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.


Saturday, September 11, 2010

Packing for the CAT trip

In less than 24 hours I will be on my way to the airport to set off for Vancouver, and the excitement is building. We've all been thoughtfully provided with a suggested kit list by Offsetters (the CO2 offset charity which has organised our trip), and I'm in my bedroom working my way down it right now.
Jumper ... check
Hiking socks ... check
Water bottle ... seems sensible
Banana ... che...wha? "Hmm", I think to myself, "that's unusually specific, but I *suppose* it wouldn't do for the Change Action Team to be struck down by potassium deficiency before the trip really gets going".

Five minutes and a trip to the fruit bowl later, I re-read the list - "Bandana". Perhaps we're forming a Climate Change action *gang* this year? Perhaps it's for an Axl Rose impersonation competition one evening? It's a moot point either way, since I don't have one. Instead, I pack my wooly hat and cross my fingers that it'll allow me to pass on the mean streets of Vancouver.

A little later, sitting down to eat a banana, I begin to daydream about the trip - the things I'll learn, the places I'll see. A lot of my fellow team-members have already travelled out; not wanting to leave my wonderful wife alone for too long (in case she gets too accustomed to a house where socks and unwashed mugs aren't magically distributed around at night by the clutter-gnomes), I think I'll be more or less the last person to get to town before the team meal on Sunday. I suppose there's a little risk that I'll be like a novelty housemate parachuted into Big Brother in the middle of week two, but if email is any guide, everyone else on the team seems to be friendly, and as curious about this adventure as I am.

- Brendan
Posted by Groupe Aeroplan Change Action Team 2010 at 8:49 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”.