Project Co-ordinator – Burlington Renewable Energy Project

General Job Description

The position aims to provide the successful applicant with a career building opportunity in the renewable power sector at the community level.  While simultaneously addressing the needs of the organization, its aim is to arm the intern with a meaningful job experience – one that is challenging and contributes to constructive self- development.  Further, the nature of the intern’s role exposes his/her to a network of participants in the sector, providing potential to seek out future employment. More detailed job description, eligibility criteria etc, please click here.

Key Responsibility Areas

• Oversee the financial administration of the CEPP renewal energy grant
• Team co-ordination of the implementation of BG renewable energy project
• Development and implementation of community marketing strategy
• Participate and facilitate in broad based community engagement program
• Liaison with community and business services groups
• Liaison with Burlington Hydro and the municipality on project development
• Development of BG overall 5-year plan for renewable energy development
• Develop and oversee the formation and launching of a renewable energy co-operative
• Develop and oversee the governance structure for the co-operative and the project
• Direct all required approvals, applications and agreements as required
• Oversee, co-ordinate and execute marketing and communication strategies (including the website) as required
• Consult, research, develop and communicate BurlingtonGreen positions on renewable energy and other environmental  

Other Details

Timeline:      35 hours per week for 26 weeks, beginning September 27, 2010

Attire:           Mostly business casual with occasional business dress required for meetings and presentations

Hours:           Flexibility required -  9am-5pm M-F with occasional evenings and weekends

Salary:          $15.00 per hour including vacation pay, CPP and EI

Computer:   Must be able to use own computer and printer

Office:          Shared office space located in Burlington – must be able to work from home occasionally

Interested candidates should submit their resume to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it no later than Thursday, September 2, 2010. 

Registration for this exciting event will be open soon!
(first week of September)
so come back and sign up as space is limited.

Here are some greening tips we hope anyone running a campaign will follow. They can save you money, help you grow support from constituents, may earn you media attention and of course they help to respect the health of the environment. Remember to green your campaign authentically. There is a lot of greenwashing out there that is entirely unacceptable and tarnishes the important eco-efforts of others.

Green Tip 1:  Go green as early as possible
Start your commitment to run a green campaign right from the get go.  Make it a public pledge, consider dedicating a volunteer to establish, track and promote your eco-friendly actions. Make a plan on how you will continue your earth friendly practices & committments once you are elected.

Green Tip 2:  Clarify your focus
Because the environment can be a broad topic, you need to research and understand what the key environmental issues are for your area and for the city and identify the topics that you are committed to addressing.  Be sure to always include questions to voters about environmental issues that concern them as part of your communications.

Green Tip 3: Walk the Talk

• Consider purchasing renewable energy for your office
• Install various energy & water conservation devices
• Include native species planting in your landscaping.
• Track your transit and purchase carbon offsets OR make a donation to a local community organization to support a carbon neutral campaign
• Serve local food , organic beverages/wine at your meetings and campaign events
• Ensure your mtgs and events are zero-waste by not using disposable serving supplies and if you must use disposable, use paper fibre products with a green cart on hand to ensure they are composted.
• Always use either 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper or paper that is FSC-certified to be from sustainably managed stock.
• Carpool, walk, ride your bike, take public transit for your travels. You can go a step further and offset the carbon emissions for your event guests .
• Avoid voter giveaways unless they are practical and good for the environment. There are many local suppliers of eco-friendly shopping bags, reusable water bottles for example.
• If you are supplying your campaign team with t-shirts, ensure they are responsibly, ethically and environmentally friendly made.  BurlingtonGreen purchases our organic cotton t-shirts from Me to We where proceeds support tree planting and the Free the Children program!

Green tip # 4: Less is more….

Many campaign materials are restricted in their use to just one campaign. Lawn signs, billboards, posters, stickers, brochures and buttons are generally marked with the candidate’s name, meaning these one-hit wonders will more than likely end up in the trash. Try to design your materials so they can be reused in the future (i.e. do not include date, single issue focus etc) and have them printed with earth –friendly materials.

If you feel you must give out flyers, again, print them responsibly and during door to door chats, ask if they want one. If not, pass it along to next person.

