Reducing Our Footprint in Colombia, One Tree at a Time
By Javier Alarcón
As part of a companywide effort to continue to drive greater sustainability and offset our environmental footprint, late last year, a group of 24 employees from Clorox Colombia visited the Predio Yanacona, a large forest protected by local environmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations, to plant 200 trees.
Since then, Clorox has sponsored or participated in the planting of more than 2,700 trees that will, over a 20-year period, offset the equivalent of 767 tons of carbon dioxide, or the annual greenhouse gas emissions from our Bogota and Cali manufacturing sites. Clorox is also sponsoring an additional 1,000 trees to be planted by the end of 2015.
In addition to offsetting our emissions, we’re aiming to help make a positive contribution towards solving a national deforestation problem, which is affecting as much as 80,000 hectares of wild forests per year. By restoring these forests, such programs also protect important water sources, reduce erosion risk and restore ecosystems by providing natural conditions that allow native animal species to return to their habitat.
The program is coordinated by a local nonprofit foundation, and is also a short-term employment opportunity for local communities, who get involved in setting up plant nurseries, planting trees on the field and maintaining them to guarantee their growth and protection.
