For this business owner, green electricity is worth every penny
Canadians are witnessing the devastating effects of climate change on the world. The solution lies in shifting the way we think about energy. Because energy – how we create it and how we use it – is at the heart of the issue.
In this 3-part series, WWF is profiling three Living Planet @ Work companies that have made the switch to 100% clean, pollution-free energy through green energy provider─ Bullfrog Power. They share the reasons why they chose green energy and how it has positively impacted their business.
You can always count on good energy when the Tragically Hip hits the stage. But Angela Puzzolanti also encountered a different kind of energy amidst the familiar grooves at a 2006 Hip concert at Toronto’s Old Fort York. That’s where the managing partner at Miratel Solutions picked up a flyer about Bullfrog Power.
She loved the concept. When a customer chooses green power from the renewable energy provider, Bullfrog Power’s generators put 100% green electricity onto the grid to match the amount of conventional power the customer uses. It’s an easy way to shrink your carbon footprint, green your electricity and help fund the development of energy projects across Canada.
For Angela, choosing Bullfrog Power for her business was an easy decision. “It’s who we are personally, it’s how we live our lives, so we applied those same value to how we run our business as well,” she says.
Miratel Solutions provides fundraising, call-centre, online and mailing services to a number of non-profit and for-profit organizations. Over the years, the company has implemented many green initiatives, including an extensive recycling program, eco-lighting retrofits, high-efficiency hand dryers and a ban on plastic water bottles. However, because they rent their premises, physically using environmentally sustainable heat or electricity simply wasn’t possible.
Bullfrog Power offered the perfect alternative.
The process is simple. The monthly amount they pay is calculated based on their monthly energy consumption. Bullfrog greens their energy and as a result, Angela can feel good about every kilowatt-hour used to power the lights, the computers and all the other aspects of Miratel’s 24/7 operations.
In the business world, the financial cost of any decision can sometimes outweigh other aspects. Yet, for Angela, paying that little extra every month to support renewable energy and reduce Miratel’s carbon emissions footprint is simply priceless.
“It makes me proud of our business and what we are doing,” Angela says. Supporting Bullfrog Power resonates with Miratel’s clients and employees alike. Most importantly, it’s the right thing to do.
“It’s worth every penny that we pay,” she says. “When you hear how you have reduced your carbon emissions footprint, by 100 tonnes or whatever, that’s incredible.”
Snapshot: Miratel Solutions Inc.
Number of employees: 250+
Location of head office: North York, Ontario
Carbon dioxide equivalents saved per year through Bullfrog Power: 38.1 tonnes/year.
Bullfrog Power customer since: 2006
Motivation for choosing Bullfrog Power: “We basically wanted to apply the same principles to our business that we apply to our personal lives. We lease our business space, so our hands are tied with what changes we can make to the actual building, but we do make the best choices whenever possible and that is what Bullfrog represented to us,” says Angela Puzzolanti, Managing Partner.
Interested in learning more about the topic of renewable energy in Canada and hearing from more Living Planet @ Work companies who have made the switch to green energy? RSVP to our “Renewable is doable” panel discussion on January 28th (Toronto).
