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August 12, 2008
Carol Lee believes in reuse, from aging shoes to aging buildings
When it comes to revitalizing Vancouver's Chinatown, entrepreneur Carol Lee is at the heart of the action.
Power Smart leader Lee is the daughter of real estate mogul Bob Lee and granddaughter of Lee Bick – and the historic 1907 building at 127 East Pender Street in Vancouver is where she set up her headquarters. Lee chose Chinatown to set up her Linacare skin care products business in 2004 because she wanted to contribute to the revitalization of the area.
She's also a natural conservationist, she says, which is why her role within Team Power Smart was a no-brainer.
"I think by nature Chinese are the original recycler because you don't want to throw anything away," says Lee, who received her MBA from Harvard.
Along with her duties for Power Smart, she is also vice-chair of the Asia-Pacific Trade Council, a Vancouver Board of Trade director, and member of the Sauder School's faculty Advisory Board.
Before you throw that away...
Lee makes a special effort to recycle her clothes and shoes instead of merely throwing them away.
"Heaven forbid – you want to give it to somebody who actually will use it," she says. "So I do a lot of that when I purge. I always give to people who can use it. I will stand outside [my office building] and ask, 'Does anybody have a size 8 foot?'"
"I mean sustainability is something that's good to practice in every area of life – it's about not wasting things and appreciating the resources at our disposal."
"I remember my girlfriend was going to throw away this spectacular gingerbread house with Callebaut chocolates on it. I brought it down from Whistler, and brought it out in the back alley and found someone and said, 'Do you want to eat this gingerbread house?' They said, 'the whole thing?'"
"It's nice to have the interaction with people."
New home, old office building
Because she lives in the already energy efficient two-year-old Shaw Tower, Lee's apartment was not audited. It's her old office space that's been updated with skylights that could use some energy efficiency upgrades. Lee prefers to work around the inherently flawed old buildings than work in a modern, new building.
"I'm really worried about displacement," says Lee. "There were people living here and I think it's important that they're remain as part of this community."
"I don't want to bulldoze the area with high rises," she adds. "It's important to maintain the cultural feel of the neighbourhood. It's really a place for everyone."
To that end, she emphasizes minor changes such as turning off lights, unplugging computers, phones, and equipment.
"I don't have a big footprint because I live in a two-bedroom apartment and I have a start-up company, with four of us here," she says.
Gas guzzler, seldom used
An area of her life that could use improvement is her car, which is not fuel-efficient. However, she gets points for hardly using it.
"I am actually the owner of one car that I haven't driven in a year. It's not that energy efficient – and that is one of the areas where I will look for something [better]."
The upside is, she says, that while she works to improve those areas that need improvement, her role as a member of Team Power Smart allows her to help spread the message about energy conservation.
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Last Modified: Aug 12, 2008