Canada's Greenest Employers (2025) - Flipbook - Page 20
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CANADA'S GREENEST EMPLOYERS (2025)
Bell Canada has long been green at ground level
J
oel Butler has long had a
personal interest in
environmental issues. So,
when the local waste
management commission in
Saint John, N.B., announced a
composting program, he and his
fellow employees of Bell Canada
started their own grassroots
initiative aimed at recycling
organic waste.
We have green teams that
are organized around online
collaboration. We want
people to share their ideas.
When we can support them,
we create programs that run
across the country.
communications company in
North America to set up an
ISO-certified environmental
management system.”
The company’s business units
work collaboratively to ensure that
environmental objectives are met,
says Sunny Saini, a project
manager with Bell’s network
technology services. “We look into
our equipment and explore
opportunities to reduce energy
consumption and carbon dioxide
emissions,” he says.
Last year, for example, network
technology services replaced
conventional heating, ventilation
and air conditioning (HVAC) units
used to protect sensitive
equipment inside shelters at the
foot of 50 cellphone towers in
Nova Scotia.
The company installed what are
known as free cooling units, which
led to substantial savings in energy
consumption. “HVAC systems
were typically consuming over 2.3
kilowatt-hours of hydro per site,”
says Saini. “We reduced hydro
consumption to about 0.35
kilowatt-hours per site. We
estimate that we reduced CO2
emissions from those sites by 500
tons annually.”
Bell also works with vendors
and suppliers as part of its
responsible procurement
program. “Anytime we onboard a
new supplier or sign a new
contract with an existing supplier,
we put them through a process
where we analyze their
organization and the products
they’re supplying,” says Butler.
“When it comes to plastics,” he
adds, “we want to make sure that
they are locally recyclable, and we
want to minimize packaging. It’s
about reducing waste and
ensuring that they do not contain
hazardous materials.”
Bell is also making changes at
some of its larger office locations
to reduce energy costs. The
company has more than a dozen
reflective roofs on buildings in
urban centres. “The roofs reflect
— Joel Butler
Senior Manager, Corporate
Responsibility and Environment
Such employee-led initiatives
are an integral part of Bell’s
long-standing commitment to
environmental protection. “We
have green teams that are
organized around online
collaboration,” says Butler, senior
manager, corporate responsibility
and environment. “We want
people to share their ideas. When
we can support them, we create
programs that run across the
country.”
Bell has been setting corporate
environmental sustainability goals
for three decades, says Butler,
adding that the corporate
responsibility team reports
annually on the company’s
progress. “We were the first
Employees at Bell Canada participate in the organization’s National Tree Day planting events with Tree
Canada.
