Social Responsibility

Being Canadians, we love nature. We take pride in our parks, our mountains, our rivers, our prairies, our wildlife, and our beaches. Our national identity is based on nature – from the maple leaf on our flag to the wildlife on our currency. According to Statistics Canada, nine out of ten Canadians rate the environment as one of their top concerns, and eight out of ten Canadians believe environmental protection is more important than economic growth. In the 30 countries surveyed by the research firm Environics International, Canadians are among the most passionate citizens for environmental protection.

Despite our strong values towards environmental protection, we are struggling to take initiatives to sustain our environment. The national consumption of plastic bags by Canadians accounts for 10 billion bags every year and only one to three percent is being recycled. These plastic bags, which are made from petroleum products, are typically used for less than five minutes in their life span. After, they more often get thrown away and occupy our much-needed landfill space, taking up to 1,000 years to decompose. Those plastic bags that do not end up in a landfil are commonly seen littering the city streets causing an even bigger problem to the public. Furthermore, the disposal of plastic bags also creates a threat to the well being of our marine wildlife. The number of marine mammals that die each year due to ingestion of and entanglement in plastic reaches 100,000 in the North Pacific Ocean alone.