It's Little Things That Make Our Day...

It was only a small gesture, but it sure felt good when we picked up the Saturday newspaper and unexpectedly came across this "Thumbs Up" notice:

Who ever it was, thank you for being so thoughtful and for making our day!

And The Cape Goes To…

About 30 people got together here last Saturday to share some fellowship, ideas and -just as important- some good food & drinks. But the real reason for this festive get-together was to honour North Ontario’s very first Eco Hero Jeanie Gaudette, and runners-up Laura Ogden and Gary Peacock.

They all received a certificate and an environmentally-friendly prize package, sponsored by local businesses. Winner (and elementary school teacher) Jeanie Gaudette also received a congratulatory letter from the contest’s honorary patron, Canadian astronaut and environmentalist Dr. Roberta Bondar who compliments Jeannie writing: “(…) It is very important that our children learn ways to protect the environment. You are a wonderful role model not only for your pupils but everyone around you!”

North Ontario’s very first Eco Hero(ine) Jeanie Gaudette (Centre), flanked by runners-up Laura Ogden (right) and Gary Peacock (left)

We had a blast with this contest, learning about all these initiatives to help our fragile environment, and especially meeting the people behind them. It’s incredibly encouraging to see how much is happening on a grassroots level, ideas that slowly but surely perculate into ever-wider circles.

Don’t worry if you missed this year’s contest, the Eco Hero will be back next year.  I’m just thinking, some contests have a crowning ceremony, so maybe we should introduce a “caping ceremony”. You know – super heroes, capes?
Okay, maybe not…

Announcing the 2009 Eco Heroes!

North Ontario’s first Eco Hero Contest has successfully wrapped! We received lots of wonderful nominations for lots of encouraging initiatives happening all over the region. The jury consisting of Graham Saunders, Kirstin Muth and ourselves had a pretty tough time selecting the winners, but finally came up with these 3 names:

1) Jeannie Gaudette (Murillo),
2) Laura Ogden (Thunder Bay), and
3) Gary Peacock (Neebing).

Congratulations to all, and a big warm thank-you to our sponsors and CBC Radio (Gerald Graham, who graciously gave us the the air time to kick the contest off earlier this summer and the opportunity to announce the winners yesterday, drum roll and all).

The winners have been notified and will receive their prizes at an informal get-together here at the Eco Centre, early October.

Missed out on nominating someone (or had hoped to get nominated)? No worries; this first contest generated so much positive response and was so much fun to organize (okay, and hard work, too...) that we decided to do this annually!

Check our website and click the Eco Hero button to learn more about the winners as well as the thoughtful folks who nominated them.

Heroes Are Hard to Find These Days...

... or are they? Not if it's up to us! We know from experience that heroes are just about everywhere. Just don't look for muscular characters with silly capes, secret identities and impractical "super powers" saving the planet. Instead look at your friends, neighbours, relatives, colleagues. I bet they're up to something "heroic" like, well... saving the planet. Only no capes involved this time, and definitely no super powers.

Yes, I'm talking about people doing their bit in helping our battered environment. By recycling, commuting by bike or public transit, composting, insulating their homes, installing low-flow toilets, changing to CFL lights, buying locally, driving less, you name it. The kind of stuff that stays under the radar but is important nonetheless.

How important? Well for one thing, without them we wouldn't have a livable planet Earth much longer. Important enough for modern-day heroes like Canadian astronaut Dr. Roberta Bondard and Juno Award winning singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark to support this initiative. They want to see it happen and you can make it happen.

Those who live around here you may have heard about it on CBC Radio One's "Voyage North", seen the posters or picked up a brochure. If you haven't and want to know more, simply go to our website and click on the Eco Hero button, top left.

Now go find your heroes and let us know about it!