World financial news

1. Purolator Courier

Canada’s largest courier company has taken a lead in trying to reduce its carbon footprint, having purchased 105 hybrid-electric delivery trucks and experimented with other technologies. Purolator has ordered another 50 hybrid vehicles.

2. Mountain Equipment Co-Op

This retailer of outdoor gear embraces green-building practices for its 12 stores and head office, and was the first national retailer to introduce compostable bags and donate the 5 cents it collects from them to environmental causes.

3. Enbridge Gas Distribution

The natural gas distributor is placing more emphasis lately on energy conservation and alternatives, such as solar, thermal, wind and fuel-cell technologies. It has begun capturing pipeline waste energy to generate low-emission electricity.

4. Loblaws

Canada’s largest grocery chain was the first to experiment with bag-free stores, is promoting local foods and has committed to sourcing only sustainable seafood products by 2013.

5. TD Bank Financial Group

The bank says it will be carbon-neutral by 2010 young persons carinsurance. Efforts to achieve this include the purchase of "green" electricity from Bullfrog Power for its national bank-machine network.

6. Toronto Hydro

It wants to build a wind farm in Lake Ontario, plans to turn the waste water processed at Ashbridge’s Bay into heat and electricity, and runs its entire fleet on biodiesel or electricity.

7. Cascades

This Quebec-based maker of packaging and tissue products is the largest user of recycled fibres in Canada. In fact, 77 per cent of the raw material it uses comes from recycled content.

8. Magna International

Can a maker of automotive parts be green? Yes, if you consider the effort this Aurora-based company has made to reduce the weight of its parts using advanced materials. Lower-weight cars mean less fuel consumption, meaning lower emissions.

Source