One Planet Living Principles
The 10 One Planet Principles (below) are our lens for action. Combined with carbon and ecological footprint priorities (chart below), they ensure that we meet broader objectives, like achieving equity in our communities. They include health and happiness, sustainable food and zero waste. The 10 principles are part of the One Planet Living Framework by Bioregional UK and are used around the world – by individuals, businesses, communities.
Health & Happiness
Encouraging active, social, meaningful lives to promote good health and wellbeing.
Health & Happiness
Encouraging active, social, meaningful lives to promote good health and wellbeing.
Equity & Local Economy
Creating safe, equitable places to live and work which support local prosperity and international fair trade.
Equity & Local Economy
Creating safe, equitable places to live and work which support local prosperity and international fair trade.
Culture & Community
Nurturing local identity and heritage, empowering communities and promoting a culture of sustainable living.
Culture & Community
Nurturing local identity and heritage, empowering communities and promoting a culture of sustainable living.
Land & Nature
Protecting and restoring land for the benefit of people and wildlife.
Land & Nature
Protecting and restoring land for the benefit of people and wildlife.
Sustainable Water
Using water efficiently, protecting local water resources and reducing flooding and drought.
Sustainable Water
Using water efficiently, protecting local water resources and reducing flooding and drought.
Local & Sustainable Food
Promoting sustainable humane farming and healthy diets high in local, seasonal organic food and vegetable protein.
Local & Sustainable Food
Promoting sustainable humane farming and healthy diets high in local, seasonal organic food and vegetable protein.
Travel & Transport
Reducing the need to travel, encouraging walking, cycling and low carbon transport.
Travel & Transport
Reducing the need to travel, encouraging walking, cycling and low carbon transport.
Materials & Products
Using materials from sustainable sources and promoting products which help people reduce consumption.
Materials & Products
Using materials from sustainable sources and promoting products which help people reduce consumption.
Zero Waste
Reducing consumption, re-using and recycling to achieve zero waste and zero pollution.
Zero Waste
Reducing consumption, re-using and recycling to achieve zero waste and zero pollution.
Zero Carbon Energy
Making buildings and manufacturing energy efficient and supplying all energy with renewables.
Zero Carbon Energy
Making buildings and manufacturing energy efficient and supplying all energy with renewables.
Our BC Footprint
BC’s ecological and carbon footprint help us see how close (or far) we are to living within the limits of our planet, and what we need to do to get on track — as individuals and as communities.
Some actions matter more than others in addressing our climate and ecological crises. As we pick our actions, let’s draw from the latest science and research on our local, ecological footprints here in Southwest BC (see chart).
- Food is 50% of our footprint, which we can reduce it by tackling food waste and shifting to plant-rich diets.
- Mobility is 25% of our footprint, and we can reduce it by finding alternatives to personal car ownership and increasing the percentage of trips by walking, cycling and public transit.
- Buildings are 15% of our footprint, and we can reduce it by lowering our housing energy needs and tackling our building and construction waste.
- Stuff is 10% of our footprint, which we can reduce by reusing and repurposing furnishings and appliances.
From an ecological footprint perspective, the highest impact area is food. From a climate perspective, it’s mobility. The bottom line? We need to focus on all of these action areas to bring down our footprints.
BC Communities
One Planet BC supports communities across British Columbia as we all strive towards One Planet Living. Our growing community works together to inspire and accelerate action across the 10 Principles. We support individuals, schools, businesses and organisations with ideas, relationships and training – and share obstacles and opportunities with local governments. For inspiration, read on and see what we’re achieving in Saanich, BC – and check out these current opportunities to engage with us.
Our communities are strengthened when we support fair, healthy and meaningful lives for all, while reducing our impacts on climate change and the environment. One Planet BC collaborates with the BCIT Centre for Ecocities, who are calculating the ecological and carbon footprints of cities and regions across BC. With these baseline numbers and the One Planet Living guiding principles, we build an action-oriented, participant engagement process. Our evolving and powerful network is a hub for sustainability training, technical support, peer learning, collaboration, and collective power.
