ABOUT THE TRIP

CHANGE ACTION TEAM 2010

From September 12-20, 2010, Aeroplan Canada will lead Groupe Aeroplan’s second Change Action Team experience in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

The 2010 Change Action Team is composed of nine Groupe Aeroplan employees: one employee from Aeroplan Canada, three from Groupe Aeroplan-UK, three from Carlson Marketing, one employee from Air Miles Middle East and one from Nectar Italia.

Working with Offsetters, Groupe Aeroplan’s and Aeroplan Canada’s carbon management partner, the Change Action Team will travel to the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Lead by Alden Hadwen, CSR, Groupe Aeroplan, and a representative from Offsetters, employees will spend a week learning about climate change, carbon emissions, carbon offset projects and how local communities are linked with these projects. The CAT will visit clean technology projects in Vancouver, First Nations communities in Tofino and the resort of Whistler in the Coastal Mountains.


Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Life so far as a 2010 CAT member...

Well right now I am feeling like one of the luckiest people alive. I don’t want to rub it in with fellow colleagues (any more than I already did before I left!) but this trip has already gone beyond expectations and I’ve still got a week to go. I was happy enough just sharing my flight over here with James McAvoy (Atonement, Shameless, Last King of Scotland) but things just keep getting better and better! As soon as I got here I fell in love with Vancouver - The scenery is great, the people are great, the food is great … is there a contingency plan in place if we all decide not to come home??!

On my first day here I went on a boat trip with Emma-Lee and we saw some stunning scenery as well as seals, dolphins, bald eagles and much to our delight lots of whales. We were so lucky! Not only did we see killer whales but we also had some humpback whales breach metres from our boat. Having a 40 foot, 40 tonne whale effortlessly flip out the water in front of you can only be described, as Sanju would say, as AWESOME!  


It has been great meeting the rest of the Change Action Team and representatives from Offsetters and ISIS and seeing how equally excited and enthusiastic everyone is about our trip. Over the course of the next week we will be learning all about the work of Offsetters in advising organisations and individuals on carbon offsetting and the adoption of cleaner technologies. Today we were given an extensive overview on how Offsetters help individuals and organisations understand, reduce and offset their climate impact and some of the offset projects they have developed. I’m really looking forward to visiting examples of these projects and learning about the social and environmental benefits they have bought. The people we have met have all been extremely knowledgeable and passionate about their work and everyone from CAT is so excited and appreciative of the opportunity we have to see examples of their work first hand.


The itinerary for the next few days sounds amazing…. Vancouver Island, local community projects, salmon BBQ’s, hot springs, boat rides, sea planes, Whistler 2020 sustainability, hiking etc. Anyway as I said I don't want to rub it in, have fun at work and I’ll keep you posted on life as a member of the 2010 CAT team soon!

Laura
Posted by Groupe Aeroplan Change Action Team 2010 at 12:11 AM

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FUN FACTS ABOUT THE TEAM

Jo-Ann: In 2006, I had my head shaved during the Shave to Save campaign to raise funds for the fight against Breast Cancer.

Laura: I recently achieved my personal goal to visit 30 countries before I turned 30 and celebrated with a visit to Brazil at Carnaval.

Will: I hold a private pilot’s licence and have been flying since I was 16 years old.

Jackie: When I was in high school I won a contest to name a ride at a local amusement park – The Flitting Flume of Festal Frenzy! It was a log water ride. I won a $100 savings bond, six case of Coke and a season pass to Valleyfair. Oh, and let's not forget the coverage in the local newspaper...ha!

Brendan:The Metro (London’s free newspaper) once sent me on a blind date to Paris, along with a film crew who normally worked on documentaries in war-zones.

Marcello: I visited Geogia during Russian air raids, Ukraine after Orange Revolution and I’ve just come back from former war countries in Balkans: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro. I use my trips as inspiration, writing for newspapers and magazines, I’ve even created a blog: http://www.marcellopeluso.it/. I’ve also published some books…and more are coming! It’s my way to describe the world.

Sanju: My love for animals constantly worries my wife as she isn’t sure what new addition I’ll bring into our home at anytime.

Emma-Lee: I used to work for Bridgeclimb in Sydney. I’ve climbed 1,439 steps to the top of the Sydney harbour bridge over 500 times – that’s 719,500 steps in total! Once I was caught in a freak storm at the top of the bridge with 50 tourists, the winds were over 140Kmph and we were completely exposed to the elements, unable to move until the storm passed.

Majeed:I love to eat - my favourite saying is: “People eat to live, while I live to eat”.