SmartSteps - Business Tools for Sustainability

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SmartSteps - Business Tools for Sustainability

SmartSteps is a program of tools, technical assistance and information to help your business become more eco-efficient and more competitive. Our goal is to help you find specific, cost-effective actions you can take to reduce the amount of materials and energy your business uses.

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Current SmartSteps Projects

Waste Reduction Pilot Project with Park Royal Mall Metro Vancouver and Park Royal Shopping Centre officially launched a waste reduction pilot with an event called The Great Trash Tip where two garbage compactors were tipped into the parking lot at Park Royal and examined by Metro Vancouver staff. The event also coincided with Canada’s Waste Reduction Week. The waste reduction pilot began in September when a waste composition study of the shopping centre’s garbage was first conducted at the North Shore Transfer Station. Once completed Metro Vancouver will provide Park Royal with an inventory of the contents of the centre’s garbage containers. Metro Vancouver Director Marvin Hunt, chair of the region’s Waste Management Committee said “The best way to reduce garbage is to not have garbage in the first place We are very pleased that Park Royal is demonstrating the necessary leadership in the business community to help us achieve our goal of Zero Waste.” The current inventory of Park Royal’s garbage will serve as a benchmark that can be used to design a more comprehensive waste reduction and recycling program at the mall. Both the Region and the Shopping Centre hope the project will lead to significant reductions the amount of waste sent to landfill when it is inspected again several months down the road. Metro Vancouver hopes to take the lessons learned at Park Royal and apply that learning as a model that can be applied at shopping centres right across the region. Park Royal has expressed a commitment to integrating green practices into its operations and is working towards becoming the first sustainable regional shopping centre in Canada. To achieve this, the shopping centre has adopted a framework of sustainability principles that it uses to inform everyday decisions. More information on Park Royal’s commitment to sustainability can be found at www.sustainableparkroyal.com
2009 Waste Assessments The SmartSteps waste reduction assessments continues to be a popular program to assist business improve their waste diversion performance. A wide range of businesses have successfully completed the no-cost waste assessment including: • a charitable health organization wanting to reduce their environmental footprint; • an aerospace manufacturer looking for ways to reduce waste and save money; • a window and door products manufacturer wanting to “green” their operations; • a major electronics retailer; reviewing their current recycling program; and • a municipal hall and works yard standardizing their recycling collection and improving their waste diversion performance. SmartSteps Business Advisors have identified a range of opportunities during the site assessments, including: • reducing office paper consumption; • improving the collection of mixed paper and blue box recyclables; • identifying materials banned from regional waste facilities; and • finding opportunities to recycle additional items at end-of life. For information on registering your business for a waste reduction assessment see the resources section of our Business Tools. more
Community Event Toolkit Metro Vancouver is developing a Special Event Toolkit for event planners and community groups. The Toolkit will have resources for diverse events big and small – from large parades to local neighbourhood parties – providing a systematic look at what goes into event production and opportunities to make your event as close to Zero Waste as possible. Metro Vancouver is testing elements of the Toolkit on a range of community events in the 2009 season, some of which include: the Vaisakhi Parade, EPIC, Run for the Cure, and others. Contact
2009 Country Celebration Festival Pilot Every September, in the township of Langley, Metro Vancouver hosts an old-fashioned country fair at Campbell Valley Regional Park. With Country Celebration, Metro Vancouver is piloting a waste reduction initiative at the 30th annual Country Celebration and striving to move toward a Zero Waste event. Metro Vancouver continues to work with vendors and concessionaires to divert waste going to the landfill by taking steps to minimize waste before it gets to the garbage, and to use recyclable and compostable food ware as well as food waste collection. Country Clelebration
Recycling Stations Get a Colourful Update Metro Vancouver is developing standardized colours for event recycling stations in the region in order to reinforce positive recycling behaviours. The goal is to assist the public and business operators separate recyclables from garbage. Colours parallel municipal curb side recycling systems and include: Black or Grey = garbage; Blue = blue box recyclables (i.e. glass, metal and plastic [Types 1, 2, 4 & 5] containers); Yellow = mixed paper and newspaper; Orange = refundable containers; Green = organics; Red = hazardous materials; Yellow or Brown = corrugated cardboard. Matching recycling stations with a garbage bin, and matching containers to event traffic flow will also greatly increase recycling efforts at event sites. The District of West Vancouver is already on-board with this Metro Vancouver initiative and recently made a colourful splash with their standardized recycling station on Earth Day. Please see the photo link. Photo Credit: Amanda Gee Volunteer Jonathan Harrison attends to the recycling station on Earth Day
New Game Plan: Recycle Everything! - Whitecaps Partner with Metro Vancouver to Green Stadium Operations Sporting facilities can generate huge amounts of waste in a short amount of time, often with little or no recycling options. But businesses will soon have a tested set of guidelines for stadiums and sporting events wanting to green their own operations. In partnership with the Vancouver Whitecaps and the City of Burnaby, Metro Vancouver launched the Green Zone Sustainability Kick, a pilot project at Swangard stadium that kicked off on June 12th and will run through the 2009 soccer season. The pilot project goals are to: Reduce solid waste by 10%; Increase diversion of all remaining solid waste to 85%; and Minimize contamination of separated waste streams. To achieve these goals, the pilot project team is working with concessionaires, management, and other vendors to create more sustainable purchasing (such as reducing single serving packaging for condiments), to finding alternatives to take-out polystyrene containers, and investigating the feasibility of reusable food ware. With 15 new recycling collection bins, the project is removing refundables, recyclables, and organic waste from the garbage (destined for the landfill) and redirecting materials to bottle depots, bulk recycling, and composting facilities. A key component of the pilot project is an education and information campaign targeted to Whitecap fans, vendors and tenants. Preliminary results show a 50% reduction in waste going to the garbage. Data and examples generated from this pilot project will be incorporated into the draft guidelines to support the region-wide use of the proven best practices. The program could be expanded to more than 200 arenas and other community sports facilities in the Metro Vancouver region. The final guidelines will also be adapted to other types of entertainment venues.

