We love local. We aspire to be truly sustainable. We believe that small is beautiful.

REAP Business Association was founded in Calgary in 2006 with the vision to create a vibrant and sustainable local economy where citizens understand and value the impact of shopping locally.

Our members are Calgary businesses with visionary leaders who are concerned about helping to create a more sustainable city. They make ethical business decisions – buying green power, paying their employees a living wage, supporting local suppliers and giving back to their community – because they believe in the importance of corporate social responsibility. By supporting these companies, citizens enhance their quality of life and actively express their highest values: Respect for the Earth and All People.

We believe that transformative education is needed if we are to accelerate our progress toward a sustainable future. Calgarians can only make decisions that benefit the greater good if they are aware of the issues facing the city. So our mission is to help educate people about the impact of their decisions in order that they make more decisions that have positive consequences.

We do this through two separate but related programs:

• Our blog, annual public events (Down to Earth Week, Food For Thought, and Be Local Week), monthly networking events (Sustainability for Breakfast and Community Capital Network) and Green Living Series of workshops educate citizens about issues of sustainability and the positive impact that Calgary businesses have on the community, the economy and the environment. REAP encourages people to support these businesses whenever possible and publishes a Be Local Coupon Book each year for Earth Day to make shopping locally and buying green products easy all year long.
• Through its members-only online forum and member meetings, REAP helps business leaders deepen their commitment to sustainability by sharing resources and best practices.

REAP is a proud member of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), North America's fastest growing network of socially responsible businesses.

REAP is also an imagineCALGARY Partner and received the 2009 Partner In Action Award for advancing the targets of the imagineCALGARY Plan.

It is proud to support other Calgary-based not-for-profits and maintains memberships in the following organizations:

• Arusha
• Calgary Horticultural Society
• Green Calgary
• Permaculture Calgary Guild
• Volunteer Calgary