Environmental Policy

Sapphire understands that its activities may affect the environment. This can occur as a result of its internal operations or, it can occur because it is able to influence and affect the community in general. Because of this, Sapphire feels that it has a responsibility for and has made a commitment to environmental protection on any level. In order to meet this objective, Sapphire's environmental performance is an essential part of its overall purpose; environmental performance is reviewed annually.

Sapphire complies with all environmental legislation requirements. It supports on-going efforts to:

• Encourage all of its business departments to use environmental policies and practices
• Make Sapphire employees more mindful of environmental responsibilities
• Reduce the use of paper by doing as much as possible electronically
• Reduce waste, create, apply and use environmentally sound waste management procedures, and promote conservation, re-use and recycling, as appropriate
• Apply eco-friendly principles to the operation of Sapphire owned vehicles as well as encourage and facilitate the use of environmentally friendly vehicles and public transportation by Sapphire staff
• Support a purchasing policy which favors eco-friendly products and services as much as possible
• Refrain from the use of environmentally damaging substances, materials and processes whenever feasible
• Apply environmentally sound procedures to the maintenance of all Sapphire property
• Work with national, local and other agencies in support of environmentally sound policies, as appropriate

The Facilities Management Team reviews progress that has been made in the implementation of this policy annually and submits its findings to the Sapphire Board of Directors.