World Environment Day: Programs making a difference in the Philippines

Enhancing awareness and promoting environmental initiatives where we work, live, and serve

In a recent Earth Day blog, our Chief Marketing Officer Tracy Yelencsics highlighted some of the amazing initiatives our teams around the world have accomplished this past year to help reduce our environmental impact (such as carbon footprint) and support our local communities. As a follow-up for the World Environment Day event, I wanted to provide even more details about some of the events and programs my colleagues in the Philippines participated in, such as Earth Hour 2022, International Coastal Cleanup Day, and the distribution of reusable kitchen utensil program. 

As one of the few centers of biodiversity on Earth, it is relevant for the Philippines, its citizens, and corporate entities to run sustainability and environment protection programs. Proactively, the response of the Conduent PH team was to launch Green Spark, an associate engagement group that seeks to increase awareness about environmental sustainability, protect our natural resources, reduce our carbon footprint, and improve the quality of life of the local communities where we live and work.  

Earth Hour Program

  
 
For several years, the Conduent PH and MY region actively participated in the annual Earth Hour, and last year was no exception. Earth Hour 2022 had the theme, “Shape Our Future” and for an hour associates at our offices in the Philippines joined the rest of the world in giving Mother Earth an hour to rest by switching off all their lights at home and in parts of Conduent offices.   

We also used this opportunity to engage our associates by encouraging them to join the #CNDTEarthHour22 photo contest on social media, with exciting e-gift prizes awarded to the best entries. Participants submitted photos along with a short write-up about how they participated in Earth Hour 2022 and its advocacies. Activities include turning the lights off, demonstrating different ways to conserve energy and natural resources, presenting ways to responsibly interact with nature or wildlife, proposing conservation activities, and more. We had an outstanding team engagement and participation, and you can check out our top three winners on our Conduent Philippines Facebook page.  

International Coastal Cleanup Day

In September, Conduent associates successfully generated 390 volunteer hours for International Coastal Cleanup Day (ICCD) in Cebu, Philippines. This global initiative aims to engage people to remove trash and debris from beaches, waterways, and other bodies of water, identify the sources of the litter, change behaviors that cause pollution, and raise awareness on the extent of the marine debris problem. In Cebu, the ICCD started with a short program to highlight and raise awareness about the growing pollution problems in various beachside communities, particularly in an archipelago like the Philippines. Through their collective efforts, our associates gathered several bags of recyclable and non-recyclable items benefiting the environment and local coastal communities.   

Cebu Citywide Cleanup Participation

For this program in Cebu, ~26 associates participated in the city-wide cleanup drive, producing more than 130 volunteer hours. Teams focused on cleaning areas near local rivers to help reduce flooding during strong rains and storms. 

Reusable Utensils Program

Last but certainly not least is our initiative to reduce plastic use in our offices. The Green Spark PH associate engagement group piloted this Reusable Utensils Program in early 2020 then restarted in 2022 with the release of reusable kitchen utensils to ~5,000 associates –– helping Conduent in the Philippines eliminate plastic use from our cafeteria and break areas. We plan to expand this program this year and in 2024 to deliver kitchen utensils (including the release of reusable straws) to more employees working onsite.  

As part of this initiative, we also put-up signs and Green Spark reminders all around our Manila and Cebu sites to help remind our associates to conserve resources as much as possible. This has resulted to a significant reduction of paper use onsite with equivalent fund value of approximately $23,000 throughout the past two years.

Making a Difference Where We Work, Live and Serve

At Conduent, all our associates are committed to making a difference through the work we deliver for our clients and by being dedicated advocates and active participants in our social responsibility and sustainability programs that benefit the communities around us. In total, our teams in the Philippines contributed over 7,300 hours of volunteer time last year and will continuously produce exciting programs to drive positive outcomes for our associates, communities, clients, and the millions of people who count on them. For this reason, the World Environment Day serves as a great reminder for us to take a look at our accomplishments as #OneConduent in making a difference and inspire everyone to multiply our efforts for an environmentally friendly future.

So, be on the lookout for more Green Spark and environment sustainability stories from the Philippines and our other teams around the globe this year.