Celebrating Earth Day at the Mill and in the Community

celebrating earth day 2024

Earth Day is April 22 and across Domtar EarthChoice Ambassador teams are celebrating with both employees and their local communities.

EarthChoice Ambassadors are teams of employees who make time in their busy workdays to volunteer to make the world a better place. Each group is led by a committed EarthChoice Ambassador Captain who coordinates and organizes for the team.

“As a legacy Paper Excellence employee who has just begun working with the Earth Choice Ambassador Captains, I’m really impressed with their commitment to volunteering in their communities and making the world a better place,” said Brenda Martin, Public Affairs Manager. “Here’s just a sample of the events the ECA Captains have planned across Domtar’s sites.”

Teaching Young Minds

  • Reading books to 20 preschoolers at Chahk Ha Chee Head Start and then planting seeds with the children and talking to them about how plants take root and grow. Each child will take home a book and potted seeds. 
  • Working with local schools to have students take part in an Earth Day poster contest. The winning posters will be displayed at our Earth Fun Walk where the local community walks on a local trail network that Domtar helps upkeep.
  • Hosting an Earth Week forestry education event for students at Jamesville Elementary School where will learn about the papermaking process and receive pine tree seedlings. 

Taking Care of our Green Spaces

  • Taking part in an Adopt-A-Highway clean-up to reduce litter in the community.
  • Hosting Breakfast & Learn and Lunch & Learn events for employees with a speaker from DuPage Forest Preserve—an organization dedicated to habitat restoration and species recovery.
  • Participating in a Keep Kingsport Beautiful project to build pollinator gardens at local elementary schools.

Reducing our Impact on the Planet

  • Promoting electronics recycling to our employees by encouraging them to bring in electronics from home to be properly recycled at our local recycling center. 
  • Reserving 15 minutes each day for Ditch-the-Emails, a group email purge. Every email deleted reduces carbon emissions.
  • Hosting a freecycle event at the office where employees can bring something they no longer need and take something they think they will use. 
  • Buying carbon offsets based on how many kilometers employees drove to work on April 22 to compensate for GHG emissions caused by employees’ commutes that day. 
  • Hosting virtual conference “J’aime ma poubelle mais je la quitte” with a guest speaker from the Earth Day organization for all Paper Excellence Group employees in Quebec which includes legacy Resolute Forest Product employees.

“This year the Domtar Montreal office has extended their virtual Earth Day conference to all Paper Excellence Group employees in Quebec which is very exciting,” said Martin. “I hope next year, as integration of the three companies continues, that we’ll include even more legacy Resolute and Paper Excellence employees with Earth Day celebrations.”