Sustainability Allies

Why do you value a partnership with the Ecology Action Centre?

I believe the EAC is doing the job our government should be doing, including taking measures to protect nature and our environment. EAC is extremely active and vocal within our community and I respect its leadership on environmental issues.  Some of my values apply to food, nature, and the environment which aligns well with the values of the EAC so forming a partnership was an easy decision.

What kinds of things are you doing within your business to have a positive impact on our environment or community?

For over 30 years, I’ve been working with clients to help consider their social, environmental and ethical concerns that applies to their money.  Part of that includes investing in local community projects such as renewable energy projects.  I’m a socially responsible investor and I support my clients in choosing high-quality investments that align with their values.

Personally, why is the environment/community development important to you?

On a personal level, I’ve always had an appreciation for the environment and nature. As a family with two children, we try to be as active as possible outdoors and I hope that my children will always strive to protect and conserve our environment.

On a larger level, respecting and protecting our environment is imperative to the economic development that will help attract quality people to our province.

What drives your commitment to sustainability and social responsibility, both personally and within your business?

Domus Realty is a locally owned and independent brokerage. We know how important it is to invest in the community. We believe that supporting local initiatives helps build stronger communities for everyone and generations to come.

Domus Realty has been a trusted brokerage in the community for 36 years, and we're committed to making sure our clients' homes are safe investments in the face of our ever changing world including climate change. We view our commitment to sustainability and social responsibility as an integral part of how we can give back to the community that has supported us.

Why do you value a partnership with the Ecology Action Centre?

Both Domus Realty and the Ecology Action Centre have aligned values that are deeply rooted in the local community. Partnering with the Ecology Action Centre provides Domus with valuable opportunities to learn from the Centre's expertise and experience in environmental advocacy and sustainability initiatives. Domus Realty has a policy of continued care for our clients that goes beyond the action of purchasing or selling property. We offer ongoing support as clients make decisions that safeguards their investments and contributes to a more sustainable built environment. By partnering with the EAC, we enter into a symbiotic relationship allowing us to better support our clients while contributing to the amazing advocacy and educational roles the EAC excels at.

Personally, why is the environment/community development important to you?

Our team is composed of families, with children, grandchildren, and fur babies. We serve a wide variety of people, many of whom have been with us for multiple generations. Domus Realty is incredibly grateful to be a part of each person's legacy. We hope to ensure that our legacy is a community that has access to equitable, safe and livable spaces.

What kinds of things are you doing within your business to have a positive impact on our environment or community?

The business is implementing several initiatives to positively impact the environment and community. We have recently undergone a technology update to move towards a paperless office. Encouraging virtual meetings and phone meetings has reduced vehicle emissions. Phasing out single use plastics and installing heat pumps at the office to reduce our carbon footprint. Organizing learning opportunities for our realtors, and supporting local environmental initiatives. Domus Realty also promotes sustainable practices among our clients by offering resources and guidance.

What drives your commitment to sustainability and social responsibility, both personally and within your business?  

My commitment to sustainability began long before I had the language for it.

I grew up in a mining town in Northern Ontario — a landscape shaped by extraction. I witnessed how industry could define a community’s economy and identity, but also how the land carried the marks of disturbance. I remember noticing where forests were thinning, where soil was exposed, where water moved differently after development. Even as a child, I understood that landscapes respond to how we treat them.

That early awareness shaped my life’s work.

For over 20 years, through Helping Nature Heal, I’ve worked directly with eroding shorelines, degraded soils, and fragmented habitats across Atlantic Canada. What I’ve learned is that environmental damage is never just ecological — it affects infrastructure, safety, local economies, and community well-being.

Sustainability, to me, means designing systems that regenerate rather than extract. It means thinking in decades, not seasons. It means asking: What will this place look like in 30 years?

Why do you value a partnership with the Ecology Action Centre?

The Ecology Action Centre has long been a leader in climate resilience, coastal protection, and environmental advocacy in Atlantic Canada. I value partnership because meaningful environmental progress requires alignment between policy, science, and practice.

