Ritchie bRos. does $1b canadian sales
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time foR men to untie the knot
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aga khan paRk still on the table
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December 21 2012 www.burnabynewsleader.com
is it time for a regional police force? See Page A16
Ban sought for pharmacy loyalty programs Cited as a health and safety issue Wanda chow
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
mArIO bArTeL/NeWSLeADer
it was a cold, wet wait for the bus along burnaby’s edmonds street during Wednesday’s snowstorm. See more photos on Page A3.
Businesses taking sustainability pledge Wanda chow
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
When it comes to the environment and reducing waste, Valley Bakery has always been conscious of what it needs to do. Owner Jack Kuyer said over the years the Hastings Street bakery reduced its use of plastic packaging, sells cleaned-out ingredient pails instead of throwing them out, donated extra product or recycled it (into breadcrumbs, for example), and reduced its energy and water usage.
And last summer Valley Bakery was the first Burnaby business to take the Burnaby Board of Trade’s (BBOT) pledge of sustainability outlining what it’s done for the environment and what it plans to do further. “The pledge is more about recognizing that your business is making an effort to be environmentally friendly, it’s also an example to other companies,” Kuyer said. “I think it’s letting your customers know you make this kind of an effort. There’s lots of really
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good reasons why taking the pledge makes sense.” Kuyer said he hopes that other bakeries or businesses will look at what Valley Bakery is doing and be inspired to make similar changes in their own operations. And the pledge also helps motivate Kuyer and his employees. “Sometimes you need to pat your own back to keep yourself on track.” The BBOT has created a website for its sustainability pledge (bbotpledge.ca) which provides
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case studies and suggestions in how companies could improve their environmental performance in the areas of energy, water, waste, travel and purchasing. “The objective of this program is really to create some momentum, create awareness and really to help businesses to understand the importance of becoming more environmentally sustainable and to give them some assistance to improve their sustainability performance,” said BBOT president and CEO Paul Holden.
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For more than 30 years, Burnaby’s Corinne Bergdal has been a regular at pharmacies to fill insulin prescriptions to stay alive. Now 42, she figures she spends $5,000 to $6,000 a year to refill her insulin pump and buy related supplies to manage her Type 1 diabetes. When she participated in a loyalty program, a small silver lining—if you could call it that— was she earned points that she could use to save money on other products in the store. Now the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia is proposing to prohibit such programs, which include Air Miles at Safeway and Optimum points at Shoppers Drug Mart. “The decision was made on the basis of what is in the interest of public health and safety,” said Mykle Ludvigsen, spokesman for the college. He noted that Ontario and Quebec also prohibit such programs and Alberta is at the same stage in its proposal to enact a ban. please see PeOPLe, A3