Sault YMCA going green to reduce carbon footprint, cut costs
A Sudbury-based green economy initiative -- reThink Green -- is expanding into Algoma.
The YMCA in Sault Ste. Marie is the first organization in the area to be recognized by reThink Green as a 'Green Economy North' cohort.
According to the reThink Green website, Green Economy North is a membership-based program in which the group works with members to reduce their carbon footprint.
Robert Burns, CEO of the YMCA, said while they work through the recovery period following COVID-19-related shutdowns, it's a good time to change the way they operate.
"This recovery period after the pandemic for an organization like ours is going to be probably longer than is predicted for most businesses," said Burns.
"If we can get a little step ahead, it will be really, really helpful to make sure and ensure our long-term sustainability here in town."
By receiving a Green Economy North cohort designation, the organization could be in line to receive grants to help pay for environmental upgrades.
David St. Georges of reThink Green said the process starts with a greenhouse gas inventory, which will be used to assess an organization’s carbon footprint.
"We could also show you where you’re leaking or using too much because we know that an operation of X-size should use this much carbon," said St. Georges.
"But if you’re using so much more energy or so much more fuel than your fleet should have for instance -- because we take everything you do into account -- we can identify exactly where you are wasting."
St. Georges said the process is also a means of finding where utility and heating cost savings can be had.
For his part, Burns said finding environmental efficiencies is something the Y has been looking at for some time.
"We need to start looking at a roof, we need to start looking at exhaust fan systems and air supplies -- these are things that need addressing now."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
McDonald's to sell its Russian business, try to keep workers
More than three decades after it became the first American fast food restaurant to open in the Soviet Union, McDonald's said Monday that it has started the process of selling its business in Russia, another symbol of the country's increasing isolation over its war in Ukraine.

Justice advocate David Milgaard remembered as champion for those who 'don't have a voice'
Justice advocate David Milgaard, a man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent more than two decades in prison, has died.
Total lunar eclipse creates dazzling 'blood moon'
The moon glowed red on Sunday night and the early hours of Monday, after a total lunar eclipse that saw the sun, Earth and moon form a straight line in the night sky.
'Hero' guard, church deacon among Buffalo shooting victims
Aaron Salter was one of 10 killed in an attack whose victims represented a cross-section of life in the predominantly Black neighbourhood in Buffalo, New York. They included a church deacon, a man at the store buying a birthday cake for his grandson and an 86-year-old who had just visited her husband at a nursing home.
Shanghai says lockdown to ease as virus spread mostly ends
Most of Shanghai has stopped the spread of the coronavirus in the community and fewer than 1 million people remain under strict lockdown, authorities said Monday, as the city moves toward reopening and economic data showed the gloomy impact of China's 'zero-COVID' policy.
EU's Russia sanctions effort slows over oil dependency
The European Union's efforts to impose a new round of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine appeared to be bogged down on Monday, as a small group of countries opposed a ban on imports of Russian oil.
Buffalo shooter targeted Black neighbourhood, officials say
The white 18-year-old who shot and killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket had researched the local demographics and drove to the area a day in advance to conduct reconnaissance with the intent of killing as many Black people as possible, officials said Sunday.
California churchgoers detained gunman in deadly attack
A man opened fire during a lunch reception at a Southern California church, killing one person and wounding five senior citizens before a pastor hit the gunman on the head with a chair and parishioners hog-tied him with electrical cords.
About 11 per cent of admitted COVID patients return to hospital or die within 30 days: study
At roughly nine per cent, researchers say the readmission rate is similar to that seen for other ailments, but socio-economic factors and sex seem to play a bigger role in predicting which patients are most likely to suffer a downturn when sent home.