• Reduce the impact of our daily office operations, including paper, electricity, and transportation.
• Overseas environmental programs and environmental assessments.
• Public engagement promoting sustainable lifestyles.
• CAUSE Canada's Canmore Rocky Mountain Half Marathon, 10k & 5k Run/Walk is one of the greenest races in North America.
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CAUSE Canada recognizes that how we run our operations in Canada has global implications. We work hard to reduce our paper and electricity use, recycle everything that can be recycled, use post-consumer papers, and bike or carpool to work. Similar efforts exist in our offices overseas where motorbikes are used for the great majority of our transportation, paper is scrupulously conserved, and all programs include environmental impact assessments and the crosscutting theme of a healthy environment.

We also reach out to the Canadian public to contribute to a more just and sustainable future in our public engagement initiatives and special events. CAUSE Canada has been an organizer of the Canmore and Red Deer Justice Film Festivals that have featured important films highlighting local and global environmental and social issues – fuelled by renewable energy from Bullfrog Power. In addition, the environment is central to our public engagement project Bringing the MDGs to Life, which uses participatory theatre and games to introduce Albertan students to the Millennium Development Goals.

Our biggest environmental initiative here in Canada, however, has been our annual Canmore Rocky Mountain Half Marathon, 10k & 5k Run/Walk. By instituting no-waste start and finish areas, online registration, 100% organic cotton shopping bags and bamboo socks instead of t-shirts, compostable cups, and a biodiesel rideshare program for participants, the 2008 CAUSE Canada half marathon diverted 82.7% of its waste from the previous year to recycling and composting, and by 2010 that number was up to 90%. As a result, Runner’s World Magazine ranked the our event among the 10 greenest races in North America. And ours was the only race to designate all proceeds to environmental programming.

The green initiatives instituted in 2008 continue to expand in new directions. More recent race swag has included recyclable organic jute grocery bags, durable metal water bottles, and backpacks made of recycled PET plastics. All electricity at the race is renewable energy provided by Bow Valley Power, water stations are serviced by a team of cyclists instead of vehicles, and the entirety of our post-race refreshments are sourced from either Alberta or British Columbia.