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As Mayor Miller and Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone announced the 2008 Green Toronto Award winners the lights dimmed, the music played and the videos rolled…
This year’s award winners were selected by a panel of judges from among more than 120 nominations. Each of the winners (except the City’s own internal award winner) received $5,000 to donate to the environmental organization of their choice, thanks to the generous support of the award sponsors.
Community Projects - Elizabeth Harris
 Elizabeth Harris was the driving force behind the Friends of Riverdale Farm’s intention to enhance the experience of visiting the farm by establishing a farmers’ market in Riverdale Park, which has been an overwhelming success. She has also worked tirelessly to link Toronto chefs with the producers who come to market so restaurants can come as close as possible to their dream of serving local food.
Energy Conservation - South Kingsway Village
 Condominium residents at 20 & 22 Southport Street, also known as South Kingsway Village, conceived, developed, led and managed a series of energy-conservation initiatives. The most recent include the sealing of their building envelope and an energy-efficient-appliance program, leveraging the purchasing power of owners. They have also shared their framework with the larger condominium community across Canada.
Environmental Awareness - Planet in Focus Environmental Film and Video Festival
 Over the last eight years, Planet in Focus (PIF) has become Canada’s leading international environmental film and video festival. The annual five-day event screens and promotes outstanding and compelling works by Canadian and international filmmakers covering a broad range of environmental themes. In 2007, PIF screened nearly 100 films, representing the voices and concerns of 23 nations.
Green Design - The Living Wall Inc
 The Living Wall Inc. founders felt cities needed an alternative to standard noise barriers: walls — often concrete and covered with graffiti — and fences made of wood. Their product, The Living Wall, is a free-standing ecological sound-barrier solution and has been used in various applications around Toronto. The Living Wall grows continuously, looks attractive, absorbs sound and contributes to a green and healthy environment.
Green Roof - Urbanspace Property Group
 Urbanspace Property Group has been undertaking innovative green projects at the two heritage buildings it owns and operates: 401 Richmond Street West and 215 Spadina Avenue. Each roof provides a unique green oasis in the midst of a highly urbanized area in downtown Toronto that offers sanctuary to city-dwellers and space for creative rejuvenation. Tenants who work in the buildings use the roof gardens as common spaces.
Health - Toronto Bruce Trail Club
 The Bruce Trail Conservancy is committed to establishing a conservation corridor with a public footpath along the Niagara Escarpment. The Toronto Bruce Trail Club (TBTC) works to protect the Escarpment’s ecosystems and to promote environmentally responsible public access to this UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. TBTC offers hiking programs that provide access to wilderness trails (via a bus or carpooling) and to urban hikes via public transit.
Leadership - Greg Allen
 Greg Allen is a pioneer in Canadian sustainable design and renewable energy. He has worked on advancing sustainability for nearly 40 years as an engineer, sustainable-technology designer, builder, inventor, researcher, manufacturer, policy advisor, teacher, community activist and environmental consultant. He has impacted the lives of others, including his nominator, who writes, “I would not be an urban planner, environmental designer or LEED-accredited professional without him as a mentor, colleague, ally and friend.”
Market Transformation - Local Food Plus
 Local Food Plus (LFP) fosters a sustainable local food system by linking farmers and processors with local purchasers, especially institutions such as colleges and universities, restaurants and hotels, school boards and municipalities. LFP creates a win-win-win scenario for farmers, institutions and consumers. Torontonians benefit from supporting local economies, improving the sustainability of the land around them and eating food that meets the highest social and environmental standards.
Water Efficiency - Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
 Sciences Centre Sunnybrook has made significant headway in reducing the centre’s consumption of water. Initiatives have included repairing and replacing almost 250 pieces of steam traps used on the water lines in the facility. The repairs provided instant savings by reducing the rate of condensation loss from 29 percent to nine percent, and allowed the investment to be paid back within six months of implementation.
Youth - Gerald Mak
 Gerald Mak is a student leader at Earl Haig Secondary School. Starting four years ago in Grade Nine, he quickly took over a dismal environmental program and established a more vigorous, enthusiastic Eco Team. He has focused on practical matters at the school, from conserving energy, planting trees and minimizing waste to increasing students’ environmental awareness. As a student trustee, he also shared his ideas with other schools.
Bob Hunter Environmental Achievement (for City of Toronto organizations) - Toronto Community Housing Corporation
 Toronto Community Housing (TCHC) provides housing to over 160,000 tenants, which represents six percent of Toronto’s population. Due to its size, it has the ability to transform the environmental footprint of the city and improve the health and living conditions for all of its inhabitants. It has achieved aggressive targets for conservation, and its initiatives cover both water efficiency and energy conservation.
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