Lawn signs: IF you determine you must use them, be strategic in their placement so you can use less of them. Purchase post-consumer and recyclable plastic with reusable frames.

Green Tip 5: Going green is good for the economy …
Your messaging should inform voters that there is not a choice between the environment and the economy.  Make it clear that you pledge to apply a TBL (triple bottom line) approach to your decision making and policy development recommendations. TBL balances the consideration of economic, social and environmental factors with any given issue. Provide examples of how investing in green technologies is good for the environment and the economy.

Green tip 6: Pass it on
By demonstrating tangible leadership, you will establish your credibility with voters and environmental interest groups. Connect your green campaign message with voters by sending them news updates about your efforts to go green. Include tips from the lessons you have learned with your fundraising letters and relevant direct mail. Monthly emails describing your progress to use less paper, decrease your carbon footprint or help improve a local stream or park will remind voters and the media that your campaign is determined to improve the health of the environment. Make sure your greening efforts are visible. For example: printing the recycle or FSC logo on your print materials lets readers know you are committed to live and lead more sustainably.

Green tip 7: Dedicate donor funds to your greening efforts
Monitor and summarize your various greening actions and when soliciting funds to support your election campaign, seek donations to directly support your green expenses. It may make you stand out from others and open up doors to eco-friendly suppliers that we all want to support locally. Avoid aligning your campaign in any way to sponsors who do not support environment friendly practices.

Green tip 8: Celebrate your eco-actions and follow through with your commitments Establishing environmental credibility by operating an authentic green campaign is vital.  Stand up for and promote your eco-leadership by including the positive actions you have taken throughout your campaign via your media releases and public communications. Most importantly, ensure your campaign efforts are only a reflection of the principles you will lead with throughout your term in office and beyond.

Some ideas have been collected from: http://standardcarbon.com/resources/?p=83

With support provided by the Government of Ontario, BurlingtonGreen will be introducing an exciting new outreach program to children in September of 2010. The purpose of the program is to help children understand climate change and to inspire them to take individual and collective actions to tackle climate change locally.

The position is to be filled by Youth (high-school or University/College student graduate) to fulfill our objective to have "youth inspire youth to take action". We are looking for an enthusiastic, self-motivated, effective communicator, with experience in working with children, public speaking and with a strong interest in environmental protection.

The part-time position will begin the first week of September and will continue to January, 2011. It includes approximately 12 hrs per week at a rate of $12/hour(weekday and occasional weekend shifts) The successful candidate must have their own transportation, a flexible schedule, computer and mutually agreeable work location.

Youth Program Leader responsibilities include:

• promote program at various community events in Burlington
• delivery of workshops to children (ages 4-11) at Burlington community centres, events and schools including follow-up visits, survey collection, data and program evaluation reporting
• safekeeping of all project and programming materials

The Youth Program Leader will report to BurlingtonGreen's Executive Director. If this position is one that excites you and that you are qualified for, please send a cover letter expressing your interest/qualifications for this role along with an up to date resume to the Executive Director no later than 4:00 pm, September 10, 2010

BurlingtonGreen thanks all applications for their interest however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

BurlingtonGreen is offering a special opportunity to showcase a tasty item from your menu!                                                                        

What’s it about?   Local restuarants, caterers & grocers are invited to provide a tray of eco-friendly finger foods for our guests to enjoy at our annual Eco-Awards Celebration where citizens, organizations and businesses will gather to celebrate local eco-achievements.

Why?   We want to provide an opportunity to show off culinary talents and help the environment at the same time. BurlingtonGreen is about inspiring others to take action and supporting those that do. Cooking, shopping and dining out to enjoy local, organic foods can be contagious so we want to share the options that are right here in Burlington!

How can we help you? In exchange for your “tasty tray”, we will include your business logo and address at our event local food zone along with our website event promo page.

Ready to get involved? It’s easy to do just send us a message in the comment section below to confirm your commitment to provide a complimentary tray of local, vegetarian, organic (if you can), finger foods for our November 23, 2010 Eco-Awards Celebration.

Let us know what the tray item(s) will be and we will contact you and get your logo & info. We look forward to hearing from you as we support local businesses supporting a healthier environment for now and for the future.