About Dayle Laing

Dayle Laing, LEED AP, speaks and writes about sustainable design and motivates people to select the_coolest_shade_of_green for beautiful sustainable interior design that enhances their body, mind and spirit and reduces their carbon footprint.

Dayle has an Honours Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Consumer Studies, Consumer Textile Major, and Business Minor from the University of Guelph, a 3 yr. Diploma in Interior Design from Sheridan College, and has earned her LEED Accredited Professional designation.

Her scientific paper in collaboration with Walter F. Kean, Clinical Professor in Medicine, McMaster University,“The_Greening_of_Healthcare: Fabrics used in Health Care Facilities” was published in the Journal of Green Building, Fall 2011, and the scientific_poster and abstract were presented at an Inflammopharmacology Conference at Cambridge University in July, 2011. She presented this research at at EcoCare_Health_Care_Conference in London, Ontario in October, 2010. Dayle was keynote speaker at Earth_Matters_Day_at_Sunnybrook_Hospital in 2011. Hospitals are increasingly making their facilities more environmentally friendly with ‘Green Teams’ and Dayle invites presentations and consulting engagements.

A Sheridan College Instructor of Interior Design, she prepared and delivered lectures on Material Finishes, Textiles, Historic Textiles, and Business Practices for 19 years. Using humour, excitement and extensive knowledge, she shared her 24 years of experience in residential and contract design practice with her eager students.  From simple residential decorating consultations to complex commercial projects exceeding ½ million dollar budgets and requiring project management, Dayle displayed a broad ranging talent for the business and the creative side of design. Some of her clients have been with her over two decades. Three of her seminars (Fabrics_101, Rugs_101 and Joy_of_Contracts) are accredited by IDCEC for ceu’s for Interior Designers across North America. Dayle has been invited to speak at design industry functions and sales meetings and to consult on matters of sustainability.

In her fourth year at university, Dayle researched and wrote a thesis in partnership with fellow student David Laing (who is now her husband and business partner).  They studied “The Characteristics of Consumers who Recycle versus those who do not”.  Recycling was in its infancy with volunteers who manned the collection of clear and green glass bottles, newspaper, and crushed food tins.  The environment has been an underlying passion throughout Dayle’s life. She focusses on the ‘Conscious Consumer’ and feels that if we conscious protect our own health and safety, the planet benefits as well. Dayle will be speaking at Western University’s Staff and Leaders’ Conference on Conscious_Consumers in February, 2012. She routinely presents and consults to corporations on sustainability messages for their staff and customers.

In her previous career, Dayle gained valuable experience in the Pharmaceutical industry as a Marketing Research Analyst, a Professional Sales Representative and District Sales Manager.  She built a well motivated team of 11 sales representatives and achieved ‘District of the Year’.  She left the industry after 12 successful years to pursue her creative side in the interior design field.  This background has been invaluable for understanding the organic chemical side of sustainable design and her work in health care sustainability.

Dayle is a Certified Hatha Yoga Instructor and has her Level II in Reiki.  She has taught yoga in her own studio, in health clubs, corporately, and on an international cruise ship.  Balance in one’s personal environment is essential for balance in the global environment.

Dayle has travelled extensively around the globe with David. Their passion for adventure trekking has seen them climb Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, trek for 3 1/2 weeks in the Everest region of Nepal, sail in Greece and the British Virgin Islands, canoe down the Yukon River in northern Canada, canoe trip every year in the wilderness parks of north central Canada, and downhill ski annually in western Canada. Every year Dayle sea kayaks for a week with her sisters.  Dayle knows what it is to sleep in tents on the mountain side, pump and purify water from a puddle and use open pit toilets. Four and Five-star travel does not give this experience, but she has enjoyed some of that too -- Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, India, Africa, Europe, New Zealand, the Caribbean, and Central America. The result has been international exposure with a more global perspective. 

Dayle is a member of the Canada Green Building Council Greater Toronto Chapter, and Dayle Laing Interior Designs Inc. is a corporate member of the national Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC).

Currently, Dayle is researching and writing her book, "Coolest Shade of Green -- How to select Beautiful Sustainable Interior Design Products".

About David Laing

Hello, my name is David Laing but my friends call me DonX, short for Don Quixote.  That’s because they say I exhibit characteristics similar to this mythical figure. Like Don Quixote I am tall, relatively slim, no longer young and have spent much time recently reading information that has disturbed me. As a result, I believe that humanity is facing its greatest challenge and I feel it is my duty, nay it is my privilege to fight what some believe to be the unbeatable foe. 

Distinctive from the real Don Quixote, rather than tilting at windmills, I instead tilt in support of them, as well as any other activities and programs that will help move our society towards living sustainably! The unbeatable foe I have chosen to take on and thump is Climate Change. Yet I take on this challenge willingly, enthusiastically and with the help of many others!

I have chosen this path because, for 35 years I worked in the corporate world, rising to Senior Vice President, eventually becoming a Management Consultant.  Much of my career was spent helping organizations become more efficient and effective. I became pretty experienced at designing and implementing change management programs that dramatically affected the daily working lives of employees and altered the organizations’ relationships with their customers and suppliers. 

Through this experience I learned that fundamental structural change is a difficult yet virtually inevitable part of business sustainability. When an organization faces one of these change points, it often represents a watershed moment - those that step-up and make the transition are likely to continue prospering, those that don’t are unlikely to survive. The good news is that there are many examples of companies that are successful in making these transitions often despite strong internal opposition, aggressive competition, insufficient financing and/or questionable leadership.

About 2 years ago, I moved out of corporate life, studied for and received my LEED® Accredited Professional certification and became an environmental consultant, combining my passion and experience to write, speak, educate and motivate around the subject of sustainability, in short, to become a Climate Change Communicator. My motivation is simple; Humanity is currently at a watershed moment in its relationship with the environment. The evidence is consistent and clear that collectively, we are living beyond the earth’s ability to sustain us.  If we don’t choose how we alter the way in which we interact with it, the environment will force change upon us, in ways that could be very unpleasant. Those changes are not forecasted to be in some distant century. They will happen in this one; to some degree, they have already started.

My I hope is that, by raising my voice and providing clear concise information about the issues, I can contribute to a groundswell of support for proactive change led by people, governments and businesses working together. In spite of the dire predictions and gloomy forecasts, I remain optimistic. I see signs of positive change occurring in many places and at many levels. I want to start telling you about them!