With an onsite farmers鈥� market, an intercampus shuttle, rainwater harvesting, green walls and roofs, as well as 16 degrees and six diplomas related to environmental sustainability, it鈥檚 no wonder Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) was selected as one of the top 100 Canadian Greenest Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc.

鈥淲e鈥檙e extremely proud of the environmentally friendly culture here at KPU,鈥� said Dr. Alan Davis, president and vice-chancellor.

鈥淢aking every effort to reduce our carbon footprint reflects the values of our people and our community.鈥�

KPU was selected by the editors of Canada鈥檚 Top 100 Employers, for successfully reducing their environmental impact through employee and student engagement in green initiatives and programs.

Those initiatives include a weekly vegetable box harvested from KPU鈥檚 Tsawwassen Farm School, composting for community gardens, an expanded recycling program, and an urban forestry management plan.

KPU also provides dedicated free parking for the Car2Go electric car sharing service and maintains a partnership with the carpool.ca service to help commuters easily find ride partners.

KPU recently received is sixth annual BC Hydro Power Smart Excellence Award in recognition of its leadership in energy conservation initiatives 鈥� the university has expanded building space by 36 per cent since 1994, while managing to reduce natural gas use by three per cent and electricity by nine per cent over the same period of time.

鈥淲hen we started this competition a decade ago, the programs we wrote about were largely informal and incidental to an employer鈥檚 principal business,鈥� says Richard Yerema, managing editor of the Canada鈥檚 Top 100 Employers project.

鈥淥ver the years, we鈥檝e seen a shift towards more formal programs and strategic sustainability policies, which reflect a much longer term commitment on the part of employers. This year鈥檚 winners aren鈥檛 afraid to address the adverse impacts of their operations and are charting the course for others in their industry.鈥�

Also noted in the award highlights is that the KPU 91原创 campus hosts the 91原创 Community Farmers Market with more than 50 vendors in its courtyard every Wednesday starting today, May 10 until October.

Students hold Green Wednesdays at the 91原创 campus, showing documentaries that focus on the environment.

The full list of this year鈥檚 Canada鈥檚 greenest employers is available online at canadastop100.com/green.