Eashan Karnik
Eashan Karnik is a graduate from the University of Toronto with an Honours Bachelor of Science. While his degree was in Neuropsychology, his career in working for the legislative protection and ecological enhancement of Canada’s lands and waters has spanned almost a decade. Beginning as a young volunteer for a local environmental group in the City of Mississauga, Eashan has moved on to work in remote, rural, and urban communities across Ontario and Alberta in various roles for municipal and provincial governments. From advising senior policy makers on Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan, to leading a delegation from Canada to the United Nations in New York to contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Eashan has helped drive Canada towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of Climate Action and Affordable and Clean Energy. A firm believer in giving back to the community he grew up in, Eashan has devoted his time and efforts towards providing environmental stewardship options for the citizens of Mississauga. Eashan’s extensive work for sustainable development in Mississauga has led to him being selected by the City Council, and Canada’s Minister of Heritage as the Community Leader for Mississauga in Canada’s sesquicentennial celebrations. Eashan currently spends his days working on CitySolar, a green energy subsidization program that he hopes will allow all of Mississauga to progress, along with Canada, towards a clean and green future.
City Solar
CitySolar is a green energy subsidization program that provides community groups, homeowners, and small businesses in the City of Mississauga with 30-50% of the establishment cost required to build a green energy project on their property. These projects can consist of solar PV micro-gen systems, anaerobic digesters, or thermal pumps. Recipients reimburse the enterprise through monthly returns in the form of a small percentage of their energy savings.
What makes this organization unique is that it provides funds directly to the project vendor and removes lengthy application processes. These are replaced with a Project Advisory Committee consisting of local community members, governmental representatives, and technical advisors that select which projects are approved and the funding percentage allotted to each. This allows the people of Mississauga to decide how and where the funding should be distributed.
CitySolar is currently in its planning stage and searching for investors and grant-writers to help build the initial pool of funding required to begin implementing projects throughout Mississauga. This enterprise will be presented to City Council and the Environmental Action Committee and upon completion of this stage, will seek to have members from each group residing on the first Project Advisory Committee.