What is Green Enterprise Ontario?

GEO envisions a sustainable society which balances the three pillars of people (social equity), planet (healthy environment) and the economy (long-term prosperity) and commits to meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. GEO is an inclusive organization that works with businesses of all types, sizes and current levels of sustainability. We believe all businesses can and should develop increasing levels of sustainable business practices and if properly engaged they will continue to work with us in achieving this objective.

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Ignite The Spark: Join us April 1st for the launch of
SLX - The Sustainability Leadership Exchange

Corporate Evolution: The B Corp

View a video about the event

Have you heard of the B Corporation?

There are over two hundred companies in the US and Canada that have voluntarily revised their bylaws to include social and ecological benefits in their definition of the shareholder value they are obliged to deliver.

Find out why B Corps matter, what they offer and how to become one.

Featuring: Jay Coen Gilbert, B Lab Co-Founder and Hardik Savalia, B-Lab Certification & Services

Thurs Apr 1, 2010 - 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm

Location: MaRS, 101 College @ University

$45.00 Early Registration Rate
(until March 1st)
$55.00 after March 1st

Register now at www.slxtoronto.com.

Presented by: Green Enterprise Ontario, InCourage: Learning & Development, and MaRS more

GEO Bulletin (updated March 1): New Ideas with your Breakfast, Save the Date for the Plate, Have a Eureka moment, Green Edge 2010 and more!

The transition from GET to GEO is proceeding beautifully. GET The GEO team is working on creative ways to challenge and improve business, for example with the exciting events described below, as well as our research on green manufacturing with Partners in Project Green and others, our part on the Greening Greater Toronto�s Green Procurement Leadership Council, and our collaboration with Live Green Toronto. more

GEO coming soon!

Message from the New Managing Director

I'm Tim Rudkins, the new Managing Director of GET. I have personally been a member of GET for three years and have always regarded the organization as a natural affiliation for any progressive business or association.  I see a green business community as one that is clean, lean and sustainable, ecologically and economically, far into the future. more

ISO 14001: Creating a Path Toward Sustainability

Are you looking for the best system that will track, measure, explain your greening efforts and show that you walk the talk? This session is designed to help you create your own Environmental Management System conforming to ISO 14001(the Canadian and International standard).

For info on upcoming workshops, contact our office at 416-644-1012 more

Business Leaders On Video, Free Online

Great speakers on video! Catch up with the GET Smart Speakers series at your fingertips. www.torontocorporatevideo.com/get

New titles monthly including the stories of Morgan Solar, NOW, MEC, Autoshare, Junxion Strategies and more... more

What do you mean by green?

Green filters, certification, screening criteria, eye of the green needle -- how do you know if you're green enough?

A new article by GET Network Director Chris Lowry aims to help us sort out this shady question. more

Small firms can go green, too - there's lots of help out there

GET and BALLE featured in the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and on TV!

GET is in the news lately. You can see a short documentary about us on Candice Batista's "A Greener Toronto" program on Rogers TV episode from Oct. 13

The Rogers TV piece talks about how we can enable to new Canadians in Toronto's diverse communities to vote with their dollars for local, green and fair commerce. more

Going green feels Ecstatic

GET featured in the Toronto Star more

The Business of Greening Your Business:
A Practical, Profitable Solution

article by Chris Lowry

Most companies today know they should be environmentally responsible. They have heard that they can save money by reducing energy use waste. They may also face pressure from some of their stakeholders: customers, employees, associations, suppliers, neighbours, the community and family – especially today’s kids. As well, governments issue regulations that are getting increasingly stringent, while offering enticing incentives (the carrot and stick approach). more

So Much Fun You'll Stay 'Til Tuesday

Our annual holiday party was packed and jumpin' at the Gladstone, with mellow jazz trumpet from the Jake Wilkinson trio, excellent Gladstone hospitality and the radical chocolate offerings of Chocosol. The sold-out crowd included an impressive gathering of local luminaries such as Rob Grand (Grassroots), Alice Klein (NOW), Tonya and Mark Surman (CSI and Mozilla), and George Smitherman. The event was a chance to celebrate the emergence of GET as a regional green business alliance under the leadership of Founder Chris Lowry, and to welcome our new Executive Director, Tim Rudkins. Welcome aboard Tim!

The best holiday party of the season! Photos at
www.flickr.com/photos/yvonnebambrick/sets/72157622805815293/ more

Testimonials

"GET is one of the premiere promoters of progressive economic development in North America. Grounded in the ideas of Jane Jacobs -- to create an economy that is locally owned, diversified, and community-friendly – GET is helping Toronto realize its full potential, and inoculating the city from the coming risks of energy insecurity and climate change. In less than 2 years, GET has established itself as a powerful, place-based alliance of independent businesses and customers that is impressively aligning the concepts of people, planet, and profits. Toronto residents, businesspeople, politicians, and civic leaders should feel blessed to have an organization like GET, and give it the support it needs to thrive and grow."
—Michael H. Shuman, Author of The Small-Mart Revolution

"Thank you so much for inviting me to your wonderful talk. I was so delighted to witness such an awesome project going on in my own backyard. Toronto is a place that I am passionate about. You grabbed my attention the minute you started to describe what you loved about Toronto, mainly the fact that you are fascinated by ALL the city has to offer."
— Annette Grewal, Universarium Project

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The Story of Stuff

Why is the local living economy part of the solution? Here is a 20-minute animated story that looks at what makes the consumer society tick, and points in the direction of the values that we celebrate. more