NSGEU celebrates Earth Day!

NSGEU celebrates Earth Day!

Each year since 1970, people all over the world have joined forces to celebrate Earth Day on April 22^nd. Today, more than 6 million Canadians take part in this international occasion, staging events and organizing projects to address and call attention to local environmental issues.

Sadly, despite 42 years of raising awareness surrounding many key concerns – like global warming, fossil fuels and deforestation – Canada is still lagging behind many other countries on the environmental front. For example, the Harper government’s Bill C-38, passed in June 2012, included more than $160 million in cuts to environmental spending, seriously hindering our ability to measure or improve our impact on our natural world (for more information on the environmental implications of Bill C-38, please see this paper by the David Suzuki Foundation).

Here at the NSGEU, we are trying to do our part to lessen our impact on the natural world. We recently launched our Go-Green Tablet Giveaway contest, which called on members to sign up for an e-version of our quarterly magazine, The Union Stand, instead of the paper version, and be entered for a chance to win a tablet computer.

I’m pleased to report that the response to this contest so far has been tremendous, with almost 4,000 members choosing to opt-out of the paper version of The Stand. This means that we are keeping approximately one standard ton (2,000 lbs) of paper out of landfills each year. So, to further encourage members to “go green” (and to improve your chances of winning), we have decided to give away 20 tablets, rather than just 5!

If you have not yet entered, and you would prefer to have the electronic version of our magazine sent to you, please click here and fill out our form no later than April 30^th.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our members for choosing to “go green,” when possible. Together, we can make a difference!

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