Going Beyond Earth Hour with GLOBE

Going beyond Earth Hour:  Globe Telecom calls for simple changes in “No Impact Week”

Leading telecommunications company Globe Telecom goes beyond its usual support for Earth Hour on March 23 by encouraging its employees and subscribers to participate in the “No Impact Week” campaign to help further reduce carbon footprint.

No Impact Week is inspired by the book and film “No Impact Man” by Colin Beavan, which advocates carbon cleansing or living with as little carbon footprint as possible.

Every year, Globe Telecom joins millions of households and businesses around the world in turning off their lights for one hour to raise awareness on climate change.  This time, the company wants to do more, thus, it is challenging employees and subscribers to make small changes in their personal lifestyle at least for a week. 

From March 25 to April 1, anyone who cares for the environment can participate in the simple experiment by veering away from their usual routines such as taking public transportation instead of their own car, avoiding the use of plastic bags, growing vegetables in the backyard, switching to online versions of newspapers, unplugging all electronic items when not in use, watching less TV, eliminating paper products, hanging clothes instead of using the dryer, among other activities.  Individually, the effort may not seem significant but it could create a huge impact on the environment when done collectively.

                 “Globe is the only telco in the country with an integrated sustainability program in place.  We are fully supportive of Earth Hour because as a company, we are aware of the impact of climate change to society and businesses.   As an advocacy, we continuously strive to engage not only our employees but our own subscribers as well to participate in environment preservation initiatives as active citizens,” said Rob I. Nazal, Head of Globe Corporate Social Responsibility. 

Over the years, Globe has progressed at addressing the challenges of environmental sustainability as it recognizes the impact the company has upon the world in which it operates.  It has, in fact, implemented a system based on the ISO 14001 standard that takes environmental protection as a priority consideration.

Aside from internal efforts to comply with environmental regulations, Globe also continues to incorporate sustainability in its business strategies and contribute solutions that mitigate climate change.

For instance, Globe, through its CSR arm Globe Bridging Communities, spearheads annual environment events such as the Globe Cordillera Challenge, which is slated on May 4 and Globe Arakan XC (cross-country) in October.  Both activities are geared towards the protection and preservation of the environment – the Cordillera mountain ranges and the Arakan Valley.

This year’s Earth Hour Switch-off on March 23, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., aims to encourage more than 10 million participants in the Philippines to switch their lights off for the environment. Since 2009, the Philippines has been one of the staunchest supporters of Earth Hour and has topped town and city participation to earn the title “Earth Hour Country Hero.”  The Earth Hour campaign in the Philippines is being spearheaded by World Wildlife Fund-Philippines.