Fitting Inn with the Environment

The lovely pastoral inn Les Victorines du Lac is located on the shores of Lac Mégantic in the Frontenac district. More than just a high-quality establishment, guests at the inn can also enjoy a gastronomic meal prepared with rural charm, an outdoor whirlpool and a massage therapy room. The inn is a member of the network of rural inns and hotels in Quebec.

Sustainable development at Les Victorines du Lac means including the environment in the overall management plan for the company, and adopting a larger perspective. It’s also a way to place human concerns at the heart of its business strategy. For the owners, sustainable development is an opportunity to adopt good and responsible practices, and to show their commitment to the environment through daily activities as well as communicating this commitment to their employees and clientele.

Since the different environmental certifications related to hotel management appear to be more accessible to large hotels, the owners do not intend to embark on the process towards obtaining certification. However, they are making significant efforts in favour of environmental preservation.  The inn has already started a series of actions: reducing light pollution, decreasing energy consumption, adding regional products to the kitchen and setting up recycling bins in every room.

The inn’s location on the shores of Lac Mégantic provides many advantages to the clientele, but the quality of the lake’s water needs protection. This is why the inn is currently working on respecting the new MRC bylaw that requires a 5-metre lakeside buffer strip of vegetation.  

Among the other actions to be undertaken by the inn in their sustainable development plan are: improving energy efficiency by adding an alternative source of energy; studying a project aimed at compensating for greenhouse gases; applying a more rigorous plan for responsible supplying of the inn’s needs; and creating a sustainable development communications plan for employees and clients.

One interesting initiative is a work of art that includes all the sustainable development measures that the owners hope to bring to fruition. The artwork will be exposed at the entrance for the benefit of all guests.

For more information on the inn:
http://www.victorines.qc.ca/fr/auberge-megantic/accueil/

Estrie SADCs salute the commitment of companies to sustainable development

The event held May 17th in Lac-Mégantic was a great success! Thank you to those who came and congratulations to the companies that received a certificate of commitment!

Official press release of the event.

An Electrical Company with a Heart for the Environment

Pelletier et Picard is an electrical company located in Danville that is currently expanding its services. The company specializes in installing alarm systems and the various procedures relating to the installation and maintenance of high-tension and standard electrical systems. Many clients are in agriculture and need the company’s organizational expertise to program new automated milking systems. To stand out from the competition, Pelletier et Picard is currently enhancing its presence in the high-tension electrical systems market.   

Pelletier et Picard believe that sustainable development is the key to business development. By turning green, the company hopes to experience many different economic advantages in the intermediate term, particularly in cost reduction. These will very likely result in increased efficiency in managing new buildings, and in transportation. As well, the company’s clients are asking that more ecological materials be used in new constructions.  Pelletier et Picard hope to be able to respond adequately to these demands by offering more products adapted to this new reality.

Finally, the company is remaining vigilant regarding the many different training opportunities offered by its partners in order to stay up-to-date with new energy efficient technologies in the energy sector. These efforts are in view of participating in new construction projects that integrate ecological criteria, such as LEED and Boma Best.

For more information on the company, please visit their site at: http://www.pelletierpicard.com/

It's time to register!

The 5th edition of Défi Climat is officially launched! Citizens from all over Quebec can now commit to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions while improving their health and giving their wallets a break, thanks to some simple little gestures. Do what many Quebecers are doing; get involved with Défi Climat and fight climate change. In addition to helping the environment, you'll have the chance to win one of many prizes!


It is also still possible for the organizations to subscrible.


Don't forget to save your seat for the May 17th session presenting how SMBs can benifit from the carbon trading.

Paradis et Frères AFM: A Pair of Young and Environmentally Aware Business Owners

Paradis et Frères AFM is a hardware store in the town of Danville under the Rona franchise. The two co-owners who have been operating the store since January 2011 are determined to include sustainable development (SD) in their business management practices. From the point of view of these young business owners, the Rona label and environmentally outstanding RONA ECO* product line makes it an easy decision to orient their company’s growth with this concept as a primary focus.

At Paradis et Frères AFM, sustainable development (SD) is also an opportunity to create financial savings. This is why they have already made significant changes to the lighting throughout the store. In addition to increasing the level of brightness inside the store, the plan is also to create savings.

The company will soon develop a communications plan for employees and customers. The goal is to make sure that employees are well-versed in the features of RONA ECO products so that they can be effectively promoted to customers.

Using the Rona logo, the company intends to go even further in sustainable development, in particular by extending the offer to recover hazardous products for customers, improve its system of residual waste management, work on decreasing fuel consumption in its vehicles, improve energy efficiency in buildings, use environmentally friendly products for renovating storefronts and add more RONA ECO products to its store shelves.

* The life cycle of RONA ECO products have undergone analysis to ensure that their environmental impact is slight in comparison to other competing products.

Happy hour meeting for sustainable businesses May 17th in Lac-Mégantic

See official invitation

Sustainability is the anchor for business projects at Entreprises serricoles Bo-Jardins

From their location in Ascot Corner, Entreprises serricoles Bo-Jardins offers clients fresh quality products for sale directly on site or at various vegetable stands in the region, as well as at two grocery stores. The company’s principal activity is greenhouse culture, which it carries out on 22,000 square feet of site land. The main focus is tomatoes and cucumbers, and to a lesser extent a few other vegetables such as peppers and lettuce.

The company owners’ interest in sustainable development has been progressively deployed over recent years. Collaboration with the Cookshire IGA was an important catalyst in bringing a change within the company’s culture. Environmental protection is now at the centre of operations and this translates in concrete terms by minimal use of pesticides and composting organic matter from both on and off-site (including IGA fruit and vegetables and the municipal Christmas tree collection). Sustainable development has also been integrated into the company’s vision, growing from short-term to intermediate long-term plans.

The Estrie SADCs are helping the company continue the process it started, in particular by seeking out participants from the greenhouse cultivation community who are willing to be guided in energy savings projects. As well, scientific support is offered for another key project: organic certification for field cultivation.