A&S alum Peter Love has been at the forefront of the Canadian sustainability movement for decades, driving change through his work in government agencies, non-profits, corporations and more.
“I've been fighting for, and trying to promote, a culture of conservation and energy efficiency for the last 30 years,” says Love, who earned his bachelor of arts in 1971 as a member of Trinity College.
Love has put his sustainability expertise to use as chief energy conservation officer at Ontario Power Authority, co-founder of two for-profit energy service companies and chair of the Centre for Clean Energy Transformation in the Peel region.
“I look for things I think can be done successfully and with impact. And then I look for people I can work with to do them,” he says.
Love's journey in sustainability began while studying at U of T, where he took the first environmental studies course the university offered. He later attended a screening of Air of Death (1967), an influential CBC documentary by Larry Gosnell.
The film raised pressing questions about air pollution in the small Ontario town of Dunnville and played a key role in igniting the environmental movement in Canada.
Moved by the film, a group of students — including Love — launched Pollution Probe. One of the first environmental non-governmental organizations in Canada, the non-profit remains active today with its original mission of reducing pollution.
In 1969, Love and Pollution Probe held a funeral to mourn Toronto’s polluted Don River, complete with black tie attire, theatrical performances and even a hearse — Love’s car. The event attracted media attention and became a turning point in conservation efforts that have made significant progress cleaning up the river.
“When we did the Don River event, there was no Ministry of the Environment yet,” Love says. “The word environment wasn’t on peoples’ radar.”
Love’s affiliation with U of T runs deep. He completed an MBA at the Rotman School of Management in 1983. His father graduated from U of T and so did one of his sons, who also took environmental studies.
A lifelong learner, Love is still taking U of T classes more than 50 years after completing his first degree.
“I recently took first-year introductory psychology with 500 very smart 18-year-olds in Convocation Hall.”
Love applauds U of T’s sustainable campus efforts, highlighting the recently completed Landmark Project and the ongoing Academic Wood Tower construction. He says a sustainable campus backs up what students are learning in class.
“Students want to see it’s genuine,” Love says. “That it’s not just window dressing. That universities aren’t just teaching it; they’re doing it as well.”
But there’s still more to be done. Going forward, Love hopes to see sustainability in every program across the university.
“It touches everybody,” he says. “I would like to see sustainability and conservation become ubiquitous — so it just becomes the fallback position.”
Love is now at a point in his career where he can choose projects that genuinely excite him before committing his time and the resources of his consultancy firm, Love Energy Consultants. Recently, he’s taken a larger interest in industrial energy efficiency programs.
“How do we use less energy? Most of my time has been with people in their houses or their offices or their hospitals — any built environment,” Love says. “But one of the huge opportunities is industrial energy efficiency.”
It’s not lost on Love that his efforts to promote sustainable practices will have an impact on the future his family will inherit.
“I've got five kids, five grandchildren, five granddogs and my wife, of course,” Love says. “That's an important part of my life.”