Innovation and collaboration drive efforts to reduce our environmental impact. Environmental stewardship is our collective responsibility and we’ve been integrating environmental and social requirements into all business decisions and across all operations for many years.
We are a “product steward” under Manitoba’s Packaging and Printed Paper Stewardship Regulation. This means that every year we provide funds to cover 80% of the cost to support the management of empty liquor and beverage containers, packaging materials and lottery and marketing materials generated in residential communities.
Energy use reduction
For the 66 buildings in our portfolio, we closely monitor energy consumption and continually work to improve energy efficiency through renovations, preventive maintenance, equipment upgrades and optimization such as adding sensors and controls.
Our largest source of direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is related to building heating using natural gas. To help address the issue of GHG emissions associated with natural gas use, we’ve chosen 100% green natural gas for 27 Winnipeg Liquor Marts through Bullfrog Power. This means that Bullfrog Power’s generators inject green natural gas into the national pipeline to match the amount of conventional natural gas used by these locations. This purchase reduces GHG emissions and supports renewable energy sources across Canada.
10,000 gigajoules
We displace approximately 10,000 gigajoules of conventional natural gas with green natural gas at a cost of $40,000 in the 2018 calendar year.
6,000 tonnes
We purchased an equivalent of 6,000 tonnes of CO2e offsets at a cost of $150,000 in the 2018 calendar year.
We’re making strides in reducing our water-related impacts in part through our commitment to integrating sustainable building features into all renovation projects. This includes installing low-flow water fixtures in kitchens and washrooms and using Ecologo and Green Seal Certified cleaning products to minimize harm to lakes and rivers.
We support Lake Friendly best practices to reduce nutrient loading into Lake Winnipeg and other waterbodies in Manitoba. lakefriendly.ca
We have set minimum sustainability requirements for many of commonly purchased goods and services. For example, we only serve certified sustainable seafood and over 25% of the food ingredients used in our restaurants is locally sourced.
We have been designated as a Fair Trade Workplace by Fairtrade Canada and are the largest workplace in Canada with this designation. This designation recognizes, among other things, that we offer a range of Fairtrade Certified products including coffee, tea and sugar. In addition, we offer over 25 Fairtrade Certified wines in our Liquor Marts.
Energy (GJ/square meters)
Year 2012: 3.63
Year 2018: 3.30
Resulted in 9.1% decrease
Actual source energy use intensity trend - energy bills (electricity, natural gas and propane) benchmarked using Energy Star Portfolio Manager.
Water (cubic meters)
Year 2012: 85,058
Year 2018: 76,161
Resulted in 10.5% decrease
Actual water usage data for all metered buildings - water utility bills.
GHG(g CO2e/$*)
Year 2012: 10.40
Year 2018: 10.85
Resulted in 4.3% increase
Greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 + Scope 2 + Scope 3) calculated using WRI's GHG Protocol Corporate and Accounting Standard (2018).
*Gross revenue adjusted for inflation using Statistics Canada, Consumer Price Index, by province (base year 2012)
reduction
40% reduction in idle time by our fleet drivers since 2015 has helped reduce fleet fuel consumption, which is our second largest direct source of GHG emissions (natural gas for heating buildings is first).
tonnes
498 tonnes of cardboard was collected for recycling by Winnipeg Liquor Marts and our Distribution Centre in 2018. This one initiative equates to saving over 8,200 mature trees, removing 380 vehicles off the road, diverting 210 truckloads of waste from the landfill, and saving 68,000 bathtubs filled with water.
kilograms
11,300 kilograms of Fairtrade certified coffee was purchased and served to guests in our casinos and offices in 2018/19.