Veronique Doucet.(union gas essay scholarship)

As the globe struggles with human impact on the environment, green-minded leaders of tomorrow like Veronique Doucet are looking to the benefits Northern communities could see from proper eco-stewardship.

As the winner of this year's Union Gas Student Essay Scholarship, the 18-year-old Doucet not only advocates for traditional solutions such as reducing, reusing and recycling, but also for more concrete steps that could also potentially strengthen vital Northern industries.

"Much of our economy is based on natural resources, like mining and forestry, so we need to figure out how to better use what we have," says Doucet.

"But we have to do it in a way that is respectful of the environment and helps to ensure that what we have is available for future generations."

As an example, she points to the need to establish greater industrial recycling capabilities in Northern Ontario, which could provide a secondary life to materials derived from the region's primary markets.

The introduction of facilities to recycle items such as vehicular components and various construction materials would help extend the usefulness of things pulled from the hard earth or the living forest.

With far less distance to travel to be recycled, far less fuel would be used, leading to lower costs and lower pollution.

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What's more, it also stands to create entirely new markets and industries in the North, all while helping to brand the region as one where business and the environment can live a little more harmoniously.

This kind of green identity could also be expanded to broader social aspects, including the development of added bike paths and park areas as part of larger "ecological centres" throughout the region.

Not only would this allow for a greater, greener footprint, but it would also help to attract many of the growing number of skilled workers the North needs for its current industry shortages, and to help power new ones.

While advocacy for these kinds of measures is an integral component of helping to effect change, leadership on environmental stewardship often begins at home, a lesson that has not been lost on Doucet.

Indeed, this graduate of Sudbury's Ecole Secondaire Macdonald-Cartier, a French public high school, is more than willing to back up her eloquence with action.

Determined to make a difference, she's mapped out her academic career to better match her zeal for the very issues she discusses in her award-winning essay.

Although initially having signed up to major in environmental science at Ottawa University, she's since made the switch to chemical engineering. The reason, she says, lies in her desire to shift from being able to identify environmental issues, to being able to help solve them.

"I've always been in touch with environmental issues. If we don't work towards finding answers to these problems--especially in Northern Ontario, where there's so much forest--then we risk losing some of the things that make the North so great."

One solution, she argues, lies at the heart of the growing trend of renewable energy generation. While many such projects have already begun in recent years, the North needs to embrace these efforts more strongly and with a greater sense of purpose.

With energy costs rising and threatening the economic viability of many large-scale developments, the region's many wide-open spaces could prove ideal for wind and solar projects, while the countless water flows could accommodate hydroelectric projects.

While private companies and various industries could certainly play a role in effecting this kind of transformation, various levels of government also have a definite part to play, says Doucet.

This includes municipal councils, who must see the need to encourage the adoption of a greener lifestyle by their constituents and local businesses alike.

Provincial and federal governments should better recognize the importance of value-added industries, particularly in forestry, and create policies that encourage their growth.

Meanwhile, all levels need to work together to bring about legislation that continues to curb air pollution and encourage development of cleaner-burning and more efficient fuel technologies.

However, Doucet recognizes that this sort of significant change across a broad swath of industries isn't something that happens easily or quickly. As such, business leaders and community members need to work together towards realizing mutual and individual goals which, in the end, will benefit all Northerners.

"We're more in touch with nature than, say, people in Toronto," she says. "We can see all around us the reasons as to why we need to make these kinds of changes."

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