Symantec’s commitment to the environment stretches across the company. In recognition of our environmental volunteerism-focused quarter, we highlight the incredible work our employees have done in celebration of Earth Day.
This quarter, employees organized Earth Day celebrations, environmental speakers, and sustainability-focused campaigns. In conjunction with our recently launched volunteer initiative, Take 5, employees also participated in numerous environmentally focused volunteer events. Take 5 challenges employees to make a positive impact by volunteering at least 5 hours to causes they care about.
Today we hear from Chris Abess, a Symantec VP in Sales Operations who also serves as the global executive sponsor for the company's Green Teams.
Earth Day Fairs
Employees in Mountain View, CA explore booths at the Earth Day Fair April 16, 2015. |
During the month of April, hundreds of employees participated in Earth Day Fairs hosted by our Mountain View, CA and Springfield, OR sites. Employees were able to meet with representatives from nonprofit organizations, local government agencies, and clean technology and sustainable business owners who shared their knowledge of simple sustainable actions to implement at home and at work. The Earth Day Fairs also included prizes and vendors from commute alternatives and electric vehicles, water conservation tips and resources, as well as organic and healthy living services.
Speaker Series
Felicia Marcus, member of the California Water Resources Control Boards. |
| Tim Silverwood, Green Talk Sydney Speaker and co-founder of Take 3! |
This quarter, we partnered with experts in the field of resource conservation and environmental sustainability to make a difference in the communities where we live and work.
Early this March, Symantec and nonprofit partner, Acterra, hosted a Public Lecture Series with speaker Felicia Marcus, a member of the California Water Resources Control Boards. Felicia gave an informative and inspiring talk to a packed house in the Mountain View Symantec Café on the state of California Water in 2015, including a lively discussion on actions we need to take in order to conserve water in California’s current drought. Acterra and the Mountain View Green Team also hosted a Green Bag Lunch talk on water-saving appliances and landscaping techniques.
This quarter’s Green Talk took place in Sydney, Australia and was hosted in late May by the Sydney Green Team and executive sponsor Louis Tague, Director of Enterprise Sales for Sydney. This Green Talk focused on Symantec’s environmental pillar of resource conservation and featured Tim Silverwood, a sustainability advocate and co-founder of “Take 3”, a clean beach initiative inspiring people to take three pieces of rubbish with them when they leave a beach, waterway, or anywhere.
The Roseville, MN Green Team also partnered with nonprofit, Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR), for an educational volunteer event in nearby neighborhoods. Roseville employees hosted FMR on campus to present information on water quality issues and lead 29 employees on a cleanup of a riverfront park along the Mississippi River. To educate the public, employees stenciled the phrase “Drains to the River, Do Not Pollute” near 120 drains on local sidewalks.
| Roseville, MN volunteers educate their neighborhood in keeping the Mississippi River clean. |
Volunteer projects
This quarter, our employee driven Community Relations Volunteer Committees and Green Teams joined together to create environmentally themed volunteer opportunities for their sites.
Green Park/Reading, UK employees donated over 75 hours gardening and building raised planters for Thrive, a nonprofit that uses gardening to bring about positive changes in the lives of people living with disabilities or who are isolated, disadvantaged or vulnerable. In celebration of Give and Gain Day, employees also volunteered restoring ponds and wooded areas for wildlife at Ufton Court, an educational trust and grounds outside of Reading, UK.
Reading, UK employee, Michael Wong, shows off his gardening skills volunteering at Thrive. |
Reading, UK volunteers during their lunch break volunteering at Ufton Court. |
With the goal of keeping our oceans and beaches unpolluted, Culver City and Cape Town employees partnered with local nonprofits to participate in beach cleanups. The Culver City team collected 38lbs of waste during their cleanup with nonprofit, Heal the Bay! Employees in South Africa also donated over 65 volunteer hours to environmental nonprofit Clean C during this quarter’s beach cleanup in Cape Town.
Culver City, CA volunteers with Heal the Bay. |
Symantec employees help to make the beaches clean in Cape Town, South Africa with Clean C. |
And later this month, at our Pune, India location, NGO Sewa International will arrange a tree-plating drive, giving employees an opportunity to volunteer.
Employee Campaigns
The Heathrow, FL Green Team ran a popular campaign encouraging employees to opt out of unwanted paper junk mail.
Further, the Green Park/Reading Green Team ran a carbon footprint competition between departments. Congratulations to the R&D Enterprise Vault team who had the lowest collective carbon footprint!
Our One Mug, One Planet Campaign came to a close on Earth Day 2015. This one-year campaign achieved great success, with more than 2,400 employees pledging to reduce their use of paper cups. In the first six months, we saved $20,000 and 314,000 paper cups.
Chris Abess is Vice President, Sales Operations, and Global Green Team Executive Champion