Pat Shellard says his involvement in environmental causes isn’t something he does because it’s fashionable or to drum up new business. He does it because he’s genuinely concerned about the planet as a whole, and the community in which he lives.

“I really care about this world and trying to leave a smaller environmental footprint,” says the 45-year-old investment advi-sor who works for Vancouver City Savings Credit Union.

Shellard is a committed and longtime environmentalist, incorporating environmental and socially responsible principles into all aspects of his life, whether at work, at home or in his community. His green activities include volunteering with environmental advocacy groups and encouraging reduced use of plastic at his workplace. He has also made green choices at home: he drives a hybrid vehicle and powers his home with electricity from renewable sources.

And, in general, Shellard tries to use every opportunity to make the point with others that environmentalism needs to be a top priority. “That’s one of the biggest things you can do as an environmental person — inspire other people to do the same things,” Shellard says. “If I can get the word out on how to reduce waste, I think that’s really good for everyone.”

An advisor for the past 12 years, and a Vancity branch manager before that, Shellard got interested in environmental causes long before the movement became mainstream. “I was into recycling when it wasn’t cool,” he says.

Shellard’s home in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby features a garden that he and his wife created in order to have homegrown fruits and vegetables and to eliminate the environmental impact of having to buy produce shipped to the grocery store. There are other advantages as well: “It’s fantastic-tasting, compared to what you get at the supermarket,” he says.

Shellard volunteers a few hours of his time each month to work on the finance committee of West Coast Environmental Law, an advocacy group that provides legal advice and services to those pursuing environmental causes. Shellard is helping the group, which is funded by donations, balance its budget and manage its money. “They’re fighting for a lot of things that make environmental sense in British Columbia,” he says.

At Vancity, Shellard has volunteered his time to help the credit union decide where to donate the money it has in its envirofund, a pool of money drawn from Vancity’s profits and from donations. Shellard and other committee members review a stack of applications from environmental groups looking for funding. Several years ago, for example, the Vancity fund gave out money to support a B.C.-based auto-sharing venture that has grown in size and popularity.

“It’s daunting when you see the stack of applications you have to review,” Shellard says. “But it’s enlightening to learn about these organizations that are working hard to make a difference, and it’s rewarding to be able to give them significant sums.”

Shellard, the father of two young boys, has a family cottage in the B.C. Interior, where the family likes to hike and bike in the summer, and to ski and skate in the winter. To travel to the cottage and back, Shellard and his family use their hybrid-powered truck. When Shellard is in the city, he takes transit to work roughly a third of the time.

Shellard has also made a down payment on a new electric-powered vehicle that will be available to the Canadian market in April. He intends to have that new vehicle replace the second car, a conventional compact, that the family owns.

At work, Shellard has lobbied management to stop having bottled water delivered for regular staff meetings, replacing it with tap water. “In Vancouver, we have some of the best tap water in the world,” he says. “Bottled water is shipped from all over, and then the plastic containers are just discarded. It’s a waste.”

Paper plates and plastic cutlery have also been replaced in the workplace by permanent utensils.

Shellard regularly discusses his environmental and socially responsible ideals — he runs a clothing drive every Christmas, and delivers what he gets to organizations in the city’s troubled downtown East Side — with his clients, a large percentage of whom share his principles. He invites clients and co-workers to presentations and speeches, and sends out communications regarding environmental issues. Many of his clients invest in the SRI mutual funds that are offered by Vancity.

@page_break@“When you talk to people [about the environment], you often hear, ‘I do the same thing’ or ‘I have a real interest in that’,” Shellard says. He says that his clients appreciate that he is committed to SRI principles.

“I don’t do the volunteering that I’m proud of to make me more money or more connections. I do it strictly to give,” Shellard says.

“I can always spot the advisor who isn’t really interested in SRI themselves. Those who use SRI as more of a sales pitch — they often end up talking clients into moving into something else a few years down the line.” IE