Canadian Living Me to We Award winners and honourable mentions

In the workplace
MIKE KEHOE, DRIVEN ENVIRONMENTALIST, ST. JOHN'S, NFLD.

Four years ago Mike Kehoe was unloading luggage, wreathed in the blue smoke that was belching from another cab beside his own when a precocious eight-year-old passenger piped up, "What are you taxi drivers doing to my environment?" When the cabbie repeated the remark at the family dinner table that night, his teenage daughter, Lisa, said, "You guys are leaving a mess."

Since then Mike has worked hard to prove her wrong. First, he found several other taxi drivers who were keen to limit their industry's impact on the environment. Then, after partnering with the City of St. John's and Environmental organizations, they formed Smart Taxis Encouraging Environmental Respect (STEER) in 2002. STEER teaches local cabbies how to cut emissions by maintaining their vehicles and reducing idling. Next, STEER would like to target teen drivers and, with help from the federal government, expand the program to other communities. It's quite an accomplishment for a man who used to be "an armchair environmentalist," not an activist. In fact, when STEER began, he and his fellow cabbies wondered if they could really make a difference, says Mike. "Now I know we can be ambassadors for the environment."

Click here to see Mike in Canadian Living magazine.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Jan Dale, Coquitlam, B.C.
For rallying her coworkers and colleagues on a national level to band together and raise thousands of dollars for charitable projects in Vancouver and across
the country.
Rebecca Fleisig, Waterloo, Ont.
For launching Walk the Walk, a campaign designed to show teachers and students how to act on their ideas and create a better world.