An Edmonton nature group plans to honour a St. Albert resident this week for her contributions to conservation.
The Edmonton Nature Club will give its annual Conservation Award to St. Albert’s Elke Blodgett at its annual banquet this Saturday. Blodgett is a well-known environmentalist in the Capital region.
The club recognizes one person or group a year that makes a significant contribution to the knowledge, conservation or appreciation of natural history in the region, says Patsy Cotterill, the club director that nominated Blodgett. “The kinds of things she does are things that don’t get a lot of attention,” she says, and tend to involve rules, regulations and paperwork.
Cotterill credits Blodgett with raising environmental awareness throughout St. Albert and the surrounding area. She drew attention to the problem of leachate in the Sturgeon River, helped found the regional oil and gas spill prevention group STAMP, and lobbied against power lines in Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park. “She’s been described as a mosquito because she’s an irritant to [city] council!” she jokes.
Blodgett will receive a framed photo of a lesser yellowlegs, Cotterill says, and join other famous recipients such as former Royal Alberta Museum bug-man Terry Thormin, naturalist Jim Butler and biologist Colleen Cassady-St. Clair, the latter a key witness at the recent Syncrude dead duck trial.
Blodgett says she feels tremendously honoured to receive this award as she’s received much support from its previous recipients. “I can’t quite conceive of being listed on the same list [as them]!”
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It’ll be lights out this Saturday around the world as people go dark for Earth Hour.
Earth Hour is an annual event organized by the World Wildlife Fund that asks residents to shut off all non-essential lights for an hour to show their support for action on climate change.
This year’s event encourages people to “go beyond the hour” and think about actions they can do outside of Earth Hour to improve the planet, says Annette Cake, spokesperson for WWF St. Albert. Switching to renewable electricity can substantially reduce your carbon footprint, for example, as can eating locally grown food.
The Alberta government plans to cut the lights at the legislature grounds Saturday during Earth Hour, according to a release. Edmontonians will be able to enjoy fire-jugglers and bannock bakers at city hall as part of that city’s celebration.
St. Albert will once again cut most of the lights in St. Albert Place and Servus Credit Union Place during Earth Hour, according to environmental co-ordinator Meghan Myers. The city’s electricity use dropped by about 3.7 per cent during last year’s Earth Hour, according to Fortis Alberta, saving enough power to energize 1,800 homes for an hour.
There are plenty of ways residents can make the world better beyond Earth Hour, Myers says: installing compact fluorescent bulbs, for example, or using their programmable thermostats. “Even just putting down the thermostat one degree will make a difference.”
Earth Hour is this March 26 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. See earthhour.org for details.
