Celebrating company champions: HydroOne's Chris Evans

Hunting dragons used to be the work of knights who would be rewarded with a princess or scorched armour, depending on their luck. Now it falls to naturalists like Chris Evans, a Hydro One senior protection and control engineer, and his reward is a little less dramatic but no less rewarding.  As you’ll read in these excerpts from our interview with Chris, he demonstrates there are many ways to make a difference.
“I have a big passion for dragonflies. I do dragonfly counts with a conservation group and lead a dragon-hunter apprentice program because dragonflies are excellent biodiversity indicators.”
Whether he’s outdoors counting dragonflies, picking up litter or preaching double-sided printing, Chris Evans, Senior Protection and Control Engineer, tries to lead by example. A long-time advocate of sustainable living at home and on the job, Evans has worked hard to green his life. As an avid amateur naturalist, he’s an active member of several conservation organizations and a passionate educator about endangered dragonflies.
Saving the Dragonflies
For Evans, the worlds he lives in, including his home, are carefully thought-out spaces. When he purchased a new home, his first priority was creating a nice lawn for his children to play on, so he bought some sod to create a backyard his family could enjoy – or so he thought.
“I found out sod wasn’t really meant for our backyard. To maintain it, we had to water it, and since we had sandy soil the water would just disappear. Then you get cinch bugs and have to use pesticides, and when the birds eat the bugs, they’re ingesting the pesticide.”
So Evans gave up. Instead of battling his environment, he surrendered to it and planted clover and let the wildflowers bloom naturally. The result? A backyard refuge for birds and dragonflies. “Earlier this summer I went out into my backyard and spent almost the whole day photographing dragonflies – I had 12 or so species there on my lawn. I think changing my lawn to something more natural has a subtle impact; it’s a slow process and a gentle one, but I believe that over time it will have a positive effect.”

(c) Chris Evans
Cleaning the Community
And the positive effects stretch past Evans’ backyard to a county road that serves as a major artery for people traveling between Angus and Barrie, running past the Essa Transformer Station. After the colleague who started the Adopt-a-Highway roadside clean-up initiative retired, Evans took over to lead employees to help clean up the two-kilometre stretch of road that passes right by the station.  “The community sees us out there, leading by example during our lunch hour. We hope they realize the garbage they throw out of their cars is picked up by people who genuinely care about the environment and that it makes them think twice about throwing garbage out of their car windows.”
The core group of employees has expanded thanks to the encouragement of the Hydro One Green Team because “they get employees interested in participating from a social perspective. The teamwork has really helped.”
Tallying Paper
From his home to the roadways to the office, Evans’ commitment is hard to beat. Even at the office, he’s looking for ways to lessen his environmental footprint. “It’s easy to forget that by printing double-sided you can reduce the amount of paper you use by half.” When the office printer needed to be replaced, at Evans’ urging, they received a printer that could print on both sides and after Evans was done, it was defaulted to print double-sided. “With a good multi-function printer/scanner, I don’t have to photocopy my expense reports or any number of things where I really don’t need a hardcopy; I just need a record, and electronic is good enough. We have to leverage our technology and make it work for us and for the environment, but we need to be properly enabled with training and awareness, and having the right facilities.”
Considering his Footprint
“I’ve been thinking about the footprint analogy. I think it’s a really good one, because we’re born into this world with two feet and so we will leave a footprint.  What we want to do is minimize it by fitting into our environment instead of ravaging it. But there will be some conflicts. I want to minimize my footprint but I also want the comforts I’m used to, and that’s something I’ve been learning to balance. But at the same time, I’m getting out into nature and educating myself so that I can educate others about the environment. So I’m getting some peace with that because I know that in the big picture, yes, there is an impact, but I’m using it for the good of the world. It’s going to be a net positive. You’re here, you’re going to make a footprint, so let’s make sure you’ve thought about it and that it’s an appropriate footprint.”