Aside
from being a great place to work and producing world-class vehicles, Toyota
Indiana strives to be a leader in its environmental efforts. Today the plant in the United States showed
100,000 reasons why its environmental efforts are gaining traction.
Last month, Toyota announced it received the
Energy Star Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award from the U.S. EPA
for continued leadership in protecting the environment through superior energy
efficiency, said a company statement.
“Our Environmental Affairs team and Production
team members have collaborated throughout the years to implement many
innovative ways to reduce energy consumption,” said John Stevens, Manager,
Plant Engineering & Environmental, adding,
“From wastewater sludge reduction to our focused recycling efforts,
teamwork has made it all possible.”
In May 2008, Toyota’s Environmental Affairs
team implemented its Afforestation Area.
The plan called for planting native species of trees on many of the
1,160 acres of land that the automaker calls home.
Fast
forward six years – today Toyota Indiana President, Norm Bafunno, gathered
children from the Toyota Children’s Center to share a special
announcement. Last month, the 100,000th
tree in the Afforestation Area was planted.
That number equates to more than 20 trees planted for each of the
company’s 4,700 team members.
Overall,
more than 130,000 trees have been planted in the Afforestation Area. The area has become a thriving habitat for area
wildlife, including white-tailed deer, red-tailed hawks and even bobcats to
live and reproduce in.
“I
know that our plant will be around for many years to come,” said Bafunno. “It is my wish that many of these young
children will grow to be our future team members – and as they grow, these
trees will be growing with them.”
A
key component of Toyota’s environmental initiatives is future
sustainability. The Afforestation Area
and the fact that Toyota has been a zero waste to landfill facility since 2005
are a couple of examples of these sustainable actions.
Source: Toyota
Picture: Toyota Motor
Manufacturing Indiana (TMMI) President Norm Bafunno and children from the
Toyota Indiana Children’s Center unveil the 100,000th tree on May 9, 2014.