IGA rolls out zero-emission home delivery van
IGA is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its environmentally-focused Fonds Eco IGA by introducing a special zero-emissions home delivery vehicle.
IGA calls it the “first electric converted refrigerated home delivery car in Canada.” The van is the work of a young Quebec-based company called EcoTuned, which produces kits to convert gas trucks into electric powered.
According to EcoTuned, the cost to convert a light truck is between $25,000 and $30,000, but the converted engine has a lifespan of 1 million kilometres and can operate at 10% of the cost of a gas-powered van. ($100 spent on gasoline requires about $10 in electricity.)
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Beginning in the spring, IGA will send the van on a public relations trip around Quebec including Sherbrooke, Gatineau and Drummondville. Stores will also have a chance to win one of four electric home delivery vans. And in May, IGA customers will also become part of the celebrations with a chance to drive a Tesla Model 3 for one year.
Started in 2008 and managed by Jour de la Terre Quebec, Fonds Eco was created to help raise awareness about the environment and sustainability, originally in Quebec only but since expanded to New Brunswick. This year donations to the Fonds Eco will hit the $10 million mark. Those contributions have financed a number of different programs and projects.
This year, for example, the Fonds Eco is bringing back it’s free A Vos Frigos workshops which provide attendees with advice for fighting food waste. It will also distribute rainwater barrels and home compost bins, and revive the residual waste management program that seeks to reduce waste going to landfill through food donations, composting and recycling.