About Us
We promote greener and
better living by sharing
practical solutions and
advocating for change.
Green Action Centre is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in Winnipeg and serving Manitoba since 1985. We are a registered charity, governed by an elected community board. We promote greener living through environmental education and encourage practical green solutions for households, workplaces, schools and communities. Our primary areas of focus include green commuting, composting and waste reduction, sustainable living and resource conservation.
Our primary areas of work are green commuting, waste reduction through composting and recycling, sustainable living and resource conservation. Programs and outreach are supported by donations from individuals, grants from foundations and governments, and sponsorships.
Learn more about our current staff team and list of board of directors.
2022-23
Impact Report
For highlights from Green Action Centre’s activities, please check out our 2023-24 Impact Report. It’s a quick stroll through the key impacts of our collective work to help all Manitobans live green and live well. One of our big highlights is the work we have done on our Strategic Plan for the next five years. Take a look at our Strategic Directions for 2024-2029 to see what we’ll be focusing on!
Our Fundamental Principals
Green Action Centre believes that eliminating the unsustainable use of resources requires the adoption and implementation of a waste reduction priority which emphasizes the elimination of waste and advocates appropriate strategies that include: reduction at source, reuse, recycling and resource recovery – in that order.
Green Action Centre believes value and wealth exist, and can be created, outside the conventional economic system. Examples of this value and wealth are natural capital and social/organizational capital which must be incorporated into a cost-benefit analysis. Decisions based on such models could constrain market-based activity in order to facilitate ecological sustainability and maintain our quality of life.
Green Action Centre believes all sectors of society have a shared responsibility to preserve and protect our environment such that the needs of present and future generations are met.
Green Action Centre believes that the sustainability of the natural environment requires an attitude of respect and a belief in its intrinsic value, coupled with the active conservation of life support systems, biodiversity and natural resources.
Green Action Centre is committed to maximizing opportunities for full participation in decision-making by all Manitobans in honest, open and accessible processes.
Green Action Centre is committed to human involvement in global ecological sustainability through education, awareness and action.
Applied Principles
ADOPTED JUNE 1996
Resource conservation replaces high resource consumption goods and service-producing technologies with low resource consumption technologies, to the greatest extent possible; replaces non-renewable energy technologies with renewable energy technologies, to the greatest extent possible; and uses appropriate scale technologies.
Polluter pays requires that whoever causes environmental degradation or resource depletion should bear the full cost. This is intended to encourage the internalization of environmental costs and reflect them in the prices of goods and services.
Precautionary principle acknowledges the high level of uncertainty about environmental impacts of proposed developments and calls for decision-makers to proceed with caution. The onus of proof is on the proponent to anticipate, prevent, and demonstrate the absence of significant environmental impact.
Pollution prevention applies processes, practices, materials and energy that avoid or minimize the creation of pollutants and wastes.
Full cost accounting using lifecycle analysis assesses the full cost of a product, process or activity by developing models for benefit-cost analysis which incorporate the value of wealth created by non-market capital (natural or social/organizational) and adjust for its degradation and loss. This is done by measuring all inputs and impacts (in economic terms) at all stages from raw material extraction and production through distribution, consumption, discard, recycling and/or landfilling (cradle to grave).
Strong sustainability principle requires society to hold the aggregate stock of natural capital constant, at a minimum, and likely requires us to increase the stock. Natural capital encompasses the entire life support system we enjoy on earth. This includes elements of species diversity, air and water quality, whole earth and ecosystems, and the waste assimilative capacity of the various global components.
Show Your Support
Become a member.
Green Action Centre members have a right to vote at our Annual General Meeting, support our mission, and add their voice to others speaking out for a greener future.
