and the winner is.... well, we all are!
greenies feeling the love at city hall

Last night was the 2nd Annual Green Toronto Awards. The event was held at city hall, packed to the rafters, and brimming with so much charged energy that you might have thought at some point that that funny building was actually going to take off and fly!

(it does look a little like a flying saucer). Anyway, this was a beautiful event! From the opening invite-only cocktails before the show, to the actual (open to the public) ceremony, green entrepreneurs and activists were rubbing elbows with city officials and the odd nosey eavesdropping blogger...

And I'm not kidding when i say that something was in the air. It was electric! And a big part of the charge was the congregation of business people --Green Business people-- who are visibly succeeding in their own uphill battles getting sustainability to market, and to the hearts of our citizenry. Sara Harmer graced us with her song "Escarpment Blues," and media matron Ann Rhomer brought tears to many eyes, reminding people that it was one year ago to the day that Toronto Green Legend Bob Hunter lost his battle with cancer. Hunter, one of the original founders of Greenpeace brought a human face and heart to ecological consciousness to all Torontonians daily as his role as a breakfast pundit, appearing on TV in his bathrobe every morning discussing daily events, while never giving up on his eco concerns. Bob got a posthumous round of applause, everyone in the house knowing how proud he would have been of us, and the green scene which has grown so wide and healthy! A beautiful night, celebrating both community and business initiatives!


There were winners (and runners up) in nine categories: Community Projects, Energy Conservation, Environmental Awareness, Green Design, Health, Leadership, Market Transformation, Water Efficiency, and Youth. And also an Environmental Achievement Award. And both the winners and runners-up prove to be inspiring innovations with that "wow factor!"

Community Projects
the Brahms Energy Saving Team. Two social housing apartments, where the tenants don't pay the electricity bills. And yet the people wanted to save energy and do their part reducing our pressure on the electricity grid, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And this team of all ages (elementary schoolers, senior citizens..) managed to get the landlords to install energy star appliances, got everyone to switch to CFL lighting, went door to door in more languages than one can count on hands and toes, and managed to cut the electricity bill by $17,000 a year! (runner up BikeShare)

Energy Conservation
TRIDEL. pretty much my favorite condo builders in Toronto. They have the Verve, the first LEED certified (silver?) condo in Canada, and a new condo that uses the EnWave Lake geothermal system for heating and cooling. Tridel who builds over 5,000 units a year, surpasses the regional energy codes by over 30 percent!! ((and a big shout-out and Congrats! to my bud Jamie James... tireless ecobuilding green-megaforce!! Way to go Jamie!!))


Environmental Awareness
Green Tourism Toronto Creators of the GreenTour Map, an amzing resource for any tourist visitig Toronto who would like to see all of the green innovations. But equally important, the GreenTour Map offers Torontonians a chance to do some green tourism right in their own backyard. It's amazing what you can find when someone blazes the trail... ((it's interesting to note that one of the runners-up was a store. Yup. with their green roof, transparent green policies and green buildings, the Mountain Equipment Co-op came in a close second!)).

Green Design
The Thomas L. Wells Elementary School. Passive solar for each classroom, as well as many other green innovations and materials. (a little sidenote: the jury for this category included both Martin Leifhebber and Stephen Peck! star studded eco leaders both of 'em!)

Health
Hoof & Cycle Active Transport Workers Guild. A forward thinking workers guild and lobby group who champion the role of active transportation, not only reducing greenhouse gasses but also calling for motor-vehicle-free corridors. Man, I'd vote for that! ((runners up: both the Dufferin Grove Organic Farmer's Market (a great place to hang out and get groceries) and the "Real Food for Real Kids" program to feed organic food to underprivileged kids, by WholeFoods))

Leadership
The tireless and godsent Environmental Defense. This organization is responsible for saving and protecting the 1.8 Million acre green-belt that sourrounds Toronto and houses all Toronto Rivers headwaters. Amazing to see what a team can do! And sure to be seen as a saving grace for everyone who lives in this city for years to come.

Market Transformation
Autoshare has over 1,000 vehicles now (many of them priuses, smarts and other highly efficient cars) and 2,500 members. They envision that by the end of the year, there will be an autoshare care available within a 5 minute walk of any AS member. They have eliminated the need to own a car. Bettered it actually, because the car you use (and pay per hour, much less than a taxi) can be whatever you need. Need a fortwo, fine! Need a van? No problem! Use what you need when you need it and then let others use it. This is a huge step in the right direction. And a huge market transformation! ((Runners up: Bullfrog Power))

Water Efficiency
Minto Urban Communities whos silver LEED Radiance condo, which has water meters for each tenant to know what they are using, a host of water saving technolgoies, and has managed to reduce water consumption in the building by 55% saving 30 million liters of water a year from one building!

Youth
The Jackman Green Team at Jackman Public School. These kids have taken green literacy to the next level. They run their own internal recycling and composting, have done extensive school-yard greening. The students teach each other, and have even taken to educting their parents. Creating lasting life lessons and a new green commitment!

Lastly there was an Environmental Achievement Award. And this went to Exhibition Place. "The Ex" is a place where you can catch a concert, see a fair, see a trade show expo and just about anything else you can imagine doing down by the lakeshore on a sunny summer weekend. But The Ex is more than just that, it's the home to one of our greenest icons, the first wind MW turbine in the city. They actually use the windpower to turn water in to hydrogen and run many of the grounds vehicles on straight hydrogen! They are also in the process now of building the countries largest solar photovoltaic array (2MW), and don't plan on quitting anytime soon! In fact the rumour is that there will even be a green home-show there next April.

Phew! That's a lot of awards, and a lot of innovations. And I'm still a little tired from the schmoozing (lots) and a boozing (not as much). And glad that I moved to a city that takes it's greening so seriously. As actress Lisa ray (Deepa Metha's "Water") noted, after all, we have a mayor in Vanity Fair, the greenest in Canada, so this is par for the course. Still, what a great evening!

[for a full list of all runners-up and the awards, see the official awards site]