Regional and branch highlights

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Regions

• Pacific
• Prairie
• Northern Ontario
• Southern Ontario
• Quebec
• Atlantic

Branches

• Appeals
• Assessment and Collections
• Corporate Audit and Evaluation
• Customs
• Finance and Administration
• Human Resources
• Information Technology
• Policy and Planning
• Public Affairs

Our regions and branches are at the heart of the network that drives SD at the Agency. They each have an action plan that directly supports the targets of the national SD strategy, and their collective efforts are reflected in the progress outlined in this report.

Branches and regions have met national targets, and in many cases they have exceeded national requirements by implementing many of their own initiatives. Most of these initiatives have raised SD awareness and involvement among employees-through partnerships, best practices, learning and awareness, recognition, committees, and events-and increased support from senior management.

The following are highlights from regional and branch performance reports.

Regions

Pacific

• Partnerships: Formed regional partnerships by participating in the Pacific Federal Council discussions, the Federal Family Green Mobility Team meeting, and the Go For Green Coordinator Training Course hosted by Better Environmentally Sound Transportation; attended a seminar on Securing our Wealth: Investing in the Environmental Quality of Canadian Cities, presented by the National Round Table of Environment and Economy; and attended the Buildex Conference and Exposition to view green products
• Best practices: Facilitated sustainable renovations of the main floor at 1166 West Pender, including refitting used doors, using ergonomic furniture; and re-using partition walls
• Learning and awareness: SD information included in the Jumpstart to Management - Learning Events and Resource Guide, which is a regional publication for managers
• Conducted 41 SD awareness sessions across the region, with participation by 661 employees
• Published a quarterly regional SD newsletter that was emailed to employees and featured articles on topics such as the Honda Hybrid vehicle, the Vancouver TSO's Green Machine, the no junk mail initiative, rechargeable battery recycling, and SD best practices
• Held a presentation on the newly purchased Honda Hybrid vehicle for employees at the Vancouver TSO
• Recognition: Two employees in the procurement office received regional recognition awards for developing halocarbon-containing equipment faxes that request manufacturer information and help update inventories
• Committees: Formalized the newly created SD committee at the Vancouver TSO
• Formed the Pacific Region Paper Reduction Committee to perform a program paper review; revised the distribution list of Interaction (reducing copies from an annual total of 24,636 to 4,720); and reviewed paper use in revenue collections
• Events: Celebrated Environment Week by issuing national communications, having 1,187 staff register for the commuter challenge, (which is almost half of the national total), and encouraging employees to fill out the SD Guarantee, which resulted in 369 registered participants (77% of the national total)
• Celebrated Earth Day by sending an Assistant Commissioner message to all employees; featuring various environmental information on the regional Web site; displaying intercepted endangered species collection and lunch and learn videos at the Burnaby-Fraser TSO; organizing presentations by a master gardener at the Vancouver TSO; promoting International Year of Freshwater - 2003 at the Surrey TC; holding a coloring contest that received 96 entries by children of staff in the Surrey Campus; and holding random prize draws
• Celebrated Waste Reduction Week by sending a series of daily emails with challenges to employees from the regional Assistant Commissioner, promoting the regional word scramble activity, which received more than 700 submissions and 523 correctly answered puzzles

