Calgary educational community to benefit from new ecological footprint calculator, thanks in part to $32,500 donation from TD Friends of the Environment Foundation

-- Ecological footprint calculator donation helps Calgary TD FEF Chapter achieve major milestone in its 20th year of service: $2 million in funding to more than 385 local projects --

CALGARY, Feb. 11 /CNW/ - Thanks in part to a donation from TD Friends of the Environment Foundation's Calgary Chapter, an interactive, online ecological footprint calculator designed especially for school and post secondary institutional settings will be available to Calgary's burgeoning educational community in June of this year.

The City of Calgary, the Calgary Board of Education, and the University of Calgary collaborated on the calculator's development, which is set to start computing by June of this year.

"Our main objective is to influence the decision making and behaviour of staff, students and parents at both the university and in K-12 schools and communities," said Jeff Reading, Lead for The City of Calgary's Community Energy Initiative. "Thanks in part to support from TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, we're able to develop a valuable tool that will help our communities better understand how actions and changes in their behaviour help protect the environment."

Ecological Footprint is an international standard to measure human impact on the earth's resources, and work much like financial accounting by telling us if we are living within our means. It measures the amount of resources consumed and waste generated, and compares this to the earth's ability to provide these resources and manage waste.

"This tool will complement our EcoSites program to help school communities develop a baseline for their behavioural and action campaigns and set a target for Ecological Footprint reduction," said Olena Juzkiw, Community Projects Coordinator with the Calgary Board of Education's Eco Team. "The collaboration with the University of Calgary and the City of Calgary provides an opportunity for seamless communication in Ecological Footprint reduction."

"The new calculator is intended to raise staff and student awareness of how their actions affect the Ecological Footprints of our organizations," said Joanne Perdue, Director of Sustainability for the University of Calgary. "The tool will be paired with educational programs that show our staff and students the actions they can take to reduce the Ecological Footprints of their institutions."

The new ecological footprint calculator for schools and post secondary institutions joins the popular personal ecoFootprint Calculator, which Calgarians have been using since May 2009, available at www.calgary.ca/footprint.

Footprint calculator pledge helps local TD FEF Chapter reach $2 million funding milestone

The Calgary TD FEF Chapter also announced this week that it has hit a $2 million funding milestone in January, 2010 - just in time as the Foundation celebrates its 20th Anniversary.

"Reaching the $2 million milestone in our 20th year is very exciting for us, and we're honoured to be a part of more than 385 innovative, grassroots environmental initiatives in and around our city," said Andrew Gartner, Calgary TD FEF Advisory Board Volunteer and 19-year TD employee. "We believe that developing sustainable, active partnerships with local organizations and community groups is essential to ensuring our support makes a tremendous impact on the environment in our community."

TD FEF encourages non-profit organizations with a Charitable Registration Number, First Nation communities, municipalities and schools to apply for funding online at www.tdfef.com.

About TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (TD FEF):

Since 1990, TD FEF has provided more than $50 million in funding to over 18,400 grassroots environment and wildlife projects across Canada. In 2009, TD FEF provided more than $4 million in support of nearly 900 projects. Thousands of donors give to TD FEF on a monthly basis and TD Bank Financial Group contributes in excess of $1 million annually. TD also covers the management costs of running TD FEF, which guarantees 100 per cent of every dollar donated goes directly to funding environment and wildlife projects in the community where the donation was made. For more information on how to donate and get involved in your community, visit www.tdfef.com.

About the Calgary Board of Education (CBE)

The Calgary Board of Education's Eco Team runs more than 80 programs with schools and administrative sites focused on the 3 Rs - reducing, reusing, recycling. All are aimed at helping the CBE achieve its goal of 50% reduction of waste to landfill by 2012. The CBE Eco Team is comprised of a group of engineers, facilities operators and educators working to create environmental awareness and action across the board to ultimately reduce the CBE's ecological impact.

About the University of Calgary:

The University of Calgary's Office of Campus Sustainability is co-coordinating a pan-university approach to sustainability that encompasses curriculum and research, campus operations, as well as co-curricular service and community engagement with the goal of propelling the U of C forward as a local and global leader in institutional sustainability stewardship.

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