Introducing Burnbrae Farms' Green Team
GeneralAt Burnbrae Farms we strongly believe that a better tomorrow, starts today. Founded on farm family values, Burnbrae Farms is fully committed to the preservation of the planet for future generations. To help meet this commitment, we’ve assembled a group of passionate volunteers devoted to overseeing Burnbrae Farms' environmental initiatives.
Coined The Green Team , this dedicated group of individuals establish environmental goals for our Corporate Social Responsibility program; planning and organizing ecological projects focused on reducing energy, water and waste, as well as those that naturalize our properties (e.g. tree planting).
By researching and evaluating new processes, innovations and technologies, our amazing team aims to annually reduce Burnbrae Farms' environmental footprint. Raising awareness within our company, The Green Team ensures Burnbrae Farms stays conscious of global, national and local environmental issues.
Achieving a better tomorrow
To date, our Green Team has been hard at work. Thanks to their commitment, we’ve achieved:
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- 13.2% decrease in energy use per unit product produced from 2013 to 2017.
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- Grading realized a 2% decrease in energy use. *
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- Further Processing realized a 4% decrease in energy use. *
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- Water usage in grading is down 6.8%. *
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- Water usage in further processing is down 3.2. *
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- 1500 native trees planted on the home farm in Lyn.
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- Diversion of over 6610 metric tonnes of waste in 2017, with a diversion rate of 69.5%.
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- In 2018, thanks to waste diversion and composting initiatives, our greenhouse gas emissions company-wide will be reduced by 20%.
* Year over year
These milestones are a result of countless projects such as:
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- Lighting and fan retrofits in our plants.
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- Employee awareness programs on energy use.
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- The establishment of solar powered poultry farm.
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- Pilot studies of solar tube water heating for processing plants.
Committed to doing more
Making sure to improve every aspect of our business, as of 2017 our transport fleet are equipped with Alternative Power Unit Cab Heaters . These heaters reduce overall fuel consumption in our truck networks — as a result we’ve achieved a 1% improvement in fuel efficiencies.
In a continuing effort to reduce and eventually eliminate waste to landfill, we have successfully diverted all of our larger waste streams. Our Upton facility has diverted waste for biogas production, and fertilized neighbouring farms with eggshell remnants. Shell from our Winnipeg plant has recently been diverted to compost, and will be used in further product processes in the future.
As part of our ongoing efforts, our plants continue to find more ways to recycle waste. A recent waste audit at one facility provided great insight into how we can further reduce our environmental impact.
Additionally, we’ve launched reforestation initiatives, Earth Day events and shoreline cleanups at several locations. Through our annual planting of roadside trees at our home location in Lyn, Ontario, Burnbrae Farms has contributed to the re-establishment of the iconic roadside Sugar Maple trees.
Farming for future generations
Our Green Team’s commitment to the environment doesn’t stop here. The team has worked to develop goals to which Burnbrae Farms is committed, such as reducing greenhouse gases 20% from a 2016 baseline and zero waste to landfill by 2025. We are looking forward to the future!