We’re kicking off Earth Week 2019 on April 22, which is International Earth Day. While we incorporate sustainability into all parts of our business every day, we are excited to have a whole week dedicated to enhancing nature’s gifts and improving life in our communities.
Colleagues and, at many sites, their family members and friends will raise sustainability awareness through volunteering, learning and playing in the world around us.
EarthChoice Ambassadors
As part of our caring values, we regularly give to educational initiatives, sustainability programs and efforts to improve the health and wellness of our neighbors. Our EarthChoice Ambassador program further reinforces this concept.
EarthChoice Ambassadors (ECAs) are Domtar employees who volunteer their time and energy to promote sustainable practices that focus on our customers, employees, company, and community. By identifying and sharing innovative manufacturing methods, educating and encouraging sustainable habits, and leading by example, ECAs embody our sustainability message throughout the organization.
Heather Stowe, Domtar’s corporate social responsibility manager and mother of the ECA program, describes the program simply: “All EarthChoice Ambassadors across the company are just that: ambassadors of making and teaching good earth choices. An EarthChoice is any act that benefits the planet or your community.”
Earth Week 2019
This year, during Earth Week 2019, more than two dozen ECA teams in North America and Europe are getting together to make hundreds of EarthChoices at work or at home. Events planned for Earth Week 2019 include:
Planting trees and gardening in community gardens and parks
Holding recycling drives
Hosting lunch-and-learn events focused on debunking agriculture and recycling myths
Providing families in need with resources to grow vegetables at home
Teaching students about papermaking and recycling
Creating a monarch butterfly habitat
Conducting reading events at schools in coordination with First Book
How will you celebrate Earth Week 2019? Will you be collecting rainwater, planting trees or participating in a community clean-up event? Share your EarthChoice by tweeting us at DomtarEveryday.
Learn more about our commitment to sustainability in the communities where we work, live and play:
Monadnock has achieved re-certification for compliance with ISO14001:2004, the leading international standard for environmental management systems (EMS). SGS Group, a leader in third-party registration, recently completed a comprehensive independent audit of Monadnock’s Bennington, New Hampshire facility. Monadnock successfully met the ISO14001 EMS requirements and demonstrated the processes to maintain that system and its commitment to continuous improvement.
Further, Monadnock recently achieved re-certification for compliance with Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody standards. Rainforest Alliance completed their third-party independent audit and found that Monadnock satisfied the requirements for tracking and documenting FSC fiber from suppliers, through its production facility and delivery to its customers.
University of Oulu and Metsä Group have entered into a partnership agreement in which research and educational cooperation will be deepened in order to develop sustainable forest industry. The aim is to increase interaction and work life contacts between students and the company. The co-operation includes, for example, visiting lectures, company visits, thesis work and internships. The themes of the joint research projects are the utilization of inorganic production sidestreams from the forest industry, for example as bioproducts, and the development of autonomous solutions and automated logistics in the wood, pulp, paperboard and sawmill industries. Experiments and solutions for the introduction of the technology utilize the university's extensive research expertise in 5G / 6G, IoT and cyber security, robotics, fibre and particle technology, and process technology.
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) submitted their forest certification system to PEFC for re-endorsement earlier this month. The public consultation, which is your chance to give your feedback on this revised system, will run from 12 March to 11 May 2021. SFI, a PEFC national member in North America, revised their forest certification system, which covers both the United States (USA) and Canada, following the entry into force of the revised 2018 PEFC Sustainable Forest Management standard. To provide you with additional information about this revised system, we are holding a webinar on 22 March, at 14:00 CET. The webinar is free to attend, and everyone is welcome.
