Congratulations to the winners of the inaugural Living Planet @ Work Awards!

When I first started working on Living Planet @ Work, the program had officially launched just four months prior. Being so knew at the time, I didn’t know many workplace sustainability champions, nor about the initiatives they were leading. Championed by HP, the program launched with a 3-year goal of signing up 500 companies across Canada. I was excited both about this target and working on an innovative project that harnessed the passion and leadership of employees to create environmental change.
Now just passed our program’s one-year anniversary, I am proud to say that we have 270 unique company locations and 285 champions among our (growing! ) community along with countless stories to share. We’ve since doubled our goal to 1000 companies by 2014. This is bold, but is a testament to our committed champions and a new business landscape that makes what Living Planet @ Work has to offer, so valuable.
Last evening, I attended WWF’s Annual Public Meeting where I met some of these champions (who I’ve now come to know quite well) and the winners of our inaugural Living Planet @ Work Awards. It was never more clear to me than on this day,  that employee grassroots action is the force driving sustainability into corporate CSR culture everywhere. The winners of our Living Planet @ Work awards are exceptional examples of those who are pushing this movement forward.

The 2012 Living Planet @ Work Award winners. Champions from left to right: Jeannie White accepting on behalf of Symcor; Mike Robertson accepting on behalf of OPA’s environmental committee; Katie Harper accepting on behalf of Sears Canada; Tammy Mcmullen, OLG. © Katie Edmonds, WWF-Canada

Meeting these winners in person was an honour and truly helped to bring my journey working on Living Planet @ Work, come full circle.  Below are the recipients of the 2012 Living Planet @ Work Award who were honoured last evening:
Transformational Leader of the Year
Symcor

  • Champion sustainability efforts in a comprehensive and strategic way
  • Proven success in footprint reduction, employee engagement in WWF campaigns and workplace fundraising in support of the environment
  • Sustainability embedded throughout corporate culture

Green Team of the Year
Ontario Power Authority’s (OPA) Environmental Committee

  • Effective and motivated team
  • Strong structure that is set up to achieve success
  • Engagement with stakeholders across all levels of the organization to build capacity for sustainability initiatives

Champion of the Year
Tammy McMullen of Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG), Thousand Islands

  • Dedicated, persevering and an unrelenting advocate of the environment
  • Builds support across all levels of the organization
  • Fearless in experimenting with new ideas and organizing activities

Fundraiser of the Year
Sears Canada

  • Raised close to $25,000 for WWF over the past year– through the Sears Employee Charitable Fund, the CN Tower Climb and through workplace fundraising during WWF Campaigns.
  • An example of the impact employees can have in the big picture- the conservation of our one and only planet

HP’s Change the Equation Sustainability Reporting Contest
Waterloo Wellington Community Care Access Centre, championed by Laura Vaughan

  • Wrote the organization’s first sustainability report, with the support of HP, Waterloo students and Living Planet @ Work’s tools
  • The report now forms the basis of a sustainability plan with targets and success indicators, and has become a valuable engagement and marketing tool for the company

Congratulations to our winners and ALL of our Living Planet @ Work program members. Stay tuned for individual profiles on our winners and their achievements, which will be featured on a newly-designed Living Planet @ Work website (launching soon!).
To find more photos of the event, visit our Living Planet @ Work album on Facebook!