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Welcome to the
Canadian Environment Awards 2008! |
As local action is proving to have national, and even worldwide,
impact, the environmental mantra “think global, act local,” has
started to take on new meaning. Over the past seven years, the Canadian
Environment Awards has had the privilege of tracing the evolution
of the country’s 21st-century grassroots environmental action.
Our program was founded on a simple idea: we wanted to recognize
the local, hands-on initiatives that have resulted in hundreds of
shoreline clean-ups, waste minimization and recycling programs and
the restoration of wild species and spaces. As the term “sustainability” became
part of our everyday vocabulary, we then witnessed the next wave
of increasingly ambitious environmentalists working for systemic
change via strong educational campaigns that raised community-wide
awareness in such areas as cosmetic pesticide bans and community
composting.
In 2008, our finalists have yet again stepped up their game, demonstrating
that it’s not too late to redirect the self-destructive course
of our consumer society. As grassroots environmentalism finds its
swagger, local groups are taking on some of our most pressing challenges
on a much grander scale — food production and distribution,
energy, water, ecosystem conservation and the cleanup and removal
of health-threatening contaminants from our communities and the
consumer supply chain. Their determination to get back to basics
is revitalizing neighbourhoods and local economies. As they “scale
up,” their efforts give us revolutionary reasons to believe
it’s not too late to change the world.
This year’s Community Awards winners, regardless of their
category — Climate Change, Conservation, Environmental Health,
Environmental Learning, Restoration & Rehabilitation, and Sustainable
Living — are providing Canadians with sustainable choices
and the savvy to make responsible environmental decisions. Each
one puts our right to a healthy environment first.
The proactive class of 2008 follows naturally in the footsteps
of Maude Barlow, this year’s winner of the Citation
of Lifetime Achievement. Most Canadians know Barlow as a political activist
and as co-founding national chair of The Council of Canadians. She
has spent more than 25 years advocating for individual empowerment
and the rights of Canadians on a variety of campaigns — including
trade, health care, food safety and energy. Today, Barlow is the
high-profile champion of our most essential resource — water.
Edward Burtynsky, the 2008 recipient of the Ideas
for Life™ Award,
is an award-winning photographer with an international reputation
for stunning visual narratives of industrial landscapes that graphically
portray the environmental devastation, or the “residue,” of
our impact on the planet.
On June 2, we will be celebrating each of our finalists, including
the Junior and Senior Gold Award winners of The
Green Team Challenge,
at the Awards Gala at Toronto’s Liberty Grand.
At Canadian Geographic, it is sometimes a challenge to
find new superlatives to describe the magnificence of our country.
At this moment, we face the same challenge as we tip our hats in
amazement at the scope of the work of this year’s Canadian
Environment Awards winners. It, too, is breathtaking, inspiring,
mind-blowing and downright beautiful. Thank you.
About the Canadian Environment Awards
About the Citation of Lifetime Achievement
About the Ideas for Life Award
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