Going Dark to Celebrate Earth Hour
On March 28th, 2015, from 8:30 – 9:30 pm local time, citizens, governments, and businesses from over 162 countries will turn off their lights for one hour in a symbolic action to bring attention to climate change and environmental sustainability. Known as “Earth Hour”, the open source movement was created by the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) in 2007 and has grown from an event in one city to one that is celebrated by millions worldwide each year.
Symantec will join this inspiring grassroots movement by powering down nonessential lights in our offices around the world. Additionally, as Earth Hour aims to “turn the inspirations of one hour into the actions of every hour”, we’d like to reflect upon our efforts at Symantec to do this. From the success of our Green Teams to celebrating Earth Day worldwide to green talks inspiring sustainable lifestyles, we strive to operate every day in an environmentally sound manner, both as individuals and as a company.
Green Team Success
Symantec’s commitment to environmental stewardship is demonstrated by the activities of our global employee “Green Teams”. Employees who are part of our Green Teams organize environmental initiatives that affect their office and the company at large. An example that unites many of our offices is our ongoing “One Mug, One Planet” campaign to replace the use of paper and plastic cups with reusable cups and mugs. Participating offices have seen direct, tangible results during the first six months of the campaign including:
- 314,000 fewer disposable cups used
- A nearly $20,000 decrease in the cost of cups purchased
- Over 1,300 signed pledges of participation
Prince Jain and Amit Gadekar show off their Green Team mugs in Pune, India
Additionally, while we reached our goal of 1,000 pledges, this February, we challenged our employees to go even further, to reach 300 more pledges by Earth Day 2015. We’ve more than doubled this new goal and have reached 2,111 total pledges, with employees at sites in Pune, India, Springfield, OR, and Culver City, CA seeing a surge in participation!
Green Talk Inspires a Low-Carbon Lifestyle
The Green Teams have also developed our quarterly Green Talk series, which provides an opportunity for employees to learn about environmental initiatives outside of the company. The talks will alternate topics within Symantec’s environmental strategy including: Green IT, Resource conservation, Responsible Sourcing and Travel and Events.
In July our first inaugural Green Talk took place at our Mountain View headquarters featuring Fabien Cousteau, grandson of Jacques-Yves Cousteau one of the world’s most well-known underwater researchers. The latest Green Talk organized by our Green Park, UK office this March featured Rob Hopkins, co-founder of the Transition Culture movement, which supports the transition of our society and local communities to a low-carbon and sustainable future.
Green Talk speaker, Rob Hopkins, presents the Transition Culture movement in Green Park, UK
This talk is available to stream online. We are looking forward to our next Green Talk, to take place at our Sydney, Australia site this spring.
Celebrating Earth Day at our Mountain View Headquarters
Symantec’s Mountain View office will host an Earth Day Fair on April 16th, 2015. This event will bring over 25 vendors, who will be available to talk to Symantec employees about electric cars, sustainable food, and other green technologies.
From Earth Hour to Green Team activities to our Earth Day celebrations, Symantec celebrates the inspirational efforts of our employees to demonstrate our commitment to the environment not on just one day, but all days throughout the year.
Jaime Barclay, Corporate Philanthropy Program Manager and Global Green Team Coordinator