Craik's new sustainable economy.

Craik is an enterprising community of 800 in south-central Saskatchewan that is reinventing itself as a sustainable centre.

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Sustainable efforts in business have been generating interest for some time--an American MBA program even specializes in the topic--but as a whole, the field is still very much a work in progress. Craik's desire to explore the relationship between an economy with vitality and the vital environment in which it exists is a radical approach to small town economic development.

"We wanted to do something that would ensure our own long-term survival," says Craik Mayor Rod Haugerud. "We didn't want to end up as a plaque along Highway 11."

That survival strategy is the Craik Sustainable Living Project (CSLP). It began in 2001 when the town and R.M. were looking at economic renewal opportunities. They met with Dr. Lynn Oliphant, co-ordinator of the Prairie Institute for Human Ecology, a Saskatoon-based alternative education organization for sustainable practices. Oliphant pitched the idea of creating a community that would leave a small "ecological footprint."

The municipal leaders felt the idea had merit and the municipality had 127 unused acres adjacent to Craik to work with.

"We made a decision to build the eco-centre," says Haugerud. "We thought that if we were going to ask people to live in our village, then we would have to show that we were serious."

The facility, designed by Cory Gordon, an expert in straw bale construction, opened in July 2004. The Solar Garden Grill and Lounge and meeting rooms have enjoyed a growing clientele ever since. In keeping with the intent to have the smallest ecological footprint possible, the building was designed to use renewable energy resources.

The eco-centre is heated using solar panels and a Finnish-style masonry oven made from 3,000 reclaimed bricks. A water jacket sits on top of the chimney as a method of hot water production for the in-floor heating. An earth tube delivers cool fresh air in the summer. The centre was built with recycled timber from grain elevators, bricks salvaged from a local school and straw bales donated by a local farmer.

The R.M.'s acreage was also used to attract new investment. A $5-million hemp fibre production facility will be constructed later this year by Hemptown Clothing Inc., a Vancouver-based, publicly traded company. Hemptown received 80 acres as an incentive to locate the plant in Craik. In exchange, it intends to use local suppliers to fulfill its requirements for 4,000 to 10,000 acres worth of hemp, creating a whole new local industry.

Hemptown has embarked on a partnership with the National Research Council to develop a patentable enzyme technology that may help hemp fibres replace cotton worldwide. Similar technology has already had an impact on the pulp and paper industry by reducing production costs as well as reducing chemical and waste discharges.

Hemp is a natural fit for Craik's reduced ecological footprint. It converts five times more carbon dioxide into biomass versus a single tree, without any added chemicals. Hemp is also a very marketable alternative to cotton, which uses 10 per cent of the world's pesticides and nearly 25 per cent of the world's insecticides.

The CSLP is also working on creating an eco-village. In exchange for 10 acres of land, Craik hopes to attract a dozen families who will use the land to generate part or all of their income in a sustainable way. Interest in the project has been expressed from people in the United States as well as from other provinces.

Discussions are also underway to build a biodiesel plant. Combined with the hemp facility, the two projects will generate 30-40 new jobs.

The CSLP has other initiatives underway as well. The Eco-centre serves as a focal point for lending materials and seminars on sustainable rural alternatives.

A pilot project is also underway in the Davidson School Division to increase students' awareness of climate change issues.

Craik is a pioneer in building a strong community economy based on sustainable technologies. Less than an hour away is another pioneering neighbour. Regina is Canada's living lab for research into sustainable communities.

The Communities of Tomorrow Partnership for Sustainability Inc. recently announced its first round of leading-edge research projects dealing with housing and water. Over time, the number of projects will expand to cover a wide range of disciplines and issues related to sustainable development.

Communities of Tomorrow executive director Anne Parker, says the residents of Craik are a model of what can be achieved when municipal leaders work together to improve the well-being of their communities.

"Municipal governments often represent the political bodies with the greatest social, economic and environmental impact. It is at the municipal level that you have activists who are closest to the issues and able to craft a response that is meaningful," says Parker.

Haugerud credits the CSLP for bringing new investment dollars into the community. "When you look at the new jobs that are being created, that's a significant amount of new growth for our community. And we're having discussions with other businesses so there may be more developments yet."