Our Green Teams
Green Teams are local organizations participating in Ecology Ottawa's Green Buildings and Workplaces Challenge.

See what our Green Teams are accomplishing:

Catholic Immigration Centre
It's easy being green!...especially when you have a dedicated and motivated green team like ours working to initiate small steps needed to make big improvements. It is also easy when you have some fun with it: floors are competing against each other in our PC Challenge - a simple campaign to educate staff about turning off their computers before they leave for the day. We have also implemented our "Turn-Off-the-Lights" campaign with stickers for every light switch and have assigned "light" duties to some staff. As an organization that works with newcomers and community events, we hope to share our green practices and be a positive role model in the community. We are working towards overall improvement in our recycling programs and already feel a sense of pride in our organization's efforts which we will continue to communicate in our aptly-titled newsletter "It's Easy Being Green".

Amnesty International
The Strategy Unit at Amnesty International took up the Green Buildings & Workplaces Challenge last August in order to make their workplace operations more environmentally sustainable. They meet on a monthly basis and have already successfully completed their first set of goals: completing staff surveys for the purpose of determining where they need to improve. Now that the survey analysis is complete, the team is working towards implementing sustainable programs in their top three priority areas: computers, lights and paper.  

Southeast Ottawa Community Health Centre
A green meeting policy has been a major priority for the green team this past year and it is now being implemented in meetings. This is the third policy that the SEOCHC green team has initiated, a compliment to their green procurement and green centre policies that the team already developed. In addition, they ran a very successful pedometer challenge to encourage carbon-free forms of transportation and have started including green tips in their newsletters. Future goals of this ambitious team include working towards improving their recycling practices, although they've already instituted a procedure for recycling batteries, and completing a green audit.

Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 2626 (Ottawa University)
CUPE Local 2626 has made a commitment to go green. Local executives have created a union environmental committee, open to all members, and has partnered with Ecology Ottawa's Green Buildings and Workplaces Challenge to promote environmental issues within the Local and across campus. Currently, the committee is working to create links with other green organizations on campus, to lend support and streamline green initiatives. They are also focused on raising awareness of water issues on campus including a campaign to reduce leaky taps. Closer to home, Local 2626 has committed to holding paperless meetings and banning bottled water at their meetings and events.

Beechwood Village Chiropractic Centre
Since taking up the challenge in June, the centre has switched to compostable cups and paper towels, installed a rain barrel to collect water for watering their plants, and developed a set of green office policies to establish standards for staff behaviour related to waste, use of electronic equipment, etc. They are currently working on setting their computers to turn off at night, installing low-flow aerators on water taps, and installing a tap water filtration system in order to phase out the purchase of bottled water for their water cooler. For more on this team, check out this feature in the New Edinburgh News (see pg. 18).

Canadian Association for Drugs and Technology in Health
CADTH's green team was formed in June 2009. As of September 2009, it had already switched printers to double-sided printing as the default, installed motion-sensor lighting and refurbished (second-hand) furniture in the office's newly renovated boardrooms, ensured that the waste from the boardroom renovations was recycled rather than sent to the landfill, replaced disposable plates & cutlery in staff kitchens with reusable ones, and started moving towards paperless meetings.
The team is in the process of installing water filters on taps and phasing out bottled water coolers, planning activities for Earth Day 2010, and investigating the possibility of signing up for OC Transpo's ECOPASS program to increase transit use among staff.

Response Security
Even when a business's mandate doesn't naturally lend itself to environmental initiatives, employees find innovative ways to promote sustainable behaviours. This security firm is retrofitting its office to increase energy efficiency, requiring the property manager to implement a recycling program, and giving reusable mugs to its 80+ security guards to cut down on the bags of disposed Tim Horton's cups.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research
CIHR's Green Foot Environmental Action Committee is engaging all CIHR staff in the greening process, through education such as the quarterly Footprints e-newsletter. In order to assess how many staff were turning their computers and other equipment off at night, the team conducted a "surprise" after-hours audit this summer, followed by an awareness and education campaign. 

Credible Edibles Cafe & Catering
With "nutritious, delicious & enviro-conscious" as its motto, it's no surprise that this lunch café and catering businesses is involved in the Green Buildings and Workplaces Challenge. Owner Judi Varga-Toth has always incorporated sustainable values into her business model. Ecology Ottawa is helping her to take it up a notch, pursuing ever-greener operations and increasing customer awareness. Now customers are receiving a side dish of environmental education to ensure that they follow through with Judi's green intentions by composting the biodegradable crockery and returning the reusable lunch boxes she provides. And as of September, Credible Edibles is powered by 100% renewable, certified green electricity from Bullfrog Power.

Magnetic North Theatre Festival

Independent Living Canada

Magnetic_North_Press_Release.doc
Independent_Living_Canada_Media_Brief.doc

 Some of our other Green Teams:

Nobel Women's Initiative

Orleans-Cumberland Community Resource Centre

(Sandy Hill) Conservation Co-op

Mines Action Canada

Dave Smith Youth Addiction Treatment Centre

Oxfam

Policy Research Initiatives

Community Foundation of Ottawa