2026 Sustainable Kingston Awards
The Sustainable Kingston Awards celebrate the individuals, businesses, organizations, schools, and community groups that are helping build a greener, more resilient Kingston. Each year, these awards recognize the people and projects whose leadership, innovation, and commitment to sustainability are creating meaningful environmental change across our community.
From climate action and environmental stewardship to circular economy initiatives, community projects, and youth leadership, the Sustainable Kingston Awards shine a light on the many different ways people are contributing to a more sustainable future.
On September 16, we gathered at Springer Market Square for the 2026 Sustainable Kingston Awards, bringing together people from across our community to celebrate the many different ways Kingston residents, organizations, and businesses are working toward a more sustainable future.
The atmosphere throughout the afternoon was joyful, with exciting conversations, meaningful connections, and plenty of opportunities to learn from one another. From large-scale operations to neighbourhood initiatives, this year’s Awards offered a reminder of just how much sustainability work is happening across Kingston.
Just as importantly, the event brought together people at many different points in their sustainability journeys. Some have been working toward environmental and community goals for years, while others are just getting started. There is room for all of these efforts in building a more sustainable community, and the Awards were a chance to celebrate that collective progress.
Meet the 2026 Award Winners
This year’s winners represent just a few of the many different ways people are contributing to sustainability in Kingston.
Environmental Impact Award: UNDO Carbon
The Environmental Impact Award went to UNDO Carbon, recognizing its work with Canadian Wollastonite to apply wollastonite to agricultural lands in Kingston. The program has helped improve soil health and crop yields while creating verified carbon removal and long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Circular Economy Award: Tourism Kingston
The Circular Economy Award went to Tourism Kingston for its work to reduce waste and encourage more sustainable consumption. Its initiatives include offering reusable water bottles, providing a public water refill station that has helped eliminate an estimated 3,000 single-use plastic bottles, and reducing printed materials through the use of QR codes.
Community Group/Grassroots Sustainability Award: Skeleton Park Arts Festival
The Community Group/Grassroots Sustainability Award went to the Skeleton Park Arts Festival for its volunteer-led approach to waste diversion. This year, the festival diverted seven large bins of compost, five bins of cardboard and paper, and two bins of plastics, metals, and glass, while sending less than one bag of waste to landfill.
Youth Sustainability Champion (Postsecondary) Award: Hassan Amir
The Youth Sustainability Champion (Postsecondary) Award went to Hassan Amir, whose work with Starfish Canada’s Youth Advisory Action Committee has helped expand opportunities for young people to engage in climate action, strengthen national collaboration, and bring youth perspectives into environmental conversations.
Youth Sustainability Champion (Under 18) Award:
Carys Etienne, Myla Hayes, Niina Daleand Matthew Chaplin
This year’s Youth Sustainability Champion (Under 18) Award was shared by two groups of young people who have gone above and beyond to care for their communities.
Carys Etienne and Myla Hayes, both Grade 2 students, organized multiple after-school litter cleanups around their school and surrounding neighbourhoods.
Niina Dale and Matthew Chaplin, both nine years old, organized and led a community cleanup at Crerar Park in Reddendale, bringing together local families to collect litter from the park and Lake Ontario shoreline.
We’re proud to celebrate all of this year’s winners and the different ways they are helping make Kingston a more sustainable place to live, work, visit, and grow!
September 16th: A Timely Reminder of What’s Possible
This year’s Awards also took place on September 16, the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, making the occasion particularly fitting. Established by the United Nations to commemorate the signing of the Montreal Protocol, World Ozone Day is an opportunity to reflect on what can happen when science, collaboration, policy, and collective action come together.
For many people, the images and news of the hole in the ozone layer were among their earliest experiences of environmental concern. The problem was serious, but the response became one of the clearest examples of international environmental action producing measurable progress. NASA reports that the ozone layer is continuing to recover as a result of the global phase-out of ozone-depleting substances, with the Antarctic ozone hole in 2025 ranking as the fifth-smallest since 1992. Scientists expect the recovery to continue over the coming decades.
That progress is worth remembering.
The challenges facing us today are different and, in many ways, larger. But the story of the ozone layer demonstrates that identifying a problem, listening to science, working together, and taking meaningful action can lead to real change. The United Nations describes the Montreal Protocol as an example of how science-based policy, international participation, strong cooperation, and sustained action can deliver measurable results.
That was one of the feelings we left the Awards with: a renewed sense that a resilient, climate-conscious Kingston is possible, and that building it is something we can do together.
For more information regarding the Sustainable Kingston awards, please contact info@sustainablekingston.com.
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