Thursday, September 25, 2008
Newsletter: From event coverage to raising awareness against poverty, Alternative Channel is busy this autumn!
 | | Looking Forward, Giving Back!
On Wednesday, September 17, 2008 Alternative Channel covered the fifth edition of the Tremblant Forum on Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability held in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. During the month of October, Alternative Channel viewers will have the possibility to watch the highlights of the Forum including interviews with keynote speakers such as Peter Swinburn, President and CEO of Molson Coors Brewing Company...To read more or comment on this article, click here. |
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 | | Alternative Channel is proud to participate in this year’s Blog Action Day!
On October 15, 2008, bloggers everywhere will participate in the second annual Blog Action Day by blogging about poverty and by aiding poverty relief efforts. Several of the world’s most popular blogs have agreed to participate. In 2007, more than 20,000 blogs participated, along with many major corporations and international organizations. To read or comment on this article, click here.
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subscribe to this newsletter , please contact
Joanie Bergeron Poudrier.
Alternative Channel was covering the Tremblant Forum on Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability!
Alternative Channel was at the
5th edition of the Tremblant Forum on
Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability!
Last week, on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 Alternative Channel covered the fifth edition of the Tremblant Forum on Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability held in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec.
The Tremblant Forum has become one of Canada’s most important venues for the exchange of ideas on some of the biggest challenges and opportunities faced by companies, governments, and members of civil society.
This year’s theme,
Looking Forward, Giving Back, focused on the latest issues, drivers and trends in community investment. It highlighted the hard won successes of individuals and organizations committed to building a sustainable global society through strategic philanthropy and social entrepreneurship.
During the month of October, Alternative Channel viewers will have the possibility to watch the highlights of the Forum including interviews with keynote speakers such as Peter Swinburn, President and CEO of Molson Coors Brewing Company and Monique Villa, CEO of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Watch the first video of this year's Tremblant Forum here.
Alternative Channel is proud to participate in this year’s Blog Action Day!
Bloggers Worldwide to Address Poverty on 2nd Annual Blog Action Day October 15 !
On October 15, 2008, bloggers everywhere will participate in the second annual Blog Action Day by blogging about poverty and by aiding poverty relief efforts. Several of the world’s most popular blogs have agreed to participate. In 2007, more than 20,000 blogs participated, along with many major corporations and international organizations.
The non-profit event began in 2007 as a way for many blog publishers to view a pressing issue from distinct perspectives at the same time, thereby increasing awareness and creating a global discussion.
Bloggers can participate by publishing at least one blog post, podcast or video about poverty on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 .
“Utilizing mass participation, the day aims to provide a platform for bloggers to discuss and act on a pressing issue,” said event co-founder Collis Ta’eed, an Australian blogger from FreelanceSwitch.com. “This year we hope to grow on the success of 2007’s event, and bring the innovative and oftentimes personal publishing style of blogging to bear on the critical issue of poverty. With thousands of individual thoughts, ideas and actions, we aim to mobilize audiences everywhere.”
Already, 13 of the world’s 100 most popular blogs according to Technorati.com have agreed to participate in Blog Action Day this year.
Other Blog Action Day 2008 supporters include Alternative Channel.tv
The first Blog Action Day in 2007 focused on the environment and more than 20,000 blogs participated, along with many major corporations and international organizations including - the United Nations Environmental Programme, EU Commissioner for the Environment, Google, Wells Fargo, eBay, Yahoo!, BlogTV Brazil, BlogAs Lithuania.
On October 15, bloggers around the world will discuss poverty on the second annual Blog Action Day. Anyone may register for free at
http://blogactionday.org.
Watch Blog Action Day's video add
here.
About Blog Action Day:
Blog Action Day is an annual non-profit event that asks bloggers to simultaneously discuss a single issue each year on October 15th. The aim of the event is to trigger widespread discussion around a global issue through niche-focused articles that appeal to their respective audiences. The event began in 2007 when a group of bloggers asked each other, “What would happen if …?” and then decided to find out.
Contact:
http://blogactionday.org.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Newsletter: From eco-friendly chewing gum to green soap; here’s how to bring sustainable habits into your life!
 | | Chew on this! Glee Gum, a sustainable affair!
