Adventure Traveler Garry Sowerby in his own words:

Wednesday, October 6
Calgary and Okotoks, Alberta

Environmental Initiative #67
ChevronTexaco Learning Pathway, Calgary, Alberta

We weren't quite sure what a Learning Pathway would entail. But we were hoping that Lorelei Piotto of Chevron Canada Resources would be able to explain. The plot thickened slightly when we were instructed to meet her at the Good Earth Café in Eau Claire Market in downtown Calgary.

With Lorelei was Norm Harburn, Executive Director of Parks Foundation, and Kim McCulley, Education Coordinator for the City of Calgary.

We made our way to the ChevronTexaco Learning Pathway on Prince's Island in the Bow River. Prince's Island is mostly parkland. A beautiful getaway in the downtown core that is visited yearly by almost one million people. The majority of the island is manicured and we were thinking, yes, nice park but where does the 'Learning' part take place.

And then we are standing on a dirt walking path looking out over wild wetlands, with the crisp Calgary skyline only half a kilometre away. If I didn't look across the Bow River, in these completely natural surroundings, I would swear I was in a wilderness wetlands.

It was beautiful, untamed and utterly natural.

Well, okay, the wetlands happened to be made by humans. Chevron Canada Resources had heard about a proposed wetlands for this area to help the city deal with storm water runoff. Chevron wanted to add an educational slant to the wetlands, a pathway that would feature interpretive signs relaying key conservation and environmental messages.

The project was truly unique in that Chevron Canada Resources approached a number of environmental agencies and founding partners, like the Alberta Conservation Association, Bow River Basin Council, Canadian Water Resources Association, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Nature Conservancy of Canada, River Valleys Committee, RiverWatch Rafting, and Trouts Unlimited Canada to focus the public on the issue of storm water runoff.

Each of the groups were responsible for producing and installing a sign along the Pathway with a specifically targeted message regarding the effects of pollutants on water quality, sources of storm water, types of pollution, treatment processes, effects on animals and plants and how to fight the problem.

Chevron Resources Canada constructed the wetlands in partnership with the Parks Foundation and the City of Calgary Parks.

Few people realize that storm water is the second largest pollutant of the Bow River Basin after sewage. The Bow River is one of North America's best trout fisheries so tampering with their habitat has significant repercussions.

Untreated storm water from cities and towns has a huge impact on the quality of water of our rivers and streams. It carries sediment, harmful chemicals and bacteria. It causes flooding and soil erosion and damages or changes bird, fish and insect habitat.

But how do wetlands help solve the problem of urban storm water runoff?

In a three-stage constructed wetlands, the lagoon is designed to settle the particulates, suspended solids like leaves and cigarette butts, that run from the city streets, the marsh plants act as filters and absorb toxins. Natural bacteria decompose organic matter, oil and grease. Nature's kidneys. Hmmmm. Sounds familiar. The Bow River no longer receives contaminated water from the city's storm drainage system. The wetlands take care of that by naturally filtering the water.

What a very cool idea! Right here in bustling downtown Calgary. It was such a thoughtful, calm place. A place to take a breather but also to think about the bigger things. A man-made place that acts in a most natural way. So simple. And very much appreciated by the 180 species of birds that visit every year like Canada Geese (about 50,000!) and bald eagles.

Chevron Canada Resources and the City of Calgary are now looking at ways to incorporate the message of the multiple-award-winning* Learning Pathway into the school curriculum.

We had a relaxing walk along the ChevronTexaco Learning Pathway and talked about the pure example of cooperation demonstrated by the partnerships that were forged to create this useful sanctuary.

And the aspect I liked about it the most was how it hit the education nail right on the head.

http://www.chevrontexaco.com/social_responsibility/environment/
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Environmental Initiative #68
Sustainable Town of Okotoks, Alberta

I've driven by the town of Okotoks many times while visiting the area and thought it was merely a bedroom community that had sprung up to handle the overflow from the City of Calgary.

I never realized that it had a history. The Mission Green team cruised down Main Street checking out the historic buildings. When we got to the Town Hall, Wendy Aupers, Corporate Communications Specialist for the Town, stuck a pin in my lapel that celebrates the centennial of the Town of Okotoks this year.

The small-town feeling is no accident. As Town C ouncillor Ed Sands tells us, the Town, with a population of 14,500, has made a commitment to several sustainability goals. Through zoning, the town has limited the construction of non-traditional housing to 30% (i.e. apartment buildings). The remaining 70% will be traditional single-family detached dwellings.

