In this article, we discuss the top nine eco friendly companies in Canada. But before we look at the ten eco friendly companies in Canada, let’s get familiar with the term, Eco Friendly Company.
So,
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What is an Eco Friendly Company?
By Definition, An Eco-Friendly Company is a company that doesn’t just have environmental sustainability as a priority but also pattern their activities to be eco-friendly, delivering eco friendly products, setting up and following through with strategies that are eco-friendly.
With the recent interest in environmental sustainability for a healthier planet as a result of the adverse effect of increasing carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions like
Climate change, global warming and depletion of the ozone layer and reduced oxygen as a result of inappropriate disposal of waste into the ocean, companies have been doing their part to ensure environmental sustainability.
New companies as well as old ones that take this issue of environmental sustainability as a top priority in Canada. These companies can be called Eco Friendly Companies.
They have and continually gain a powerful reputation for their commitment towards achieving environmental sustainability through inspiring more sustainable practices in the company and within the community.
They go beyond basic CSR initiatives to making real differences through company policies in achieving environmental sustainability.
Eco-friendly companies enjoy more business growth because limit disturbances from governing bodies which usually comes as a result of going against some of the environmental laws which has a general aim of environmental sustainability.
How to Make your Company Eco Friendly
Before we look into the top nine eco friendly companies in Canada, let’s look at ways we can make our companies ecofriendly. There is hope for companies that are not yet eco friendly as there as ways in which they can turn their companies into eco friendly companies and these ways are:
- Providing public transit to reduce the carbon footprint from single-ride vehicles.
- Giving incentives to employees that switch their commute to a more sustainable option.
- Reduce single-use items by the use of sustainable products like recycled papers, or products you can reuse even after their half-life.
- Prioritise the use of office supplies gotten from recycling or reuse.
- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle as a sustainable way to manage waste.
- Making energy-efficient upgrades like the use of sustainable light bulbs, use of renewable energy and the substitution of desktop computers with laptops.
- Partnering with green businesses to promote environmental sustainability through campaigns for zero carbon footprint, planting of trees, etc.
- By the use of sustainable packaging, applies majorly to manufacturing companies.
- By reducing water usage in production.
- Instead of disposing of what is no more needed in the office, you can donate them to companies who could help replace them even at a discount price.
- If your company is a production company, source for sustainable materials and make improvements towards reaching a goal of zero carbon footprint in production.
Top 9 Eco Friendly Companies in Canada
Because of the increasing awareness of customers on the impact human beings are having on the environment. This has led to more interest and innovation of companies to drive towards sustainable development in Canada. Here are the top nine eco-friendly companies in Canada.
- Stantec
- Chop Value
- EFFYDESK
- Alice + Whittles
- Vitae Apparel
- Accenture Inc.
- Encircled
- Tentree
- Diamond Schmitt Architect Inc.
1. Stantec
Stantec is one of the top nine eco friendly companies in Canada. According to Corporate Knights which released its 2021 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations rankings.
Stantec is the fifth most sustainable company in the world and the first in Canada put it in the top one per cent of companies in the world with improvements in sustainability.
Another accomplishment of Stantec is an A rating in technical classifications for the third year running making the company the only engineering and design company in the world to receive an A – rating for three consecutive years.
Some of the sustainable operations that have put Stantec at the forefront of eco friendly companies in Canada include;
Community Engagement
Stantec has been involved in creating strong and vibrant communities with a focus on arts, education, the environment, and health and wellness. This has been carried out through donations, sponsorships and volunteering.
Through Stantec’s focus on the environment, they have been able to develop programs that promote sustainable development, environmental responsibility, energy efficiency, air quality and programs that address climate change.
Health, Safety, Security, and Environment (HSSE) program
Stantec has made it a priority to put people first and do what is right in managing the environmental aspects of the business.
Indigenous Relations and Partnerships
Stantec has been involved in partnering with indigenous communities to ensure sustainability through bringing clean and renewable energy into indigenous and remote communities and constructing sustainable buildings in indigenous communities.
Corporate Governance
The Board of Directors of Stantec is committed to ensuring the safety of life and properties and to ensuring sustainability.
Other sustainable operations of Stantec include; Learning design and delivery, Employee benefits and inclusion, diversity, and equity.
