livingcover
T LETHBRIDGE
P H OT O G R A P H Y: D E J O U R DA N ’ S B Y L I F E T O U C H
Mike Spencer, Executive Committee Chair,
and Kathleen Sheppard, Executive Director,
Environment Lethbridge.
“At its heart, [it’s about] being efficient in how we use our resources,
making sure that we have the ability to have resources that future
generations can use as well, but it’s also about not just focusing on
the environment. It’s about focusing on the community as a whole.
So it’s making sure that our economic and social systems are
sustainable, and that all three of those components work together.”
of that bigger picture. As we are putting together our
strategies and things like that, we need to make sure we’re
fitting into that larger piece.”
Ensuring sustainability is going to take all of us working
towards the same goals. Kathleen says Environment
Lethbridge strives to help everyone get on the same page
and to build upon all the great initiatives we already have
going on in our city. “At the very micro level we have
things like residential recycling and composting, so that
the amount of waste that we are sending to the landfill
is greatly reduced. [Ensuring sustainability] means that we
are generating alternative energy, but it also means we
have an economy that has green jobs, and supports green
businesses, and those aren’t just businesses that are engaged
in environmental things. They’re also businesses like the
tecconnect incubator where you have non-traditional jobs
that are resource based and aren’t necessarily generating
an environmental product, but are green in that way.
Lethbridge can be a leader in diversifying its economy and
doing those things,” Kathleen says. “At a citizen level, we
have people who are engaged and who care about the
environment, and who are taking actions, even if they’re
small actions, to do their part. It’s that collective: everybody
doing a little bit, that really moves the needle.”
The group’s primary role is to inspire and equip people
with the information, tools, and resources they need to
initiate widespread community engagement and action
towards sustainability, and to do so with positivity. Kathleen
smiles and says, “Someone said to me, ‘Sometimes on the
environmental side of things, you’re really good at scolding.’
I don’t want to be part of the scolding movement. I don’t
think that gets us anywhere. We want to provide fun and
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MAR-APR 2016
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