Our Environmental Bottom Line
“The earth is our greatest classroom. Every time I learn something new about the universe, it becomes bigger and more amazing.”
-Catherine Pawasarat Sensei
Clear Sky is committed to promoting the teaching of awakening for current and future generations. One way to do this is to reduce our environmental impact as much as possible so that the center itself is sustainable.
Grasslands Restoration
We are located in the Yellowstone to Yukon wildlife corridor and are home to a rich biodiversity of migratory animals.
Wildfire suppression and overgrazing have diminished the natural grasslands in our area — one of the most threatened bioregions in Canada.
Catherine Sensei has spearheaded several grasslands restoration projects on our land, including:
- A grasslands research plot
- Invasive species management
- Forest thinning
- Supporting native plants and their habitats
Green Building
In 2013, we built our first residential building with the intention of it being as sustainably built as possible. This build lay the foundation for how we’ve approached our buildings and their management ever since.
Sustainable practices include:
- Some trees were felled to clear land for the building — these trees were milled and used in building the house
- Heating and cooling with annualised geo-solar heating
- Installing wool carpets in lieu traditional synthetic carpet
2024 Recycling Council of BC’s Environmental Award for Non-Profits
The Recycling council of BC awarded us their Environmental Award for Non-Profits in recognition for our land stewarship and sustainable practices. Notable practices include:
- Designing a recycling program that only produces one regular-sized garbage bag per month (for a household on approximately 10-15 people)
- Growing our own organic produce and sourcing all other food to be as local and organic as possible
- Upcycling wherever possible (eg. brush cleared for fire prevention is turned into wood chips and used on our pathways)
- Making our own biodegradable house cleaners, bug spray and more
- Consciously managing our data storage and online marketing to have minimal impact on servers
- FireSmarting our property to reduce risk of wildfire
- Irrigating our Food Forest with the freshwater on Bull mountain, using a gravity operated system
Food Forest
Clear Sky is home to one of Canada’s largest cold climate food forests.
Designed by Richard Walker and planted in 2013, it showcases a sustainable agroforestry system. It features a diverse mix of medicinal plants, nut trees, fruit trees, berries, and more, all grown together in a holistic ecosystem. The project demonstrates how food production can be achieved in cold climates through permaculture principles.
