Written By: Loralee Delbrouck and Coro Strandberg
Strandberg Consulting
Fast Facts:
- Did you know that it takes 2 to 4 tons of raw wood fibre to produce a ton of virgin pulp and only 1.4 tons of recovered paper for a ton of recycled pulp - a wood fibre savings of up to 300%.1
- Switching from one ton of 0% recycled fibre paper to 100% post-consumer recycled fibre saves between 12 and 24 trees (depending on grade and pulping process) and eliminates 2 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. 2
- In 2005, Vancity Credit Union switched from 30% to 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Vancity reports that it saved about 1,370 trees and kept about 57 tonnes of GHG emissions out of the atmosphere.3
In Summary
Adopting these types of strategies makes good environmental sense. As global demand for paper rises and developing countries emulate the paper use of developed countries, it is increasingly important to use paper wisely and increase the use of recycled and sustainably harvested fibre in order to protect the world’s forests and to reduce greenhouse gas and other toxic emissions.5 And by reducing your overall paper consumption you can save costs too. Now that’s a bargain!
Resources
For more information on paper reduction strategies check out:
www.papercalculator.org
Environmental Defense Fund - www.environmentaldefense.org
Environmental Paper Network - www.environmentalpaper.org
Sustainability Purchasing Network - www.buysmartbc.com
World Resources Institute - www.wri.org
Forest Stewardship Council - www.fsccanada.org/PaperProcurement.htm
More on what a credit union can do to reduce its GHG emissions
Reducing paper use is only one of many ways for a credit union to reduce its greenhouse gases. Here are some other ways:
Energy Management: Improve office energy efficiency by undertaking energy efficient lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades and building envelope improvements. Further reduce your emissions through the purchase of green energy certificates, which represent the environmental attributes of the power produced from renewable energy projects and are sold separate from commodity electricity They are typically available from your provincial energy supplier.
Employee Commuting: Locate new offices and branches close to rapid transit; include showers and lockers for those who wish to commute by bike; provide incentives for transit use and car pooling; and eliminate free parking.
Employee Air Travel: Reduce number of trips by combining trips and participating in video conferencing; purchase offsets to reduce carbon emissions from plane travel to zero.
Employee Car Travel: Provide incentives for employees to drive low emissions vehicles and to maintain their vehicles.
Financing Member Solutions: Provide financing to personal and business members to take action on climate change. This could include: loans for low emissions vehicles; loans and incentives for energy efficient home renovations; green mortgages for highly energy efficient homes; financing for renewable energy projects, etc.
Providing Advice to Business: Provide support to initiatives that help small and medium size businesses to reduce their GHG emissions and go carbon neutral.
Supporting Community Solutions: Through community investment programs, provide support to community organizations that are working on climate change solutions.
Follow LEED Principles in Building and Branch Development: When building or renovating future administrative offices or branches, consider following LEED® principles, the national standard for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System™).
What DOXIM is doing to address its GHG emissions and reduce paper use
DOXIM Inc. is developing its own GHG emissions reduction plan which will include GHG and paper reduction initiatives and targets. Read more about our approach and plan in upcoming editions of our newsletter.
The Business Case for reducing GHG emissions and paper use
Businesses that commit to reduce their environmental impacts, including GHG emissions and paper use, benefit in a number of ways. First, there are financial cost savings found in reducing energy and paper consumption. Secondly, organizations which are aligned with environmental concerns are better able to attract and retain quality employees. Thirdly, organizations that don’t align their internal practices with employee and public or client sentiments concerning the environment risk alienating their staff and customers. (Who hasn’t heard customers or staff complain over unnecessary paper and energy use?) Indeed, organizations that consult their staff on sustainability issues find GHG emissions, energy use, paper use and waste to be amongst their top concerns. Staff are aware and motivated to help businesses reduce their energy and paper consumption – and engaged staff are more productive, while teaming of staff on these initiatives results in greater productivity still. Furthermore, the introduction of new technologies and processes to reduce energy and paper consumption often result in a number of other organizational cost efficiencies and productivity improvements. So, regardless of the business, there are myriad opportunities to reap financial – as well as environmental – rewards for initiatives that reduce an organization’s paper and carbon footprint.
1Environmental Paper Network. The Issues - Maximizing Recycled Content. From www.environmentalpaper.org/maxrecycledcontent.html
2Environmental Paper Network. Understanding Recycled Fibre, June 2007, p.1. From www.environmentalpaper.org/recycledfiberfactsheet/index.htm
3Vancity 2004-05 Accountability Report, p. 73. From www.vancity.com/accountability05
4Forest Stewardship Council. FSC Certification in Canada. From www.fsccanada.org/aboutcertificationcanada.htm.
5Environmental Paper Network. Understanding Recycled Fibre, June 2007, p.4. From www.environmentalpaper.org/recycledfiberfactsheet/index.htm
Case Study - iNova Credit Union
Even a credit union as small as iNova in Nova Scotia - with 9 employees, 1,800 members and $21 million in assets - can make a difference. General Manager, Willy Robinson, says employees are committed to reducing paper use. Printers are set to double side and 2-sided copying is embedded in their culture - so much so that staff members comment huffily when handouts are printed on one-side. iNova uses 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper for all advertising materials and is trialing 100% recycled content copy paper. At its new rented premises, iNova has said no to a drive thru and is advocating for the best building environmental options with the landlord. In 2007, iNova held an environmental AGM. The 100 members who attended were treated to local food served on china, a presentation on solar panels, an environmental tradeshow and walked away with a compact fluorescent bulb and very few handouts. iNova demonstrates that action is not limited by size. iNova is presently putting the finishing touches on a sustainability plan that will create a road map for its sustainability initiatives now and into the future. This plan is being done as part of iNova’s role in the Atlantic Canada Sustainability Initiative which consists of 14 organizations in Atlantic Canada who are all working together to enrich the quality of their individual plans.
