Striving to do More to Protect Our Environment

At Eastlink, we're constantly trying to improve our business practices to be better stewards of the environment we share with teams, partners and customers.

People work on recycling TV remote controls

Creating Partnerships to Reduce Waste

Thanks to our convenient equipment return options, Eastlink recovers the majority of old or out-of-service hardware from customers who use our pre-paid postage, pick up or retail store drop off services. By partnering with the Electronic Products Recycling Association and community groups across the country, we're able to ensure hardware like modems and DVR set-top boxes are recycled and reused wherever possible.

A new national agreement with a battery collector will ensure that 98% of lead and plastic from power sources in our equipment are recovered and recyled.

We also partner with not-for-profit agencies across Canada to recycle smaller pieces of equipment like remote controls and cables. These programs provide work experience and develop skills for people in the community while reducing the amount or equipment that ends up in landfills.

We're proud to work with the following agencies in our environmental protection efforts:

Together we're preventing countless of pieces of equipment from ending up in landfills.

Our waste reduction programs have diverted more than a million pieces of equipment from landfills.

Set-top Boxes

We collect and restore set-top boxes for new uses, extending their life in the process.

Communities

Our partnerships create opportunities for learning and skill development across Canada.

Remote Controls

We divert thousands of remote controls from landfills each year.

Reducing Our Carbon Footprint, One Vehicle at a Time

Our teams are on the road across the country meeting customers, installing services and maintaining our network. But we're also conscious of our responsibility to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible.

Overall, we've replaced 44% of our fleet of vehicles with smaller, more efficient cars and trucks and reduced the overall size of our fleet by 11%.

Eastlink has also invested in GPS technology to improve safety for our vehicle operators. The system also helps drivers take the most efficient routes and reduce idling times.

So far, we've reduced our carbon footprint by 22% and we'll continue to find ways to make improvements.

Investing in Technology to Improve
Energy Efficiency

Eastlink has invested in state-of-the-art technology to keep our data centres operating as efficiently as possible. Cooling systems create "cold aisles" designed to manage the great amount of heat generate by banks of servers while maintaining better energy efficiency.

Meanwhile, our innovative battery monitoring system tracks the energy usage of power cells in data centres in order to optimize their performance and extend battery life.

Thanks to these investments in more sustainable technology, Eastlink is able to manage data centres with up to 50% higher efficiency.

Investing in Renewable Energy & Strengthening Communities

With the South Canoe Wind Project, the Bragg Group of Companies entered a partnership to develop wind turbines to increase the use of renewable energy sources in Nova Scotia.

Each year South Canoe produces enough energy to power 31,000 Nova Scotia homes, replacing the burning of 38,570 tons of coal which would produce 220,620,400 pounds of carbon dioxide.

What's more, the partnership ensures continued investment in the province, creating jobs and economic growth across communities around Nova Scotia while contributing to the province's commitments to renewable energy.

Eastlink also seeks out opportunities to increase use of renewable electric energy as much as possible in our facilities across Canada.

Wherever possible, we've switched from heating oil in favour of electric solutions for heating and lighting. We'll continue to improve our facilities with a goal of converting to more sustainable electric power.

Sustainable Business Practices for a Greener Future

The Bragg family started out in the wild blueberry business and has always understood the importance of environmentally-friendly policies and sustainable growth.

Eastlink is proud to be part of a family of companies that prioritizes responsible land use and investment in reforestation. So far, Bragg Lumber has planted over 4.7 million trees in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I.

Oxford Frozen Foods has also pioneered environmentally friendly farming practices which are being adapted industry wide, such as the use of tree lines to protect the fields and carefully managing fields to allow them to fill in with wild blueberry plants. In an effort to lighten their environmental footprint Oxford follows a "farm for the future" approach to ensure that the wild blueberries continue to improve for the benefit of future generations.

Go Green by Switching to E-Billing

Thanks to our reforestation efforts, we're able to plant a tree for evey customer who switches to e-billing.

This reduces the printed materials we produce in favour of electronic communications and allows customers to help save countless pieces of paper while they:

Receive monthly bill notifications by email
View and print past bill statements anytime
Check their current balance and payment history.
Make a payment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from anywhere. No postage, no line-ups, no hassles.

Eliminating Use of Plastic Bags

Last year, Eastlink launched a program to stop using plastic bags at all of our retail locations in favour of paper bags and reusable totes. We did this to reduce the amount of single-use plastic making its way into landfills.

We hope you'll join us in increasing the use of reusable bags!