Meet our Zero Heroes
Corrine Thompson’s job title is Manager for good reason. Recently she masterminded a complete overhaul of her bank’s garbage disposal system, and managed to reduce waste by 80-90% along the way.
At first Corrine had to do a lot of educating and monitoring, but she soon found that staff were eager to get on board. “People just...
Vince Spronken runs the Cowichan Valley Bottle Depot, as well as four other bottle depots on Vancouver Island and Saltspring Island. The company works in partnership with BC’s Encorp Return-It program to collect refundable beverage containers, and other items such as electronics and paint.
Vince’s father Louis started the business in...
Karen Rainey is a Cowichan Zero Hero. She believes that each of us needs to do our part to make the world a better place. She certainly lives this mantra every day when it comes to the Zero Waste principles of refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle.
For example, Karen chooses not buy very many new household items. Instead she gets a great deal of...
Aaron Bichard and Katie Harris are Cowichan Zero Heroes. They run Cowichan Recyclists, a pedal-powered company that collects recyclables and food scraps from close to 100 customers in Duncan and neighbouring communities.
They started their operation in 2007 to fill a gap in recycling services to small businesses, and they goes the extra mile (...
Duncan Wilcock is a Cowichan Zero Hero. He works at Gillingham Cabinets, an Island company that makes kitchen cabinets. In the past few years, they have dramatically reduced the amount of waste they produce, and have cut their carbon footprint by over 50% at the same time.
They have achieved these results primarily by making a small...
Liz Steward is a Cowichan Zero Hero. Anyone who has been to her restaurants (Just Jakes and the Craig Street Brew Pub) know she offers great food and service. But few may also be aware of the behind-the-scenes efforts she and her staff go to to care of the environment.
For the past five years, the restaurant and brew pub have been composting...