Prairie

• Best practices: Calgary Research and Library Services developed a "how to" bulletin for e-services for telephone directories, and replaced their internal phone directory using an electronic version, thereby saving 1,761 hard copies (70,440 pages) for a total cost savings of $8,536
• Winnipeg TC staff participated in a clean desk day and promoted the Salvation Army Blue Bag clothing donation program. The SD committee runs a recycling program twice per year to collect and donate used clothing articles. In total, the building-wide clean-up resulted in recycling of 6897 kg of paper waste and sending 27 kg of clothing to the Salvation Army. The WTO also collects used eyeglasses for re-use in developing countries.
• The Winnipeg TSO held a "no plate/no cake" initiative during their Canada Day BBQ. There were 150 employees who brought their own plate, representing about 38% of the total attendance (400 employees).
• Calgary reduced hard-copy TOM manuals from 4,083 to 2,128 copies
• The Calgary TSO implemented a paper recycling program that resulted in 15,427 kg of paper being recycling in 9 months.
• Through funds raised from their spring 2003 compost sales, the Calgary SD committee donated $400 to a local non-profit group, Child and Youth Friendly Calgary.
• Edmonton started a blue box program where approximately 1,000 employees now have recycling at their desk.
• Starting in March 2003, the Saskatoon SD Committee started a composting project in their office and invited all staff to participate. They emptied their two compost bins 4 times during the summer, for a total of about 28 cubic feet of finished compost. The initiative supplied 12% of staff with good-quality compost.
  The Winnipeg TC replaced their cleaning solutions with Super Green, which is an eco-logo certified product, and they refill containers rather than repurchase.
• Learning and awareness: Provided SD awareness presentations to 140 team leaders and 20 employees throughout the region, and Calgary held two SD orientation sessions for new employees
• Used email and Web site updates to promote to all employees how to print multiple mainframe screens
• Most major locations in the region held Green Defensive Driving courses, and the Winnipeg TSO shared information on fleet best practices and a directive on ethanol use with all their management employees.
• The Winnipeg TC developed an SD kiosk that included re-usable banners and posters. They also promoted SD tips of the month, the SD Evergreen Web site, lunch and learn video presentations, and included recycling initiatives in the Employee Orientation booklet.
• The Winnipeg TSO and Saskatoon TSO each launched an SD Web site.
• Three members of the Calgary SD committee attended the Recycling Council of Alberta's Fall Conference.
• Calgary held their 4th annual Environmental Expo two-day event.
• Edmonton held a green fair at their Canada Place location to increase awareness among their employees.
• Edmonton held an awareness session to promote Earth Friendly Living Tips. They used a Christmas theme and promoted reusing and recycling during the holidays, and approximately 80 employees visited the booth.
• Recognition: The new Sweetgrass/Coutts Port of Entry was nominated for and won the GSA Environmental Award.
• The Regional Finance and Administration Director was awarded with a Certificate of Recognition by the SD Division for his continual leadership and support for SD in the Prairie region.
• Events: Celebrated Earth Day, Environment Week, and Waste Reduction Week: The Winnipeg TSO and TC sold approximately 3,000 white spruce tree-growing kits and collected $2,815, which they donated to the Trees for Canada Foundation. Also, the Regina TSO placed third in the City of Regina Commuter Challenge 2003.

Northern Ontario

• Best practices: The Thunder Bay TSO has reduced the number of telephone books ordered by staff by 36% since 2002. Also, the TSO donated all old phone books to the Thunder Bay Horticultural Society who used them for pressing flowers.
• During May 2003, the Thunder Bay TSO held its third clothing drive for the Salvation Army and collected over 304 kg of clothing. The Peterborough TSO also held a clothing drive and donated the collection to the Brock Mission and Cameron House charity.
• The Thunder Bay TSO collected 12 pairs of eyeglasses for donation to a local optometrist where they will be refurbished and provided to people in need.
• At the Ottawa Technology Centre, the current waste diversion rate is 90% relative to the baseline year.
• The Belleville TSO implemented a paper save program that included collecting scrap non-classified paper and out-dated forms for re-use as scratch pads and notepaper, and educating staff on how to use the double-sided feature on copiers.
• The Belleville, Sudbury, and Peterborough TSOs implemented a battery-recycling program for employees, and the Thunder Bay TSO collected approximately 26 kg of batteries for recycling, which is a 120% increase from last year.
• The Peterborough TSO initiated a toner and remanufactured printer cartridge recovery program for the office; the Belleville TSO has acquisition cardholders bring used toner cartridges to Materiel and Offices Services for return to the manufacturer or supplier or pick-up by a local recycling company; and the Thunder Bay TSO sent 23 used toner cartridges to Grand & Toy for recycling. For each cartridge sent, the company donated funds to the paediatric ward of the new Thunder Bay District Regional Hospital.
• The Common Services Procurement Unit at the Belleville TSO has incorporated green procurement into their performance management objectives for purchasing officers. They have also trained acquisition cardholders to procure environmentally friendly products whenever possible.
• Events: Belleville TSO employees participated in the following Events: 14 participants walked, jogged, and carpooled over 350 km for the Commuter Challenge; 33 employees participated in the Ecological Footprint questionnaire for Earth Day; and several employees participated in the Office-wide Clean-Up Day held in December. In addition, the Peterborough TSO celebrated Earth Day by collaborating with the Otonabee Regional Conservation Authority to clean up Jackson Park.

