Green Toronto Award winners

Congratulations to the eleven winners of the city’s Green Toronto Awards, presented last Friday at the Green Living Show by Mayor David Miller and Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone. The Green Toronto Awards recognize individuals, organizations and companies helping to lead the way to a cleaner, greener Toronto.

Each winner received $5,000 to donate to the environmental organization of their choice. A panel of more than 30 judges selected the 33 finalists, and then the winners, from among more than 100 nominations received.

And the winners are…
Elizabeth Harris: Community Projects Award, sponsored by Loblaw Companies Limited. Elizabeth is the managing director of the Friends of Riverdale Farm’s board of directors and one of the proponents behind the farmers’ market at Riverdale Park.

South Kingsway Village: Energy Conservation Award, sponsored by EnWise Power Solutions. The South Kingsway Village condo project was nominated for its energy conservation efforts, including water, heating, and air filtration initiatives.

Planet in Focus International Environmental Film & Video Festival: Environmental Awareness Award, sponsored by Toronto Hydro Corporation. Planet in Focus promotes and showcases outstanding and compelling films and videos focusing on environmental themes and subjects by Canadian and international filmmakers.

The Living Wall Inc.: Green Design Award, sponsored by Enbridge Gas Distribution. The Living Wall is a sound attenuation/privacy screening solution that incorporates ecological principals with engineering practices.

Urbanspace Property Group: Green Roof Award, sponsored by Stantec Architecture Ltd. Urbanspace owns and operates two heritage buildings in downtown Toronto incorporating sustainable building efforts and a commitment to environmentally sound practices in their restoration, operation, and maintenance.

Toronto Bruce Trail Club: Health Award, sponsored by Nutrisoya. Working with the Bruce Trail Conservancy to protect the Niagara Escarpment and promoting environmentally responsible public access, the Toronto Bruce Trail club provides hiking programs incorporating wilderness trails and urban hikes.

Greg Allen: Leadership Award, sponsored by Toronto Community Foundation. Greg Allen, consultant with Sustainable EDGE, is a pioneer in sustainable planning issues in Toronto.

Local Food Plus: Market Transformation Award, sponsored by the Green Living Show. Local Food Plus is an award-winning non-profit organization that brings farmers and consumers to the table to share in the benefits of environmentally and socially responsible food production.

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre: Water Efficiency Award, sponsored by Toronto Water

Gerald Mak: Youth Award, sponsored by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation. The 17-year-old Earl Haig Secondary School student took home the Youth Award for his work motivating his fellow students to lend a hand in healing the planet.

Toronto Community Housing Corporation: Bob Hunter Environmental Achievement Award. The TCHC helped develop the new Regent Park Community Energy System, which will provide clean, reliable and competitively-priced heating,
cooling and hot water to all buildings in Regent Park while reducing the
emission of greenhouse gases by 8,000 tonnes a year during phase one of the
neighbourhood’s revitalization.