Each year at Air Canada, Earth Day is a time of reflection on all that employees have worked toward in order to push the envelope in creative ways that contribute to a greener world. Over the years, the airline’s mantra of leaving less and doing more has materialized in interesting ways, like repurposing employee uniforms for people in need and eliminating plastic stir sticks.

In 2018, Air Canada marked Earth Day by saving 160 tonnes of carbon through the use of biofuel through a project at Toronto Pearson International Airport. In 2019, the company entered into a partnership with 4ocean to sponsor community clean ups to remove waste, plastics and trash from the ocean and coastlines. 3,200 pieces of ocean polluting items were removed by employee and community volunteers.

The tradition continues this year with another first. For Earth Day 2021, Air Canada is pleased to welcome two charities whose work supports restoring the earth as official partners of the Aeroplan Member Donation Program:

• Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is Canada’s only national charity dedicated solely to the protection of our public land and water, and ensuring the country’s parks are managed to protect the nature within them. For more than 50 years, the organization has played a lead role in protecting over half a million square kilometres – an area bigger than the entire Yukon Territory.
• Oceans Initiative is a team of scientists on a mission to protect marine life, including whales, dolphins, sharks, salmon & seabirds in Canada and beyond. Their mission is to protect marine life in the pacific northwest and elsewhere, and to share their cutting-edge science to guide conservation action. Oceans Initiative imagines a world with healthy, thriving and sustainable populations of all marine life.

Further to each receiving a donation from Aeroplan, the charities will also benefit from the promotion of an Aeroplan points matching week in their name with Aeroplan matching up to an additional 500,000 points. The points can be used towards a number of rewards, including flights. Air Canada is also donating carbon offsetting credits for their travel.

In the days leading up to Earth Day, Air Canada engaged with its employees to raise awareness surrounding topics like waste, climate change and the illegal wildlife trade.To further engage employees, the airline said it would donate one tree through One Tree PlantedExternal site which may not meet accessibility guidelines. each time an employee was recognized by their peers on an internal social media network.

The latest environmental initiatives follow Air Canada’s recent commitment to net zero emissions by 2050. Watch the following video to learn more about the airline’s commitments and ambitious plans: