At Pacific Blue Cross, we are committed to environmental stewardship and sustainability. Since joining the Climate Smart Certification Program in 2012, we have been dedicated to actively reducing our environmental impact and promoting sustainability in our operations.

Going Paperless

A key initiative is our ongoing effort to reduce paper consumption by moving towards online communications wherever possible and encouraging paperless practices among our in-person and remote employees. Through these efforts, we have significantly reduced the amount of printing and mailings and implemented shredding and recycling protocols to divert waste from landfills. We also encourage members of our plans to register for a member profile for fast and paperless claims.

Green Team

Through improved work practices and increasing employee awareness, our dedicated Pacific Blue Cross Green Team has been innovating ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Since its inception, the Green Team has helped Pacific Blue Cross cut its carbon footprint by 55% by reducing electricity, heat and paper usage, and lowered electricity usage by 65% through building improvements.

We continue to support a more sustainable, green workplace through the following initiatives:

• Our office was fully converted to LED lighting.
• We started using paper that has a higher quantity of recycled material.
• We made HVAC improvements.
• We installed occupancy motion sensors for lighting in offices and common areas.
• We reduced our garbage output by installing 15 waste and recycling sort stations throughout the building with five different waste streams.
• We’ve improved the use of natural light to cut down on artificial lighting.
• We installed high-efficiency commercial cooking equipment, hot water tanks and boilers.
• We installed low-flush valves in the washrooms.
• We’ve engaged employees to consider lower carbon modes of travel when possible and we promoted carpooling by installing ride share boards and facilitating participation in carpool program.
• We digitized print contracts (1.6k) and brochures (1.8k) across our suite of Individual Plan products.
• We continue to work with our supply chain to reduce delivery and pickup frequency.

Office Busy Bees

We are also proudly partnered with Alvéole, a Montreal-based organization, in the installation of two urban rooftop beehives. These hives are home to 5and are tended to by a beekeeper from Alvéole, who also manages educational Lunch and Learn sessions for our staff. We also share the honey harvest with our employees, promoting awareness and appreciation for the importance of pollinators and supporting local biodiversity.