For Glen Hodgson and his family, it’s the little things that make a difference.

“Every day we try to make good choices,” says Hodgson, a high school teacher from Parry Sound, Ontario. “Just by choosing one kind of coffee over another, you can make an impact.”

Hodgson, who is also the District 4 president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), chose to bullfrogpower his home in 2007, and recently signed up the District 4 office with Bullfrog Power. District 4 encompasses schools and work sites in the Near North, from Parry Sound to Mattawa, and extends further north to Sturgeon Falls.

“Bullfrog Power enables us to make a statement about our energy values while providing green power for our home,” Hodgson explains.

Hodgson recently co-authored Small Steps to a Greener Union, an extensive OSSTF sustainability report offering educational resources for teachers and other union employees in Ontario. The report also offers suggestions for composting, conserving energy, and recycling electronics and paper products.

“The significance of the Greener Union report is that we've prepared a document that is not just comprehensive, but also user-friendly,” he says. “We wanted a document that could be useful in Toronto, Thunder Bay, Kenora, and London. We wanted to ensure that the report’s suggestions were accessible and flexible."

Of his motivation as an educator, Hodgson explains: “I’ve had some great teachers who have taught me a lot and influenced me greatly, and it’s one of the reasons I became a teacher myself.” He believes that his choice to live greener can motivate others to do the same. “I definitely think that you can have an influence if you make positive choices."

Living greener is a choice that’s close to Hodgson and his family. The family is currently planning the construction of an off-grid straw bale house in a newly purchased acreage close to their current home. For example, straw bale, an environmentally friendly building material, will be used to build and insulate the home. “We’re thinking about everything from our furniture to our heating and cooling mechanisms in order to build a truly eco-friendly home,” Hodgson says.

“We’re very lucky to be able to do this,” he adds. “We’re going to maintain the landscape of the acreage in a healthy way.”

Because Hodgson has been chronicling his efforts in a column in the local Parry Sound newspaper, the plan has already attracted considerable attention from the community. “The great thing about straw bale houses is that they become almost like community projects,” he says of the response he has received.

Hodgson grew up in Orillia, another small Ontario community, and attributes his appreciation for nature to his childhood. “My family has always been very in touch with the land,” he explains. “I realized that if my son is to wander around the same woods that I did, then I have a job to do. I need to take that commitment seriously.”

As a board member of the Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve and was an organizer of the recent Parry Sound Climate Change Solidarity Rally, Hodgson hopes to continue that commitment and pass it on to his children.

“That’s the message I give to my kids: everybody matters,” he says. “Everyone can do their part and every little action is important.”