Chosen as one of Canada's Greenest Employers for 2011:
By Kristina Leung and Richard Yerema, Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editor
(
Apr 20, 2011)
Some of the reasons why The Home Depot Canada was selected as one of Canada's Greenest Employers (2011):
the retailer currently has over 1,900 environmentally responsible product choices for its customers through its "Eco Options" program, ranging from solar panels to compact fluorescent light bulbs to home appliances and green cleaning products -- to qualify for the Eco Options designation all products must go through a third-party verification process and fall within one of the following areas: energy efficient; improved air or water quality; recycled content, reduced toxicity; renewable energy; water efficiency; and sustainable forestry (Home Depot is the largest retailer of FSC certified wood products in North America)
in 2008 the company took a leadership role and voluntarily phased-out harmful pesticides and herbicides across the country and began replacing with a new selection of environmentally-friendly alternatives -- this proactive initiative was introduced prior to most current (and the non-existent) government legislated deadlines
every store location across the country has its own employee "Green Team", consisting of employee volunteers and appointees who provide new employee training for the company's Eco Options products and ensure that there in-store recycling programs for batteries, paint and compact fluorescent light bulbs are in place and operating
throughout the year, employees also manage and work in partnership with other organizations in support of a number of unique initiatives that all share an environmental focus, including: the "Go Low Flow" toilet event (over 35,000 toilets were sold last year, saving more than 1.1 billion litres of water); the "Mow Down Pollution" initiative to encourage customers to switch from gas to electric or people-powered lawnmowers (the company now sells more electric mowers than gas mowers every year); and the "SLED" Christmas holiday light exchange program that provides customers with a discount on new LED light strings in exchange for bringing in their old lights (collecting nearly 200,000 strings of old inefficient lights, saving approximately enough electricity to power 250 Canadian homes for a year)
company supports the "Evergreen" organization through the "Rebuilding Nature" grant program -- since 2005, the company has provided more than 1,000 volunteers, over 3,600 trees and shrubs and 10,000 grasses and wildflower planters for over 100 community-based revitalization projects such as community gardens, wildlife habitat and nature trail developments -- restoring over 120,000 square metres of natural habitat
the company also donates slightly damaged product to Habitat for Humanity's "ReStore" program, which then refurbishes and prepares for resell in its unique ReStore building supply store -- diverting tons of waste from the landfill and into reusable building products
the company has an "Environmental Committee" that consists of cross-functional senior directors who help to shape, direct and monitor the company's environmental policies, programs and initiatives, from the development of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified stores in Ontario and Alberta to to community pilot programs to recycle used wood products destined for the landfill in Vancouver
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