Have you ever wondered what your daily chewing gum is made of? With all the new trends in gum – long-lasting flavor and teeth whitening, to name a few – it’s wise to question whether these products are made with natural ingredients. We’re guessing not! But can you imagine chewing a gum made of 100% sustainably-harvested ingredients? Alternative Channel’s Joanie Bergeron Poudrier recently discussed with Glee Gum’s President Deborah Schimberg about how making chewing gum in Central America can be a sustainable affair. To read more or comment on this article, click here. |
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 | | Mooka Bath and Body Studio: how to be green from head to toe!
We all enjoy soaking in the bathtub for hours until our toes look like grandmas’! Nothing wrong with that, only if you really know what products you are soaking into! I recently discussed with Carolyn Wyse, Owner of Mooka Bath and Body Studio based in Montreal, about her eco-friendly bath and body product line. Discover how this young woman manages a Green business from the making to the packaging! To read or comment on this article, click here.
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To
subscribe to this newsletter , please contact
Joanie Bergeron Poudrier.
Mooka Bath and Body Studio: how to be green from head to toe!
Alternative Channel's Leaders in Sustainability Series
Leaders In Sustainability is an exclusive series of interviews with those at the fore of the sustainability movement, both in the corporate and non-profit sectors.
By Joanie Bergeron Poudrier
We all enjoy soaking in the bathtub for hours until our toes look like grandmas’! Nothing wrong with that, only if you really know what products you are soaking into! I recently discussed with Carolyn Wyse, Owner of Mooka Bath and Body Studio based in Montreal, about her eco-friendly bath and body product line. Discover how this young woman manages a Green business from the making to the packaging!
JBP- Mooka Bath and Body Studio’s products are environmentally friendly, what exactly are they made of?
CW- The base for our soap is the same our grandmas used to make them. They are made of an oil and water mixture. We don’t use anything synthetic, so no sodium laureth sulfate, no parabens and no petroleum based ingredients. I do try to choose sustainable products all the time, so for instance, I use palm oil but it is sourced from the Philippines from a sustainable farm. So it doesn’t affect the orangutan habitat or anything else. It is important to do my homework when it comes to all my ingredients.
JBP-Where did you get the interest in eco-friendly products?
CW- Helping the environment is something I’ve always been really interested in and finally with Mooka Bath and Body Studio I’ve gotten my chance to make, at least, a little bit of difference.
JBP-Where did you get your recipes to make all your products, do they come from grandma?
CW- No, not at all, it doesn’t seem to run in the family (She giggles!).My grandma is much more of a cake mix kind of women. So I read many books at the library and tried a lot of recipes. It is just like cooking, with a lot of practice you see what kind of combination works and what doesn’t. So at this point I make all my own formulas.
JBP-Was there a turning point that made you decide to produce natural products?
CW- Well, since the beginning of Mooka I wanted it to be eco-friendly. Prior to the bath and body products I used to work in the stained glass industry, and it’s wonderful creatively and artistically but it isn’t safe for the environment and after a while I couldn’t justify continuing to do it. I still wanted to create something that was lovely and that people would get enjoyment out of it, but at that point it had to be something that was green!
JBP-Is it a challenge for a company to use green products, when it is so easy to get cheaper ingredients that are not eco-friendly?
CW- It definitely is a challenge and it requires constant research. Most of the day, when people come into my boutique, they see me sitting at my computer and it may looks like I’m browsing the Internet for fun, but all day long I’m trying to resource materials or ingredients or my packaging is always a huge concern. Also for deliveries there are no green delivery companies, that I know of, so I had have to buy carbon credits to offset that. But it would still be much better if I could, from the beginning, not produce any waste at all.
JBP-You said the packaging for your products is always a huge concern, how can it be environmentally friendly?
CW-At Mooka Bath and Body Studio, I use only a recycled paper band to put around my soaps and a label that is tied on with a raffia string. Cannot be greener than that!
JBP- Is less packaging a new trend?
CW- I have noticed that people appreciate responsible packaging, so for my body butter I put them in a tin container and people ask me why I don’t use glass instead. So my answer is quite simple it’s because of the amount of oil that ends up getting used to transport glass. I have to have them transported to me and when people order them online I also have to ship the glass back out to them, so it ends up being more energy costly for the shipping fuel than just using a tin container that isn’t itself recyclable but uses a bit more energy to have it recycled.
When I first started out, I didn’t package my soap at all, I just left them out naked, but it was a problem and people started requesting that I put at least a label on each and every one of them. I would prefer to leave them naked, but I still managed to answer my costumers’ need in a green way!