Southern Ontario

• Partnerships: Initiated four SD partnerships with PWGSC, SDGO, OFC Sustainable Communities Network, and Environment Canada. The Regional SD Co-ordinator attended 14 interdepartmental committee meetings. All local offices have successfully initiated working partnerships with property management. Regional SD and Paper Baselines were completed in the second quarter of 2003-2004.
• Best practices: A 10% regional paper reduction goal established for 2003-2004, and a 33% reduction (surpassing the national goal of 2%) was achieved, amounting to $147,000 in savings. Paper reduction best practices were developed, implemented, and shared with all regional SD leads, HQ, and other regions. Best practices were posted on local Web pages and the national Web site.
• In support of the national duplex strategy and as result of the lessons learned at the pilot sites, 100% of all regional duplex capable printers (with the exception of dedicated ELCS printers) default to duplex.
• Electronic communication and information sharing has become the regionally endorsed medium of choice. About 50% of all responsibility centres have successfully reduced the number of hard-copy local and Agency-wide publications (for Interaction, a 93% reduction was achieved), regional and local newsletters, and all-staff and divisional communiqués.
• Integrated SD into presentations/meetings for local volunteer programs, outreach, and tax practitioner groups, resulting in a reduction of 30,000 sheets of paper
• As a result of an employee suggestion, the CAS system is being amended to reduce the amount of paper consumed when procuring goods and services.
• Duplex-capable printer stickers developed in Hamilton have been shared and endorsed by HQ as a national best practice.
• Two offices have developed a method to multi screen print from the mainframe. This best practice has been shared regionally and nationally.
• 98% of all surplus equipment is tendered or donated to Computers for Schools.
• Developed, shared, and implemented SD best practices with all regional SD leads, HQ, and other regions; best practices are posted on local Web pages and the national Web site. Total savings attributed to SD initiatives for 2002-2004 was $223,000.
• F&A has established a used furniture warehouse as a one-year pilot project to support diversion from landfill. As of March 31, savings of $40,000 have been realized.
• Learning and awareness: Commitment to SD appears in 100% (80) of senior manager (EX/SM) performance expectations and accountability agreements.
• 100% of RMT members recommended and supported development and implementation of local SD programs; SD leads identified at all responsibility centres
• SD Lens developed by HQ and distributed to regions in the third quarter of 2003-2004; all SD leads (15) provided with lens to help advise senior managers on integrating SD into business plans and proposals; SD appears as SMT standing agenda item at 75% of responsibility centres
• SD awareness presentation delivered to 95% of SOR senior managers
• SD considerations have been integrated into regional procurement training (WEBRO, WHMIS), new employee orientation packages, and local IT end-user training, and has appeared in employee information packages developed in support of major renovation and construction projects (Hamilton and St. Catharines). Local SD leads continue to work with local training co-ordinators to reduce the amount of hard-copy training materials produced.
• SD leads identified for 100% of SOR responsibility centres; senior management champions identified at 80% of all responsibility centres
• A Train the Trainer strategy was developed to ensure all offices would be engaged by March 31, 2004, and as a means to share the best practices developed in our 2002-2003 pilot sites (Hamilton and London). A Train the Trainer session was held on February 3, 2004, and this strategy has been shared with Atlantic and NO regions.
• Through the identification of SD leads, a regional network was established.
• Local SD committees (including representation of all program and business lines) were established at 78% of SOR's major offices; remaining offices will establish committees in the first quarter of 2004-2005; regional CV&S committee established in the fourth quarter of 2003
• Local action plans developed for 78% of SOR's major offices; remaining offices to develop and implement local programs in the first quarter of 2004-2005
• Local SD committees ensure employees are provided opportunities on an ongoing basis; local action plans identified opportunities and measurement criteria; through implementation of local SD initiatives opportunities to participate and commit are provided to employees.
• By March 31, 2004, approximately 5,000 employees (including all employees at 5 of the 9 major offices) had received SD awareness training through town hall information sessions and team meetings; SD leads (Train the Trainer) at remaining offices will deliver presentations in the first quarter of 2004-2005. As part of SD employee awareness presentation, employees were encouraged to visit the national SD Web site and complete the SD pledge.
• 75% of local Web sites (9 of 12) have created SD Web pages; employees notified of dedicated SD information sites, email SD points of contact and/or electronic suggestion boxes at 8 of 9 major offices
• Recognition: A regional SD recognition program was established, and seven regional SD recognition awards were presented in 2003-2004. In addition, SD reps have successfully integrated SD recognition into existing local awards and recognition programs. In London, all local awards are now environmentally friendly products and/or reflect SD.
• Sharing best practices through Train the Trainer, regional SDS and SD employee awareness presentations; all local SD representatives provided pilot final reports and SD implementation checklist to assist in developing local SD action plans; best practices communicated electronically and posted on local and national SD Web sites

