OTTAWA, MONTREAL and WINNIPEG – The telco industry is continuing in its efforts to make its business ‘greener’.
During last week’s ‘Environment Week’, both Telus and Fido made announcements to highlight their commitment to social responsibility and the environment.
Telus made a donation to Tree Canada, a not-for-profit charitable organization established to encourage Canadians to plant and care for trees in urban and rural environments, on behalf of its customers and employees who opted for electronic billing, or who returned a mobile phone for recycling.
As part of its commitment to corporate social responsibility, Telus said that it offers various programs designed to support Tree Canada and to reduce paper production and waste. In addition to e-billing and its equipment recycling program, the company also provides electronic copies of the its annual report, and has a tree planted for every shareholder who requests an electronic copy in lieu of a printed copy; offers customers the option to either choose a gift or to have trees planted on their behalf as a part of the company’s ‘perk’ program; and, employees can opt to have a tree planted in their honour for career milestones.
"Our clients and team members helped us divert more than 86,000 phones from landfills last year and save 17 million sheets of paper”, said Josef Pach, Telus’ director of environment and corporate social responsibility, in the announcement. “We are excited to see that conserving resources, a fundamental value here at Telus, is also near and dear to the people and communities we serve. For Telus, corporate social responsibility isn’t simply a catchphrase – it is part of who we are."
Tree Canada has planted more than 218,000 trees on behalf of Telus over their six-year partnership, the announcement continued.
Rogers’ discount wireless brand Fido announced a partnership with the not-for-profit organization Evergreen to support habitat restoration and various stewardship projects in Canada.
Earlier this year, Fido also encouraged its customers to choose an e-billing option, and instituted a $2 charge for every paper invoice it printed. Proceeds from the billing program are donated to Evergreen to be put towards various urban greening projects and the planting of 25,000 trees across the country.
"As the wireless savings company that cares, not only about our customers but about the environment as well, we are proud to partner with Evergreen to provide funding for planting trees, habitat restoration and fundamentally improving green spaces throughout Canada," said Sylvain Roy, SVP and GM of Fido, in the announcement.
In related news, Manitobans can now recycle used wireless devices through the ‘Recycle My Cell’ program, the national program announced in January and managed by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA).
The free initiative, already underway in New Brunswick and PEI, informs residents where and how to recycle cell phones and other wireless devices, such as wireless cards, batteries and chargers, regardless of carrier, brand or condition.
Visitors to the website www.recyclemycell.ca can enter their postal code to receive a list of the ten nearest recycling depots, or can call 1-888-797-1740. Equipment can also be mailed in after printing a postage-paid label from the website.
After the device has been donated, it is sent to a recycling plant where it is either refurbished or taken apart for scrap. Proceeds from the sale of refurbished phones and scrap materials are then donated to local and national charities.
www.telus.com/socialresponsibility
www.treecanada.ca
www.fido.ca
www.evergreen.ca
www.cwta.ca
