June 8, 2015, Toronto, Ontario – Earth Day Canada has recognized two committed individuals who made the greatest impact with the new Earth Day Every Day carbon-reduction online platform during Earth Month (April 22 – May 22).
Ochelle Baller of Toronto made the most clean commute actions and Gilda Berru of Bradford ON was the top social media poster on mobile-friendly www.EDED.ca, which provides tools and incentives for Canadians to take action and lessen their environmental footprint. They each received $2000 prize packs including bicycles, fitness trackers, train passes and athletic leggings in line with the campaign’s clean commute launch theme.
Winner Gilda Berru explained, “I believe that our choices of today will have a great impact tomorrow. As a mother I have a great responsibility to educate my children about what those choices are. Earth Day Every Day has provided me with the opportunity to prove that our daily choices can create a better future for our loved ones and every one else.”
Winner Ochelle Baller added, “Earth Day Canada’s Clean Your Commute Contest has been my inspiration in celebrating Earth Day. As chair of our Office Green team, we encouraged everyone to participate in reducing his or her carbon footprint. With my family and friends, I engaged them in cleaning their commute by doing the green acts together and sharing in social media platforms. My daughter has been inspired with our family green acts and she is now an active member of their school’s green team.”
Deb Doncaster, President of Earth Day Canada, emphasized, “We’re excited to recognize and reward people who make conscientious decisions to reduce their carbon impact using the Earth Day Every Day tool. Congratulations to Gilda, Ochelle and all of our weekly campaign winners. We invite you and all climate-concerned citizens to sign the Earth Flag to further illustrate our collective resolve to reduce climate impacts, and to keep on using EDED.ca to track your carbon reductions!”
The first 30 days of carbon-impact action saw Canadians coast to coast visiting www.EDED.ca to commit to green acts, post, and share to win prizes while tracking carbon reductions individually and nationally. The platform went live on Earth Day April 22nd 2015 and will live on for 5 years, adding new low- and no-carbon acts over time.
The Earth Day Every Day campaign launch month was supported by smart Canada, CN, Devinci Cycles, Aramark Canada, Investors Group, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, Live Green Toronto, Nuvango Canada, Sony Canada, and MEC, plus numerous non-profit and environmental partner organizations across Canada.
The campaign is also supported by VGPs (Very Green People) including Scott McGillivray (host of the hit television series Income Property), Elizabeth May (Leader, Green Party of Canada), Jeff Rubin (former Chief Economist and Chief Strategist of CIBC World Markets), Robert Bateman (Canadian naturalist and painter), Colin Cripps (Guitarist, Blue Rodeo) and many others.
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