Qty	Item	Description	Price	Total
	Subtotal:	$0.00

Browse by subject

Environmentalism at The Book Man

We take environmentalism seriously at The Book Man. It is one of our core values, and we centre all decisions in the bookstore with the health of our planet in mind. We believe that each person and each business, must decide that sustainability is not an option, it is a necessity. Our environmental consciousness must define our decisions in a way that honours all life, and protects our planet.

We are a carbon neutral business! We have offset our carbon footprint with the help of The Carbon Farmer, and our commitment to this initiative will continue for decades to come. Everything from the cleaning products that we use in the bookstore, to the types of package materials we use in our internet sales department have been chosen for their low impact on the environment. In itself, the bookstore is a massive recycling project, keeping hundreds of thousands of books in circulation, out of landfills, and utilitizing the "reuse" factor in the triangle of the favoured recycling philosophy: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle!

Some of our recent achievements include:

Receiving our Carbon Neutral Status courtesy of our involvement with The Carbon Farmer.
Presented with the 2009 - Green Excellence - Retail award, presented by The City of Chilliwack & The Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce, with an ensuing letter of congratulations from MLA Barry Penner.
Installing hand dryers in our Chilliwack restrooms to minimize paper waste.
Selecting recyclable packaging materials for the vast majority of our internet sales orders such as corrugated cardboard and staples instead of foam mailers and tape.
Choosing environmentally responsible cleaning products.
Presented with a Green Hero Award - presented by BCHydro and Premier Gordon Campbell.
In store incentive program rewarding customers reuse, or refuse a bag with their purchase. These customers receive a token worth 3¢ (the approximate cost of a bag) that they can donate to one of three charities. In Chilliwack, we support Safe Haven Animal Shelter, Early Years Literacy Group, Ann Davis Transition House. In Abbotsford, we support The Food Bank, Elizabeth's Wildlife Rescue, and Volunteer Abbotsford. We pay the amount saved to these charities on a quarterly basis, and our customers now pride themselves on choosing to have bag-free transactions.
High efficiency bulbs are used wherever possible in the store.
Replacing our large hot water heaters with tiny ones, saving countless gallons of water from being unecessarily heated every day.
Installing an energy efficient roofing system that purposefully reflects sunlight to reduce the need for airconditioning in the store during summer months.
Running all in-store computers on energy efficient settings.
Turning off all computer monitors at night.
All unused books within the bookstore are either reused once again by being recycled into the community through one of five literacy initiatives that we support/run, or are physically taken to the recycling depot once a week when they're "too far gone" to be reused another time.
In-store recycling program puts recycling bins in easy to find locations all throughout the store for both staff and clients to utilize.

We are always open to new ideas, and suggestions as to how we could be even MORE environmentally responsible. Have an idea? Email us here!

Video Footage

The Book Man

Open 364 days a year

Browse by subject

Environmentalism at The Book Man