World Health Day is a global health awareness initiative celebrated on the 7th of April every year under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO). This year’s theme “Our Planet, Our Health” focuses on the urgent actions needed to combat the biggest environmental health threats facing humanity today, namely climate change.
Though historically seen as strictly an environmental issue, there is a growing body of research showing that climate change is contributing to a wide range of health risks around the world. As climate effects on public health become more clear, it is even more vital for companies to address gaps in their social responsibility initiatives. With “People” at the heart of our four core values, Westerwood Global is committed to the health of our team including our impact to the environment.
Our Efforts to Sustain the Environment
Westerwood Global is devoted to minimizing our environmental footprint even as our company grows. We began embracing sustainable business practices long before the current pandemic working conditions, which helped our company and our team more easily transition to working remotely. What began as a safety measure, has since become a permanent part of our ongoing sustainability initiative. With 20% of our workforce in positions with the ability to work remotely, this is a significant savings in energy and waste reduction now and moving forward.
In addition to this, we have also introduced a variety of internal environmental programs with a specific focus on process digitization. Since 2018, these programs have resulted in a reduction of landfill waste by 57% and has also increased the amount of recyclable material by 67.6%. Just by transitioning our employee documentation from printed to online, in the last 12 months we have saved:
7,541 lb of wood | 22,205 gallons of water
17,701 lb of carbon | 1,225 lb of waste
“It is our ongoing commitment to continue to close the gap between what we can do and what we are already doing,” comments David Byrne, Westerwood Global’s HR Director. “Sustainability is no longer just an environmental initiative for us, rather we see all of our efforts as direct contributions to the health of our team.”
Westerwood Global continues to evaluate and reevaluate our business practices toward our goal of a #healthiertomorrow. For some ideas about what your organization can do to protect our planet and our health, please visit the World Health Organization website.