Driving efficiency initiative

At our Enterprise Solutions Unit, we provide ongoing education and support to managers to assist in helping them adopt more fuel-efficient driving habits on the job. One example is our 'Idling Policy' which has helped the company reduce fuel and maintenance costs while lowering greenhouse gas emissions from the corporate fleet. To date, MTS Allstream has demonstrated a reduction of idling time as high as 16 per cent and an increase in fuel efficiency as high as 10 per cent. Another example is an initiative to focus corporate vehicle purchases/leading on smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles where practical.

Waste reduction

• Office Paper Recycling and Shredding - Our paper recycling program collects all clean paper products, including newspaper, magazines, envelopes, office paper and cardboard. In 2006, our Enterprise Solutions Unit directed 69 metric tonnes of paper products away from landfill. In addition, nearly 100 metric tonnes of documents were shredded and recycled that year. (For every metric tonne of shredded paper, 17 trees are saved. MTS Allstream's program saves nearly 3,000 trees per year.)
• Paper reduction program - In our Enterprise Solutions Unit, we lowered paper use by 14 per cent in 2003, a further 10 per cent in 2004, and 18 per cent in 2005. The main factors in the reductions were double-sided printing, on-line purchasing and using electronic communications.

Eco-pass

• In the Enterprise Solutions Unit, we participate in a program that offers employees a 30 per cent price reduction on the cost of monthly bus passes. The "EcoPass Employer Sponsored Bus Pass Program" is designed to increase transit ridership and help protect our environment. Some 15 per cent of our Winnipeg-based employees participate in this program. We are developing plans to roll out similar programs in other communities where we have operations.

In-field Improvements

• Completed the successful decommissioning of an MTS Allstream microwave tower located on the top of a 10,000 ft high Pyramid Mountain in the Jasper National Park, Alberta. MTS Allstream used and removed a tramway to support this extensive initiative and to restore the site to its natural state. The work was completed in 2006.
• Replaced 1,000 kilometers of radio route with environmentally friendly fibre optics through the sensitive northern Manitoba tundra.