The beginning of GreenGTA was really rooted (perhaps predictably) in the movie An Inconvenient Truth. In 2006, we were a typical family in the Toronto area who cared about our environment. We recycled and we used environmentally "friendly" cleaning products in our home. We made a conscious decision not to own a car. When we watched the movie we suddenly felt like we should contribute more.
Helen is a successful marketer who has worked on some exciting projects for major companies. Dana (otherwise known as Dad) has a diploma in Environmental Technology and understands the effects of the more unsustainable aspects of our society. Together, we're hoping that our skills might be of service to our community.
We know that people are confused about what they can do to "help the environment". We've felt it too - "do we replace the air conditioner with a newer one to save energy, or is it more wasteful to replace something that's still working?". These questions are confusing.
Although now that our second (and last) child has arrived and we might be in the market for a car after all, we still feel a comittment to do something useful. We feel that average, everyday people have the potential to make huge impacts in our collective footprint. Maybe not everyone is ready for organic backyard farming or living "off-grid", but if we can get 100,000 people make a few small changes, that's a fantastic beginning. The goal of GreenGTA is therefore to help "non-environmentalists" reduce our footprint one baby step at a time.
Let's think positive.
Even though GreenGTA began with us, our hope is that it won't end with us. People are already joining us to help spread the message, and we hope that as time goes on, more people will work with us. If we all work together, we increase our chances of success.
