Our Green Cottager Awards of Merit
Individual or family
Brian Forbes and Laura Hawthorne, South Beaver Lake, Haliburton, Ont.
This committed couple retrofitted their 500-sq.-ft. cottage with a composting toilet, solar outdoor lights and panels, an efficient woodstove, and upgraded insulation. They have also naturalized their shoreline and are now producing their cottage association newsletter, with articles about environmental responsibility and stewardship, influencing their lake neighbours to become more mindful of their impact.
Peter and Bill Granger, Bowen Island, B.C.
Peter and Bill Granger bought an old second-growth woodlot, removed as few trees as possible, and built a post-and-beam log cottage using recycled fir in the construction, as well as salvaged features from demolition sites, a high-efficiency septic system, dual low-flush toilets, and low-flow showerheads. Their cottage, with its small ecological footprint, has become a model for the community and development on the island.
Cottager group
Greater Bobs and Crow Lakes Association, Land O’ Lakes, ont.
The GBCLA is finishing a lake stewardship plan with a substantial Ontario Trillium Foundation grant. Volunteers have logged almost 4,000 hours polling cottagers; compiling water-testing data from the past three decades; holding workshops on water quality and quantity, shoreline maintenance, wildlife, and other issues; and working to involve all stakeholders, including cottagers, residents, and governments.
Halls & Hawk Lakes Property Owners Association, Haliburton, Ont.
In 2005, as part of a lake plan (completed the following year) this group, representing a seven-lake chain, began an initiative to cut down on light pollution. Designating the third Saturday in August as Dark Skies Night, the association enlisted biologists and astronomers for a workshop on the importance of darkness in nature. Now, through the group’s lobbying, cottagers all over the lakes have reduced their lighting.
Click here to read about Joann McCann, Outstanding Environmental Achievement, Individual
Click here to read about the Friends of Sauble Beach, Outstanding Environmental Achievement, Cottager Group