Quebec

• Partnerships: Regional fleet authorities worked with the SD Coordinator to explore Communauto, a car-sharing program in Quebec. The region signed an agreement with Communauto to officially launch the program over summer 2004
• Partnered with PWGSC to implement a waste recycling program at the container examining centre in Montréal
• Participated in the Groupe de travail interministériel fédéral en développement durable (GIFDD), a sustainable transportation committee, and also participat
• An employee at the Laval TSO partnered with a local school to donate mini-containers of milk and cream for school crafts
• Best practices: Starting in June 2003, several employees in downtown Montréal participated in the Share a Bike program, along with partners such as Bell, Hydro Quebec, Gaz Métropolitain, and Environment Canada. Employees shared bikes for work or leisure during lunch hours. To date, the program has 57 bikes, which have saved 1740 kg of carbon dioxide emissions.
• Implemented mini-bin recycling for all the offices in Montérégie, with assistance from PWGSC
• Client Services, in collaboration with the Social Committee, decided to cease purchasing Styrofoam cups, and employees were asked to bring their own mugs to work.
• The region considered installing a wind energy system as part of the renovation project at the Shawinigan TC. A decision on the project will be made in the coming year.
• Learning and awareness: The region worked with the SD Division to train 12 real property officers on the new Standard Operating Procedure for halocarbon-containing systems.
• Held three SD awareness session for approximately 130 employees, and held two additional presentation to local management teams
• Issued regional emails to employees encouraging them to participate in Earth Day and Environment Week
• Ensured that all participants at the Expanded Management Meeting received recycled-content participant gifts
• Montérégie created a permanent display to promote various SD initiatives to employees. They also reduced the use of Styrofoam cups in their office by purchasing 250 ceramic cups.
• The local SD representative at the Laval TSO promoted SD regularly to employees through posters (e.g., think green) and activities such as clothing drives.
• Piloted the Agency's new Prius hybrid vehicle, and evaluated its overall performance to assist with future hybrid vehicle purchases

