Who: Natalie Odd
What: Executive Director of the Clean Calgary Association
Why she’s on the A-List: For six years she rebuilt Clean Calgary from the brink of closure to having a staff of 15 serving 500 companies and thousands of individuals —and the group deservedly won a 2008 Emerald Award.
Natalie Odd, 37, is not the stereotypical Birkenstock-wearing, bicycle-riding granola-eater you might picture when you hear she’s a leading environmental crusader. She drives a car and eats meat, albeit sparingly. She lives in a house that consumes energy and has a stylish wardrobe that doesn’t all come from thrift stores. She also cuts back where possible and can easily suggest dozens of small eco-friendly actions that add up to big changes.
It’s the soft-spoken mom’s practical approach to environmentalism that has helped her build the Clean Calgary Association into the city’s hub of eco information, services and cool stuff all Calgarians can benefit from.
But Clean Calgary wasn’t always such a user-friendly über-resource. When Odd took the helm in 2003, the association was in rough shape.
“Smaller non-profits are vulnerable to cycles if they are not really vigilant,” Odd says. The reality was, funding had all but dried up, Clean Calgary’s programs were becoming obsolete and its outreach was dwindling. Odd’s job was to restructure it into a viable endeavour.
“I was working ridiculous hours because there was so much to do,” she says. “But I thought it was important, so I did whatever I could.” Odd reworked Clean Calgary’s business plan to find alternative revenue streams, reassessed existing programs and gradually introduced new initiatives.
The process was slow and Odd had to fight for every dollar of funding, but the result is a financially stable organization that delivers programs reaching tens of thousands of Calgarians.
Clean Calgary now works with companies to reduce their solid waste and audits homes to help people shrink their eco-footprint by implementing simple changes, such as switching cleaning products or installing faucet aerators.
In 2004, Clean Calgary opened The Clean Calgary Association EcoStore, selling products ranging from rain barrels and compost bins to all-natural mouthwash; revenues from this venture were funnelled back into other initiatives.
Most importantly, Odd and Clean Calgary help sort through information by offering
educational presentations for schools, companies and individuals, and by simply responding to queries from average Calgarians confused about how to take the first step.
“There are the diehard, environmentally conscious folks who do whatever they can,” says Odd, “but most people are really busy with their daily lives and they have enough things to worry about, so information just becomes background noise. It’s really our challenge to compel people to take that action.”
What Can You Do?
Shop at the EcoStore (809 4 Ave. S.W., 403-230-1443 ext. 222) for environmentally friendly products, including house and office supplies, natural beauty products and gifts. cleancalgary.org
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