You Know That Saying About One Person's Garbage…

If you haven't heard of the term 'eco-industrial networking' yet, don't worry, it's a notion that literally merges the concepts of ecology and industry and addresses how humans impact both. It is a means for businesses, governments and the community to share and more efficiently use resources such as municipal infrastructure, land, energy and transportation. Perhaps no one knows this better than Itron employee Deb Bradford.

As chair for the Regina Eco-Industrial Network Association (REINA), she's directly involved with the benefits that eco-industrial networking has in her corner of Canada including reduced municipal environmental services costs, decreased environmental impact, and promotion of environmental strategies such as greenspace preservation, greenhouse gas reduction, green building

design and retrofit, and community energy systems. Given Itron's wide array of energy and water resource management solutions, Deb's involvement in REINA is a natural fit.

Says Bradford, "It's no longer about us, it's about what we're leaving behind for our children and grandchildren. One person's garbage could be another's raw material. My involvement with both REINA and Itron allow me to be proactive about the kind of footprint I'm leaving."

For example, Bradford was recently responsible for an agreement between REINA, in partnership with the City of Regina, and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for grant funding under the Green Municipal Fund for an undertaking they've deemed the Ross Eco-Industrial Park Project. To start, their focusing on efforts that will have the greatest positive impact to the most number of businesses in Regina including power conservation, alternative fuel vehicles, green buildings and transportation logistics. And this isn't even her full-time job.

As manager for Itron Canada's Regina Service Center, Bradford oversees six employees while fielding up to 40 phone calls from meter customers daily. This division of Itron is an accredited meter testing and repair facility and also acts as the Western Canada warranty repair location for Itron's Oconee, S.C., manufacturing plant. Bradford uses the same determination for securing funding for REINA to secure the future of this service center. Since taking the reigns in 1996, she's grown their customer base from two utilities to 15, and the facility now acts as its own distributor, no longer relying on a middleman to get its meters to the retail market in Western Canada.

And it's no surprise that her same resolve is present at home too. Bradford is equally active in her community, previously on the board of directors for her neighborhood association and takes an active role in her community's advisory board. This is in addition to hosting large 'clan' gatherings for her and her family to celebrate their Viking heritage, while also playing mom to five children. We might also mention she's "mom" to a bevy of classic cars and trucks that's she is lovingly restoring including a '65 Pontiac Parisienne hardtop, a '71 Suburban 3-door, and a host of others.

So, if you have occasion to call Itron Canada's Regina Service Center and talk to Deb Bradford, now you know a little bit more about the fascinating individual on the other end of line. For more information about REINA and how you can help, please click here.