Michelle Hannah is a Waste Reduction Specialist with the Government of the Northwest Territories’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources.  She works as part of a growing and dynamic team to create and manage programs to reduce waste in the Northwest Territories. The low waste volumes and high transportation costs of one of the most remote and sparsely populated regions in the country provide strong incentive for source reduction and local solutions over other options. In her seven years with the GNWT, the department has expanded the Beverage Container Program, created the Single-use Retail Bag Program, and laid the groundwork to roll out an electronic products recycling program in the new year. The Waste Reduction and Management team also manages funding to communities, individuals, organizations and businesses to reduce, reuse or recycle waste in their community; and works to green the GNWT’s operations.

Michelle studied Environmental Protection at the University of Guelph, and has lived, worked, and danced in Canada, Scotland, Mozambique, and Uruguay. When not frozen in, she lives afloat and off the grid on Great Slave Lake.