The protection of the environment or everything green has been an important subject for many years, but recently it seems to have almost become a fashion statement and, in many cases, with little substance. Even though many companies are now jumping on the green bandwagon, Mirage has always worked as though there was more than just the environmental issue at hand. Why? “Because we are of the opinion that green is nice, however, it’s just one component in the big picture,” said Luc Robitaille, vice president of marketing. “In addition, green can be quite subjective in its interpretation. Subjectivity is the main problem with green as its concept is virtually impossible to define. Green can mean virtually anything or nothing at all, depending on the perception of the person or the subject at hand.”
Mirage claims to have been different since the founding of the company in 1983. Its corporate values and strategies were already geared toward sustainable development, even though the term itself was still largely unknown at the time.
But what is sustainable development? The official definition is: “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
The field of sustainable development can be broken into three integral parts:
Environmental integrity: the protection of the environment and ecosystem biodiversity
Economic efficiency: the contribution to the economic development of the community
Social equity: the social consequences of business operations
So, what differentiates sustainable development from being green?
• It is defined; the concept has been clear and well known since 1987.
• It includes three axes: environment, economic, social.
• It is realistic; it brings together economically viable solutions to environmental and social problems.
• It is constantly evolving; it doesn’t happen overnight. It comes about through a host of small actions that evolve over time.
Mirage works on the three fields of sustainable development:
1. Environmental:• By being FSC chain of custody certified
• By reusing 100% of its wood waste
• By qualifying products for LEED credits
2. Economic:• By being ISO 9000 certified
• By creating over 200 new jobs in the past 10 years
• By investing more than $75 million over the past 24 years
3. Social:• By using only legally harvested lumber
• By offering good working conditions to all our employees
• By supporting more than 300 charities
Mirage believes sustainable development mirrors its core values perfectly because they represent not only one facet of corporate responsibility but rather the whole vision of what the world needs to sustain itself from one generation to the next. The company says it is committed to working on sustainable development to ensure it offers peace of mind not only to its consumers, but to its sales network as well.
