SaskTel Receives Greenest Employer Award

At SaskTel, green is indeed the colour. It has always been the colour of choice for our favourite football team, and in recent years it has become a major consideration in all their business dealings.
SaskTel's keen interest in environmental issues has resulted in the company being selected as one of Canada's Greenest Employers for 2009 by MediaCorp Canada Inc.

"We're very proud of this award, which recognizes the commitment of SaskTel employees to environmental sustainability," said Robert Watson, SaskTel President and CEO. "This will inspire us to be even more innovative as we work to reduce our environmental footprint and demonstrate to our suppliers, dealers and customers how they can do the same."

SaskTel's selection was based on information provided to MediaCorp in the company's 2009 application for the 'Canada's Top 100 Employers' project. According to MediaCorp, SaskTel was selected for the following reasons:

• SaskTel has operated a longstanding environmental management program in the communities where it operates, sponsoring local recycling projects for a variety of household items that divert thousands of gallons of paint, tonnes of waste batteries and old telephone directories from landfills every year.
• Employees use their expertise to repair and donate surplus computers to local schools and organizations, donating 30,000 refurbished computers since 1993.
• SaskTel recently developed an "Ecological Strategy" that commits the company to consider environmental impacts as part of its decision-making processes.
• SaskTel launched the "Switch Off and Save" campaign on Earth Day last year that encouraged employees to switch off all unnecessary electronics, vehicles and heaters - and offers prizes and contests to foster ongoing participation.
• SaskTel has extensive in-house recycling programs for batteries, printer cartridges, office paper, light bulbs, phone books, furniture, office equipment, wire and cabling, and computer equipment.

"We are serious about reducing our carbon footprint in Saskatchewan, and to do so, we need to manage our impact effectively," said Tom Myers of SaskTel's Environmental Group. "Our Ecological Strategy has led to the implementation of reviews and detailed programs for each impact area complete with roles, responsibilities, targets, tracking and reporting processes."

Tom notes one of the programs SaskTel has established -a Greenhouse Gas Management plan - has aggressive reduction targets for electricity, natural gas and fuel consumption. Employees are involved in many actions to accomplish reductions. These include: switching off unused equipment; reducing vehicle idling; considering the environment in all decisions no matter how big or small; buying environmentally-friendly equipment; using video and teleconferencing instead of travel; using computer-delivered training instead of traveling to classrooms; and using electronic monitoring of buildings and towers instead of traveling to inspect them.

"As time goes by, the hope is that focus on the environment will be a normal way of life at SaskTel," Myers adds.

(Source: Company Press release in August 2009 WasteWatch)

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