News

Semi-finalists Announced for Walmart Green Student Challenge

Semi-finalists Announced for Walmart Green Student Challenge

Final presentation to CEO panel webcast live on Feb. 29

 

Mississauga, Ontario, February 8, 2012 – Walmart Canada today announced the five semi-finalists who will compete in front of a panel of top Canadian CEOs for $100,000 in prize money.

Shelley Broader, president and CEO of Walmart Canada said the quality of the 81 submissions received should make for an exciting contest. “We are thrilled to have this level of interest from across Canada and to have five excellent semi-finalists to present to our CEO panel.”

On September 20, 2011 Walmart Canada invited post-secondary students to participate in the Walmart Green Student Challenge to submit ideas for more sustainable business practices that also deliver to the bottom line. The semi-finalists will travel to Toronto on February 29, 2012 to present their ideas at the TMX Broadcast Centre to a panel of Canada’s top CEOs.

“The Walmart Green Student Challenge is all about engaging the next wave of business leaders,” said Broader. “I am very impressed with the caliber of submissions we have received. It is clear that the students understand the importance of imbedding business sustainability into the core of a company’s operations.”

Broader said that the submissions received from coast-to-coast were reviewed by an evaluation panel of six sustainable business specialists from the five CEO panel companies. The five semi-finalist submissions were chosen for their creativity, ease of implementation and potential impact.

The five semi-finalist teams, from west to east, are:

• Peter Waugh, Laura Higgins, Brian Eshpeter and Carolyn Nalder – University of Calgary
• Mark Desjardine – University of Western Ontario
• Arthur Yip, Jake Yeung and Alan Thai – University of Waterloo
• Hassan Valiji – York University
• Stephanie MacLean, Kurt Boone, Andrew Weatherbee and Omar Hassan – Cape Breton University

Walmart Canada has been a leader in business sustainability since 2006 and has a commitment to be supplied 100 per cent by renewable energy, to create zero waste and to sell products that sustain people and the environment. It has worked with NGOs, suppliers, competitors, governments and its associates to share sustainable business ideas and is now seeking to actively engage the next wave of business leaders -- students.

“Semi-finalists will have just a few minutes to convince the panel that their idea is the best,” said Broader of the contest finale at the TMX in downtown Toronto on February 29. “It should be a good show.”

Full contest details and information about the live webcast are available at www.sharegreen.ca/student. 

-30-

Walmart Canada operates a growing chain of 333 stores, employing 85,000 Canadians, and serving more than one million customers each day. The company's vision is to demonstrate environmental leadership by reducing the ecological impact of its operations through company-wide programs focused on waste, energy and products, as well as outreach programs that preserve and enhance local environments. Visit www.walmartcsr.ca for more company information or follow Walmart Canada on Twitter at www.twitter.com/walmartcanada.