Atlantic

• Partnerships: The region partnered with local committees on shared SD initiatives, including: Ecology Action Centre to discuss the TRAX program, a trip reduction initiative adopted by the Ralston Building; municipality contacts to promote Waste Reduction Week; Canadian Diabetes Association for recycling laser printer cartridges; donated $475 to Adopt-a-Family using proceeds from refundable containers; CleanNS; Newfoundland Labrador Environmental Association; ThINK Food; rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation; and Interdepartmental Pan-Atlantic SD Committee. In addition, Bolands presented the Waterford Foundation (Evergreen Recycling) with a donation of $3,072 collected from recycling paper (approximately 65 tonnes) from the TC, TSO, and Donovans (Newfoundland)
• Best practices: Implemented a green move (e.g., reuse of materials, tiles, furniture) and office design for the new Purdy's Wharf office
• Committees: Established and trained the regional SD committee and finalized their regional action plan and performance measures for SD
• Established the regional SD Steering Committee to provide guidance to the SD committee
• Established an SD and environment committee for the Ralston and Purdy's Wharf office
• Events: Promoted Earth Day at various buildings in the region, for example the Ralston Building promoted SD Trivia questions with employees
• For Environment Week, the region developed a campaign to raise awareness among employees across the region. Communications included hosting contests and exhibits at the regional office, promoting the SD Guarantee, and promoting the regional SD Web site, which contains checklists, guidelines, and local resource information
• For Waste Reduction Week, the region promoted the event to employees at the TSO and TCs by: displaying posters, exhibits, guest speakers, distributing electronic fact sheets and email messages to employees, hosting a workspace clean-up contest, and publishing waste management articles in the regional newsletter. In addition, 20 employees at Donovans and 40 employees at the TC (Newfoundland) attended a lecture on composting.

Branches

Appeals

• Best practices: A solid waste recycling program was implemented at Albion Towers, Headquarters
• Arranged to install additional bicycle racks outside Albion Towers
• Learning and awareness: Published an "SD participation" article in the Appeals Branch newsletter, The Appellant
• The branch SD Committee held a raffle for 23 trees donated by an employee and raised $100 for the Tree Canada Foundation.
• Recognition: The HR and Learning Division achieved first place in the public sector (population 1-50) category of the 2003 Commuter Challenge campaign in Ottawa.
• An employee was presented with a certificate of achievement for outstanding contributions to SD.

Assessment and Collections

• Best practices: Branch IT support reprogrammed 145 LAN printers to duplex by default printing
• Waste recycling programs are available at all five Headquarter buildings occupied by the branch.
• 73% of all paper purchased during the year contained recycled content, which is an increase in 21% over last year.
• Committees: The Enviro-Source committee regularly met throughout the year to discuss and take action on branch SD and wellness initiatives.
• Events: Participated in Waste Reduction Week by displaying posters and issuing branch-wide emails about local waste collection programs
• The SD Committee of Vanier Tower C in Headquarters celebrated Earth Day in the following ways: set-up an SD kiosk in the lobby and attracted over 150 visitors; encouraged 35 employees to sign onto an email list to receive information on upcoming events; obtained 11 employee signatures on a document supporting the purchase of environmentally friendly products; organized 13 volunteers who collected 15 bags of garbage during a lunch time clean-up of Riverain Park; collected funds from the sale of Tree Kits and individual donations, and the proceeds were donated to the Tree Canada Foundation on behalf of the Agency.

Corporate Audit and Evaluation

• Best practices: The branch's Pacific region led the internal audit on the sustainable development program.
• Ensured that sustainable development is a generic line of enquiry as part of regular internal audits, and are working on developing a SD audit program
• Committees: Formalized its SD committee with representation from Headquarters and the regions
• Events: The branch SD Committee distributed information on Earth Day and Environment Week to their employees. A total of 52 employees participated in the Commuter Challenge, which is an increase in 17 people (or 49%) from last year. The SD committee presented 19 prizes to registrants (T-shirts and pens).