JBP- What would you say to other bath and body products companies that tend to over package ?
CW- If every company would try to be environmentally friendly in every step of their business, from the production to the selling and shipping, it would make a big difference. Some of my customers have told me, when they come to buy my products that, in their mind, it’s like making an investment. They say they would much rather want Mooka to be around in 5 years from now, than the big box stores, where it’s poor quality and they don’t care about you. And it is true that if no one was buying from them anymore, they probably wouldn’t be in business and then, the kind of practices that they promote wouldn’t be in business either !
I would also tell them that it is easier to be green than they realize and in some cases it could even bring down some of their costs - the packaging is a good example of that.
JBP- Are you, in your daily life, as environmentally conscious as you are in your business?
CW- Definitely, I don’t own a car, I walk to and from work, I never buy coffees out, unless I have my travel mug. I try not to produce any garbage at all and I try to recycle, reuse and compost everything!
JBP-You are such a good example to follow! Tell me, what is the biggest reward you get from trying to be greener than green?
CW- The reason I studied Anthropology in university was because I wanted to make a difference in the world but I decided that becoming a professor wasn’t the lifestyle I wanted. And now, even though all I’m doing is making soap I feel like I am still making a difference because people do need soap, so might as well be green soap!
JBP- Thanks for your devotion to the environment Carolyn. With more people like you, the world would be greener!
To read more about Mooka Bath and Body Studio visit their website
here
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Chew on this! Glee Gum, a sustainable affair!
Alternative Channel's Leaders in Sustainability Series
Leaders In Sustainability is an exclusive series of interviews with those at the fore of the sustainability movement, both in the corporate and non-profit sectors.
By Joanie Bergeron Poudrier
Have you ever wondered what your daily chewing gum is made of? With all the new trends in gum – long-lasting flavor and teeth whitening, to name a few – it’s wise to question whether these products are made with natural ingredients. We’re guessing not! But can you imagine chewing a gum made of 100% sustainably-harvested ingredients? Alternative Channel’s Joanie Bergeron Poudrier recently discussed with Glee Gum’s President Deborah Schimberg about how making chewing gum in Central America can be a sustainable affair.
JBP-What is Glee Gum in a nutshell?
DS-Glee Gum makes an all natural chewing gum. It is the only company in North America that uses chicle, the raw material that all chewing gum used to be made from. Ancient Mayan culture used chicle, a latex that comes from the chicosapote tree, for many purposes. They used it as a glue to solidify pyramids or just to chew it as a gum.
JBP-How exactly do you get chicle?
DS- The chicosapote trees are taped by the chicleros, just like we tap maple trees in Canada to get maple syrup. The chicleros climb on the trees with spiky boots and with a machete they cut the tree trunks with big X’s and the sap flows down these incisions to be collected at the bottom of the tree. They do around 10-12 trees every day and at the end of the day they collect the sap and boil it in a big cauldron. After stirring it over fire for few hours, they end up with a sticky mixture which they put into wooden molds that are later on processed industrially to remove any impurity.
JBP-Why is the chicle not as popular as it used to be in the chewing gum industry?
DS-Once upon a time all chewing gums were made from chicle, it was an important industry in Mexico for many years. But after World War II, the demand for chewing gum had grown so much especially because American soldiers used to bring chewing gums in their rations when they were in stations overseas. So it got people interested in chewing gum all over the world. For the high demand the industry got, it became expensive and too long of a process to use natural chicle. The chewing gum companies figured out how to make synthetic and less expensive gum base. This caused the demand for chicle to fell instantly .
JBP-Why did you decide to get involved in the natural chicle industry?
DS-I was very interested in the idea of using the markets in North America and Europe to help support community development in the places where raw materials for chewing gum comes from .
We created our chewing gum to use chicle because we want to provide a market for this product to support the chicleros and their community. We also want to build awareness about the rainforest of Central America, and the important part that non timber forest products play in terms of conservation.
JBP-What is the reward you get from using sustainably harvested chicle ?
DS-I went recently to the annual meeting of all the representative of the chicleros, which represent about 200 families involved in extracting the chicle. We are involved now in providing scholarship money for sons of chicleros interested in furthering their education in biology, sustainable development or ecotourism , etc. And by talking to the group about what we do at Glee Gum to help their communities, I was very moved to see their happy faces . When we realize that the sale of our gum makes it possible for these people to live a more sustainable lifestyle and to help conserve the forest instead of chopping it down, this is where we get our reward!