Helping Nature Heal operates at the site level — restoring shorelines, rebuilding soil systems, stabilizing slopes with living plant structures. The Ecology Action Centre works at the systems level — influencing climate policy, public awareness, and regional adaptation strategies.

When those layers connect, impact deepens.

Partnership ensures that restoration work on the ground aligns with broader climate goals and community priorities. It strengthens accountability and amplifies outcomes. In a time when coastal communities face increasing vulnerability from storms and sea-level rise, collaboration is not optional — it’s essential.

Personally, why is the environment & community development important to you?  

The environment and community are inseparable.

When ecosystems are healthy, communities are more resilient — physically, economically, and emotionally. When ecosystems degrade, communities feel it through flooding, erosion, biodiversity loss, and anxiety about the future.

Personally, I’ve always been drawn to the long-term view. I am less interested in quick solutions and more interested in systems that can sustain themselves. That philosophy guides both my ecological design work and my approach to leadership.

Community development through ecological restoration builds confidence and capacity. When residents understand how to stabilize their own shorelines, plant native systems, or convert lawns into habitat-rich meadows, they become participants in resilience rather than observers of crisis.

To me, this work is about legacy — ensuring that future generations inherit functioning landscapes and the knowledge to care for them.

What kinds of things are you doing within your business to have a positive impact on our environment or community?

Some of the ways we create positive environmental and community impact include:

• Delivering the ShoreUp Education Program to municipalities, engineers, NGOs, and community organizations
• Designing and overseeing nature-based shoreline stabilization systems that replace hard armouring with living infrastructure
• Producing detailed ecological site assessments and restoration frameworks that communities can use long-term
• Operating a native plant nursery focused on Atlantic Canadian species to strengthen regional biodiversity
• Training and mentoring environmental professionals in ecological restoration methods
• Integrating soil biology, including mycorrhizal networks and marine-based inputs, into restoration strategies
• Encouraging lawn-to-meadow transitions to increase pollinator and bird habitat
• Prioritizing local sourcing and regional ecological knowledge 

Why do you value a partnership with the Ecology Action Center?

EAC’s work on environmental protection and sustainability aligns directly with our own values.  Working with this dedicated group inspires us and strengthens our commitment to find new ways to make a positive difference within our company and community.

The number of issues that EAC tackles and their track record make them truly remarkable. We first approached EAC with the idea collaboration in 2007. Since that time, we have donated twenty-five cents from every retail bag of coffee sold in Nova Scotia to support their work and it has been one of the more gratifying aspects of our business.

What kind of things are you doing within your business to have a positive impact on our environment and community?

As members of Cooperative Coffees (a co-op of roasters in Canada and the US) we contribute to their Coffee, Climate Initiative which funds coffee farmers to make sustainable improvements to their farming practices to help alleviate the effects climate change.  All our coffees are organic and Fairtrade certified, which translates into healthier conditions for farmers and the soils they cultivate.  Fairtrade premiums (for community development above and beyond the market price of the coffee) improve living conditions and a guaranteed minimum price protects against downturns in commodity markets.

We also:

• Purchased the first heat recycling roaster in Canada in 2009 to reduce fossil fuel usage.
• Are members of five Farmers’ Markets and have served as Directors for two of them.
• Give our coffee grounds and chaff to farmers for compost and chicken bedding.
• Use around 2000 recycled grocery store boxes annually to pack orders.
• Give a discount to customers that bring their own travel mugs or reuse their cups.
• Are actively engaged in pushing packaging manufacturers for cup and bag products that will actually compost in our municipal waste systems.

We also regularly donate to a number of other community organizations: Council of Canadians, Second Story Women’s Center,  Kingsburg Coastal Conservancy, Fisherman’s Hospital, Engineers without Borders, Dalhousie Sustainability, Surfing Association of NS,  ACORN, Farmers’ Markets of NS to name a few.

Personally, why is the environment/community development important to you?

