Established in 2017, the Sustainability Star Award is part of our efforts to celebrate leaders in our community. It is given to groups or businesses working in areas such as safeguarding water quality, improving access to sustainable transportation options, protecting nature, sharing knowledge of sustainable living, enhancing food security, and developing green businesses and communities.
The awards themselves are made locally near Ottawa from sustainably sourced wood and eco-friendly materials, and are produced by independent artisans. Recipients are selected from a list of nominees by a committee of our Board members, using set criteria. At present, nominations are accepted from SEO staff and volunteers, but the plan is to open them up to the public eventually.
Past Winners
2017
The 2017 Awards were presented at the January 2018 session of the National Capital Environmental Nonprofit Network. The recipients were invited to speak at this roundtable networking session and didn’t know they were going to receive an award before hand. Awards were presented with small gifts selected by the Board for each organization.
Recipients: Wintergreen Studios, Ottawa Riverkeeper, Ecology Ottawa
2018
The 2018 Sustainability Star Awards were presented as part of a large workshop on Nov 15th of that year. There was an intentional energy management theme to the selections, and three winners were represented in the 20 Energy Management Case studies produced by SEO and available elsewhere on this website.
Recipients: City of Ottawa Building Engineering & Energy Management (BEEM) Unit, Pearly-Rideau Veterans Centre, Ottawa Catholic School Board, Maison Tucker House Renewal Centre.
2019
The 2019 Awards were presented at a networking even in January 2020. This was the first year green businesses, not just NGOs, were represented among the recipients.
Recipients: Algonquin 2 Adirondacks Collaborative, Nu Grocery, Bluegrass Farm, Transition Cornwall+, Ottawa Community Foundation.
