If you have Netflix (and who doesn’t?) you may have noticed Planet Earth II is out. Episode 6 of Planet Earth II is actually not about a typical wilderness, it’s about cities. The astonishing thing is that it’s not an indictment of cities as constructed human environments, but an exploration of the beauty and complexity of life (and wildlife) in the world’s cities. This got me thinking about the role of a construction company in relation to environmentalism. The role of a demolition company is even more complex. While many might think that environmentalism and construction/demolition are not good bedfellows I actually think there’s a lot we can learn from environmentalism. It doesn’t need to be seen as a nuisance (like some people see safety programs). It (just like safety) is an integral part of our working lives.
When living in a concrete world it can be easy to forget about nature. But the reality is that our cities are part of a larger ecosystem. The large amounts of concrete in cities such as Calgary change the way that animals and vegetation behave in that environment, and not always for the worse. Recognizing that we don’t live apart from nature is an important first step in moving towards environmental sustainability. There’s a lot that we can do as a company and that you can do as an individual to lower our environmental impact.
Some easy things you can do in an urban environment to cut down on your carbon footprint are using public transport, not buying plastic water bottles (or reusing them when you do), and remembering to turn off lights when not in use.
As a company we are conscious of our role in modifying the constructed environment in a sustainable way. Sometimes this is as simple as preventing waste material from the cutting process from entering the storm drains and disposing of it properly. Sometimes it’s more complex, like when we held off on a project because a bridge that needed to be demolished had become a nesting ground for a protected bird.
This doesn’t mean that work has to stop, but it does mean, just like with safety, that we have to rethink the way we go about it. Be conscious of this beautiful concrete wilderness and let’s protect it together. We’re committed to a sustainable approach and hope you’ll join us.