Cancarb's sustainability takes root with tree planting

REDCLIFF, Alberta—Cancarb Ltd. recently partnered with the town of Redcliff in a new legacy tree planting initiative. The company made a monetary contribution that added 16 trees to town's Lions Park.

In addition to the trees, Cancarb had 25 of its 85 employees volunteer to assist the town in planting the trees. The special tree planning event, which took place Sept. 22, saw the volunteers work alongside the town's employees to add the trees to the park.

The newly planted trees included four Mayday, four white ash, four elm and four Hawthorn. They were planted in the park alongside some of the oldest trees in the area and around the perimeter of the park at locations chosen by Redcliff to complement the existing trees.

Ross Buchholz, Cancarb's vice president of quality and development helped to organize the event. And it helped, he said, that the weather cooperated.

"The park where we planted the trees started to receive rain right before we started planting but the temperature was cool, making the work very comfortable," Buchholz said. "Clearly many hands make light work because we were able to plant all the trees, and (we) staked and caged them."

Buchholz added that the company had reasons for selecting this particular community project to donate to and volunteer with.

"This is a way to beautify a local park to be enjoyed by the community for generations to come. Trees absorb CO2 which is important for the environment, and it is important to Cancarb and our employees to be a responsible member of the community," Buchholz said. "Trees in many local parks were planted more than 100 years ago and are reaching the end of their lifecycle. It is increasingly clear the tree canopy needs to be replenished, and we were happy to do our small part to make this beautification and environmental contribution to our community. This is our second tree planting initiative, having completed a similar project last year at a park in the city of Medicine Hat, Alberta."

Buchholz said it is important to Cancarb to be involved in a positive way with its surrounding community. He added that corporate social responsibility is important to the company and involves much more than just continuous work to improve the company's environmental footprint. It is also about being responsible and supporting the community in which it operates and where its employees and families live.

"So many groups make significant and meaningful contributions within our community," Buchholz said. "We are very lucky to be able to do our small part to support these various groups who do such a fantastic job for all of us.

"Specific to the tree planting initiative, sustainability is core to our business. We are pleased to combine our social initiatives in our community with the environmental responsibility of reducing our carbon footprint, and in turn, to beautify one of the parks in our area. The enthusiasm and initiative of our employees as we plan and attend such projects is contagious and great to watch."

Cancarb participated in other similar projects this past year, including:

• A community greenhouse on the company's site, run by employee volunteers. For the second straight year, employees have grown tomatoes that are donated to the community food bank.
• Being the major sponsor/volunteer team for the local YMCA's Annual River Run. This community event raises funds to make YMCA wellness programming accessible to all in the community.
• A partnership with the Medicine Hat Public Library to sponsor free library cards. Libraries are important to communities and provide a variety of services that benefit people from all walks of life.

The company also has shown support for Ukraine by collecting first-aid kits and outdoor gear from employees as part of a province-wide volunteer initiative. There were 77 first-aid kits, 10 emergency blankets and boxes of latex gloves collected/donated, for a total of 138 pounds of medical aid.

All the items were pooled within the province and air freighted to Poland for distribution in Ukraine.

Owned by Tokai Carbon Group from Japan, Cancarb Ltd. is a globally recognized leader in the development, manufacturing and global distribution of medium thermal carbon black—an ingredient used in the production of rubber, plastics, insulation, concrete, graphite and more. Cancarb is located in Medicine Hat, Alberta.