Dragon hunter says slow and steady makes for effective change

Hunting dragons used to be the work of knights who would be rewarded with a princess or scorched armour, depending on their luck. Now it falls to naturalists like Chris Evans, a Hydro One senior protection and control engineer and his reward is a little less dramatic but no less rewarding. Whether he’s outdoors counting dragonflies, picking up litter or preaching double-sided printing, Chris Evans, Senior Protection and Control Engineer, tries to lead by example. A long-time advocate of sustainable living at home and on the job, Evans has worked hard to green his life. As an avid amateur naturalist, he’s an active member of several conservation organizations and a passionate educator about endangered dragonflies.

“I have a big passion for dragonflies. I do dragonfly counts with a conservation group and lead a dragon-hunter apprentice program because dragonflies are excellent biodiversity indicators.” - Chris Evans

Saving the Dragonflies

For Evans, the worlds he lives in, including his home, are carefully thought-out spaces. When he purchased a new home, his first priority was creating a nice lawn for his children to play on, so he bought some sod to create a backyard his family could enjoy – or so he thought.

 “I found out sod wasn’t really meant for our backyard. To maintain it, we had to water it, and since we had sandy soil the water would just disappear. Then you get cinch bugs and have to use pesticides, and when the birds eat the bugs, they’re ingesting the pesticide.”

So Evans gave up. Instead of battling his environ-ment, he surrendered to it and planted clover and let the wildflowers bloom naturally. The result? A backyard refuge for birds and dragonflies. “Earlier this summer I went out into my backyard and spent almost the whole day photographing dragonflies – I had 12 or so species there on my lawn. I think changing my lawn to something more natural has a subtle impact; it’s a slow process and a gentle one, but I believe that over time it will have a positive effect.”

Cleaning the Community

And the positive effects stretch past Evans’ backyard to a county road that serves as a major artery for people travelling between Angus and Barrie, running past the Essa Transformer Station. After the colleague who started the Adopt-a-Highway roadside clean-up initiative retired, Evans took over to lead employees to help clean up the two-kilometre stretch of road that passes right by the station.

“The community sees us out there, leading by example during our lunch hour. We hope they realize the garbage they throw out of their cars is picked up by people who genuinely care about the environment and that it makes them think twice about throwing garbage out of their car windows.”

The core group of employees has expanded thanks to the encouragement of the Green Team because “they get employees interested in participating from a social perspective. The teamwork has really helped.”

Tallying Paper

From his home to the roadways to the office, Evans’ commitment is hard to beat. Even at the office, he’s looking for ways to lessen his environmental footprint. “It’s easy to forget that by printing double-sided you can reduce the amount of paper you use by half.” When the office printer needed to be replaced, at Evans’ urging, they received a printer that could print on both sides and after Evans was done, it was defaulted to print double-sided. “With a good multi-function printer/scanner, I don’t have to photocopy my expense reports or any number of things where I really don’t need a hardcopy; I just need a record, and electronic is good enough. We have to leverage our technology and make it work for us and for the environment, but we need to be properly enabled with training and awareness, and having the right facilities.” 

Did you know?

1.   A dragonfly flaps its wings at about 30 beats per second.
2.   A dragonfly is a very strong and good flyer, and can fly at speeds of up to 36 miles per hour (fact, but not all dragonflies are that fast – one was clocked at this speed in Australia).
3.   There are about 5,000 different species of dragonflies all over the world.
4.   A dragonfly’s eyes have about 30,000 lenses and a dragonfly can see all the way around itself, but they don’t see details very well.
5.   A dragonfly can live anywhere from six months to six years, but only about two months as an actual dragonfly; most of its time is spent as a nymph in the water.
6.  Parents used to call dragonflies “the devil’s darning needles” and tell children that dragonflies would seek out naughty children and sew their mouths shut.
7.  The dragonfly’s scientific name is Odonata, which comes from the Latin words “tooth-jawed”.