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 SaskTel was selected as one of Canada's Greenest Employers (2011):
has maintained a longstanding environmental management program in the communities where it operates, sponsoring local recycling projects for a variety of household items that divert thousands of gallons of paint, tonnes of waste batteries and old telephone directories from landfills every year
supports the "SaskTel Pioneers Computers for Schools", which provides more than one thousand refurbished computers every year to schools and non-profit organizations across the province
continues to evolve its broad "Eco(logical) Strategy" that was first developed in 2006 -- the strategy commits the company to consider environmental impacts as part of its decision-making processes leading to long term sustainability through the development of a "triple bottom line" -- one that ensures that employees are informed and that environmental considerations are factored into every decision made
has extensive in-house recycling programs in place for batteries, printer cartridges, office paper, light bulbs, phone books, furniture, office equipment, wire and cabling, and computer equipment -- impressively, over 700,000kg (65%) of the company's total waste was diverted from landfill last year
recently established the "Phones for a Fresh Start" program to ensure that its customers have a place to recycle their wireless hand held devices -- an important initiative noting that virtually every part of a phone can be re-used and recycled -- and any proceeds are donated to the Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan
established a "Greenhouse Gas Management" plan that has aggressive reduction targets for the use of electricity, natural gas and fuel consumption -- including new energy-saving equipment retrofits that have already reduced greenhouse gas emissions by over 5,000 tonnes
recently established a "Green IT Strategic Plan" as well as a new "Energy Performance Committee" that consists of senior management personnel from its three primary energy consumption areas (Information Technology, Network, and Building Management) who are charged with developing an energy audit to help determine where energy savings can best be realized
launched the "Switch Off and Save" campaign on Earth Day 2008 to encourage employees to switch off all unnecessary electronics, vehicles and gas heaters -- and offers prizes and contests to foster ongoing participation
recently added a unique "environmental category" to its flexible health and wellness spending account that lets employees apply their flex-dollars to environmental purchases for day-to-day activities, from transit passes to on-demand water heaters and high efficiency furnaces for the home
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