2. Chop Value
Chop Value is one of the top nine eco friendly companies in Canada. Chop Value is an eco friendly company that is committed to recycling chopsticks and transforming them into usable materials.
This process involves urban harvesting of disposable chopsticks as a sustainable way of diverting them from being disposed of in a landfill, lean manufacturing in micro-factories using locally available resources to minimise environmental footprint.
Finally the creation of beautiful circular economy products from an innovative high performance engineered material.
The action of Chop Value has helped in the recycling and transformation of 38,536,895 chopsticks thereby storing 1,328,028.31 kg of carbon as of the 28th of September, 2021.
The products produced by Chop Value are produced sustainably, helps in capturing carbon, are handcrafted, helps in creating a circular economy, and are made as local as possible.
The design of these products is intended to not just be sustainable, but also to achieve circularity and longevity. Chop Value makes a difference through transparency in its efforts to achieve zero carbon footprint throughout the process.
Chop Value hopes to help make more conscious decisions by sharing how they source their materials, process them and what can be done at the end life of the products. This is done through their annual Urban Impact Report.
3. EFFYDESK
EFFYDESK is one of the top nine eco friendly companies in Canada. Just as Chop Value, EFFYDESK is an eco friendly company that is committed to recycling chopsticks and transforming them into usable materials.
This process involves urban harvesting of disposable chopsticks as a sustainable way of diverting them from being disposed of in a landfill, lean manufacturing in micro-factories using locally available resources to minimise environmental footprint.
Finally the creation of beautiful circular economy products from an innovative high performance engineered material.
EFFYDESK is the best ergonomic office furniture company in Canada. They produce products that are engineered for sustainability. These sustainable office furniture products are made from recycled chopsticks.
The action of EFFYDESK has helped in the recycling and transformation of 17,013 chopsticks thereby storing 23,376g of carbon.
EFFYDESK and Chop Value launched the closed-loop production which aid in the production of eco friendly home office products that uses zero amount of raw materials and stores more carbon than it creates. This has made it easier for customers to purchase eco friendly furniture.
4. Alice + Whittles
Alice + Whittles is one of the top nine eco friendly companies in Canada. Alice + Whittles is a company that produces eco friendly sneakers.
The company was built to show love for the people and the planet. In Alice + Whittles, simplicity and versatility in the design of their products as a way of reducing waste.
Focus is laid on design, sustainability, quality, comfort and functional integrity. Alice + Whittles create outdoor footwear in this sustainable manner.
90% of the materials used in producing this footwear are sustainable. Though the company is aiming for 100% sustainability in materials used for footwear production. The materials used in this production are materials that tread lightly on the planet and people.
Some of the materials that are used are natural fair-trade rubber which is sourced from sustainably managed forest, reclaimed ocean plastics, recycled PET, vegan water-based glue, etc. The footwears are free from virgin plastic.
5. Vitae Apparel
Vitae Apparel is one of the top nine eco friendly companies in Canada. Vitae Apparel is an eco friendly company that has a mission to become more sustainable and eco friendly whilst providing high quality, affordable apparel for customers.
In order to achieve sustainability, some of the products are produced with the use of RecoTex which is an eco friendly polyester fabric that is made entirely from recycled water bottles, this product design combines comfort, practicality and sustainability in the perfect form.
This fabric is certified as Green Mark by the EPA of Taiwan and meets the Oeko-Tex Standard 100. Certified by Intertek Recycled Polyester (RPET) Management System. Also certified by GRS Global Recycle Standard (Control Union).
They also make eco friendly activewear sets from CompressLux fabric which is designed from pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled nylon materials including fishnets.
Without compromising style, comfort, breathability and 4-way stretch, a fabric was created which helps to reduce carbon footprint.
Recycled nylon materials are materials that can be re-used for future products, which reduces waste. During this process, levels of crude oil, water usage, CO2 emission and other toxins from entering the planet.
6. Accenture Inc.
Accenture is one of the top nine eco friendly companies in Canada. Accenture is being selected as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers in 2021.
Some of the reasons why Accenture was selected as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers is as a result of the commitment to ensuring that they are one of the eco friendly companies in Canada.
As a result of this, Accenture announced its carbon reduction targets of 11% by 2025 over a 2016 baseline year setting out internationals goals to use 100% renewable energy across its worldwide operations by 2023.
