Agents of change
A small neighbourhood in Toronto has built a program to help residents reduce their household emissions. Could their grassroots approach become a template for the rest of the country?
On a snow-flecked Sunday afternoon in mid-December, Paul Dowsett gathered a group of neighbours in his backyard for a toast.
Although the event featured mulled wine and a crackling bonfire, this was no holiday party. Rather, it was an event to celebrate homeowners in the Pocket — an east Toronto neighbourhood — who have committed to an energy retrofit to reduce their carbon footprint.
A Pocket resident since 1997, Dowsett is an architect by trade and a local sage on matters of sustainability. Dressed in a striking green lumber jacket, the 61-year-old extolled his neighbours’ climate consciousness, and after a breezy explainer on the environmental harms of natural gas, related some breaking news.
