It's Not Easy Being Green? Not so, say Canada's Greenest Employers for 2014

TORONTO, April 22, 2014 /CNW/ - Are you someone who thinks it's too difficult or expensive for your organization to go green?  Not so, say this year's winners of the Canada's Greenest Employers competition, announced this morning.

"Some employers mistakenly think 'going green' is too expensive, too difficult or somehow makes your organization uncompetitive," says Richard Yerema, Managing Editor of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project, which manages the competition.  "We see the opposite: incorporating environment values into your culture encourages efficiency, attracts top talent and makes your organization more competitive."

Now entering its 8^th year, Canada's Greenest Employers recognizes employers that lead the nation in creating a culture of environmental awareness. These leading Canadian employers have developed exceptional earth-friendly initiatives and are attracting people because of their environmental leadership.  This award grew out of two remarkable speeches by Al Gore and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the annual conference on the  Top 100 project in 2006 and 2007.

This year's winners launched some inspiring green initiatives, including:

• Mountain Equipment Co-Op, based in Vancouver, conducts employee-led "dumpster-dives" at each of its stores to identify where unnecessary waste is being generated.
  
• Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto recently launched the "Most Unlikely Cyclist" award to encourage non-cycling employees to leave their cars at home.
  
• Red River College of Winnipeg removed all garbage cans from classrooms -- employees now collect daily over 300 pounds of organic waste, which is composted into fertilizer for landscaping.
  
• Veridian Corp., of Ajax, Ontario, developed "Smart Commute", an online carpooling application that lets employees find ride-saving opportunities with other commuters.
  
• The City of Vancouver created a detailed roadmap with employees to become the "World's Greenest City" – not only is the city attracting great employees, but it's making Vancouver a tremendously desirable place to live.
  
• TD Bank Group launched a "Green Nation" online application that encourages employees to commit to environmental actions at home, at work and in the community – more than 15,500 employees have committed to over 180,000 green initiatives.

The full list of winners, with our editors' detailed reasons for selection, was published this morning at: www.CanadasTop100.com/green

SOURCE: Mediacorp Canada Inc.

Kristina Leung, Editor, 416-964-6069 x1464