“If our saplings grow to two meters within a year’s time, that will equate to absorbing 10,000 kilograms of carbon.” - Supriya Shinde, project engineer and Corporate Social Responsibility Coordinator
How much of a difference can 43,000 trees make?
This past June, ITW Automotive India decided to find out for themselves, with over 160 colleagues volunteering to plant saplings on a 22-acre plot of land that’s about 3 kilometers (~1.86 miles) from their facility.
The undertaking took over two years of planning, in partnership with United Way and permission from the government. The group of volunteers included two colleagues who lead the division’s sustainability efforts: Shriram Joshi, Vice President & General Manager of ITW India and Southeast Asia, and Supriya Shinde, a project engineer and the Corporate Social Responsibility Coordinator for ITW India.
“Every year, we take the initiative to spread awareness and this year, we focused on forestation and planting trees to align with the United Nations’ 2024 theme for the day focused on land restoration, desertification and drought resilience,” said Shriram, who has been with ITW since 1997.
The project stemmed from ITW India’s continuing engagement with United Way and our enterprise commitment to making a difference in the environments where we live and work. In addition to the environmental impact, the trees will also benefit residents, with the land’s proximity to neighboring communities.
But the project wasn’t a one-day effort and isn’t exclusive to planting. ITW colleagues will be responsible for maintaining the trees for three years, at which point the trees should be self-sustaining. “We didn’t want the work to end there,” said Shriram. “So, our expectation is that our colleagues will take a walk to enjoy the trees and check on them in case we need to do any maintenance.”
The project reinforced the theme for World Environment Day. In addition to cyclical droughts and floods in cities like Chennai, industrial and residential construction have taken over the land. “We cannot turn back that land, but we can turn our attention to forestation and water,” said Supriya, who has been with ITW for a little over a year. “We are the generation that can make peace with the land. That is why our team adopted the name ‘Generation Restoration.’”
World Environment Day is just one way ITW colleagues raise sustainability awareness and support our enterprise-wide efforts. Annual goals related to greenhouse gas emissions influence construction and design, including the new facility being built in India. These new trees will contribute to the emissions goals, too. “Known as ‘carbon sinks’ because of their ability to store carbon, an average tree that is 3–5 meters high can absorb 20 to 40 kilograms of carbon dioxide per year,” said Supriya. “If our saplings grow to two meters within a year’s time, that will equate to absorbing 10,000 kilograms of carbon.”