JBP-What are the other organizations supported by Glee Gum?
DS- We are a member of 1% for the planet, so we give 1% of our gross sales to these two organizations that support the environment:
The Cloud Forest School which mission is to encourage a new generation of ecologically aware, bilingual individuals with the skills and motivation to make environmentally and socially conscious decisions on a local, national and global scale"
The Forest Foundation promotes sustainable livelihoods through environmental education and “green” business development. "The mission of The Forest Foundation is to assist artisans, producer groups and other entrepreneurs living in and around areas of high biodiversity."
JBP-What do you hope for the chicleros ?
DS-By selling a million pack of gum a year with the word «chicle » written on it, we hope people will better understand their connection with the chicleros, the architects of chicle, and give them the credit for it.
JBP-Glee Gum is a good model to follow, what would you say to other companies trying to deal with developing communities ?
DS-We believe that business should be more of a partnership than simply a transaction. It is not easy to figure out all these things, but this is our vision. If we can have a close relationship with the makers of our chicle, we ensure that they are not exploited and we also guarantee that the forest is used in a sustainable way.
JBP-Would you say that all the hard work to get natural chicle is really worth it ?
DS- To me, it is! But clearly, for much bigger companies it is not, because they get smaller profit and more hassle out of it. With all the new trends in gum; teeth whitening ones, others that help you quit smoking, long lasting flavor ones, etc. the gum base for these companies doesn’t really matter.
At Glee Gum we ensure that we make an all natural chewing gum made of non-synthetic ingredients, so our gum is aspartame free. We believe that a small treat shouldn’t harm you in a any way, chewing gum should be a pleasure all the way.
JBP- What would you wish for Glee Gum in the next few years.
DS- We would like to expand our product line with sugar free gum. We also would like to define even more our relationship with the chicleros. Last year Hurricane Dean affected the forest of southern Mexico and the amount of chicle harvested was less than the previous years. As a result, the income of the chicleros have been affected. So, we would like, in the next few years, to be able to work together and to stabilized the relation between consumers and producers so that the earning of the chicleros can be more steady and assured.
JBP- Thank you Deborah and I wish you the best of luck in Glee Gum’s expansion and hope that other chewing gum companies will embrace your sustainable path as well.
DS-Thank you so much!
To read more about Glee Gum visit their website
here.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Justice for All
By Alternative Channel’s Youth Contributor Cody Larocque
With global awareness on the rise concerning environmental sustainability and the protection of natural resources, one question remains; how do we ensure the fair and equal distribution of our planets resources to the entire world community? The environmental justice movement, which was born in 1982 in the United States, arose originally to combat the unfair distribution of environmental burdens (pollution, waste and industrial by-products, ect…) in both low income and minority neighbourhoods. The movement also seeks to ensure fair access to environmental goods such as clean air, nutritious food and green space.
The culprit of most environmental injustices is due whole heartedly to the commoditization of land, water, air and every natural resource in-between. Along with these resources becoming sources of capital, the negligent apathy of large corporations hoping to cut costs and grab a quick buck is another leading cause of Environmental Injustice. The overriding philosophy behind Environmental Justice is that the earth is every human’s home and that it is all of our responsibility to protect her from our species destructive habits whether we are wealthy or poor. The movement also seeks to look beyond the face value of many environmental issues , that is to say that the movement looks at both the destruction or danger that is or may be caused to nature, but it takes it a step farther by seeking to reconcile the human victims of wilderness pollution, natural disasters and hoarded resources.
Environmental Justice, an underdog in the large arena of global organizations is due to the fact that it is relatively unknown. The organization does not have an overruling body of government; most of its ideologies are formed in summits or forums, which happen when needed not annually. The movement has come under some backlash due to its slight shift away from general environmentalism towards human rights and the natural world, but this same criticism has been used to commend it as a link between social and environmental issues.
Society today is more concerned with preserving nature than twenty years earlier and those knowledgeable about what they can do to help grow every day. However as populations grow a new sense of global awareness, new problems arise that may not always be as black and white as the classical environmental issues of endangered species, recycling and energy consumption.
For more info please visit: http://www.ejnet.org/ej/
For more information please visit
Environmental Justice website.
Photo: thorinside, courtesy of
Flickr.com.
