and what it’s done for the organization, helping us to reach higher and do more, with limited financial resources. I’ve also seen the valuable and transferable work experience that volunteers have gained from being part of the SWR team. Recently, in the last year and a half, I’ve come to truly appreciate a new layer that’s been added to the model.
To set the context, historically our Human Resources ...
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Thank you to all the Green Team volunteers
What many folks might not realize about sustainability-focused efforts is that not all organizations have the capacity to have a designated role for this. On many occasions, it is the voluntary work of one or handful of employees who are passionate about the environment. The effort to pull together a green team, engage the whole organization, integrate sustainability awareness, report on energy consumption and waste diversion – these tasks are completed alongside their primary role but with equal amounts of enthusiasm. This is why at the Regional Sustainability Initiative, we refer to them as ...
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5+ Years’ of Volunteerism and Counting!
Sustainable Waterloo Region’s greatest resource is our people. We are able to accomplish SWR’s great work with a committed team of volunteers and a small staff driven by a shared passion to achieve an environmentally sustainable Waterloo Region for current and future generations.
Fueled by this passion, our volunteers join us for any number of reasons; from gaining meaningful work experience, to expanding professional networks, connecting with other like-minded individuals, or contributing their professional expertise to improve their local community. Our volunteer base is dynamic: as we welco ...
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Tova Davidson |
July 25, 2017
The first leg of my family’s trip is to visit New York City. This city is a crazy place. We saw so many things, all of which were familiar from movies and TV. It was cool to see that there is a clear business case for hybrid vehicles for the taxi companies as so many […]
Samantha Tavenor |
June 28, 2017
Regional Sustainability Initiative member St. Paul’s University College is featured in a case study highlighting their 40% reduction target and how sustainability has benefited their business thus far. St. Paul’s has embarked on a variety of projects to improve their energy efficiency, such as upgrading three of their boilers and replacing the fluorescent lighting within the building […]
Samantha Tavenor |
June 28, 2017
Regional Sustainability Initiative member R+T Park is featured in a case study highlighting their 40% reduction target and how sustainability has benefited their business thus far. Some of the companies within the park have cited their involvement with sustainability being a positive recruitment tool and a competitive advantage. Due to the park being comprised […]
Samantha Tavenor |
January 12, 2017
Regional Sustainability Initiative member AET Group is featured in a case study highlighting their three targets and how sustainability benefits their business. The Regional Sustainability Initiative provides opportunities for AET to participate and become active in sustainability – focused initiatives, such as the annual Carbon Cleanse. By encouraging friendly competition, the Regional Sustainability Initiative propels AET […]
Tarana Persaud |
December 23, 2016
Sustainable Waterloo Region has been busy this year, ushering in new members, launching a new program, and hosting events throughout the year. The last event for 2016 was held this month at Waterloo North Hydro and focused on the topic of reporting. Three speakers from Kuntz Electroplating, Kindred Credit Union, and the University of Waterloo, […]
Sustainable Waterloo Region |
September 20, 2016
Walking into Cathy Snyder’s office at the United Way Kitchener & Waterloo Area workplace, I’m greeted with a warm handshake and a purple streak running through her hair. This United Way’s CFO is leaving the world a little bit better than she found it. She’s a firm believer in ‘every little bit helps.’ Being a […]
Sustainable Waterloo Region |
September 9, 2016
As the RCI team prepares itself for expanding into a program with bigger goals and more targets, we have even more reason to keep up with the progressive work being achieved by B-Corps. These are companies that willingly set out to improve their standards of social and environmental performance through the evaluation of a completed social […]
Tova Davidson |
March 29, 2016
Carbon Pricing. Cap and Trade. COP21. Low Carbon Economy. These are all ways that we are now talking about the implications of carbon, climate change and the environment on organizations. These terms are becoming ubiquitous in business circles, but what does it all mean? For some organizations, it is that they will be developing tools, […]
Tarana Persaud |
February 2, 2016
On Thursday January 28th, 2016, Sustainable Waterloo Region held its first event of the new year. We started off with a breakfast event listening to the Vice President of Corporate and Environmental Affairs from General Motors Canada, David Paterson, who gave an insightful presentation on what they’ve been up to at GM. GM has set […]
Tarana Persaud |
January 18, 2016
Coming up on January 28th, 2016 is a highly anticipated breakfast speaker event, with special guest David Paterson, the Vice President of Corporate and Environmental Affairs from General Motors Canada Ltd. According to GM’s 2014 sustainability report published, they are making efforts to become more aware of their manufacturing practices and aiming to eradicate any […]
