KAGAWONG—Max Burt, of Burt Country Farm Meats has been recognized as a Green Economy North environmental leader. Burt Country Farm Meats joined total of six nominees who were up for the 2018 Environmental Champion Award, with three winners recognized including Mr. Burt.
Earlier this spring, Green Economy North called on the community to nominate local Environmental Champions. The response far exceeded expectations, with nominations coming from a wide variety of organizations, sectors and businesses.
“It’s been an incredible year,” said Richard Eberhardt, program director for Green Economy North. “We doubled our membership and have started expanding into new sectors and project areas. There’s no doubt that the green business movement is catching on in Sudbury and we’re thrilled to be on the crest of that wave.”
“An environmental champion doesn’t necessarily have to be from an environmental organization,” said Scott Florence, managing director of reThink Green. “We wanted to know who was going above and beyond their daily roles to create a more sustainable workplace. We were so impressed with the nominations again this year, it was a difficult decision.”
Leigha Benford, communications director for Green Economy North explained Mr. Burt had been cited for this award, “because of his ongoing commitment to sustainable food and integration of new technologies, such as the way he uses bio-diesel to run his farm. He has a good perspective and good understanding of how to running his farm and sustainability without using or putting much pressure on the environment.”
Mr. Burt was quoted in the April 11 edition of Northern Life. “I am fortunate to be involved in an industry that forces you to live within the confines of your fence lines. By integrating many energy technologies into our farm, we have continued to improve our environmental responsibility for the food we produce. This is important to us and our customers, but mostly important to our children and our grandchildren. After all, food production simply must be sustainable. There is no other option.”
Mr. Burt told the Recorder that he had been nominated by his peers for the award. Although not directly a member of Green Economy North Mr. Burt said he has done a lot of business work in Sudbury and has been part of the Eat Local program for years.
“I guess there are a number of ways we’ve tried to operate our farm efficiently and environmentally friendly,” said Mr. Burt. “For instance I looked at how to reduce waste in our processing plant. A lot of the trimmings from our beef cutting room I turn into fuel that works in my diesel tractor. My tractor drinks it in fine.”
“We’ve reduced compostables out of the cutting room by 50 percent,” said Mr. Burt, and using these materials to create bio-diesel fuel is better on the air-environment. “I can turn by tractor on in the spring and the little exhaust created can smell like French fries, but my eyes don’t burn from exhaust fumes and the lifespan of my tractor engine has improved.”
By using solar power his impact on the energy grid has gone down, said Mr. Burt. “I keep doing what I believe is right and good for our farm and the environment and I guess once in a while people see and agree with this.”
