Environment
As an import wine agency, we recognize our business has a direct impact on the environment through carbon emissions. With nature being the roots of our industry, we believe in our moral duty to minimize that footprint and are taking the lead to offer a cleaner alternative. We are proud to be the first carbon neutral wine agency in Canada.
To accomplish this certification, we measured Greenhouse Gases (GHG) generated from our direct business activities and operations. We then mitigated these emissions by purchasing carbon offsets, in the form of carbon-positive projects, both in Canada and abroad. Beyond this, we plan to reduce our total emissions by 20%, by the year 2030.
CARBON
REDUCTION
INITIATIVES
Convert 50% of sales fleet combustion vehicles to electric
Replace delivery vans with electric vehicle upon availability
Convert 10% of our shipping business to bottled in Canada ensuring a reduced weight per bottle
Apply a carbon reduction strategy to all offices (Paper reduction, Led Lights, rechargeable batteries, etc...)
Our Offset
2021 Base year activity
=
2,360
Tons of CO2e
Our carbon offsets are equivalent to:
7,444
Barrel of Gas
632
Cars on the road
118,000
Trees planted
Our Projects
We invested in the below projects to offset our carbon emissions through CarbonZero.
British Columbia: “Great Bear Forest Carbon Project”
A project promoting logging reduction and replantation in collaboration with the coastal First Nations.
Ontario: “Greenhouse Biomass to energy”
To trap methane emissions (25 X more harmful than CO2) and convert them to energy.
Maritime Canada: “Ecosystems conservancy project”
Create wastewater treatment through engineered wetland systems requiring less energy and producing less greenhouse gases than typical wastewater treatment.
Recognizing that Global Warming is a worldwide issue and that our activities impact communities abroad, we are also investing in these foreign projects:
India: “Renewable solar generation”
Creating emission-free energy in places with no investment capacity.
Africa: “Clean Cookstove Projects”
Helping families and small businesses transition from dirty and inefficient firewood to clean-burning cookstoves, reducing forest pressure.
Community
Oceanwise Shoreline Cleanup
Icon Vins Fins collaborated with our Select Wines colleagues for our Noble Vines Wines Oceanwise Shoreline Cleanup. It is held annually in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax. The objective is to help clean our shores and raise awareness of shoreline contamination.
# People involved:
61 people across Canada (mainly Select Wines staff)
KG of trash collected:
Approximately 400 lbs of garbage was removed and disposed of.
Fresh air challenge
In December 2020, Icon Vins Fins & Select Wines began a national challenge for all employees to address pandemic isolation and encourage an active lifestyle. This Challenge, which we call #freshairforcharity, #pleinairsolidaire consists of walking or running outside to accumulate KMs during the first three weeks of December, each year. Icon Vins Fins & Select Wines will then donate $3 for every KM to local food banks. Since 2020, our agency has donated a total of $31,500 to those in need. This national challenge holistically helps our employees, their families, and communities.
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