Julian Radlein is not a typical environmental activist. He is a six-foot-two, 245-pound former fullback with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats who was adept at crushing opposing linebackers. But he’s also one of Canada’s leading advocates for environmental awareness.
Radlein enjoyed a five-year career with Hamilton from 2003 to 2007. During this time, he was active in the Hamilton environmental community. His involvement ranged from encouraging people to eat locally to performing an environmental audit at Ivor Wynne stadium. Radlein credits his interest in the environment to early exposure.
“My dad was a chemist, so I grew up with science and a respect for the environment. I studied ecology at UBC. I like to think of myself not as an environmental activist, but more as a survivalist. Clean air, water and soil are essential to sustaining life.”
After retiring from the CFL last year, Radlein formed Evergreen Sports Programming with former Saskatchewan Roughrider Dustin Cherniawski.
The company focuses on delivering an environmental message by using football players as their spokespersons. The keystone activity of their company is the GreenZone Sustainability Blitz — Speaker Series.
“We focus on three pillars of sustainability: Reduce, reuse and recycle,” said Radlein.
B.C. Lions linebacker Javier Glatt spent his off-season presenting the Sustainability Blitz program to schools across B.C. Glatt feels the high-energy activities of the program help to make it popular with children of different ages.
“We always start with a pep rally where the whole school comes together. There are environmental games that have students competing against the athletes. We have a water relay, energy challenge and waste relay. It is funny how the students always seem to win.”
Glatt tries to deliver his message in a language the students understand. “When I speak to schools in Vancouver, I always ask the students to imagine if they could not see the mountains due to smog. Also, I talk about the importance of clean air and fresh grass for things like recess. When you start talking about recess being in jeopardy, all the students immediately listen.” The GreenZone Sustainability Blitz is currently being presented in B.C., Alberta and Ontario.
