While working to reduce its environmental burden and hold environmental conservation activities in association with its corporate activities, the NGK Insulators Group works to improve environmental awareness through coordination and communication with its diverse stakeholders who extend beyond the sphere of the Group's industries.
Françoise'
Water Survey Notebook
An environmental education
delivery class being conducted at an elementary school
Through activities with the 207 chief central Nagoya companies involved in the Environmental Partnership Organizing Club (Abbreviation: EPOC; President: NGK Insulators President Shun Matsushita), NGK Insulators strives to engage in environmental communication with the surrounding region.
Also, as part of EPOC's projects to educate the next generation, the company implemented "delivery classes" targeting elementary school children in the central Nagoya area. This initiative has been conducted since 2005, with 3 classes being held at 3 schools and approximately 200 students being taught in FY2010.
Students were taught about the importance of water using NGK Insulators own text, "Françoise' Water Survey Notebook". Students also conducted experiments, filtering dirty water and using activated charcoal to make it clear again. Some comments received from students include "The roleplaying in the Water Survey Notebook was interesting" and "I was surprised when the dirty water becomes clean".
As part of a month-long series of initiatives (held every year in June), NGK Insulators implements "eco proposal" activities.
Under the theme of environmental conservation, employees submit proposals to reduce the company's environmental impact such as reducing CO2 and emissions and improving sewage management. The FY2010 event was quite active, with the company receiving a total of 3,455 proposals, exceeding the 3,156 received in FY2009.
The top 37 proposals for reducing CO2 led to a reduction of 275 tons of CO2 per year (equivalent to the yearly CO2 emissions of 52 households).
NGK Insulators is promoting an initiative to cultivate environmental awareness in the home by having employees make a "household environmental account book" with their families.
The company conducted the initiative 4 times in FY2010 in spring, summer, winter, and fall, with a total of 366 families participating. By understanding their families' energy use and CO2 emissions, employees' environmental understanding was improved, leading to energy and resource conservation.
NGK Insulators participates in the Ministry of the Environment's "CO2 Reduction/Lights Down Campaign" to prevent global warming. From June 21 (the summer solstice) to July 7 (Tanabata festival, Cool Earth Day) of FY2010, the company shut off the lights of the garden adjoining the head office from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. In FY2011, lights were shut off from June 22 (the summer solstice) to the end of August for a total of 71 days.
