sustainability : Innovation + Job News

Allyson Amster says that she and the other five co-founders of Bike Sauce all have experience working at DIY bike repair shops elsewhere in the city, and when they decided to open a new one in the east end, they came to a realization: the gearhead environment could be a drawback.

"We recognized that it could be intimidating to a lot of people who wanted to be involved in cycling, and in building the city through cycling advocacy," Amster says. So they hit on the idea of combining the repair shop with a social space and an advocacy approach -- a space she says will be "stacked with cycling literature" alongside wrenches and spokes.

The new organization at 717 Queen Street East -- at the corner of Broadview Avenue -- is set to open April 17, but will host a fundraising party featuring local bands and "Bike Jazz with dancers" on April 9. The fundraising component is important, since Bike Sauce is, for now, a non-profit organization entirely run by volunteer labour.

Amster says the six co-founders personally provided seed money to launch the organization, and have attracted a dedicated crew of 20-30 volunteers so far. The business model, she explains, depends on revenue from the sale of refurbished bikes -- which Amster says is already booming even prior to the opening -- plus sales of bike parts in the shop and donations, which are also already strong.

The fundraiser takes place Friday, April 9 at 9pm, at Blue Moon, 725 Queen Street East. Admission is on a $5-$10 sliding scale.

Author: Edward Keenan
Source: Allyson Amster, Co-founding Director, Bike Sauce

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In January, Zipcar became the first car-sharing service to be approved by the City of Toronto for on-street parking. Now their competitor, the locally-based AutoShare, is getting in on the action too, with 22 vehicles parked in six different locations in downtown Toronto and North York. AutoShare President Kevin McLaughlin says the move reflects an important shift for the city. "Symbolically, it means the city is taking another step to thinking about the transportation infrastructure we need for the future," he says. More practically, for the company, it will serve to increase awareness through visibility in addition to the obvious benefit delivered by new locations.

McLaughlin says the industry in Toronto has been experiencing explosive growth. "Four years ago we had 2,000 members," he says. "Today we and our competitor combined have 20,000 people participating in car sharing service. That's a tenfold increase." AutoShare itself has about half of that market, with over 10,000 members on its roster.

The company has gone from five to 16 employees in that same four-year span, and is looking to hire two new employees right now. McLaughlin sees only more growth as the city approves more and more flexible spots for his service and others like it, and as people become more aware of the environmental and economic costs of individual car ownership.

Author: Edward Keenan
Source: Kevin McLaughlin, President, AutoShare

Got an Innovation and Job News tip? Email [email protected].

The Professional Access and Integration Enhancement program held a ceremony March 23 to celebrate the graduation of 45 internationally-trained professional engineers from its bridging program. The program, just completing its fourth year, gives Canadian newcomers with international training and experience in environmental engineering a chance to gain Canadian contacts and experience through, among other things, a year-long paid training work placement with Canadian employers.

The program is run by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and funded by the provincial and federal governments. Authority CAO Brian Denney said in a statement that the program brings an experienced, global perspective to technical environmental challenges here in Toronto. "The inclusion of sustainable communities and social equity ... is a testament to our role as a leader and innovator within the environmental field."

TRCA media relations supervisor Rowena Calpito says that while the final, firm numbers are not available, it is expected that around 70 per cent of the program's participants have secured work in the field.

Author: Edward Keenan
Source: Rowena Calpito, Supervisor of Media Management, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority

Got an Innovation and Job News tip? Contact Edward Keenan at [email protected].

Open Text, Canada's largest independent software company, will embark on a five-year, $225 million research project at its Waterloo, Ottawa and Richmond Hill offices, it announced last week. The undertaking includes a grant of $33.75 million from the Ontario government and is expected to create 400 jobs across the province.

The company -- whose current products are used by 100 million users in 114 countries -- specializes in digital data storage and management. This new project will conduct research into emerging market sectors, including green computing and mobile applications.

According to company media spokesperson Stephanie Fazio, the new jobs will be overwhelmingly for R&D professionals, though she said that at this time the company was unable to project exactly how many of the new employees would work from Open Text's GTA hub in Richmond Hill.

Author: Edward Keenan
Source: Stephanie Fazio, Media Relations, Open Text

Got an Innovation and Job News tip? Contact Edward Keenan at [email protected].