Taking It Slow
By Alternative Channel's Youth Contributor Cody Larocque
Life moves at an incredible pace in our modern world, information and ideas can travel across the world in a matter of seconds. With all this speed and instantaneous reaction to everything in our day where and when do we take the time to reflect and think about the days happenings? Traditionally, the dinner table was such a place where family would meet and discuss, but with the advent of a fast food society and fast living one organization aims to correct this direction as well as protect the planets biodiversity and adhere to the tenants of fair trade.
Slow Food International believes that everyone has the right to good, clean and fair food, as well as the pleasure that goes with it. Slow Food, believes whole heartedly that food should taste good, be organically grown there fore not harming human, animal and plant biodiversity. It also believes that food producers should be paid fairly for their hard work. Not wishing to be called consumers, they have taken the name of co-producers, because they both understand and support where there food comes from. The organization started in 1986 in Bra Italy, home of the organizations founder Carl Petrini, due to his home town’s association with wine production, white truffles, beef and fine cheeses which coupled with Italy’s love of fine food.
Slow Food has also started several other foundations which adhere to their core beliefs, most notably are the Slow Food foundation for biodiversity, the ark of taste which aims to protect artisan foods, animal and plant breeds which risk extinction due to marginalization and loss of public interest. Slow food also holds large gatherings such as, Presidia which help to connect local and artisan food producers to accessible and public markets and lastly Terra Madre which is a world meeting of food communities, for example Cheese producers from France would meet and discuss with cheese makers from Quebec, Canada. Slow food also believes that in sustainable farming and works to set up food communities in such a way. While not opposed to research by universities in genetically modified organisms (GMO) they believe that GMOs require accurate labelling because everyone has the right to choose what they ingest and choose to support by doing so.
The organization does not only concern itself with eco-gastronomy but at a larger scale wants to change the way we think about life. The Slow Food manifesto, professes that we have lost touch with what it truly means to be a Human being, and that our speed will kill us eventually. The fast life, which is equated to a virus, will and is not only disrupting our lives but also destroying our planet through the obsession with efficiency and over productive behaviour. It is certainly and attractive option given the state of modern food production and the vast number of disease scare associated with the modern food industry. Like Ghandi said “there is more to life than just increasing its speed” So here’s to the organization which took the slow and calm snail as its symbol.
For more information please visit
Slow Food.
Photo courtesy of:
www.freefoto.com.
Lessons my father taught me are worth sharing
By David Suzuki and Faisal Moola
Now in the seventh decade of my life, I look back at the world of my childhood, with its shared phone lines, ice boxes, radio soap operas, and no television, and it seems like an ancient, lost civilization. And yet the ideas and values I learned as a child seem every bit as important for today’s youth, for whom rappers, billionaires, and movie stars are role models.
When I was a boy, my father was a bigger-than-life figure, a wonderful storyteller who enchanted people with his outgoing personality. He was my hero. He took me camping and fishing and instilled in me a love of nature and the outdoors. When he came home from work, he always asked me what I had learned in school, and as I recounted my lessons, he seemed genuinely interested, often amplifying my information or correcting me. I loved those sessions, and I now realize that he was reinforcing my education by making me recount what I had learned.
Dad was my biggest booster, but he was also my harshest critic. When I began in television, he followed everything I did. More than once when he couldn’t follow my narrative, he would call and bawl me out: “If I can’t understand what you are saying, how do you expect someone who doesn’t know you at all to follow your ideas?” To this day, I think of my father as my audience whenever I prepare a script or write a book.
My mother was the rock-solid foundation of the family. She was the first up in the morning and the last to bed at night, but unlike Dad, she did it quietly. I only understood how important she was as she developed Alzheimer’s disease and I watched Dad struggle to fill her shoes. I begged him to allow me to hire help for him, but he declined. “She gave her all for me,” he said, “and it’s my turn to pay her back.”
Both of my parents are now dead, and in my own dotage, I think about the important lessons I want to pass on to my children and grandchildren – and I realize they are the same lessons I got from Dad. I can’t help thinking they are not quaint ideas from the past but very modern ones that we need desperately today.
“Respect your elders,” he told me.
“But Dad,” I protested, “Mr. Saita is a fool.”
“David,” Dad remonstrated, “he has lived a long life and has had experiences and thought about a lot of things you haven’t. I know he seems opinionated and stupid, but if you listen, even he can teach you something.”
“To do well in Canada as a Japanese-Canadian,” he said, “you have to work 10 times harder, you must be able to get up and speak extemporaneously, and you must be able to dance.”
