Sustainable Businesses

You are doing your best at home. Could your workplace contribute to the solution as well?
Sure it could. And everything that makes your workplace more sustainable has the added benefit of saving money, so the bottom line improves too.

• North American office workers produce almost 1 kg of paper / person / day.
• Every ton of paper that is recycled saves about 17 trees.
• Every tree provides enough oxygen for 3 people to breathe.
• Recycling one ton of paper saves 682.5 gallons of oil, 7,000 gallons of water,
  and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space.
• Paper and paper products account for more than 1/3 of all Canada's waste.
• Only 1/4 of Canada's waste paper and paperboard is recycled.
• Paper manufacturing is the 3rd largest user of fossil fuels worldwide.
• Recycling uses 60% less energy than manufacturing paper from virgin timber.
• Recycling half the world's paper would free 20 million acres of forestland.
• If North American offices, the largest per capita consumers of paper world- wide, increased the rate of two-sided photocopying from the 1991 amount of 20% to 60%, it would save the equivalent of about 15 million trees.
• It is estimated that 95% of business information is still stored on paper.

So even if your business is transport trucking, food service or building construction, just making your office practices more sustainable will have a positive impact. Use the checklist in Green Up Your Office to make your office more sustainable.

• Green Office
• Green Tradeshows & Conferences
• Only Green Products, services and lifestyle

And there's more you can do in your sector. Check the links on these pages:

• Construction
• Farming
• Funding & Grants
• Offices & Institutions
• Oil & Gas Sector
• Restaurant & Food Service
• Retail & Merchandising

For more on creating an environmentally sustainable workplace, see:

Sustainable Business.com

Green Meeting Industry Council

US Environmental Protection Agency

Meeting Strategies Worldwide

Green Tradeshows and Conferences

California Integrated Waste Management Board

Waste Reduction Directory

Locate businesses and organizations offering products and services to help your household Reduce, Reuse and Recyle. This list may not be complete. Call the Waste Reduction Office of the Peace River Regional District for help finding the product or service you need:
1-888-689-6328 or visit their website at www.prrrdy.com .

Waste Reduction Directory (511KB)