In Canada, employees of the company have spent time volunteering with environmental initiatives including Project Green, High Park Stewards, Niagara Conservation and the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.
Accenture has also developed travel management programs increasing investments in virtual collaborative technology to reduce carbon footprint through employee travel.
In efforts to promote sustainability, Accenture is involved in the extended recycling of batteries, e-waste, printer toner cartridges, coffee packets, electronic media and organics.
Accenture partners with the community through Eco Canada Missions to develop a variety of activities with a focus on environmental sustainability enhancing knowledge and support for climate action.
The partnership also spans through to Earth Ally which creates programs for Canadian employees to recognise their colleagues for sustainable behaviour.
Earth Ally also has a network – Earth Ally Network with over 2,800 employees. Other community partnerships include Canadian Environment Week, Al4Environment Hackathon, Project Green in partnership with Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, etc.
7. Encircled
Encircled is one of the top nine eco friendly companies in Canada that is involved in the production of sustainable clothing. The company is passionate about creating beautiful, trendless, comfortable designs.
Encircled is built on the concept of no compromises and sustainable working with sustainable and biodegradable fabrics that contribute very little carbon footprint.
Encircled is a certified B Corporation, which means they are legally required to consider the impact of our business decisions on our workers, suppliers, community, the environment, and their customers.
They are also Oeko-Tex Standard 100® Certified which is a third-party certification that proves the majority of all threads, buttons and accessories have been tested for harmful substances, ensuring our clothing is safe and not harmful to human health.
Encircled have an aim to reduce the 11 million tons of textile waste that goes to the landfills every year by their sustainable actions. And this is done by the production of long-lasting quality products, saving scrap fabric from their sewing studios and upcycling it into accessories, etc.
They also try to contribute to sustainable development through wind-powered web hosting provider which uses 100% recyclable packaging, making use of paper and eco friendly cleaning products which are FSC-certified guaranteeing environmental and social responsibility.
They regularly swap clothes which help in reducing waste, engage in a park clean up, their staffs make use of reusable water bottles and so on.
8. Tentree
Tentree is one of the top nine eco friendly companies in Canada that is involved in the production of sustainable fashionable wear. The company is very much committed to improving sustainability through the planting of trees. At every product purchased at Tentree, they plant 10 trees.
By this Tentree has been able to plant 65,397,956 trees to date. Tentree has an aim to have planted 1 billion trees by 2030. Tentree has a mission to plant trees because the company sees planting trees as a way of creating a sustainable future.
Those trees that have been planted have removed millions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere, lifted entire communities out of poverty, and reforested over 5,000 hectares of land.
This has been achieved through partnerships with charitable organizations across the world to plant trees and rehabilitate natural ecosystems.
They also reduce carbon footprint through the use of 75% less water to make a tentree sweatshirt than other sweatshirts.
Another way in which tentree has been an ability to move towards sustainability making them one of the eco friendly companies in Canada is through the development of Climate+ which is a platform whereby people purchase items.
By so doing the company plant a number of trees offsetting or compensating for carbon dioxide emissions done elsewhere.
9. Diamond Schmitt Architects Inc.
Diamond Schmitt Architects Inc. is one of the top nine eco friendly companies in Canada. Diamond Schmitt Architects Inc. is being selected as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers in 2021.
Some of the reasons why Diamond Schmitt Architects was selected as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers is as a result of the commitment to ensuring that they are one of the eco friendly companies in Canada.
As a result of this, Diamond Schmitt Architects helps in championing the movement towards greener buildings having projects that aim to meet the “2030 challenge” to become neutral or better.
Diamond Schmitt Architects is also involved in advocating for the use of living walls and the use of timber in major construction projects.
They are also involved in building sustainable buildings which aim to have zero carbon footprint. They are also involved in extended recycling of glass, soft plastics, metals, polystyrene, batteries, light bulbs and e-waste.
Diamond Schmitt Architects as part of their sustainable development plans has provided facilities to accommodate bicycles, walk to public transit and secure bicycle parking lot.
They partner with the community to sponsor an annual Green Building Festival – a local industry conference on sustainable design.
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A passion-driven environmentalist by heart. Lead content writer at EnvironmentGo.
I strive to educate the public about the environment and its problems.
It has always been about nature, we ought to protect not destroy.
Wow, such amazing companies.