One Planet BC
In British Columbia (Canada), we are committed to sustainability. We help communities across the province understand sustainability priorities – and take action! One Planet Living is our vision for happier, healthier lives for everyone within the limits of our one planet. Join us.
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.
Carinna Kenigsberg
Power to Be
“Power To Be is thrilled to be working closely with community stakeholders in Saanich as part of OnePlanet Living. We feel this collective work supports Power To Be in our efforts to connect people to nature with intention. The plan encourages us to be more conscious with our efforts relating to the environment, nature literacy and how we collaborate with fellow partners. We have deepened relationships with others in OnePlanet Saanich, we have made strategic decisions in our organization, and we have learned new ways we can work with others locally and nationally.”
Mark Neufeld
Claremont Secondary School
“A personal highlight was digitally interacting with education leaders from all over the world, sharing our ideas and being inspired by one another. Watching our young students interact with and be inspired by so many wonderful adults was very, very satisfying.”
Elmarie Roberts
Haliburton Farms
“The One Planet Saanich initiative is motivating and inspiring. We connected with and learned from other organizations locally and around the world, and saw how our individual actions are connected and support each other. One Planet Living has been helpful to achieve our aims – it provides a roadmap and starting point to deal effectively, right away, with climate change.”
Heather Coey
Reynolds Secondary School
“With over 30 years of living and teaching in the Municipality of Saanich I can honestly say that committing our school to be a stakeholder member of the One Planet initiative has been extremely positive. I began the sustainability journey with students in earnest in 2009 by engaging in projects every year and entering the BC Green Games. What made all the difference when we joined One Planet Saanich was having local experts at our disposal to help us understand the real metics from our local area and what actions we could take that would actually make a significant difference. If we are going to invest our time let’s do so in areas where it matters most! The networking and collaboration efforts have been inspiring and enabled a movement of change makers present and future.”
Mayor Fred Haynes
District of Saanich
“Through One Planet Saanich, we are collaborating with schools, businesses and organisations to achieve our collective climate and sustainability goals. Together we are identifying and implementing actions to advance One Planet Living across our community. ”
Glenyss Turner
First Unitarian Church of Victoria
“I really love the One Planet Living framework. I find that it holds up to lots of scrutiny because of all the different principles it embodies.… I love the [One Planet Saanich] community and I love the energy when we get together. Also, I like having people I can contact to learn more about something. It also comforts me that, when the going gets tough (and I believe it will), there’s a larger community out there.”
Rico Barbon
BEESPOT Neighbourhoods
“Our involvement in the One Planet network has helped us to tap into an amazing network of organizations that are advancing sustainability in our communities. The One Planet framework was incredibly valuable as we initiated our sustainable neighbourhood project. We look forward to ongoing collaboration with this inspiring group.”
Glenys Verhulst
District of Saanich
“The One Planet Cities program provides support for local businesses, community groups and organizations to develop their own One Planet Action Plans. The District has found that the One Planet Principles are a simple and easy communication tool for the community to understand. Alongside the resources, training, knowledgeable specialists and networking – they present a really valuable program that fills an important gap in our community and helps advance the District of Saanich Climate Action Plan goals.”
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.