Fortunately, hard work was never an obstacle for me and I entered oratorical contests for which Dad drilled me in the art of public speaking. I never understood the dancing part and was not successful in that area.
“Whatever you do, do it with gusto. Don’t do it in a sloppy, half-hearted way but enthusiastically, whether it’s scrubbing the floors, picking cherries, or playing basketball. That’s how you get the most out of life.”
“We all need money for the necessities in life, but you don’t run after it as if money makes you a bigger or better man. If someone flashes his fancy new clothes or big car, pity him, because he has gone down the wrong road.”
“Live within your means.” This important lesson is embodied in the familiar expression “Save some for a rainy day.”
“You must stand up for what you believe in, but be prepared for people to be angry and to disagree. If you want to be liked by everyone, then you will stand for nothing.”
“You are what you do, not what you say.” Kids have a different way of saying this in their taunt, “All talk and no action.”
My mother also taught me useful homilies like “Always clean up your own mess,” “Be kind to animals,” and “Share; don’t be greedy.”
Today’s youth are bombarded with news about the antics of Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse, and Jay-Z, and look to them for inspiration, but that’s all the more reason to listen to the words of our elders.
Take David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge and learn more at
davidsuzuki.org.
Demand for green energy workers to skyrocket in Canada
New nationwide project helps those looking to connect with training programs
By WorkCabin.ca Staff
Looking for one of Canada's hottest job markets? Look at the earth, wind and sun.
As millions of students return to classrooms across Canada, thousands are doing something powerful: They're giving their career aspirations a real jolt at a growing number of post-secondary institutions now offering training in sustainable energy programs. These students are the next crop of soon-to-be skilled workers for the country's exploding green energy industries.
When they graduate they will enjoy something not every grad can boast: a virtual guarenteed job and endless possibilities for growth.
But there's a dilemma: Canada needs even more of these workers today, tomorrow and in the future to help the industry meet its rapid expansion.
In wind energy alone, the demand for workers will skyrocket. Canada presently has about 2,000 megawatts -- enough to power 560,000 homes -- of wind power and 3,000 Canadians employed, but that's expected to reach more than 12,000 megawatts by 2016.
Geothermal energy (using ground temperatures to heat and cool homes) is also booming. It is estimated that there are more than 40,000 units -- mostly home-based units -- installed across Canada. In Manitoba, ranked second in the country behind Quebec for geothermal installations, the province's hydro utility estimates that geothermal units have provided energy savings that have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 35,000 tonnes annually -- the equivalent of taking 10,000 cars off the road. If you need more evidence that geothermal is hot, consider this: Google is investing $10 million in the technology in the U.S. where more than 100 geothermal power plants are either under construction or planned during the next several years.
Likewise, solar power is growing hotter too in Canada. New solar farms are pointing skyward to harvest natural energy, and a major breakthrough by a British Columbia-based company promises to make solar power even more affordable. Day4Energy has developed technology that cuts the cost of solar power by 25 per cent. It's a huge step for the industry and will bring solar power closer to many homeowners who previously ballked at the cost.
With so many sectors soaring, it's not hard to see why there's a growing need for workers for research and development, manufacturing, engineering, technicians, installation, maintenance and more.
Knowing where to turn for training has, until now, been more or less a find-out-for-yourself process. A new nationwide project, Clean Energy Classrooms (www.cleanenergyclassrooms.ca) sponsored by the British Columbia Sustainable Energy Association, green energy promotions and recruiting firm Renewable Recruits, the B.C. government, colleges and other partners, is changing that in a big way.
"From Vancouver Island to Prince Edward Island, this growing industry needs more trained and capable employees," says Randyn Seibold, project manager for Clean Energy Classrooms. "Facilitating access to Canada's clean energy programs will ensure that sustainable energy is on the students' radars when making their career training decisions."
Clean Energy Classrooms is a one-stop online directory for information and links to training options through post-secondary, industry, native and non-profit programs. A print version of the project will be distributed to secondary schools, employment centres and other locations this fall.
The initiative is already winning rave reviews from post-secondary institutions which offer programs in sustainable energy.
"The Clean Energy Classrooms project provides a way for our department to leverage scarce marketing resources to reach the audience that would be most interested in our program," says Eric Smiley, an instructor in the green building and renewable energy technician program at Vancouver Island University.
WorkCabin.ca is Canada’s premiere green outpost for green jobs
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