One Planet by the Numbers
One Planet Living creates a ‘big tent’ that brings together diverse organizations for action – from local government, business, education and civil society. Together, we co-create a vision of the future and prioritize and plan the actions needed to bring this into being.
million people live, work or play in places using the One Planet principles & an estimated $30bn of development across the world
actions are committed to by One Planet Saanich schools, businesses, organisations
British Columbia communities are working with us to explore & act on their ecological and carbon footprint
people trained on the One Planet Framework in British Columbia
One Planet Saanich
Saanich is BC’s flagship community for One Planet Living. One Planet Saanich launched in 2018, as one of five international communities participating in Bioregional UK’s One Planet Cities Initiative. The District of Saanich is on the southern tip of Vancouver Island and has a population of 120,000. A mix of urban and rural, it’s part of the larger regional district of Greater Victoria.
The community of Saanich lies within the territories of the lək ̓ ʷəŋən peoples represented by the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations and the W̱ SÁNEĆ peoples represented by the W̱ JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip), BOḰEĆEN (Pauquachin), SȾÁUTW̱ (Tsawout), W̱ SIḴEM (Tseycum) and MÁLEXEȽ (Malahat) Nations.
A Bold Commitment
One Planet Saanich helps the region advance sustainability through an action-oriented, stakeholder engagement process. Action plans are shaped by 10 principles – from health and happiness and sustainable food to zero carbon energy – providing a common language to drive change.
The cohort includes schools, a college, a church, the large shopping mall, a local farm, development projects, a social enterprise, and an electric vehicle (EV) company...and more everyday.
A Community Effort
One Planet Saanich addresses the need for place-based action in the face of the climate emergency. It engages schools, businesses and community groups to create their own One Planet Action Plans.
Through close partnership with the District of Saanich, this project informs the development and implementation of Saanich’s award-winning Climate Plan and commitment to 100% renewable energy.
Having an Impact
We celebrate successes across all of the principles - encouraging actions prioritised by the region’s ecological footprint analysis (a measure of the total resource demands of the community).
Supporting more plant-based diets helps bring down our GHGs: Reynolds School initiated a Salad Bar program in response; Artemis Place engages with its food garden.
One Planet Saanich
Part of a global project that brings together municipalities, organisations, businesses, schools and community groups from around the world. The 4 pilot communities were Canada (Saanich), Denmark (Elsinore), South Africa (Durban) and the UK (Oxfordshire).
A Bold Commitment
One Planet Saanich helps the region advance sustainability through an action-oriented, stakeholder engagement process. Action plans are shaped by 10 principles – from health and happiness and sustainable food to zero carbon energy – providing a common language to drive change.
The cohort includes schools, a college, a church, the large shopping mall, a local farm, development projects, a social enterprise, and an electric vehicle (EV) company...and more everyday.
A Community Effort
One Planet Saanich addresses the need for place-based action in the face of the climate emergency. It engages schools, businesses and community groups to create their own One Planet Action Plans.
Through close partnership with the District of Saanich, this project informs the development and implementation of Saanich’s award-winning Climate Plan and commitment to 100% renewable energy.
Having an Impact
We celebrate successes across all of the principles - encouraging actions prioritised by the region’s ecological footprint analysis (a measure of the total resource demands of the community).
Supporting more plant-based diets helps bring down our GHGs: Reynolds School initiated a Salad Bar program in response; Artemis Place engages with its food garden.
Around the World
One Planet Living in Cities and Regions
We are part of the One Planet Living network, spearheaded by Bioregional UK. Scroll through teams involved in their Cities & Regions initiative – South Africa, Russia, Canada, the UK – with 90+ organisations learning and being inspired by each other. 1.3 m people live, work or visit places with a deep commitment to the Principles. Bioregional estimates they’ve saved over 1.5 m tonnes of CO2.
Thank You!
One Planet BC and One Planet Saanich are led by OneEarth Living in collaboration with our partners – Bioregional UK, and the BCIT Centre for Ecocities. One Planet Saanich is generously supported with funding from Vancity Credit Union and the District of Saanich. The One Planet Cities initiative was initiated with funding from the KR Foundation.
We are grateful to live, work, and be in relation with people from across many traditional and unceded territories, covering all regions of British Columbia.