A Canadian Earth Day Campaign motivated by the oil spill
As social awareness about environmental issues drastically grew, major global environmental organizations such as WWF, Greenpeace, and Friends of the Earth also took important roles in the movement as well.
Every year on April 22nd, each country holds diverse events reflecting their own environmental and social situations. One of the most eye-catching events is the “Adopt the Planet” campaign run by NASA. The campaign divides the earth into 640,000 pieces—each 88km wide—and promotes people to adopt these pieces, in order to enhance awareness about environmental issues like climate change.
Once you type your name into the form, you can get a “Planet Adoption Certificate” which has information on what part of the planet you’ll be adopting. A link to share your location on social media is available so you can spread the word to your friends. When you think about your adopted piece of planet somewhere, it becomes easier to care more about the Earth as well.
LG Electronics Engages to Save the Planet
Then what does LG Electronics do to save the earth? Let’s have a look at LG’s eco-friendly activities based on the awarded achievements included in the 2015-2016 sustainability management report
1) LG North America Headquarters Awarded for Eco-Friendly Buildings
New LG buildings for its North American headquarters
The groundbreaking ceremony for LG’s new North American headquarters was held in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. This new headquarters consist of two buildings, which were designed to protect the surrounding forest and wetland. The headquarters were built as low-rise buildings according to an agreement with environmental organizations, so that they won’t affect the beauty of the Palisades.
The considerate building designs lead them to win the “best eco-friendly building” prize, awarded by the USGBC New Jersey branch even before their grand opening. The new buildings will include an environmental science hall which will be used as a nature learning space for students in the neighborhood. Soon we’ll be able to see these eco-friendly buildings where both staff members and local citizens can enjoy time together.
2) “Sustained Excellence” at Energy Star Awards Three Years in a Row
LG Electronics has won “Sustained Excellence” for the past three years, which is an honored title at the Energy Star Award. It also won “Energy Star Partner of the Year” five years in a row, and “Climate Communication Award” three years in a row. These awards demonstrate LG’s effort to protect the environment and save energy, by expanding product lines with Energy Star certificates, holding energy conservation campaigns, and enhancing staff member awareness with energy education.
3) “Gold Tier” Award by Recycling SMM Program
LG Electronics won the “Gold Tier Award” by the Sustainable Materials Management (SMM). SMM is a program which aspires to increase recyclability and reusability of products and share specific information with the public by promoting waste electronics through recycling companies with a third-party certificate.
LG Electronics contributed to reducing landfill waste by collecting 25,000 tons of waste electronics in the U.S. alone. This is equivalent to reducing over 64,000 tons of CO2 which would’ve been emitted if not collected. 64,000 tons of CO2 equals the amount created by the energy expenditure of 8,000 households or the annual gas emissions of 12,300 automobiles.
LG’s waste electronics information can be found at http://www.lg.com/global/recycling
4) “Product Stewardship” System
LG Electronics environmentally manages the entire product cycle including production, distribution, use, and disposal. A Life Cycle Assessment method is adopted to address the environmental effect of each stage of the cycle, and the result is utilized to develop more eco-friendly products. These efforts lead LG Electronics to receive the Carbon Footprint Label, the Low Carbon Certificate, the Carbon Neutral Certificate (Korea), the Carbon Free Label (North America), and the CLIMATOP Label (Europe).
Have a look at the link below if you are interested in other eco-friendly activities taking place at LG Electronics.
2015-2016 LG Electronics’ Sustainability Reports (ENG)
We can’t forget about the Earth for even a second. The fact that we’re so used to where we live can sometimes make us indifferent to what’s actually happening to our home planet. Earth Day doesn’t just mean that we have to think of the planet for a single day each year. The other 364 days also have to be about keeping the promise to save our precious planet. LG will continue to be, as it has been so far, a company that cares about climate change throughout the year.
