Live Green Toronto gave out its annual awards on Monday, and the Corporate Award went to the Simpson’s Tower for its near-perfect recycling record.
"Last year, we had an audited rate of 97 per cent," says building manager Arlena Hebert, explaining the success of the waste diversion program administered by property manager
Ivanhoé Cambridge, for whom she works.
The program started a little more than five years ago when each of the building’s garbage cans was replaced with three recycling bins. The building’s average diversion over the last five years has been above 90 per cent, according to Hebert.
Hebert credits all parties with the success of the program, including the building’s owner, Hudson Bay Co., the tenants and the cleaning staff.
"The evening cleaning team is really important," she says. "They’re the ones who empty the recycling bins. If people don’t recycle properly, they don’t empty the bins, and the tenant is left with a note on their desk.”
Getting tenants in on it has been a big part of her work, she says, and she’s organized two field trips to the recycling facility that handles their stuff,
GFL (formerly known as Turtle Island).
The Simpson's Tower wasn't the only winner.
Justin Nadeau won the individual award, Gordie Warnoff and his
A Higher Plane got the small business award, the group award when to
James Davis and the
Toronto Bicycle Music Festival, and the youth winner was
Thezyrie Amarouche. Each of the winners received a $2,500 prize. The Simpson's Tower is donating its prize to Cycle Toronto to help in its efforts to establish secure bike parking around the city.
Live Green Toronto, funded by the city's Environment and Energy sector of the
Toronto Environment Office and various sponsors, has been giving out awards recognizing the city's greenest companies and individuals since 2005.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Arlena Hebert
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