Markham company puts focus on being green

Markham Economist & Sun
April 10, 2014
By Amanda Persico

With a more than 20-year history of environmental preservation efforts, Toshiba Canada launched several new green initiatives this week pushing the Markham location to be one of the top in the world.

Earlier this week, the company hosted an eco-fair for employees, a plan that has won Toshiba Canada bragging rights among global peers.

The eco fair was part of Toshiba Group’s global environmental action plan, where more than 215 company locations submitted environmentally friendly initiatives. The eco fair in Markham made the Top 10 list and will be showcasing its eco trade show at World Environment Day June 5 in Japan.

Most of the vendors at the trade show are Toshiba partners, said Kimberly Luces, company environmental specialist.

“This goes above and beyond community cleanups,” she said. “This is about showing our employees what the company is actually doing in hopes of raising awareness.”

The environmental fair included a presentation from Smart Commute Markham Richmond Hill.

The company also awarded three dedicated carpool parking spots at the front of the building, with plans to create more carpool parking spaces.

Employees had a chance to learn more about eco-friendly services and organizations such as Habitat For Humanity’s ReStore projects, Plug ’N Drive an organization focused on bring electric vehicles to the forefront and Eco Mist Solutions, a non-toxic plant-based cleaning product made in Vaughan.

There were also electric car demonstrations and a demonstration of the latest Toshiba technology, a printer that uses erasable ink on paper that can be reused.

This all fits into the company’s environmental strategy for 2050. Part of the strategy calls for the Toshiba Group to be one of the foremost eco companies in the world in 2015.