Sustainable partnerships can make big change

​We’re stronger together. A common phrase, good naturally passed around to comfort and inspire. Something aimed to motivate the community to join together in times of trouble.  But it’s more than an expression. It’s how the community got through the flood in 2006. It’s how we recovered from the May two-four windstorm. It’s how we will get through the pandemic. That way of thinking can get through another crisis, our environmental crisis.
A key to creating a more sustainable environment may be the connections we have to the other businesses in the community. Or at least a place to start.

1. Our communities have local resources for furniture and supplies. From Brant Basics to the Habitat for Humanity Restores, furniture can be picked up locally. Shipping your furniture and supplies from far away increases transportation emissions, energy waste and air pollution.
2. Did you know Charlotte Products recently partnered with Merit Precision Moulding Ltd. to make the bottles for their soap and hand sanitizers? This includes their new ALLORGANIC USDA Certified Organic Hand Soap (available at Swish Maintenance)? Partnerships like this one not only energize the local economy, but also cut down on the carbon footprint. Manufacturers that created biodegradable food containers, cleaning supplies, metals and food and drink supplies: All located in Peterborough and the Kawarthas.
3. If you do need to buy online, check out similar businesses to yours and see if your items can be shipped together. Turn your competition to collaboration. This will also save on shipping costs.   
4. Take advantage of GreenUP’s Ecology Park and plant plants around your office. Build rain gardens to treat polluted stormwater runoff and collect stormwater and melted snow. Grow a rooftop garden to help reduce air pollution and remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. They can also offer more insulation for your building and can help extend the life of the existing roof fabric by up to 200%. *
5. Help lobby our levels of government for property tax credits and other tax incentives for adding sustainable additions to office buildings.
6. Encourage employees to carpool or offer employees remote working opportunities to cut down on emissions.
7. Reach out to your neighbours and organize a battery/waste collection and drop off. Each business can take turns taking the items to the waste collected to the Household Hazardous Waste Depot to make sure these items are properly disposed of.
   
   

Even small changes and collaborations can make big changes for our environment. The more people working together, the bigger the impact is.
If you’d like to discover more businesses within Peterborough and the Kawarthas, check out lovelocalmarketplace.ca.
 
* Todd Haiman Landscape Design – Blog January 25, 2017 in URBAN ROOFTOP AND TERRACE, OUTDOOR SPACE DESIGN