Once the population reaches 30,000, that's it. No more. The people of Okotoks have figured out the optimum size of the community based on several environmental factors such as ecological footprint and water supply.

This municipal vision was recognized with the 2000 International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives Award, presented in Dubai.

As a whole, the community decided to strive for some key goals that were close to their hearts: retaining a small-town atmosphere, acting out of social conscience, environmental stewardship, water conservation and economic prosperity.

To implement these goals, the town has several unique initiatives that they were eager to share with Mission Green.

First on the list, the Recycling Centre. Was it a recycling centre or a community market?! There were some many comings and goings, so much chatting and socializing going on, I would have said we were in a groovy urban market with people calling each other by first names, townspeople interacting with the recycling facilitators.

Joanne Leach, one of the employees, talked to us about the social scene and made it seem like coming to work was a fun, fulfilling experience. There was an atmosphere here of people gathered around the water cooler, hanging out as if at a favourite coffee shop. We were there for three hours and the human traffic never diminished.

It was the first place we'd seen on our travels where this happened. We'd seen recycling and waste management facilities that were clean, professional, impressive and ultra-efficient. But this was the first place where the workers, the front line, interacted with the 'customers'. The workers didn't sort in isolation. It was a true community effort. Arianne Hill, the Recycling Centre Coordinator, proudly agreed with our observation. The Centre was, in fact, unique in this area.

It was also unique in its simplicity. It all came down to the white sorting station with various holes in it, the mother ship. As Joanne said, "A kid could come in here and figure this out easily. All kids used to be able to do was pick up litter. Now they can do so much more!" It was like everything we've seen so far on our cross-country journey, all rolled into one small town.

The town also has a newspaper bailer, a glass crusher, and a brand new cardboard bailer, housed in a solar-powered building, that reduces cardboard to 1,400-lb, shipment-ready, bales. As petite Joanne fires up the huge contraption, she declares, "We bought this used from Medicine Hat. It didn't even come with an instruction booklet!" as if she were talking about a new cell phone she had just purchased.

There is also a water treatment plant that Davey Robertson, Senior Operator, showed us through. It brought to mind our visit to Cremona the previous day. The 'Sewage to Compost' initiative that the Town of Okotoks has implemented, one of the first of its kind, is basically a giant composting toilet. It takes raw sewage and produces, with little energy consumption, purified water and grade 'A' compost.

It was difficult to drag ourselves away from Okotoks, the small community with huge ideas, with a such a sense of 'can-do', one can understand why they would have to put a limit on their growth. Everybody wants in!

http://www.town.okotoks.ab.ca/index.html
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ChevronTexaco

	The lagoon between Calgary's Prince's Island Park and Eua Claire is now free of downtown "stormwater" thanks to the construction of a wetland on the island's east end.
	ChevronTexaco's External Affairs Advisor Lorelei Piotto (left),Park Foundation Calgary Executive Director Norman Harburn and City of Calgary Education Coordinator Kym McCulley showed us through the Learning Pathway.
	The 0.7 kilometre Pathway around the wetland opened in June 2003.
	The tranquil pathway is an easily accessible city escape.
	Three staged constructed wetlands is a story of urban renewal.
	A series of 11 interpretive signs provide visitors with important environmental messages about wildlife, habitat and water quality.
	The wetlands offer a cleaner environment for river fish by filtering downtown "storm water" before it dumps into the Bow River.
	The scenic Bow River runs through downtown Calgary.
	Indigenous vegetation surrounds the wetlands.
	Views of Calgary's downtown seem surreal as we experienced The Chevron Texaco Learning Pathway.
	Some 50,000 Canada Geese frequent the Calgary area each year.

Okotoks

	Okotoks Councillor Ed Sands greets us at the Town Hall.
	First stop was the town operated recycling centre.
	Wendy Aupers, Corporate Communications Specialists for Okotoks, filled us in on the history of the community presently celebrating it's centennial.
	Arianne Hill showed us around the user friendly recycling centre she proudly manages.
	Al Hagean, a landfill worker, unloads a box of plastic materials.
	Bill checks out the multi-compartment storage bin.
	Joanne Leach talks about the connection between her fellow workers and the citizens of the area who faithfully use the facility.
	This paper compactor is put to good use on a daily basis.
	The water waste treatment centre is in essence a huge composting toilet!
	Bit of a hum for a first time visitor.
	These rotating biological contactors (RBC's) provide the second stage of the composting process.
	"As kids, all we could do was pick up litter....... now kids can do so much more!"