Ice River Springs

Remember back in March, when flour and toilet paper were flying off the shelves, and what that told us about the supply chain? Bottled water and personal protective equipment (PPE) were also in extremely high demand, and Ice River Springs, a combined water bottler and plastics recycling business based in Feversham and Shelburne, worked hard to meet those needs.

Early on, the company was busy bottling and shipping water, attempting to meet market demand. Crystal Howe, Sustainability Manager and daughter of the owners, says the workforce was incredibly loyal, and everyone took their Stage 1 essential service status very seriously. That meant no nonstaff visitors at the plant; masks, face shields and temperature checking for everyone; and increased plant sanitation.

While the Feversham plant made sure the water market was saturated, the plastics division pivoted into PPE and bottle production for hand sanitizer with direction from Federal and Provincial Economic Development staff. There’s a major advantage to being a recycler. “Because our plastics came from the Blue Box programs in Ontario, all the raw materials were already here, so the company’s supply chain was not disrupted.” Without a work stoppage impacting their services, the company quickly got busy supporting the community.

Ice River Springs worked with staff at the Collingwood hospital to design face shields and

manufacture them for local front-line workers. They donated bottles to Canadian Mist in Collingwood and BioVectra in PEI for hand sanitizer. They donated many thousands of bottles of water, including 20,000 bottles to the Care4Cause Foundation and 19,000 to the Pope Foundation. They bought 1,000L of hand sanitizer for use in their plants and to share with other businesses in the community. Transportation for many of these was donated in turn by local transportation partners. The company’s Earth Day budget (usually put towards community education and activation) was donated to the food bank in Markdale to assist with local food security.

The company’s new marketing director, Tracey Lavelle, was hired during the initial COVID lockdown and has been working with her team remotely. She’s still waiting to meet the team in person, but said she feels like part of the family because of how everyone continues to pull together for the greater good of the community.

Find out more at www.iceriversprings.com.