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Macleans: From the bottom up

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on April 30, 2010 - 1:17pm

When Valérie Mac-Seing, a young Montreal lawyer, removed the paper cups and plastic utensils from her office kitchen a few years ago, some of the law firm’s older partners branded her a “green terrorist.” But Mac-Seing and her conspirators, the 25 other young lawyers who had answered her call to form a green committee at the Montreal office of Stikeman Elliott LLP, forged on—brushing off some surprisingly vehement resistance. When Mac-Seing put cloth towels in the kitchen, some of her co-workers started using more paper towels in protest. She also faced some backlash for ridding the kitchen of plastic utensils. But now, four years later, there has been a dramatic shift. Today, Stikeman boasts of its status as Canada’s first national law firm to go carbon neutral. Needless to say, the paper cups have seen their last days.

Media Release: Guidebook cuts through sustainability confusion

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on April 30, 2010 - 11:11am

The recently published Hawaii Sustainability Primer cuts through the confusion surrounding the term “sustainability” and offers a practical framework for organizations looking for help with environmental, social, and financial sustainability needs.

This 25-page, full-color guidebook is easy to read and includes success stories and visions that feature Hamakua Springs Country Farm, Kanu o ka Aina New Century Public Charter School, Volcano Island Honey Company, Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s Energy Lab, and Hawaii County and State.

The downloadable primer was developed by The Natural Step Canada and edited for Hawaii Island by The County of Hawaii and TheKohala Center. It defines sustainability; discusses the indigenous wisdom of the Hawaiian ahupuaa system; describes the root causes of unsustainability; outlines principles for a sustainable society; and focuses on how to plan, make decisions, and take action for sustainability.

The Vancouver Sun: Eco-work moves from margin to mainstream

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on April 27, 2010 - 9:59am

 Environmental professionals are in development in Canada and around the globe

When the municipality of Whistler wanted to prepare itself for the 2010 Winter Olympics, officials turned to Kelly Hawke Baxter to help them develop a sustainability plan, Whistler 2020, to transform every aspect of how the town approached its development. Baxter is the executive director of The Natural Step Canada, a non-governmental organization that educates and instructs individuals in private industry and the public sector how integrate to environmental considerations into their operations.

"We're moving from lip service to really looking at how we can use environmental responsibility and sustainability to drive innovation and value creation so that we can be part of the new economy," says Baxter.

Earth Day Congratulations!!

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on April 23, 2010 - 2:34pm

We’d like to congratulate the municipal and business leaders we’ve worked with who were awarded green employer awards on Earth Day yesterday.

Four Rules to Save the Planet: Can We Stop Peeing Where We Sleep? :: Care2 Make a difference

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on April 21, 2010 - 4:48pm

A dog knows by nature not to pee where she sleeps, but humans are not as smart when it comes to taking care of the place where we rest. In our headlong rush to industrial civilization, we have lost many of the natural instincts that kept our species a balanced part of the ecosystem. As we approach the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day, confusion, arguments, and the comfort of the status quo prevent us from acting together more boldly. By showing the path to sustainability, can four little rules save the planet--and humanity?

This two-minute video explains four principles that could help shift thinking from 'people vs. planet' to 'planet plus people'.

The Natural Step Canada Wins Prestigious Environmental HR Award

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on March 29, 2010 - 3:37pm

March 29, 2010, Ottawa—The Natural Step Canada has been named the Environmental Employer of the Year for 2010 by ECO Canada. The award in the small-to-medium sized enterprise category was presented at an exclusive event hosted at Vancouver’s historic Century House on Thursday.

The Natural Step Canada is a non-profit organization with over a decade of experience helping individuals and organizations—including businesses and communities—understand and make meaningful progress toward sustainability.

Walking the Talk: Aligning our human resources with our sustainability values, Canada

Submitted by Kelly Hawke-Baxter on March 25, 2010 - 3:26pm

Dear Friends,

We are pleased and proud to announce that The Natural Step Canada has won ECO Canada’s Environmental Employer of the Year Award for small to medium sized enterprises. The award recognises companies and non-profits in the environment industry for their commitment and dedication to human resource (HR) excellence.

This award is a meaningful tribute to the work we have undertaken to ensure our HR policies are in line with our organization’s core sustainability values. As an organization that promotes sustainability, we are committed to walking the talk by striving to be a role model organization when it comes not only to our environmental policies, but also to our social sustainability. And as Executive Director, I am extremely proud of my team and the incredible work they do.

Eco Canada Honours HR Excellence in the Environment

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on March 23, 2010 - 2:51pm

March 23, 2010, Calgary – ECO Canada’s annual Environmental Employer of the Year Awards recognises companies in the environment industry for their commitment and dedication to human resource (HR) excellence. These awards are unique in that winning organizations are selected based on the evaluation and feedback of their employees—a true testament to a company’s efforts in aligning HR practices to support and strengthen workplace culture.

This year’s winners include SENES Consultants Limited (large company category) and The Natural Step Canada (small-medium sized category).

To encourage ongoing refinement and review of HR policies and practices, ECO Canada introduced its HR Commitment Award in 2009. This award recognizes returning participants who demonstrate significant improvements in staff satisfaction. This year’s award goes to Fielding Chemical Technologies Inc.

Canmore sustainability video on YouTube: Rocky Mountain Outlook

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on March 18, 2010 - 10:14am

The Town of Canmore’s training video for new staff to introduce them to the concepts of sustainability and the Natural Step program is available on YouTube. The 20-minute long video, which shows how the municipality has taken steps to increase its sustainability, is available for anyone to check out on the Natural Step’s YouTube channel. Sally Caudill, environmental care coordinator for the Town, said last week the Natural Step orientation video is shown to all new employees after they are taken for a tour of the community and treated to a coffee in a stainless steel re-useable mug.

Beyond CSR: A day of learning and sharing in Montreal, Quebec

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on March 15, 2010 - 2:03pm

On Friday, March 12th over a hundred and fifty students from McGill Desautels School of Management, the HEC’s Ecole de Gestion and business leaders from around Montreal gathered to share best practices, voice frustrations over sustainability roadblocks and celebrate mutual successes and advancements in CSR.  This attitude of learning and searching for solutions brought us to a conference called ‘Beyond CSR’ - a strong recognition that CSR is not an inclusive enough concept as we try to move towards holistic definitions of sustainability.  CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is about making business better through inclusion of social responsibility concepts in corporate planning.  Sustainability planning (corporate sustainability, sustainable development) is about ensuring that a business’ vision, goals and operations line up around sustainability.  This is the difference between doing ‘less bad’ by cleaning up and greenin

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