Customs

• Best practices: Circulated to all directorates in Headquarters the National Implementation Strategy for Duplex Printing, and where possible, purchased duplex printers as replacements
• Waste recycling programs were implemented at the Sir Richard Scott, Isabella, and Metcalfe locations at Headquarters
• The Partnerships Division started a "Fair Trade coffee club," whereby Fair Trade, organic, and shade-grown coffee is purchased monthly, contributing to increased income for farmers in developing countries as well as environmental health and sustainability
• The Admissibility Programs Division conducted an after-work survey of workstations where computers, monitors, and lights were left on all night, and then shared information with employees on the financial and environmental benefits to being energy conscious at work.
• Learning and awareness: SD Lens was circulated to all directorates in headquarters, to be used as a tool for business planning
• Partnerships Division at Headquarters issued a smog newsletter to employees, highlighting information on idling
• Events: Promoted Earth Day, Environment Week, and Waste Reduction Week by circulating information to staff and setting up a SD display on reducing waste at work

Finance and Administration

• Best practices: FAD collected more than 10,000 sheets of paper for the 2^nd life program for re-use of one-sided printed paper
• Established FAD baseline of letter and legal size paper purchased, in order to benchmark progress on paper reduction targets
• IMD participated in bulk purchasing or site licensing of publications to obtain better prices
• IMD sent 40 boxes of surplus library material to the Canadian Book Exchange Centre for the potential benefit of libraries worldwide
• IMD co-ordinated the purchase of 163 e-books through the Council of Federal Libraries Consortium, making a total of 836 commercially published e-books available to employees. The collection enables us to provide our employees and clients with current information, while saving on physical storage space.
• The Materiel Management Directorate (MMD) updated the procurement certification program to include environmental considerations and green content.
• The MMD IT contracting group has started asking vendors for their SD policies and plans at the Request for Proposal stage of contracting.
• Resource Management Directorate provided advice to the SD Division on the creation of a new SD indirect Activity Type (AT). This new AT will be available for use by any CRA employee to record time spent on SD activities.
• Security Directorate mostly completed the implementation of an electronic security incident report (.pdf fillable form)
• Security Directorate implemented a limited deployment of secure email to the security administrator and some senior CRA officials, which reduces the need for encrypted fax transmission and paper use
• The Telephony and Program Support Directorate continued to co-ordinate teleconference and videoconference services for the Agency, thereby reducing employee travel, lodging, and conference costs.
• Learning and awareness: The Financial Administration Directorate (FAD) SD co-ordinator attended Industry Canada's workshop on Corporate Sustainability Reporting in Canada and developed a report for the CRA entitled Sustainability Reporting - Triple Bottom Line, November 2003
• Enhanced the FAD internal Web site by adding an SD page
• The Revenue Accounting and Reporting Division SD co-ordinator provided 90% of staff (35 employees) with an SD awareness.
• The Information Management Directorate management team attended a presentation on sustainable development to further strengthen the link between the sustainability and information management programs.
• The MMD co-ordinated green defensive driver training for target employees groups
• MMD fleet and procurement experts presented at the Agency's national Environmental Management System committee meeting
• Resource Management Directorate assisted with developing questions and measures for the SD employee awareness survey due to be launched in 2004
• Recognition: The FAD SD co-ordinator was formally recognized for his contributions to SD in the first SD quarterly newsletter published by the SD Division. In addition, FAD recognized two of its employees for their efforts in reducing usage of printer toner, and for establishing a coffee club resulting in 50% reduction of Styrofoam waste (46,000 cups per year).
• Events: The FAD SD committee celebrated Earth Day by holding their second annual Earth Day Challenge to test employees knowledge of the information on the SD Web site through a 20-multiple-choice e-questionnaire. For the second consecutive year, the Financial Policy Systems and Control Division (FPSCD) were the highest achievers for the Earth Day challenge within FAD.
• The branch celebrated Environment Week by holding the following activities:
  Finance and Administration: The SD committee celebrated Environment Week by holding an internal commuter challenge for the divisions of FAD. For the second year running, RARD won the competition with a commuting total of 3,230 km, or an average of 179 km per participant for the week. In addition, the FPSCD logged 2,036 km, or 145 km per participant.
  Information Management: The SD committee in Headquarters organized Environment Week activities, including the Commuter Challenge, Bring Your Mug to Work, a luncheon draw for employees at the Albion Executive Tower, and an essay contest.

