Earth Day 2024 and Year-Round Sustainability Efforts

Promoting circularity

Target is working toward the goal of designing all its owned brand products for a circular future by 2040 with Universal Thread and Everspring. Both are slated to hit the milestone in 2025. “We’re already making progress with the launch of two Universal Thread products made with yarn blended with fibers collected from used garments and manufacturing scraps,” the company shared. Target is also hosting a car seat trade-in event—happening April 14-27, 2024—which provides customers the opportunity to trade in old car seats for a 20% off coupon toward a new car seat or select baby gear. “It’s also a way for guests to make a sustainable choice,” Target outlined in a recent article. “So far, we’ve recycled over 2.6 million car seats, or 39.7 million pounds worth. Even better: We’re using some of the materials collected from the trade-in to create new products and materials… providing another boost to our circularity efforts.”

Sustainable commuting challenge

This past fall, more than 800 Arrow Electronics employees from 145 offices, across 34 countries, participated in a sustainability challenge to reduce the environmental impact of their daily commuting activities, saving almost 20 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The campaign used a point system by incentivizing employees to find alternative modes of transportation to commute to work. Many opted for cycling, walking, carpooling or using public transportation. In addition to top prizes, like e-bikes, each participant received a gift card to donate to a charity of their choice.

Planting trees, at scale, in post-wildfire areas

Last year TELUS invested in Flash Forest, a Canadian reforestation company that uses technology to regenerate post-wildfire areas—a partnership aimed at both post-wildfire recovery and combatting climate change. Earlier in 2023, the company’s Pollinator Fund helped to support the development of automated solutions and to plant trees in burn areas using drones. The TELUS Environment and Sustainability team also concluded a multi-year commercial agreement with the startup to help businesses from various industries achieve their own environmental goals using Flash Forest’s end-to-end digital forestry solutions. The work is part of TELUS’ commitment to sustainability, and advances its goal of becoming a zero-waste, carbon-neutral company by 2030 or sooner.

Beekeeping at company facilities

Since 2021, Tanger has partnered with urban beekeeping company Alvéole to build and expand its onsite beehive program. Local hives are installed atop its shopping centers to build back biodiversity within communities. Hives are located in Texas, New York, New Jersey, National Harbor, Maryland, and Ottawa, Ontario. Where hives are located, the company invites shoppers to check out interactive displays to learn about bees, sustainable food systems, and how pollinators impact our environment. Stakeholders can also “follow the buzz” on the honeybees’ blog.

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Companies Celebrating Earth Day 2023 & Beyond

This Earth Day, Kohler Co. shared a post about its KOHLER WasteLAB® and highlighting the efforts of Monty Stauffer, an industrial designer who spends his days exploring Kohler factories, sifting through drains and waste bins, in search of something he can use before it ends up in a landfill. Through WasteLAB®, the company explains it is taking a step toward building a sustainable circular economy. "From 2019 through 2021, sales of KOHLER WasteLAB tile have diverted more than 54,000 pounds of waste from landfills, exemplifying Kohler's commitment to achieving net-zero waste to landfill by 2035."

In observance of Earth Day and Mayor's Give A Day, which extends through April in Louisville, KY, Heaven Hill Brands team members spent the day with Olmstead Parks Conservancy, beautifying the historic Victory Park. In addition to planting trees throughout the park, employees built park benches and bleachers to make the park more enjoyable and accessible for youth, families, and older adults.

Leidos is celebrating Earth Month by highlighting its ongoing commitment to sustainability. This year, the company aims to drive impact through a series of Eco-Action days of service and Green Teams, employee-driven groups that will provide people with a passion for the environment opportunities to act on sustainability issues at their work sites, their homes, and in their communities. Leidos’s other projects include a partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to stabilize shorelines with new construction and restoration projects, collaboration with NASA on the development of a climate action plan, and work with the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to develop a smarter electrical grid through its work to identify the best kinds of fuel cells. Leidos has also teamed up with National Grid to gain new insight into the cost and carbon reduction impacts of projects like EV charging stations, energy storage, demand response, combined heat and power/fuel cells, and photovoltaic systems.

In line with its goal to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Lowe's recently announced details of rooftop solar panel installations at 174 store and distribution center locations nationwide, including 20 sites currently in operation. Once each site is completed, the solar panels will provide approximately 90% of the energy usage at each location. "At Lowe's, we are focused on operating responsibly and reducing our impact on the environment," said Chris Cassell, Lowe's vice president of corporate sustainability. "Investing in renewable energy lowers operating costs and is an important step in reducing emissions associated with our stores and distribution centers. This initial rooftop solar portfolio is one example of the collaboration we seek with partners as we work toward our long-term and interim net-zero goals."

As part of Rockland Trust’s environmental sustainability efforts, the bank installed a 114kW solar array system on the roof of its Somerset Building (pictured above).

