Getting optimistic with Lindsay Hampson + Countdown to Toronto Climate Week 2026
Happy New Year from the TOCW team!
Yes, it’s true: Toronto Climate Week, June 1-7, is officially less than six months away. Get ready for a bigger, bolder event that realizes an even larger impact on our mission: position Toronto and Canada as globally recognized climate hubs.
Join us on Tuesday, January 13 for our first general info session, and read on for what’s giving Lindsay Hampson, Founder of ThisRock and one of the first sponsors of TOCW, optimism for 2026 — plus more ways to get involved!
Info session: January 13, 12:00-12:45 p.m. EST
Get a head start on planning for TOCW 2026. Whether you’re curious about hosting an event, partnering, or attending, this session will give you everything you need to take the next step:
What Toronto Climate Week is
Looking back: 2025 achievements and events
Looking forward: plans for 2026
How to get involved
Live Q&A with our Founder and Head of Operations
Discussion recap emailed afterwards
Info sessions are held in a Google Meet format and open to anyone interested in getting involved. Register at lu.ma.
From passion project to thriving business: Q&A with a sustainability consultant
This month we spoke with Lindsay Hampson, Founder of ThisRock, a sustainability consultancy headquartered in Hamilton, Ontario and one of the first TOCW sponsors. Lindsay and her team advise small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on ways they can positively impact their profitability while becoming more sustainable.
1. How does ThisRock help SMEs with their sustainability journey?
We help businesses write their very first environmental policy, gain their very first sustainability certification, calculate Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gasses. It’s been really fun, because these are the first steps in businesses becoming more sustainable. More than 90% of Canadian businesses are SMEs. They generally don’t have a sustainability person, so that’s where we can make the most impact.
2. What’s the origin story of ThisRock?
I started ThisRock in 2022. It was a passion project that grew out of doing my MBA. I was working in tech and had never done anything in climate before, but I wanted to figure out how to get more environmental. I’ve always been very outdoorsy, ever since I was a little kid.
I played with the idea and came up with positioning myself in between businesses and the challenges they face with becoming more sustainable — marrying my passion for the environment with the nerdiness of spreadsheets and my business mind.
In August 2022 we got our first client. Today we’ve worked with 56 businesses, in Canada and all over the world. It’s my full-time job; I have full-time staff. I’m so proud of what we’ve built, and I love owning this business.
3. Why “ThisRock”?
There is a lot of talk about how maybe we can just go to another planet… but no, we’ve got to stay on this rock. We need to take better care of it. It’s all we’ve got.
4. What projects are you especially proud of?
I’m proud of every single client we’ve worked with. That said, the clients I’m most proud of are the ones we’ve worked with for several years, where we can go beyond their energy bills to what’s in your bin? What can you stop buying? How can we lessen your impact?
I have a client that does industrial cleaning, for example, and now they use reusable microfiber cleaning cloths — they don’t just pitch cloths anymore. They’ve also purchased more efficient equipment to reduce water consumption and energy onsite when they’re cleaning.
Other clients have put huge fans in their warehouses that help regulate temperatures, so they need less AC in the summer or heat in the winter. Clients have installed new doors on their warehouses, so that they’re tighter sealed. I have another client that’s researching solar panels for their roof and another that switched over their fleet to electric.
5. What’s giving you optimism for 2026?
I’m happy that we’re still talking about climate, good or bad. I think even negative or controversial news gives me hope because it means climate didn’t get thrown to the back burner.
Second, many of the smartest brains out there are saying we already have the solutions, we already know what to do. So, if it’s a doing problem, then let’s do it. Let’s make 2026 the year.
Third, my business is growing — I just hired somebody three months ago again, and we just signed a bunch of American clients. Yes, some companies have hopped off the ESG train, but the ones that are on the train, they’re doubling down, including some of the largest brands in the world. If you supply to Nestle, Walmart, General Motors, Michelin, AstraZeneca — I could keep going — you have to earn certain certifications and you have to report on your emissions.
And the fourth piece of hope is my employees. I love supporting people early in their careers — showing them the basics of working with a client and setting up a project, empowering them on how to count greenhouse gas emissions, watching them grow with a client and suggest things that will make a difference. We have really smart people in this profession that we should all know and cherish. I’m just so proud of my team. They’re awesome.
Make a difference! Join the TOCW team
Want to join a team of volunteers who are as passionate about climate action as you? We’ve opened up two new roles:
Accountant / Bookkeeper
Brand Director
You can learn more about all open roles and apply here.
Dates to keep in mind
Deadline for sponsorships and partnerships — March 31, 2026
Deadline to submit events to lu.ma — May 15, 2026
With gratitude,
The TOCW Team