Biodiversity and Environmental CSR
Respecting and cherishing all living species on our planet.
Protecting pollinators is one of the important aspects of biodiversity conservation. Native pollinators (like bees) help plants bear fruit — which provides food to other wildlife — and they increase the health of local ecosystems.
Thanks to WHC's support and our employee volunteers, we have been able to support pollinator gardens. One garden we created in the fall of 2013 and provided a positive impact on local wildlife and raises the awareness of biodiversity conservation for our employees nationwide. Additionally, the varieties of native flowers — such as milkweed, eastern columbine, Joe Pye weed, black-eyed Susan and purple bergamot — create different, vibrant colors throughout the spring until the end of fall.
To coincide with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Environment Day, we initiated Ricoh Global Eco Action Day in 2005. On June 5 every year, all members of the Ricoh Group worldwide are encouraged to think about and take environmental actions, wear green to show their commitment, and share eco-mindfulness with a larger audience. Additionally, we turn off our billboards and signage — except for our solar- and wind-powered ones — for the day.
Some of the local actions taken by Ricoh employees include:
To further underscore the importance of sustainability, we work with partners from government and non-government organizations, as well as our stakeholders, to achieve shared goals.
We hope we inspire you to do more, too.
With our corporate social responsibility, we believe in creating harmony between business and the environment — and today's younger generations play a key role. Through the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the world's largest international pre-college science competition, we award scholarships to students who develop innovative and practical solutions to tackle environmental issues. Since 2005, we've awarded more than $430,000 in scholarships.
This year's award went to Michael Chen, a student at Ridgeview High School in Orange Park, Florida, for his sun-powered device that extracts potable water from common plants addressing water crisis in Uganda. We are proud to support these bright young minds as they shape the future.
