The Principal and the Environment
Many of our offices around the world are also taking steps to promote sustainability. Here are some highlights of actions being taken in several locations.
Brazil
In 2010, the environmental efforts at our joint venture company, BrasilPrev, focused on ecoefficiency actions and initiatives to encourage others to adopt habits that help protect the environment.
The main project was building a new headquarters, which was focused, among other things, on reducing environmental impact, from the choice of engineering designers to the selection of recycled and/or certified materials.
This change allowed BrasilPrev to redesign its waste sorting process and required comprehensive communications efforts to spread the word and encourage employees to adopt new habits related to the organization, consumer awareness and recycling.
» More about BrasilPrev’s environmental efforts, including information on recycling and emissions
Chile
Our office in Chile has begun taking steps to become more environmentally friendly. Their efforts so far include making several in-kind donations to local non-profit organizations for further use or recycling, such as empty ink cartridges, waste paper and PC’s.
The office is also participating in a pilot program to reduce energy that will involve changing its regular light bulbs for energy efficient bulbs.
Hong Kong
Our office in Hong Kong is helping reduce their environmental impact in the following ways:
- Collecting used papers and magazines for recycling
- Placing paper trays near printers for the purpose of reusing one-side usable papers for writing and printing
- Installing timers on certain office appliances for energy saving after hours
- Donating PCs, printers and computer accessories to charitable organizations
- Participating in “Earth Hour,” organized by World Wildlife Fund, in support of its actions to help prevent global warming
India (Pune)
Our Pune, India, office has implemented a number of environmental best practices at its office. These include:
- Providing a cab transportation service to employees helps reduce the number of cars on the road each day. On average, more than three employees ride in each cab. The cars are not more than three years old and adhere to local rules and regulations in terms of air pollution.
- Promoting more efficient use of energy through an automated building management system that controls HVAC operations, adjusting thermostats and increasing monitoring of energy consumption.
- Installing lighting sensors to reduce use of electricity when no one is in a room. Lighting has been retrofitted in common areas.
- Setting printers to duplexing and placing paper shredders in printer rooms.
- Segregating dry and wet waste. Wet waste is used as organic manure for horticulture purposes. Dry waste (paper/plastic) is recycled. Sewage water is treated at an in-house sewage treatment plant and used for horticulture purposes. Rain water harvesting has been implemented.
- Creating an employee committee that leads an Environment Week celebration to increase awareness among employees about environmental issues. They encourage the purchase of saplings for employees to plant trees, promote the discontinuance of using plastic bags, and held a contest to see who had the best creative idea for recycling waste materials.
- Participating in the Tree Plantation Drive organized by Magarpatta City.
- Providing employees with water sippers and coffee mugs on their first day of work to help reduce the use of paper and/or plastic cups.
Mexico
Our Mexico office has an established program called “Principal Verde” that involves various green initiatives. An employee committee with promotes green efforts among employees and educates employees about the impact of certain activities on the environment.