The Ontario Government's Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) program for renewable energy -- which guarantees an above-market rate for 20 years to those who feed the grid with sustainable power -- has created a bonanza for those in the sustainable power generation business. Last week, the province announced that 500 projects had been approved under the program, and many more announcements are pending.

Among those benefiting is Markham-based NorthGrid Solar, who on March 15 announced the opening of two new regional offices in Ontario in Ottawa and Sault Ste. Marie, which add to the reach of the company's existing offices in Markham and Hamilton. According to NorthGrid Solar President and CEO Carlo Di Gioacchino, the company has not even really begun to fulfill its expansion plans. "The FIT program has improved business dramatically," he says. "We've really just launched our partnership in the last couple of months and we've already exceeded our first-year projections by orders of magnitude."

The company is currently hiring, and Di Gioaccino says they're looking to take on "dozens and dozens" of employees over the next year as projects get approved. He says that most of the jobs will be located in the city of Toronto, where the company is currently seeking a site for a large industrial manufacturing space.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Carlo Di Gioacchino, President & CEO, NorthGrid Solar

On March 9, the Toronto Cyclists Union was honoured for the 'Innovation of the Year' at an awards ceremony in Washington, DC hosted by the Alliance for Cycling and Walking. The group was recognized for its Partnership for Integration and Sustainable Transportation, which it runs in conjunction with Culturelink Settlement Services.

"We're honoured to be accepting this award on behalf of our partnership," says Yvonne Bambrick, Executive Director of the Toronto Cyclists Union who received the award in Washington. "This project is helping us to grow roots in Toronto's diverse communities, and to exchange knowledge about sustainable habits here and around the world."

The recognized program involves workshops around the city in 16 different languages, a handbook and a poster campaign.

The union was formed in Toronto in May 2008 to promote cycling as a viable form of transportation and to provide services and information to the city's bike riders.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Yvonne Bambrick, Executive Director, Toronto Cyclists Union

Children's birthday parties are meant to be fun, but they can often also have a huge environmental footprint, as Debbie Zinman says. Every guest drives to a store, picks out an individually packaged gift (each of which has been separately manufactured and shipped by truck), wraps it in paper that will soon be discarded... that's not even to get started on paper invitations and thank you cards.

Zinman and her business partner Alison Smith were looking to do something about that environmental drain when they launched ECHOage in January 2008. And they came up with a concept that Zinman says makes a child's party "an opportunity to learn something," by helping others in a way that is "moving, inspiring and exciting."

The social enterprise's innovation was to create a website that would allow children to send invitations to guests, asking them to contribute to one large gift for the birthday child and to a good cause at the same time. Children choose charities to benefit from their guests' giving, and money received is split equally between the charity and the child's dream present. ECHOage gets revenue from a 15 per cent administration fee charged on each party.

Based in the Yonge and Eglinton area of Toronto, the company has ECHOage parties happening across North America, and Zinman says they have been growing at an ever-greater rate. She says clients have so far raised over $250,000 for children's charities and points to a scrolling list on the ECHOage homepage of the donations' impact. In addition to the two founders who work "day and night" on the enterprise, the company employs three part-time staff.

Zinman says that the company is based on a community of parents -- overwhelmingly mothers -- who advise on every aspect of operations. To capitalize on that community asset, ECHOage launched an Ambassador program last week to help spread the world through social networks.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Debbie Zinman, co-founder, ECHOage

When Bill Milne bought his father's sanitation company, Alex Milne Associates, in 1980 and turned it into an environmentally friendly chemical company, people laughed at him. "They thought I was Mr Hug-A-Tree," he says. But despite the lack of green consciousness at the time, Milne knew ecology would become a hot topic. "I'd been a scuba diver since 1950, so I could see the marine environment going downhill," he says. He'd retired at age 40 from his first career and "walked around the world with a backpack and a girlfriend" for two years. That experience, he says, gave him the perspective he needed. His first major product, launched in 1987, was a protective wax for boats that wouldn't destroy the sea bottom.

Today, no one is laughing at Milne. With the explosion of of environmental awareness and the launch of an innovative, all-natural mosquito repellent, he's seen his revenue grow 100 per cent since 2008. He says the launch of Mosquito-less spray, an all natural and effective insect repellent, is a large part of that growth. The product is made from garlic oil, an idea he got when he spoke to some farmers about what they used to keep bugs off their horses.

