By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

ecoCaledon, a nonprofit organization championing climate action in the Town of Caledon, is looking back on 30 years of work.

From rain barrels, to battery recycling programs, and years of education and advocacy, they've been working tirelessly to empower their community to take action for a greener Caledon.

Some of its members have been advocating since the very beginning.

A Caledon resident since 1985, Jim Cassell has seen ecoCaledon from its very beginnings.

Back in 1992, Cassell first rose to environmental advocacy when the Interim Waste Authority was established under the Waste Management Act of 1992.

Cassell and his brother-in-law created the group Don't Assault Rural Environments (DARE); this team, Cassell regards, is what fought the Interim Waste Authority through till 1994.

With the return of responsibility for waste management to municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area in 1995, problems continued to rise, and Cassell and the group formed “Citizens for a Clean Caledon.”

This group would later become known as ecoCaledon.

Citizens for a Clean Caledon started out as education first, attending events such as Caledon Day to educate citizens on the three Rs- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Over time, they began to “bolt on,” as Cassell says, to different projects.

“We had the first ever Canadian battery recycling program at a grassroots level, and we did that until the government finally kicked in and was sponsoring battery recycling,” says Cassell.

They also worked to advocate for restricting the non-essential use of pesticides.

One of their very first programs, their rain barrel program, which Cassell still chairs, is one they still run to this day.

Although their program has changed over the years, it still carries on, and residents can find ecoCaledon's rain barrels at Davis Feed and Farm Supply in Caledon East.

Over the years, Citizens for a Clean Caledon became ecoCaledon, of which Cassell remains a member, wearing different hats such as serving as Chair, and also Treasurer for several years.

“We've been busy since 1995,” says Cassell, “trying to educate and do social change within the environment.”

“We were on the forefront of an awful lot of change within the environmental group within Caledon and Ontario,” says Cassell, looking back on the work they've been able to achieve over the last three decades.

Cassell has been able to see the evolution of the group over the years, “it certainly had its humble beginnings,” he recalls.

At the beginning, he says they were project-oriented while also focusing on education.

“We started as education and we bolted on what was needed for the community,” says Cassell. 

As new members have come in, they've been able to move in different directions and introduce new projects.

“It's the ability for the community group to adapt to the needs of the people today,” he says about today's organization.

“I just try to be as much of an environmentalist as I can,” says Cassell.

Looking back on the organization over the years, and his involvement, he says he treasures the successes. 

“There were successes with what we had done, that we may not have been the only people moving towards that, but it definitely in Caledon, we were at the forefront of doing those things,” he says.

A lot of what they've been able to achieve, he says, the community has also pushed for, such as their battery program and the restriction on non-essential pesticides.

“30 years, you think back it doesn't seem that it was that long ago. There's no hardships, but it was good that we got involved and did something,” says Cassell. “We're an action-oriented team of individuals that are trying to look after their community and beyond.”