For the sixth year in a row, Red River College is one of Canada’s Greenest Employers. This award acknowledges RRC’s environmentally friendly policies and programs that effectively engage staff in their sustainability efforts.

“Red River College continues to be a champion of sustainability in Manitoba, and I congratulate Sara MacArthur, and the members of our sustainability team for their efforts in continuing to cultivate a culture of sustainability at Red River College,” said Paul Vogt, President & CEO, Red River College. “We’re honoured to continue to receive this recognition for the past six years. This is something every member of our College community takes pride in.”

“There’s a real culture of sustainability at Red River College,” says Manager of Sustainability Sara MacArthur. “Our staff do more than just ‘know’ about sustainability — they also embrace the values of sustainability in their day-to-day actions.”

RRC works hard to be designated as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers and is proud of the many initiatives spearheaded at the College. Some of RRC’s sustainability initiatives are detailed below:

Installation of Rapid Charger for Electric Vehicles

Red River College is giving Manitoba’s electric vehicle (EV) owners a boost, via the recently installed and operational Level 3 (30kW DC) quick charging station, the first of its kind in the province and one of only two dozen across Canada. The rapid charging station is another key element in the College’s Mobility from Green Energy Initiative and a logical next step in our vehicle technology research program. Drivers of Level 3-compliant EVs – including Nissan Leafs, Mitsubishi i-MiEVs, and Teslas – can charge up at the College’s Notre Dame Campus, while contributing to research on the charger’s performance in Manitoba’s climate.

In-house Recycling Program

Red River College has a comprehensive waste, recycling, composting & re-use program that is driven by a 21-member recycling team. All materials leaving our campuses are tracked using the sophisticated Business Intelligence Tool. This online dashboard gives the Sustainability Office detailed information on the program performance and allows us to make adjustments to achieve desired results and develop business case scenarios for program improvements. In 2015, Red River College had a diversion rate of 44%. This means that almost half the materials leaving our campuses are being recycled, composted or re-used. By way of comparison, the City of Winnipeg residential diversion rate is 28%.

Sustainable Transportation

Red River College promotes sustainable transportation alternatives to reduce the number of single occupancy vehicles coming to the campus. Employees are entitled to a 60% discount on monthly transit passes (EcoPass).This incentive, combined with the high costs to park downtown has resulted in significant increases in transit uptake by College staff.

Fair Trade Campus

Red River College is continuing to work on becoming a Fair Trade Campus.  Vending machines now hold Fair Trade Certified coffee and the College is selling Fair Trade Certified teas and chocolate.

Paperless Student Evaluations

Beginning in March 2015, an online process replaced the paper form survey for students. This win-win-win initiative means that students will have more opportunity to complete surveys, instructors will receive more detailed feedback on courses and their instruction, and the process will be sustainable.

Now entering its 10^th year, Canada’s Greenest Employers is an editorial competition that recognizes the employers that lead the nation in creating a culture of environmental awareness.  The winning employers, selected by the editors at Canada’s Top 100 Employers, are evaluated on the following criteria: (1) unique environmental initiatives or programs they have developed; (2) whether they have been successful in reducing their own environmental footprint; (3) whether their employees are involved in these programs and contribute any unique skills; and (4) whether their environmental initiatives have become linked to the employer’s public identity and attract new people to the organization.

Visit RRC’s Red Goes Green Blog blogs.rrc.ca/redgreen