Going beyond Earth
Hour: Globe Telecom calls for
simple changes in “No Impact Week”
Leading telecommunications company Globe
Telecom goes beyond its usual support for Earth Hour on March 23 by encouraging
its employees and subscribers to participate in the “No Impact Week” campaign
to help further reduce carbon footprint.
No Impact Week
is inspired by the book and film “No Impact Man” by Colin Beavan, which
advocates carbon cleansing or living with as little carbon footprint as
possible.
Every
year, Globe Telecom joins millions of households and businesses around the
world in turning off their lights for one hour to raise awareness on climate
change. This time, the company
wants to do more, thus, it is challenging employees and subscribers to make
small changes in their personal lifestyle at least for a week.
From
March 25 to April 1, anyone who cares for the environment can participate in
the simple experiment by veering away from their usual routines such as taking
public transportation instead of their own car, avoiding the use of plastic
bags, growing vegetables in the backyard, switching to online versions of
newspapers, unplugging all electronic items when not in use, watching less TV,
eliminating paper products, hanging clothes instead of using the dryer, among
other activities. Individually,
the effort may not seem significant but it could create a huge impact on the
environment when done collectively.
“Globe is the only telco in the country with an integrated sustainability
program in place. We are fully supportive of Earth Hour because as a
company, we are aware of the impact of climate change to society and
businesses. As an advocacy, we continuously strive to engage not
only our employees but our own subscribers as well to participate in
environment preservation initiatives as active citizens,” said Rob I. Nazal,
Head of Globe Corporate Social Responsibility.
Over the
years, Globe has progressed at addressing the challenges of environmental
sustainability as it recognizes the impact the company has upon the world in
which it operates. It has, in
fact, implemented a system based on the ISO 14001 standard that takes
environmental protection as a priority consideration.
Aside from
internal efforts to comply with environmental regulations, Globe also continues
to incorporate sustainability in its business strategies and contribute solutions
that mitigate climate change.
For instance, Globe,
through its CSR arm Globe Bridging Communities, spearheads annual environment
events such as the Globe Cordillera Challenge, which is slated on May 4 and
Globe Arakan XC (cross-country) in October. Both activities are geared towards the protection and
preservation of the environment – the Cordillera mountain ranges and the Arakan
Valley.
This year’s Earth
Hour Switch-off on March 23, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., aims to encourage more
than 10 million participants in the Philippines to switch their lights off for
the environment. Since 2009, the Philippines has been one of the staunchest
supporters of Earth Hour and has topped town and city participation to earn the
title “Earth Hour Country Hero.” The Earth Hour campaign in the
Philippines is being spearheaded by World Wildlife Fund-Philippines.