Human Resources

• Best practices: The Executive Personnel Programs Directorate (EPPD), the organization in charge of managing training programs within the Agency, now provides documents and information on CD to participants attending training conferences.
• For the Career Assignment Program/Executive Development Program conference, the organizers used e-communications and CD ROMs to send information to participants.
• All human resources policies are available online.
• A waste recycling program was implemented in June 2003 at 99 Metcalfe St. at Headquarters
• Learning and awareness: At the November 2003 Middle Management Trainee Program conference, each participant received information on the CRA's SD program, and the organizers ensured no "paper" circulation of the presentation by making it available online.
• SD information is included on the Manager's Gateway and the Manager's Corner Web sites.
• Events: The branch celebrated Environment Week by issuing an Assistant Commissioner email message to employees. EPPD used funds from a three-month "Wear Your Jeans Fridays" campaign to purchase a maple tree to plant on National Capital Commission land. Also, Training and Learning, Strategic Branch Management, and Program Support displayed posters and promoted local take-it-back initiatives.

Information Technology

• Best practices: Used the Green Move Protocol to relocate staff to new IT campuses throughout the year
• Incorporated SD considerations into branch procurement of IT hardware, printers/ photocopiers (duplex-capable), and energy efficient monitors; recycled toner cartridges, diskettes, and CDs
• Reduced the number of printers, photocopiers, and fax machines on each floor to conserve energy and paper use (for example, the branch now has a ratio of 40 employees to 1 printer)
• Learning and awareness: Hosted regular lunch and learn session on various SD topics
• Promoted SD and wellness to employees through information provided on the branch Wellness Web site
• As an employees SD awareness activity, the branch collected 470 disposable cups in two days from five floors of the Fitzgerald Campus, and used the cups to make a Paper Cup Man to display in the foyer of the campus.
• Events: Hosted its fourth annual National Public Service Week BBQ. Approximately 2,100 employees attended the "waste free" event where employees used Frisbees as plates to minimize waste. At the end of the day, the branch BBQ only generated three bags of garbage.

Policy and Planning

• Learning and awareness: 89% of the Branch Management Committee (8 out of 9) has included SD in their performance agreements. This represents a 22% increase over 2002-2003 results.
• In December 2003, the Planning and Management Services Division added to their divisional Web site a link to the national SD Web site.
• Best practices: The Excise GST/HST Rulings Directorate voluntarily collects pop can tabs for donation to the Queensway-Carleton Hospital. Black garbage bins are identified throughout the business centres, and the tabs are collected on a regular basis for submission to the hospital. In June 2003, the directorate made its first donation to the hospital of 2.3 kg of tabs.
• The branch purchased 14 new duplex-capable printers.
• All directorates/divisions use some form of electronic document management.
• Charities consolidation project - 400 statements of policy were posted on the Charities Web site
• Health and Fitness Program in branch continues to thrive
• Performance Measurement Program System (PMPS), an application developed in-house integrating CRA IT architecture, used to gather performance data from all branches in Agency

Public Affairs

• Best practices: Where possible, branch IT support recycles all computer parts and printers through the Computers for Schools program. Only a small portions of items (e.g., connecters and cables) are not recycled.
• The branch IT policy requires that all new printers purchased be duplex-capable. Four new duplex-capable printers were purchased for the Albion Tower at Headquarters.
• The Resource Information Kit (approximately 120 pages) for the 2003 tax year was developed on CD-ROM.
• The branch now distributes electronic versions of press clippings to communications advisors, as opposed to paper copies.
• To improve the printing and distribution practices for Interaction, Public Affairs worked with branches and regions to update mailing lists. In addition, the magazine is printed using vegetable inks and 30% post-consumer content paper
• The Electronic and Print Media Directorate participated in the Warehouse Rationalization exercise and assisted with the elimination of warehouse stocks.
• The Ministerial Correspondence Unit has implemented a best practice of editing documents online.
• Improved the publishing practices of the widely distributed corporate plans and reports by considerably reducing the size, production, and distribution of brochures, and making the information available on InfoZone and the Internet.

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