Environmental Sustainability

At Affinity, environmental sustainability is important to us – and we know it’s important to you, our members, too! Here are several environmental initiatives we funded in 2022.

Depave – Saskatchewan Environmental Society

The Saskatchewan Environmental Society organized the province’s first ever Depave Paradise, an initiative of Green Communities Canada (GCC) that seeks out neglected asphalt spaces to replace with plants and green infrastructure. Replacing asphalt with plants means that storm water run-off that picks up road salt, pesticides and other contaminants can be filtered naturally by plants and soil rather than running into the South Saskatchewan River untreated. In addition, this new garden space is accessible to the community and will serve as an educational space for students. The community came together to turn the unused tennis courts at Walter Murray Collegiate Institute in Saskatoon into a green space over two working days: the first to remove broken up asphalt by hand and wheelbarrow, and the second to plant greenery that was mapped out by a garden architect. The garden models various ecoregions in Saskatchewan, including the four sacred medicines that were guided by Elder Tim Eashappie to ensure planting was done by protocol. Affinity was proud to be a major funder for Depave Paradise, and also volunteer alongside over 100 community members to remove asphalt, plant the gardens, and manage the refreshments and snacks.

Repair Cafés and Warm Hearts –Jacket Repair Project – Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council

A Repair Café is a pop-up event where members of the community can bring household items to be fixed for free by volunteers thereby, diverting waste from the landfill and supporting a culture of repair and reuse. This initiative organized by the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council spreads across Saskatchewan communities including Estevan, Regina, Saskatoon and Yorkton, as well as offering a virtual option to enhance accessibility of the service. In 2022, 47 items were fixed, and 15 items were partially fixed or had been advised on next steps such as ordering parts – all diverted from the landfill! Volunteer skills ranged from sewing, small electronics, computer software, small engines, woodworking, welding and bicycle repairs.

The Warm Hearts – Jacket Repair Project is an extension of the Repair Cafés and aims to divert clean, mendable jackets from the landfill, and then redistribute the jackets to those who need them most. The project takes place in Biggar, Estevan, Lloydminster, Moose Jaw, Regina, Rosthern, and Saskatoon, with the big help of volunteers, and will continue throughout the winter!

Our members are helping Affinity go green!

Did you know that 76,856 Affinity members chose to receive e-statements instead of paper statements in 2022? Thank you for taking this step to build a better world for everyone, every day!