Green Economy London is proud to award our members for their commitment to environmental sustainability in their organizations and day-to-day lives at the first-ever Green Leaders Awards. Although the original in-person event was cancelled due to COVID-19, we were able to announce the winners and enjoy the celebration at a socially-distanced awards ceremony.

The annual Green Leaders Awards recognizes the businesses and individuals in the Green Economy London network who are putting the environment first in their operations. These winners demonstrate it is possible to improve their environmental impact while still being profitable and inspire other companies to focus on sustainability.

The five categories for this year’s awards are:

• Highest Water Reduction Target
• Highest GHG Emission Reduction Target
• Environmental Stewardship 
• Sustainability Champion
• Green Project Implementation

About the Winners

Highest Water Reduction Target: GoodLife Fitness

The Highest Water Reduction Target Award goes to a member who partakes in water conservation efforts, a water reduction plan, and using the resource  more efficiently. For the Water Reduction Award, we’re proud to award GoodLife Fitness who has set the highest water reduction target at 20% over the next 10 years. They plan to do this by installing low flow toilets, shower heads, and faucets. With six GoodLife clubs in London they plan to implement these projects within the city as a pilot, and eventually throughout all their locations across Canada.

Highest Emissions Reduction Target: The City of London

Reducing GHG emissions is a crucial action to help reduce climate change. Reducing GHG emissions not only helps against climate change threats, but reduces energy related costs and improves the triple bottom line. The Highest Emissions Reduction Target Award goes to the Corporation of the City of London for setting a minimum 20% GHG emissions reduction target by 2030 for City-owned buildings and operations. Since 2007, the City has reduced absolute emissions from 44,500 tonnes (0.125 tonnes/person) to 18,700 tonnes (0.047 tonnes/person) in 2018. That is a 58% reduction! To achieve this the City of London has been converting street lights to high efficiency LEDs, retrofitting the city’s wastewater facilities and water pumping stations, and new buildings are being built following sustainable design guidelines.

Environmental Stewardship: Cornerstone Architecture and GreenTech Painting

Two Green Economy London members and local businesses tied for the Environmental Stewardship Award, which involves being stewards of the land, water, community, and ecosystems of London and surrounding area. Environmental Stewardship is important because every business, no matter the size or sector can participate to improve the local ecosystem. Both of the winners, Cornerstone Architecture and GreenTech Painting set Platinum Targets (10+ environmental stewardship projects)!

Cornerstone Architecture has taken several actions to reduce their own environmental impact and encourage their clients to consider environmental impact-reducing building opportunities. The current projects Cornerstone Architecture plans to achieve to reach Platinum include:

• LED lighting retrofits 
• Programmable thermostat 
• Bullfrog energy carbon offset 
• Sustainable transportation program (encourage alternative transportation by providing bus passes to employees as an alternative to parking passes)
• Organic waste program
• Project Neutral assessments for staff
• ReForest London tree planting sponsorship
• Participate in London’s Clean and Green 
• Sustainable Development Goals Alignment
• Creating a Green Team 
• Technology Recycling

GreenTech Painting continually implements protocols to mitigate the impact of the painting industry on the environment and has made it part of their mission.

Over the next three years GreenTech Painting is planning to implement the following projects to achieve Platinum:

• Native Rain Garden
• Vegetable Garden
• Pollinator Garden
• Butterfly Garden
• Invasive Species Management
• Recycling program for every paint project
• Sustainable Transportation Project
• Urban Germplasm Bank Project
• Paperless company 
• Project Neutral 

Sustainability Champion: Jeff Pastorius

The Sustainability Champion award goes to an individual who shows their commitment to sustainability and takes action to create positive environmental change in the community. This year’s winner Jeff Pastorius has contributed a great deal to London’s sustainability movement. He’s tirelessly worked for over 12 years to rebuild a resilient local sustainable food system in London based on regenerative agriculture and meaningful relationships. 

In 2008 he founded On The Move Organics, and in 2012 he co-founded The Root Cellar Organic Restaurant – both businesses prioritize ethically and transparently sourced sustainable food, a low-waste approach to food business, and local food literacy. He’s also one of the founding members of both London Brewing, a craft brewery that recently gained its organic certification, and LOLA Bees, both organizations focus on organic and natural practices and support of local food systems. He is best known for his “big bike” deliveries around Old East Village, where he delivered customer goods by bicycle, reducing the organization’s carbon emissions further.  

Green Project Implementation: McCabe Promotional

The Green Project Implementation award is given to a member for implementing projects at their facilities or with their employees that are inspirational, educational, effective (or all of the above!) that relates to reducing the environmental impacts of the organization. Congratulations to McCabe Promotional, a certified B-Corporation who has reduced their environmental impact in a number of areas. By altering their irrigation schedule and installing a rain barrel, McCabe was able to reduce their water consumption significantly. They’ve also altered their supply chain to carry more sustainable products that highlight re-use, circular economy and local procurement. McCabe has diverted waste from going to landfill by introducing an organic waste stream, and installing a composter on their property. McCabe encourages sustainable transportation at the workplace by having company bikes ready for use and an indoor bike rack and locker space. Lastly, in a recent move, they’ve reduced their overall footprint and decked out their space with recycled and second hand furniture, while still maintaining their incredible esthetic.

A huge congratulations to all the Green Leaders Awards Winners this year and thank you to our Founding Sponsors for making Green Economy London possible!