Looking further into 2010, at age 71, Milne is still working on developing another new, innovative line of products for launch. He's developed and marketed several products for the equine market that use zeolyte, and claims the substance will revolutionize the Canadian gardening market when he brings his new development to stores this year.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Bill Milne, President, Alex Milne Associates

Brampton's Sims Recycling Solutions, an electronics recycling company, has become the first in Canada to receive certification under the OHSAS 18001 standard for workplace safety. The international standard recognizes compliance with risk assessments and appropriate safety precautions dealing with every single job function in the plant.

Company President Cindy Coutts says the certification is an important step -- ensuring green jobs are safe jobs at the Bramption plant -- for a rapidly growing company in a very rapidly growing field. "We are a discard nation. People want newer, better, prettier electronics products all the time," Coutts says, resulting in some 225,000 tonnes of waste electronics in Canada every year. That's where Sims comes in.

Founded in 2003 by the mining firm Noranda, Sims Recycling Solutions was envisioned as an "above-ground mine," Coutts says, extracting resources from discarded electronics. Since then, it has grown from being a single-person operation to employ 100 as it mines an ever-growing mountain of computers, hand-held devices and other electronics from across the country. According to Coutts, clients include municipalities, businesses and governments concerned about data security.

In 2007, the company was sold to Sims Metal Management, an $8 billion Australian company that is the world's largest electronics recycler. The parent company was named one of the 100 most sustainable corporations in the world in 2009 and 2010 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Cindy Coutts, President, Sims Recycling Solutions Canada

EcoWater Canada has announced that in honour of World Water Day, it will donate a portion of its sales throughout the month of March to benefit AMREF Canada and the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health.

In a release announcing the initiative, EcoWater Canada President Paul Godin said that the move will help "truly commemorate the essence of World Water Day. Our support will help improve access to clean water sources among vulnerable communities in Africa and support water education programs in Canadian Aboriginal Communities."

Over the phone, Godin explains that this is an extension of the company's industry-leading environmental initiatives. EcoWater Canada was the first water treatment company to receive the zerofootprint Certificate for Compliance and has led with an innovative recycling program for use with water filtration cartridges.

Godin says the company's "Clean Water, Green Future" programs, launched here three years ago, are being rolled out by the EcoWater parent company this year across Europe and may soon be introduced in the US. "Interestingly enough, we in Canada were the pilot projects for global green initiatives," Godin says. He expects to "very shortly" announce an innovative tank reclamation initiative.

The US-based parent company was founded in 1925 and is now the world's largest manufacturer of home water treatment systems. The Canadian office, based in Mississauga, employs 18 people in the GTA.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Paul Godin, President, EcoWater Canada

On February 18, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission announced that it would add five new Casinos -- bringing the total to seven -- to its deal with Bullfrog Power to provide 100 per cent green energy for its operations. According to the announcement, "The seven OLG facilities on green power will put over 26,000 MWh [MegaWatt hours] annually back onto the grid, enough energy to power over 2,300 homes."

It was just the latest in a string of big announcements this year for Bullfrog, including a deal with the Toronto Port Authority to power all of its Toronto waterfront operations and one with Marz Homes that will see new houses be Bullfrog Powered at no cost to home buyers.

The green energy provider, founded in Toronto with 10 employees in 2005, has since quadrupled its workforce and now has four offices across the country, providing renewable power in six provinces, according to Bullfrog President Tom Heintzman.

Heintzman notes that, especially since the announcement of the Tariff Feed-in program by the provincial government, Ontario has become a leader in growing renewable energy, not just in Canada but in the world. But Heintzman points out that his company shows it's not just a government job to clean our power consumption. "What we do is we're a voluntary program -- we encourage citizens to bring even more renewable power into the system," he says.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: OLG, Bullfrog Power

Innovators and idea people with good strategies or techniques for building a better, greener city have a unique opportunity to reach influential industry players by presenting a seminar at IIDEX/NeoCon's Green Building Festival and Light Canada. The organization that runs the country's largest design and architecture conference has issued a call for presentations.

The Green Building Festival, now in its fifth year, is the largest exposition on sustainable building, and according to the IIDEX website, the emphasis is on "cutting-edge innovation, technical detail and measurable results."

