Significant environmental and social achievements across various industries took the spotlight Thursday (Nov. 14) night at the ninth annual Ecostar Awards Gala.

This year, 15 awards made from recycled chopsticks and 3D-printed recycled plastic (provided by ChopValue and Travtron 3D Printing) were handed out to Vancouver Island trailblazers for their environmental work.

The Ecostar award for social impact went to the Reciprocity Trusts Society, which fills the space between Indigenous land acknowledgements and ‘land back’. In partnership with Indigenous Nations, Reciprocity collects reciprocity payments from homes and businesses and distributes them to local First Nations. Through the South Island Indigenous Reciprocity Trust, funds are distributed equally to the 10 First Nations who have core territory within the Capital Regional District and can be used to fund any Nation-identified priorities.

Since Reciprocity's launch in June 2023, more than $100,000 has been mobilized from more than 250 homes and businesses. This money has been used for projects including the establishment of a new bighouse in the Tsawout Nation, a youth-elder mentorship program in the Songhees Nation, a cultural canoe journey paddle for youth in the Sci’anew Nation, and a community feast in the Pacheedaht Nation.

Prince of Whales - Whale and Marine Wildlife Adventures earned the nod for Sustainable Workplace. Dedicated to sustainability on and off the water, Prince of Whales applies a green lens to their office operations through their sustainable policies. These address diverse aspects of the business ranging from water- and energy-saving equipment to retail purchases and low-emission staff commuting.

On the water, they offer zero-waste catamaran tours that feature unpackaged foods and are currently installing toroidal propellors that enhance fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.

The aptly named I Used To Be A Pallet was recognized as the Waste to Resource winner for upcycling pallets into more than 700 other products. Community members are offered some products at a discount, including furniture for classrooms and stability platforms for seniors. I Used To Be A Pallet also creates Little Free Library replicas of owners’ homes, promoting reading throughout the community.

In eight years, the Victoria-based organization has diverted 12 to 15 tons of wood from landfills. Beyond creating new products, the organization uses end cuts from the pallets for heat, sawdust is used as a garden amendment, and unusable nails are recycled.

The QENTOL, YEN/WSANEC Marine Guardians program established in 2021 is the 2024 Ecological Stewardship winner. The marine conservation program's goal is to ensure WSANEC's involvement in protecting and monitoring the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales and other marine mammals in their traditional territory. The program aims to restore the balance between the WSANEC people and the KELLOLEMECEN (killer whales) by monitoring vessel speeds, noise pollution, and whale movements.

Grove Outdoors was dubbed Greenest Retailer for 2024. Victoria’s only consignment outdoor gear store, Grove has created a culture of sustainability through innovative initiatives including offering repairs in partnership with Basecamp Repairs, donating unsold clothing to those in need via Our Place Society and Big Brothers, Big Sisters, supplying repair products in-store, and sourcing used fixtures, hangers, and tags to outfit the store.

Esquimalt-based Clean Air Yard Care was recognized in the Innovation category as an early adopter of the electric movement. Shaking up the landscaping industry since 2010, the company has long used battery-powered equipment and recently added fully electric trucks, electric bikes and solar trailers to the fleet. It also uses eco-friendly vegetable-based lubricants and other products for equipment maintenance.

Victoria-based woman-led clean-tech company Wireless PnC earned the nod for Inspirational New Venture. With a vision of inspiring a generation where charging is no longer seen as synonymous with plugs, their high-efficiency universal wireless charging system works with e-bikes and e-scooters regardless of brand or battery type, offering a practical and affordable solution that significantly reduces electricity requirements and costs for EV charging.

Perhaps the oldest business in the bunch, Pendray Inn and Tea House was named Leadership in Hospitality winner. Established in 1896, Pendray Inn and Tea House became the first Canadian restaurant to achieve The Pledge on Food Waste certification, finding ways to reduce food waste by 50 per cent. It also became the first business in Victoria to convert private land into community spaces with the creation of its community garden. Other initiatives include achieving biosphere certification and contributing to the Indigenous Tourism Destination Fund, which promotes Indigenous-led growth in the tourism sector.

Victoria Community Food Hub Society was the winner in the Local Food category, but so were Greater Victoria residents and food producers. The society supports farmers and producers through the online farmers’ market South Island FarmHub and Kitchen Connect, a commissary processing kitchen. Over the past two years, they have provided a sales avenue for more than 85 farms and producers; supported more than 20 local food makers with space and equipment; subsidized $207,000 of local food for Greater Victoria charities and schools, and completed a Net Zero Food Hub report, which includes a plan to cut waste and emissions by 2030.

The South Island’s Sadie Fox of The Sustainable Fox was named Ecopreneur of the Year. Fox offers waste reduction consultation with an intersectional lens for households, workplaces, and events through her business The Sustainable Fox. Through waste auditing, Fox helps people understand their waste and create strategies to change it at a systemic level. Events using TSF’s consultation and waste diversion services average a 97.3 per cent diversion rate.

Fox has also recently launched The Sustainable Box, a sliding-scale subscription waste removal service for recycling materials excluded from curbside or commercial programs.

Malahat SkyWalk and its unusual, accessible educational experience was the Experiential Tourism winner Thursday night. In partnership with Malahat Nation, the SkyWalk honours traditional lands and shares cultural heritage and traditional ecological knowledge throughout the park, which fosters a deeper understanding of the land’s significance among visitors. They work to remove barriers to accessing nature by providing electric scooters for those with mobility challenges, launching a free shuttle service from downtown Victoria, and providing discounted tickets for school groups.

Design and Construction Winner – Wescon Cedar Products Ltd. in Duncan is the only Passive House certified door and window manufacturer in North America – among the reasons it was awarded for Design and Construction. A family-owned and operated business, they create around 25,000 doors and 5,000 windows per year using locally-sourced wood and materials whenever possible. They are also committed to waste diversion – sawdust waste is repurposed into fire briquettes, keeping over 520 tonnes of dry sawdust from ending up in landfill, and all offcuts are used for side projects.

Removing more than 160,000 kg of marine debris from 1,200 kilometres of Vancouver Island’s coastline since 2017, earned the Rugged Coast Research Society designation as Clean Oceans winner. The Nanaimo-based organization’s work in Nootka Sound in 2023 extracted more than 77,000 kg with three per cent repurposed and nearly 70 per cent recycled in partnership with Ocean Legacy Foundation’s ocean plastic depot. Rugged Coast works closely with local Indigenous communities on their projects, creating jobs for individuals in coastal communities and supporting the protection of cultural and ecological values of traditional lands by community members.

4VI Social Enterprise Group, also based in Nanaimo, was named Climate Action Winner. As the first destination in North America to perform a carbon audit, they are developing a road map to decarbonize the Island’s tourism industry with a novel bottom-up approach that focuses on stewardship through social equity, community investment, and climate action. By 2030, they aim to reduce emissions from 195 kgCO2e per visitor to less than 100 kgCO2e, establishing a new standard for responsible tourism.

The Den Refillery in Tofino was awarded in Community Leadership for work shifting folks to sustainable living in the Pacific Rim region. In addition to offering zero-waste hygiene and cleaning products through retail stores, the Den’s Sustainable and Circular Accommodation Program transitioned more than 14 hotels and 120 bed and breakfasts from using single-use plastics and harmful products.