Alcoa Employees Mobilize Worldwide to Celebrate Eco-Holidays
Share:
Green Works Volunteer Initiative Encourages Employees to Reduce, Recycle and Replenish
NEW YORK - In celebration of Earth Day, World Environment Day and Arbor Day, thousands of Alcoa employees worldwide will volunteer to reduce their carbon footprint, recycle to save energy, and plant trees to replenish the environment from April 21 to June 21, as part of Alcoa Foundation's Green Works initiative.
"Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do at Alcoa," said Paula Davis, Alcoa Foundation President. "Green Works aims to get our employees and their families involved in greening their communities and encourages them to become environmental ambassadors."
As a part of Green Works, Alcoa Foundation has created the "Imagine Your World" art contest for children of Alcoa's 59,000 employees, who will create original artwork depicting their vision for tomorrow's natural environment. Eight young winners will each receive a US $5,000 grant to their local school or a school in an underserved area.
To kick off Green Works globally, Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa Chairman and CEO, will join Alcoa New York employee volunteers, City Year and The Central Park Conservancy to revitalize infrastructure in iconic Central Park. Alcoa will also donate 20 recycling bins to the park.
The New York event is one of hundreds of Alcoa Green Works community service projects around the world, including:
Australia: Alcoa employees working with Greening Australia will launch the Make an Impact energy efficiency education program in the community of Pinjarra, Western Australia. Employees will plant over 3,500 native seedlings as part of Alcoa Australia's annual Employee Tree Day.
Brazil: Alcoa employees in São Paulo will partner with The Nature Conservancy to host community workshops on recycling, reforestation and water conservation.
China: Alcoa will partner with the Qinhuangdao Bird Watching Association and Kunshan Charity Federation to plant nearly 2,000 trees.
Hungary: Alcoa employees will plant trees to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Hall-Heroult aluminum production process and the 70th anniversary of the Alcoa Köfém location in Szekesfehervar.
Iceland: Alcoa employees will beautify and help preserve Vatnajökull National Park.
Russia: In Belaya Kalitva, Alcoa Russia President, Andrey Donets, will lead an education session for middle school students about the importance of recycling. Alcoa employees will partner with the Samara Botanical Gardens to plant trees and beautify the park.
United States: Across the country, Alcoa locations will participate in electronics recycling drives to address the growing challenge of e-waste over the Earth Day weekend, April 20-25.
About Green Works
The Green Works employee volunteer initiative builds on US $7 million in environmentally focused grants that Alcoa Foundation announced earlier this year. Since 2008, Alcoa has invested US $23 million in environmental nonprofit organizations such as World Wildlife Fund, World Resources Institute, Conservation International, Global ReLeaf and The Nature Conservancy.
Some of Alcoa Foundation's environmentally focused initiatives include:
o Ten Million Trees, an effort to plant 10 million trees around the world by 2020.
o Make an Impact, an energy efficiency education program in partnership with the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, that includes a carbon calculator enabling people to make better environmental choices and save money.
o Earthwatch Institute, a hands-on training program that allows 25 Alcoa employees to work alongside Earthwatch scientists on environmental research projects around the world.
o Institute for Civic Leadership, a training program for high school students and teachers around the world that enables them to study the environment through teamwork.
o The Keystone Center, an institute that provides middle school teachers with the tools and curriculum to investigate environmental issues with their students.
o Keep America Beautiful, recycling initiatives including the RecycleMania college competition and the upcoming America Recycles Day.
o Aluminate, an aluminum recycling App for iPhone that tracks the amount of cans recycled and totals how much money they're worth.
About Alcoa Foundation
Alcoa Foundation is one of the largest corporate foundations in the U.S., with assets of approximately US$436 million. Founded more than 50 years ago, Alcoa Foundation has invested more than US$530 million since 1952. In 2010, Alcoa Foundation contributed nearly US$20 million to nonprofit organizations throughout the world, focusing on promoting environmental stewardship, enabling economic and social sustainability, and preparing tomorrow's leaders through education and learning. The work of Alcoa Foundation is further enhanced by Alcoa's thousands of employee volunteers, who in 2010 gave more than 720,000 service hours. Through the company's signature Month of Service (October) program, Alcoa employees share their energy, passion and purpose to make a difference in our communities. In 2010, a record 49 percent of Alcoans took part in nearly 1,000 Month of Service events across 24 countries, reaching 59,000 children, serving 17,000 meals, planting 16,000 trees and supporting 3,000 nonprofit organizations. For more information about Alcoa Foundation, please access www.alcoa.com/foundation.
About Alcoa
Alcoa (NYSE:AA) is the world's leading producer of primary and fabricated aluminum, as well as the world's largest miner of bauxite and refiner of alumina. In addition to inventing the modern-day aluminum industry, Alcoa innovation has been behind major milestones in the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation, consumer electronics and industrial markets over the past 120 years. Among the solutions Alcoa markets are flat-rolled products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings, as well as Alcoa® wheels, fastening systems, precision and investment castings, and building systems in addition to its expertise in other light metals such as titanium and nickel-based super alloys. Sustainability is an integral part of Alcoa's operating practices and the product design and engineering it provides to customers. Alcoa has been a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for nine consecutive years and approximately 75 percent of all of the aluminum ever produced since 1888 is still in active use today. Alcoa employs approximately 59,000 people in 31 countries across the world. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com.
