Whistler Blackcomb (WB) this week was named one of Canada’s greenest employers in a listing compiled by Mediacorp Canada and published in the April 16 edition of Maclean’s magazine.
The Canada’s Greenest Employers list recognizes employers who lead the nation in creating a culture of environmental awareness within their orgnizations, WB officials said in a statement issued Monday (April 20) — two days before Earth Day.
“This recognition could only have happened through the commitment of each one of our staff, to whom I am profoundly grateful,” Arthur DeJong, WB mountain planning and environmental resource manager, said in the statement. “The road to becoming truly sustainable will be long and difficult; however, the growing commitment and action at all levels of our company inspire me to believe this is possible.”
WB’s environmental management strategy, which began in 1992, has evolved into a core pillar of the company’s goals and objectives, officials said. WB has been recognized 17 times in the past 10 years by a variety of organizations for efforts to work toward sustainability.
The judges in the Maclean’s listing recognized WB for its largest environmental initiative to date: the Fitzsimmons Creek renewable power project, which will be completed by the end of 2009. The $32 million hydroelectricity project is located entirely within WB’s operating area, and will produce 33.5 gigawatt hours of electricity per year. This is the equivalent of powering the ski resort’s winter and summer operations including 38 lifts, 17 restaurants, 269 snowguns and countless other buildings and services, officials said.
WB has also been operating an aggressive recycling and composting program since 2005, with recycling alone reducing waste by 50 per cent. The food and beverage department recycles more than 80 per cent of its beverage containers. Efforts to reduce energy consumption through building retrofits, behavioural changes, and energy-efficient equipment conserves more than 4,500,000 kWh of electricity per year, or 16 per cent of the WB operation’s consumption.
The WB Habitat Improvement Team (HIT) has been involved in 89 projects since 1997 to restore fish and wildlife habitat. Over the past 10 years, its “Operation Green-Up” program has invested $1.5 million in the protection and restoration of WB’s mountain ecosystems.
Many WB employees donate $2 off every paycheque for the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation Environmental Fund, contributing more than $40,000 to support non-profit environmental groups in the Sea to Sky corridor.
