Salvation Army Policy Promotes Responsible Environmental Stewardship

Earth Day, April 22, is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the earth’s environment. The Salvation Army believes that good earth-keeping is essential to the Christian faith and continues to fulfill its mission in a manner that promotes responsible environmental stewardship.

Good environmental sustainability and stewardship will be achieved by taking the following steps:

• Be fully aware of and compliant with environmental legislation.
• Make environmental concerns an integral part of planning and decision making process.
• Commit sufficient resources to reduce the ecological footprint of the Army operations and implement effective environmental initiatives. The commitment of resources from a financial perspective will give due consideration to adequate budget provision, available funds and a reasonable payback period after which the investment will result in net operational savings.
• To the greatest extent possible, promote good environmental stewardship of all organizationally-owned and, to the greatest extent possible, leased facilities. All facility design and ongoing maintenance projects will give consideration to and, where appropriate, include environmental initiatives (e.g. LEED Canada*).
• Promote the efficient use of energy resources through cost-effective conservation and energy management programs.
• Promote environmentally sustainable transport options, including the management of our fleet vehicle program.
• Promote a waste management strategy that will address the proper handling and disposal of all wastes, reduce the production of waste, and pursue opportunities to reuse and recycle waste materials. This strategy will target all aspects of day-to-day operations including construction and renovation projects.
• Identify, evaluate, control and minimize the environmental risks associated with our operations.
• Evaluate environmental performance through periodic reviews and audits to ensure that our conduct is consistent with the above principles.
• Humans are called to careful stewardship of the earth and its resources. The Salvation Army continues to accept responsibility for the world we live in by taking the above practical steps to conserve and regenerate creation.

Go outside and enjoy Earth Day 2010!