The World Bank estimates that 2 billion tons of waste is generated, from both businesses and residences, across the globe each year. As one of those companies, Yum! Brands is looking to change this by leveraging the power of its 55,000 KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill restaurants to be part of the solution by reimagining its iconic packaging like the KFC bucket, Pizza Hut pizza boxes, and Taco Bell sauce packets. "It’s our responsibility as the world’s largest restaurant company to help solve for the amount of waste that ends up in landfills,” said Jon Hixson, Yum! chief sustainability officer & vice president of global government affairs. “And for years, we’ve been diligently working on this challenge, and it’s now been unified across the 150-plus countries and territories in which we operate, so that’s what’s really exciting.”

Delta Air Lines employees in Atlanta, GA turned on the "CHaRM" in an effort to reuse, recycle, or reengineer more than 250,000 million pounds of waste by Earth Day. Delta’s Business Resource Group, GREEN UP, in partnership with the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials, collected hard to recycle (and not so hard to recycle) items to help divert harmful materials from Atlanta’s landfills and waterways.

The Northrop Grumman Foundation and Discovery Education have teamed up to launch EcoTech Innovators, a new educational initiative integrating STEM education and conservation. The program aims to engage middle school students on topics of sustainability, innovation, and problem-solving global challenges. With free and standards-aligned lesson plans, students will refine their problem-solving skills in classrooms with the support of educators of professional STEM volunteers. “To maintain excellence in innovation and address the world’s most pressing issues, it’s imperative that we increase students’ abilities and interest in STEM,” said Carolyn Cavicchio, Executive Director of the Northrop Grumman Foundation. “Now, alongside Discovery Education, we’re preparing youth to use STEM skills to actively shape a sustainable future for their communities and the planet.”

This Earth Day, Bread Financial reviewed all the ways in which the company aims to integrate environmentally-friendly practices into all aspects of its business. First, Bread Financial is creating a more sustainable workspace by investing in renewable energy, setting a goal to purchase 100% renewable energy at all of its sites by the end of 2023. It has also been introducing carbon-neutral credit cards since August 2022. Other measures include going paperless, implementing an Electronic Recycling week which diverted 578 pounds of e-waste from landfills, and investing in conservation. In total, Bread Financial has committed more than $800,000 to The Nature Conservancy since 2021.

More News in Corporate Social Responsibility

As FedEx approached its 50th birthday (April 17th), the company announced it had exceeded its "FedEx Cares 50 by 50" goal to help 50 million people before the milestone. The company will kick off celebrations with a $50,000 gift to World Central Kitchen.

“For the last 50 years FedEx has transformed the world by connecting people and possibilities, and we want to celebrate this milestone anniversary by giving back,” said FedEx President and Chief Executive Officer Raj Subramaniam. “Exceeding our 50 by 50 goal of supporting 50 million people globally demonstrates the incredible dedication of FedEx team members and our steadfast commitment to deliver more than packages, but also hope, opportunity, and good in the world.”

Launched in 2019, FedEx Cares worked around the world with more than 900 nonprofits to have a direct and positive impact on more than 50 million people. Team members engaged in community service, invested in philanthropic endeavors, and provided in-kind shipping to many organizations.

Air Liquide hosted an event with Dr. Kate Biberdorf, better known as “Kate the Chemist,” a chemist, science entertainer, and professor at The University of Texas. The event brought sixth and seventh graders to the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy in Houston and featured science experiment demonstrations and a panel discussion on the importance of STEM education for young women. The company hopes that by showcasing women who are active in the fields of science and engineering, it is encouraging enthusiasm for STEM subjects and providing a roadmap for girls interested in pursuing a science-based professional path.

LyondellBasell reinforced its commitment to fostering greater food security across the world in alignment with its sustainability approach and goal of supporting the United Nations sustainable development goal of zero hunger (SDG 2). In 2022, the company donated more than $100,000 and matched $60,000 in employee giving across 29 community partners supporting global food security initiatives. In the U.S., the company donated $25,000 to the Houston Food Bank in 2022 in support of the Houston Food Bank’s transportation fleet, as part of a three-year commitment. The Houston Food Bank is responsible for distributing 2.3 million meals and 283,000 snacks annually at 326 meal sites in the greater Houston area. Some of the company’s global commitments include a €25,000 donation to Stichting Voedselbank Rotterdam to provide access to healthy food options for the 2,000 families the food bank supports.

MassMutual announced it has launched a second MM Catalyst Fund of $100 million to continue investing in diverse-led and overlooked companies across Massachusetts. Since 2021, the MM Catalyst Fund has invested in 16 businesses across Massachusetts, driving growth in Black-led companies as well as startups in rural areas of the Commonwealth, including investments in HourWork, a recruitment and retention platform for hourly workers in the quick-service restaurant industry, and Clean Crop Technologies, a western Massachusetts-based agriculture technology startup that's redefining food and agriculture performance with its fully electric innovations, from field to fridge.