Ontario Self Storage Facility Nominated for Eco Action Award of Excellence

Tonight, an Ontario business group will announce the winners for a local award presented to a green business that is especially environmentally-friendly. The award, called the Eco Action Award of Excellence, is new this year, and is one of a series of awards, called the Ruby Awards, presented annually by the Welland-Pelham Chamber of Commerce. It was sponsored by Climate Action Niagara. A local self storage company, Federal Self Storage, is in the running. 

The green self storage facility, Federal Self Storage, is a new one for the Welland-Pelham area. It opened for business only a few months ago. Owner Ken Wolek designed a self storage facility that is heated using radiant heating and lit using a motion-activated lighting system for energy efficiency.

In addition to keeping power use at his self storage facility low, Wolek also chose to offer his customers something new: a storage tote rental service. A storage tote is a recycled plastic box that can be used again and again -- replacing the cardboard boxes that are commonly used in moves. Cardboard makes up between 18 and 26 percent of landfill material, according to The Welland Tribune.

The Welland-Pelham Chamber of Commerce gives out its Ruby Awards every year to recognize local businesses that it considers to be the “best of the best.” Not all of the Ruby Awards are for businesses that are ecofriendly -- some awards are for community service, citizenship, initiative, and other business-related topics.

“Especially during these difficult times, it is important to celebrate our successes,” Chamber of Commerce president John Krall commented in Niagara This Week earlier in October, when the nominations for the awards were first announced.

The Ruby Awards are not named after the gemstone, but after Ruby Emily Quaker, a local businesswoman who lived in the late 1800s and helped to start the Welland-Pelham Chamber of Commerce.

Other green businesses joining Federal Self Storage in being nominated for environmental honors were Fresh Start Green Cleaning, Café on Main, Huard Heating and Air Conditioning, and The Hope Centre.

The Ruby Awards will be presented tonight at Pelham’s Lookout Point Golf and Country Club.

Sources used:

“Business leaders thinking of the environment.” The Welland Tribune. Oct. 21, 2010.

Speck, Michael. “Chamber awards announced.” Niagara This Week. Oct. 1, 2010.

Welland/Pelham Chamber of Commerce. “2010 Ruby Awards.”

Welland/Pelham Chamber of Commerce. “Eco Action Award of Excellence.”