Turbine dances to gold while producing clean energy

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William Big Bull of the Piikani First Nation is one of the people leading the way in terms of grassroots efforts to help keep our environment strong.

He nabbed gold in the climate change category at the Canadian Environment Awards held in Calgary on May 31. Big Bull won for his work with Weather Dancer, a wind turbine that supplies 2,960 megawatt hours of clean power per year.

"Wind power is something we've been working on for a number of years," said Big Bull, energy manager for the Piikani Utilities Corporation. "I think, more than anything, it's clean energy. It's something that is sustainable and it also fits nicely with our beliefs, utilizing the natural world."

"I think it's quite extraordinary that (Big Bull) works with his community. He has a dream with respecting the First Nation value about the outstanding value of the natural heritage and he didn't want to pollute and he tried to find alternative ways," said Diane Chaperon-Lor, public relations manager with the Canadian Environment Awards. "He found that it fits with their setting and the community and at the same time it's innovative but also high technology and it's cost efficient. So they're winning and also sharing and bringing on board and increasing the value of the power that they generate to serve bigger and better communities."

Started three years ago by a partnership between Environment Canada, a variety of ministries of the federal government, Canadian Geographic magazine and people in the private sector, the Canadian Environment Awards works to promote the efforts made by environmentalists at a grassroots level.

"We wanted to pay tribute to local initiatives. So we decided that if people look at environmental problems globally, they're overwhelmed because it's so big. At the planet level you can't do anything. But if you try to change things in your daily lives and at the local level, you can change things," said Chaperon-Lor. "We're trying to reward people who are doing things at the local level and William Big Bull is one of them in his community."

Diane Chaperon-Lor and William Big Bull feel that, more than ever, there is a big need for these types of initiatives. With more and more waste being produced, the world needs to recognize people who are making a difference in their community.

"It's recognizing people that you normally don't hear about, people that are out there being active in doing what they believe in and that's a positive step," said Big Bull about the awards.

"Computers, these things make our life easier, they help us communicate and work easier. But they create a new kind of waste that has to be generated. Cartridges for printers, computer screens and all that has to be recycled. If you look at Walkerton and the water, people used to take water for granted. And as people get poisoned on the Native First Nation reserves with mercury, we see that it's only the beginning."

"These wind power projects are not new," said Big Bull. "But the philosophical ideals of our community as a First Nation in using the natural world, that's not new to us. It fits nicely with our philosophy and also gives us something that we're doing for global warming, doing our part."