The call for presentations reads, "If you have an interesting presentation or an idea that could be developed into an educational session, you are invited to submit an on-line proposal. Conference speakers gain visibility in the industry, as well as contribute to the advancement of the profession." Anyone with an innovative green building concept or business looking to gain widespread exposure can read the details and apply here. A review of last year's show, for those looking to get a sense of what it's all about and whether their presentation would be a good fit, is here.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: IIDEX/NeoCon

Rexdale, one of Toronto's priority neighbourhoods, just became home to a new program that aims to fill a whole lot of economic and social priorities in one swoop: youth employment, local business assistance and sustainability, just for a start.

Cool Rexdale is simple enough -- it offers Rexdale businesses that need to replace their roofs a hand in installing a green roof. The installation itself will save the business money on energy bills while greening the local environment, but the program goes further than that. By taking advantage of government incentives  and Clinton Foundation negotiating power, building owners are offered discounts of up to $100,000 on building materials.

Meanwhile the program also serves the at-risk youth of Rexdale by providing jobs for them as pre-apprentice roofers.

Brian Denney of Toronto and Region Conservation sums it up in an announcement, saying, "The Cool Rexdale Program is exciting because it helps businesses realize the financial benefits of reduced energy costs, while having a positive impact on the environment, and ensuring that local residents share in the benefits of the emerging green economy."

Toronto and Region Conservation is just one of a laundry list of partners in the project under the banner Partners in Project Green, though the Greater Toronto Airports Authority is leading the charge since the area falls under Pearson Airport's Eco-Business Zone.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Partners in Project Green

Unlike many pressing social issues that seem to require big -- and ongoing -- charity or government funding, environmental sustainability has famously appeared to be a goal that is also financially sustainable. From the province's feed-in tariff program for solar power to the construction jobs created by energy retrofits to the whole financial market that emerges wherever cap-and-trade programs are implemented, there are dollars available for businesses that focus on going green.

To encourage entrepreneurs with big ideas, the Toronto Community Foundation has raised money from donors and partnered with the city of Toronto to endow the Green Innovation Awards, which offer $50,000 in seed money to "advance the development of new and innovative solutions to address our environmental challenges."

Toronto Community Foundation President and CEO Rahul Bhardwaj says the awards emerged from the group's Vital Signs report -- and the financial commitment of TCF fundholders represents their support for entrepreneurilaism. "When you have a look at the Vital Signs report ... you see a nice trajectory over time. But it's important to not rest on our laurels -- it's time to really put our shoulder behind moving towards a greener city." Bhardwaj says it was relatively easy to get financial support from donors to build innovative projects that will be self-sustaining financially while making the city sustainable.

Anyone with an idea for a new technology, product or service to make "Toronto a greener and more livable" city and a plan to make it happen is encouraged to apply for the grant by the March 12 deadline. The panel will decide whether the prize money will go to one project or be divided between multiple projects, Bhardwaj says. Entrants will be able to present their funding request to a panel of judges. Award recipients will be announced at the Green Toronto Awards at the Green Living Show in late April.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Rahul Bhardwaj, President and CEO, Toronto Community Foundation; Live Green Toronto

It's probably a fair guess that the film industry's creative employees are among the most environmentally aware, and it's certainly true that films such as An Inconvenient Truth have been pivotal in spreading awareness of global warming. But it's also true that the film-production industry itself is a huge resource hog: shoots mobilize fleets of jets, trucks and trailers to transport crews to locations and use huge amounts of energy-intense.

A local initiative called Toronto Green Screen, led by the Planet in Focus film festival alongside a long list of industry partners, is aiming to reduce the environmental footprint of the film biz. Last week, the group launched two new resources for filmmakers: a calculator to help them see what their environmental impact will be, and a Green Toolkit to help them plan a less harmful production.

Candida Paltiel, who has led the project on behalf of Planet in Focus, says that the tolls are designed to give the local industry a competitive advantage when competing for film productions. Producers such as Gail Ann Hurd (who shot The Incredible Hulk in Toronto in 2007) have been demanding environmentally conscious initiatives.

After two years as a project funded by the Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnership Fund, Paltiel says Toronto Green Screen is in the process of becoming a self-sustaining organization.

Both new resources offered by Green Screen were created by Melissa Felder & Associates following two years of research into the industry's practices and consultations and study about possible improvements. These tools, Green Screen says, build on the earlier report Environmental Assessment of Film-Based Industries.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Candida Paltiel, Planet in Focus Film Festival, Toronto Green Screen