Kelly Drennan is the founder of Fashion Takes Action (FTA), a premier non-profit organization focused on ensuring sustainability in every item of clothing, shoes, and accessories we wear.
Spending time as a young chef travelling in Europe, Jamie became a proponent of the slow food movement. It was there he experienced how much better food tasted when it was grown, harvested, prepared and enjoyed in each place he visited. When Jamie returned to Canada he wanted to ensure our own local cuisine could be enjoyed in a similar way.
Laura Reinsborough is the founder of a local fruit harvesting organization, Not Far From the Tree. Laura's accomplishments gathering fruit from trees around Toronto has elevated the 100-mile diet to a whole new level. The average distance food travels from farm to plate is 4,000 kilometers – that's a whole lot of carbon dioxide and chemicals needed to keep the food fresh.
Biodiversity, a variation in species and ecosystems, is the spice of life. The necessity of this constant difference and change is what maintains resiliency on our planet, and ensures earth’s life forms can survive even disasters. But as the world continues to expand, and the number of mouths to feed multiplies every day, the threat of declining biodiversity grows. The United Nations (UN) estimates that between 1970 and 2000, the abundance of species dropped by 40%, and continues to decline.
Rob Stewart is the award-winning director of Sharkwater. His provocative documentary challenges the age-old image of sharks as man-eaters and suggests the real villains may be those who kill 100 million sharks each year.
Our reliance on fossil fuels, including heavy oils for transport and production, is the major cause of skyrocketing carbon emissions and soaring global temperatures. Racecar driver and environmentalist, Leilani Munter uses her Carbon Free Girl persona to raise awareness of the harms of fossil fuels and climate change, and offers alternatives to the way we use energy.
Simple environmental actions add up, be they to save energy, fuel, or water. Incandescent bulbs waste 95% of the electricity that they consume as heat; 70% of vehicles have at least one tire with an inflation problem; if every one of us checked the tire pressure on our cars, Canadian drivers could save enough fuel to fill 257 Olympic size swimming pools. Regular showerheads use 18 to 27 litres or more of water per minute; if every one of us switched to low-flow showerheads, we could each cut water use in showers by 50-70%.
As Tzeporah Berman told George Strombolopolis on The Hour, Everyone remembers their moment, the one that thrust them into action, and set them on a path to realizing a goal and finding a solution to a cause they believe in.
The rural countryside in our backyard is a diverse home to native trees and rare species; the Niagara Escarpment specifically, a pristine 450 million year old UNESCO world heritage site, is home to 40% of Ontario’s rare species and houses trees that are over 1000 years old. The land here is irreplaceable once it’s lost, and it’s threatened every day by industry and urban encroachment. When an aggregate company recently put forth a proposal to remove another 200 acres from Mount Nemo, Sarah Harmer, who grew up with this natural landscape in her Burlington, Ontario backyard, refused to sit idly.
Andrew Ference is a National Hockey League (NHL) superstar with the Boston Bruins, and a leader in the fight to reduce carbon emissions. He spearheaded a partnership between the NHL and the David Suzuki Foundation, forming the Carbon Neutral Challenge to inspire over 500 hockey players to offset their carbon emissions from travel. More astounding still, is Andrew’s personal dedication to change; he bikes to work every day to reduce his environmental impact.