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36 BCBUSINESS MARCH/APRIL 2022 SOCIAL PRINT PAPER; RYAN OLIVERIUS Indigenous Prosperity W I N N E R Alderhill Planning T hey had no idea they'd end up work- ing together, but Elaine Alec, Chris Derickson and Jessie Hemphill all saw a problem that needed a solution. Back in 2008, the three Indigenous founders of Alder- hill Planning got involved in creating plans for their home communities through a pilot pro- ject launched by First Nations in B.C. At the time, the federal government would only give Indigenous communities funds to hire a registered planner, Alec says. So plan- ning often fell to bigger companies that used templates from their gigs for municipalities. "Communities never saw themselves in this work," recalls Alec, a Penticton-based mem- ber of the Syilx and Secwépemc nations. "They didn't understand the way the reports were written or how they were supposed to imple- ment the plan. And a lot of times, those plans would just sit on the shelf." SOLID PLAN (From left) Alderhill found- ers Jessie Hemphill, Chris Derickson and Elaine Alec SWEET SPOT Minto Roy shows off his company's Sugar Sheet paper H O N O U R A B L E M E N T I O N S Hemlock Printers Hemlock, whose sustainability committee leads a waste reduction strategy focused on educating and motivating employees, aims to become a certified Zero Waste organization by 2030. The Burnaby- headquartered company's Climate Commitments align with five of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, including affordable, clean energy and responsible consumption and production. Hemlock belongs to environmental nonprofit Canopy's Pack4Good initia- tive, whose participating companies have committed that by the end of 2022, their paper-based packaging won't contain any fibre from ancient and endangered forests. Through its Zero program, the company lets clients make their print jobs carbon-neutral by paying a small fee that supports offset purchases for forest conservation. Salt Spring Coffee The Richmond-based coffee roaster's sustainability efforts include diverting all of its waste away from landfills, through composting, recycling and finding ways to generate less waste. A certified B Corporation, Salt Spring follows a responsible purchasing policy to ensure that its suppliers and the products it sources are environmentally sustainable. The company, which gets most of its energy from renewables, has pledged to shrink the natural gas it needs for roasting by 20 percent as of 2023. Salt Spring is also helping its coffee producers to adopt regenerative organic agriculture, which has a rela- tively small environmental footprint. • R U N N E R - U P International Social Print Paper Minto Roy and Lee Gieschen started Social Print Paper a decade ago with a bold mission: to create a world that never uses trees to make paper. The pair set out to create an eco-friendly product, but they had broader ambitions, Roy explains. "Our first goal was, we need to make a paper that looks, feels and performs to the same standard as traditional wood-fibre paper." Roy and Gieschen decided to make their paper out of bagasse, the waste fibre from sugar cane. Sugar Sheet copy paper reduces agricultural fibre waste in landfills, combats defor- estation, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and is recyclable and com- postable. Two boxes save one tree and 68 kilograms of carbon dioxide, according to a 2018 assessment by ESG research firm S&P Global Trucost. Social Print worked with big com- panies like Canon, Hewlett Packard and Xerox to review paper quality and performance. It then struck deals with office supplies giants such as Grand & Toy, Hamster/Novexco and Staples Advantage, plus regional distributors nationwide. Besides London Drugs, which sells Sugar Sheet paper at all of its stores, local organizations that have made the switch include Telus Corp., TransLink and UBC. Every year, Social Print sends those clients eco-savings reports, Roy says. "They can offset their carbon tax payable, which is a real, tangible value beyond just sustainable value."