Haliburton goes green
Posted By Angelica Blenich
Posted 6 months ago
In an effort to become more environmentally sustainable, residents and businesses alike are continuously striving to incorporate green initiatives into their everyday lives. From ditching a Styrofoam cup in favour of using a reusable travel mug to bringing cloth bags to the grocery store, there are many ways sustainable practices are becoming daily habits.
Sustainable living, however, extends beyond these simple practices and can have a greater effect on both the environment and your wallet.
Environmentally minded residents of Haliburton gathered at Fleming College on Feb. 17 to listen to a presentation on the Green Energy Act and how it can affect you or your business.
The Green Energy Act refers to provincial legislation to develop the sustainable energy economy of Ontario while reducing our impact on the environment. It includes incentives for small- and medium-sized businesses to take up sustainable energy generation.
The presentation, titled "How your rooftop can make you money," was organized by the Haliburton County Development Corporation (HCDC) and conducted by Switch, a not-for-profit sustainable energy member association.
The focus of the presentation was "green" roofs, or more specifically, solar-paneled roofs. Switch discussed the process involved in generating solar electricity and the benefits that result from this initiative.
Those in attendance included builders, farmers and other professionals from the county interested in how a solar roof could appeal to their lifestyle.
Mark Gibson, a green energy business consultant with Switch, outlined many of the considerations to take into account if you are thinking about switching to solar electricity. These considerations include: your personal situation, the condition your roof is in, your financial capacity to invest and your reasons for going green.
Gibson was quick to recognize the concerns residents of Haliburton may have.
"I can assure you," said Gibson, "it may not seem like you get enough sun here to generate solar electricity, but you do. It takes a very little amount of sunlight to feed the panels."
Andy Campbell, general manager of HCDC and organizer of the event, believes there are many reasons why environmental sustainability is important to the county of Haliburton.
"A year ago we held a green forum at the college and we had about 90 people attend," said Campbell. "It showed us that there was a real interest here in green initiatives so we wanted to provide something to follow-up the forum."
More than just an interest, Campbell also believes green initiatives go a long way in tourism marketing.
"We would like to promote Haliburton as a 'green' cottage country," said Campbell. "There are a lot of green business opportunities here that we should tap into."
