With the dedication to embed sustainability within our organization and broader community, we are continually looking to raise the bar by prioritizing our most critical environmental initiatives. Through developing, expanding and tracking our commitments, we strive to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions significantly and align ourselves with five of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). We would like to share the key milestones we plan to achieve in the coming future.
Scale-up our ZERO Carbon Neutral Program (Climate Action)
What We’ve Done
In September 2019, we integrated a next-generation paper life cycle assessment into our ZERO program that includes extensive climate change data and yields comprehensive GHG results.
In October 2019, we introduced Mohawk Options 100% PC as an automatically carbon neutral paper and streamlined our ZERO ordering process across our departments.
What We’ll Do
With a commitment to fostering supply chain partnerships, we will collaborate with Rolland to add Rolland Enviro 100% PC to the roster of automatically carbon neutral papers we offer.
Ultimately, we strive for 50% of our print orders to be carbon neutral with this year’s addition of automatically carbon neutral business cards and majority of our digitally printed projects.
Educate our clients to make greener printing decisions (Partnerships for the Goals)
What We’ve Done
In 2019, we created workshop presentations and environmental marketing materials to educate our sales teams on current and upcoming sustainability initiatives they can share with their clients.
Our clients now purchase approximately 50% more paper made from 100% FSC recycled content than in 2010 as a result of our emphasis on environmentally progressive papers.
What We’ll Do
We will educate our clients on how to make informed decisions about the sustainability of their print projects by equipping our sales team with a variety of knowledge and resources regarding green printing solutions.
Strengthen our supply chain (Responsible Consumption and Production)
What We’ve Done
We created a Social Purpose dedicated to safeguarding our forests to embed social good into the very core of our business.
We took a stand for our Ancient and Endangered Forests by contacting 18 paper merchants and mills advocating for R&D of paper with more agricultural residues and transparency of sourcing locations.
We installed two Heidelberg printers that are certified carbon neutral.
What We’ll Do
We will actively support the testing of papers made from alternative fibres.
We will conduct a comprehensive material procurement assessment to make greener purchasing decisions.
We will assess the viability of a green delivery system that can distribute orders to local clients and suppliers using reusable totes and skids.
Embrace clean energy opportunities (Affordable and Clean Energy)
What We’ve Done
Since 2012, our main facility has been powered by 10% renewable natural gas and we are the only Canadian printer that has 100% of our hydroelectricity Green-e certified.
What We’ll Do
We will continue to pursue clean energy opportunities as they arise, such as investing our renewable energy credits into clean tech projects like the Oklahoma wind farm and proactively participating in the pilot program called Building Benchmark BC.
Leverage our waste reduction efforts (Life on Land)
What We’ve Done
In April 2019, we reestablished our Sustainability Think Tank committee that focuses their efforts on reducing waste throughout the organization.
In June 2019, we conducted a waste audit “Dumpster Dive” to understand the areas of improvement within our sorting streams.
What We’ll Do
We will enhance our current sorting stations to optimize recycling streams and reduce the use of single-use plastics.
We will identify sustainable alternatives for outbound packaging materials being shipped to our clients, subcontractors and suppliers.
Elevate our environmental reporting
What We’ve Done
In a concerted effort to put sustainability at the forefront of our online presence, we published up to date information on our website in July 2019 about our community partnerships, environmental certifications, usage of FSC paper with recycled content, waste, closed-loop innovations and our ZERO program.
What We’ll Do
We will consolidate our progress and goals into a comprehensive sustainability report that articulates our commitment to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by utilizing a robust reporting framework.
In 2019, it was an honour to be recognized as the Most Environmentally Progressive Printing Company in Canada and receive the Environmental Star Award for Business Stewardship from the City of Burnaby, the Burnaby Business Excellence Award for Environmental Sustainability from the Burnaby Board of Trade, and 2nd place in all of North America in Canopy Planet’s Blueline Ranking. We know there are still so many environmental milestones ahead and we are excited to continue this momentum towards a future that helps our communities thrive.