News

Competition Bureau and CSA develop a guide to provide best practices for making environmental claims about products.

The Competition Bureau and the Canadian Standards Association have developed this guide to provide best practices for making environmental claims about products. The main message is that claims should not be vague, but should be as detailed as possible. Claims should be measurable, substantiated, verified and realistic. Although the guidelines are not law, a company would be wise to follow them to avoid any complaints or prosecution for making false and misleading claims.

Environmental claims: A guide for industry and advertisers

ecoENERGY Retrofit incentive now includes larger buildings

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) announced recently that its ecoENERGY Retrofit incentive has been expanded to include a wide range of businesses and public institutions that own, manage, or lease buildings with 10,000-20,000 square metres of floor space. Under the program, eligible parties can apply for federal funding to invest in energy-saving upgrades (i.e. installing efficient lighting, building automation control systems, upgrading heating, ventilation, and cooling systems). The maximum incentive is $50,000 per project and $250,000 per recipient over the duration of the program. For a retrofit project to qualify for an incentive, the building must be at least five years old and have been occupied for the last three years. Also, a pre-project energy audit must be completed for each building by a qualified energy efficiency evaluator. Once a project proposal is accepted, the project must be completed within the following 12 months (18 months in the territories). The program is scheduled to run until March 31, 2011. The current application period runs until February 27, 2009. For more information contact NRCan 1-877-360-5500.

small and medium organizations

The SolarBC program offers incentives for Municipalities that are interested in installing solar hot water on municipal buildings

The SolarBC Incentive for Municipalities is funded by the Government of British Columbia, and is delivered in cooperation with Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan) federal ecoENERGY for Renewable Heat program. This collaboration provides a one-stop service to BC applicants who plan to install a qualifying solar water system at an eligible property. The SolarBC Program is delivered by the BC Sustainable Energy Association (BCSEA).
The SolarBC incentive for municipalities will be available from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2011.

Economic Impacts of the BC Recycling Regulation Report now available

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), also called product stewardship, is an environmental policy approach used in BC and elsewhere to consider the whole life cycle of a product, from selection of materials and design to its end of life, including the post-consumer stage. Under the BC Ministry of Environment's stewardship policy, producers and consumers assume the cost of industry product stewardship programs rather than general taxpayers or local government. Product stewardship contributes direclty to two of the Ministry's primary goals:
- Removing toxins from the waste stream helps keep the water, land and air clean and safe.

- Recycling provides British Columbians with a convenient opportunity to participate in the sustainable use of BC's resources.

Report

Hemlock First Canadian Printer to Achieve Carbon Neutrality - March 24, 2009 Press Release

Hemlock Printers, Western Canada's premier commercial sheetfed printer, announced today that it has achieved carbon neutral status. It is the first printing company in Canada to gain this distinction. In addition to carbon neutrality, Hemlock has recently won the prestigious Heidelberg Eco Printing Award 2008 for "Most Sustainable Printing Company" establishing itself as a global leader and innovator of environmentally progressive printing practices.

Press release

Sustainable Industries' Green Office Guide 2009 is now available

Sustainable Industries' Green Office Guide provides information on how to create a more efficient workplace, buy better office products and measure your success.

2009 US Government Printing Report - A Closer Look at Costs, Habits, Policies, and Opportunities for Savings

This new report reveals federal prinitng practices, staggering costs and opportunities for agencies to eliminate unnecessary printing and reinvest dollars back into agency budgets.