Before launching Laughing Whale Coffee Roasters, our careers involved working for social justice, indigenous rights, international development and women’s rights, environmental protection and renewable energy.  We want our coffee to be a vehicle for change by giving back both at home and in coffee producing countries because it gives us a way of making a real difference and deepens our connection to the world.

What drives your commitment to sustainability and social responsibility, both personally and within your business?

At Patagonia Halifax, we’re in business to save our home planet. As an outdoor company, and as outdoor enthusiasts ourselves, we value the spaces we play, live and work in. If we can play a role in helping our community, and preserving the places we love, that’s what we strive for. Here in Nova Scotia we are driven by the local demands to protect our coastal communities, wetlands, and old growth forests.

Why do you value a partnership with the Ecology Action Centre?

The Ecology Action Centre is at the forefront of all environmental issues impacting Nova Scotia. Partnering with them means we are actively aligning ourselves with a group whose main goal is to advocate for our local environment. We continue to be inspired by their work and are driven to strengthen our own commitments and contributions.

Personally, why is the environment/community development important to you?

We can’t do business on a dead planet, and we know that everything we make has an impact. We wouldn't be in this business if we didn’t think we could do it differently. We aim to use our store to support people in making informed choices about what and how they buy. The clothing industry is dirty, and what we buy is what the industry will become. We believe that together we can change how clothes are made. We demand recycled inputs, organic cotton and natural fibres, fair working conditions, and the best made product that is built to be easily repaired in the future. At our core, our environmental impact starts with the products we produce and sell in our store.

We also know that behind every good business, is a great community. It will be through building relationships and serving and collaborating with our community that we can work towards a better future.

What kinds of things are you doing within your business to have a positive impact on our environment or community?

Environmental activism and community development intersect as a core pillar of our business. We approach community development through outreach and engagement efforts. We use our space and our resources to elevate local campaigns and provide easy access for our customers to learn about how to get involved. As a proud 1% for the Planet member, we are also committed to donating 1% of our sales to local environmental non-profits. This keeps us committed to giving back directly to efforts in Nova Scotia that we know will have a lasting impact.

What drives your commitment to sustainability and social responsibility, both personally and within your business?  

PureGard’s commitment is deeply rooted in heritage. By honoring our founder’s Indigenous background, we operate as stewards of the land. This philosophy guides every scientific breakthrough we pursue; we use a proven refining process to ensure our botanical OLE/PMD is as safe for the environment as it is for your family. We don’t just protect people from the outdoors; we protect the outdoors itself. By replacing "chemical anxiety" with a sustainable promise of "Outdoor Liberation," we ensure the wild spaces we explore today remain resilient and ready for the next adventure.

Why do you value a partnership with the Ecology Action Centre?  

The Ecology Action Centre (EAC) mirrors our own commitment to environmental stewardship through their 50-year legacy of advocacy. We value the EAC’s role as a frontline defender of our ecosystems, from biodiversity and wilderness conservation to climate resilience and coastal protection. By supporting their work, we ensure that our mission is backed by an organization that actively maintains the health of the trails, forests, and waters we encourage families to explore. It is about moving beyond product and participating in the actual preservation of our province's natural beauty.

Personally, why is the environment & community development important to you?  

PureGard was founded on the belief that we have an inherent ethical duty to protect the ecosystems that sustain all life. As a mother of two on a mission to ensure the next generation grows up with a deep, ancestral appreciation for the wild, our founder built this company to provide relief from the fear that keeps so many families trapped inside. We believe that respecting and restoring the environment is more than a local priority; it is a fundamental requirement for a thriving planet. Our goal is to leave a legacy where every community feels empowered to coexist with nature safely and joyfully.

What kinds of things are you doing within your business to have a positive impact on our environment or community?

Outdoor safety is at the core of our values. We present to organizations with outdoor employees on tick safety, we teach families and children essential outdoor safety tips so they can reclaim the outdoors with confidence. Our products are designed to be both safe and effective, for people, animals, and the land and water we all share. By refining nature’s own defenses instead of relying on harsh synthetic chemicals, we deliver high-performance protection that respects the planet’s delicate balance.