As we hit the road this summer on Ontario Tire Stewardship’s (OTS) RethinkTires Roadtrip, I feel extremely satisfied to see one of my life’s goals become a reality. I am very proud to be a part of a program that has recycled over 52,000,000 tires since 2009 and is now recycling close to 100% of Ontario’s tires.

I grew up in Vineland, a small agricultural community in Southern Ontario. My childhood home was perched atop the Niagara Escarpment and was surrounded by vineyards and forests, right on the Bruce Trail. I was raised with an immense appreciation for Ontario’s natural landscape and the environment in general. As I grew up, my passion for the environment grew as well, to the point where I was beginning to ponder how I may turn my passion for conservation into a career.

Throughout my high school years I would spend summers in British Columbia volunteering with the David Suzuki Foundation. My step-brother worked at the Foundation and was very close with Mr. Suzuki. I had the opportunity to work on several amazing projects, most notably doing stream restoration on Vancouver’s last wild salmon stream, which runs through the Musqueam First Nation’s Reserve. We worked alongside the Musqueam people to guarantee the sustainability of the stream and ensure its viability for generations to come.

The following summer I worked in B.C.’s Nemiah Valley building low budget, environmentally conscious straw bale houses that were used as hubs for a local horseback riding tour company. I gained a deep appreciation for the delicacy of our natural environment and the importance of preserving it for future generations.

After high school I spent time trying to decide what field would offer me the opportunity to work with environmentally conscious firms and also the variety I knew I wanted in a career. I decided to pursue an education in marketing, with the ultimate goal of finding work with a cause-based company.

The realization of this goal has come in the form of the RethinkTires Roadtrip. Traveling around this amazing province, and talking to people about how to properly recycle their tires and reduce their carbon footprint hardly feels like work at all. It feels like more of a celebration of my passion and my career merging, and I can’t wait to get out to more towns and events across Ontario to spread the word on how to Rethink Tires! Stay tuned for more posts from the road to get to know our team, and visit our RethinkTires Roadtrip page to find out when we’ll be in a town near you!

Devon Crofts