SYLVIS Receives Canada’s Greenest Employers Award 2020

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

SYLVIS was founded on the belief that environmental sustainability is dependent on the management of the materials we traditionally view as “wastes”. We research and understand these “residuals” and use them as tools to solve environmental challenges in agriculture, forestry, and in the rehabilitation of disturbed lands, all while sequestrating carbon into soils and plants. At SYLVIS, being green is not only in what we do but also in how we do it.

We are excited to announce that SYLVIS is a two-time recipient of Canada’s Greenest Employers Award. Canada’s Greenest Employers recognizes employers that lead the nation in creating a culture of environmental awareness in their organizations and incorporate sustainable business practices across their operations. SYLVIS first received this award in 2011 and again in 2020.

We are proud of the positive environmental impacts achieved through our projects. Recent SYLVIS initiatives include:

  • Planted over 8.1 million willows resulting in significant carbon sequestration in both soils and woody biomass, contributing to climate change mitigation.
  • Diverted over 17,000 bulk tonnes of biomass ash from landfills to provide nutrient supplement and lime amendment in agriculture.
  • Restored over 2,000 hectares of interior grasslands in British Columbia through biosolids applications.
  • Applied over 280,000 bulk tonnes of biosolids to fertilize trees, reclaim mines and build soils

We promote and support ways to help employees reduce their environmental footprint by:

  • Providing a Lifestyle Spending Account that can be used to purchase items for green living including bikes, composters, and solar panels.
  • Promoting e-document client report delivery, requesting invoicing and payment be made electronically.
  • Tracking all our resource use – water, natural gas, electricity, paper and identify ways we can grow simultaneously with consuming less.
  • Implementing communal garbage and recycling collection areas.
  • Banning single use beverage cups and bottled water after employees were given reusable bottles as gifts to encourage sustainability and reduce waste.

SYLVIS strives to minimize its footprint in its offices and in operational projects. SYLVIS’s Green Team has implemented reusable communal containers for staff to eliminate waste generated from take-out, and given all staff portable cutlery to further reduce single use waste.

SYLVIS would like to thank our clients and suppliers for enabling and supporting our vision, without you this achievement would not be possible. SYLVIS would also like to congratulate all the recipients in this category. Together these companies are making a difference and setting the standards for sustainable practices in the workplace.