In 2010, Verizon  improved its carbon efficiency by more than 15 percent. This year, we plan to improve energy efficiency by an additional 15 percent.

Our decision to announce a sustainability goal publicly is new for Verizon. In the past, we’ve chosen to talk about results we have achieved, rather than focus on what we plan to do.

By stating our goals publicly and developing a transparent metric to measure the amount of electricity and fuel used in our buildings and vehicles, we’re hoping to set a standard to show that it is possible, and in fact beneficial, to grow as a company and improve energy efficiency.

You’ve read and heard a lot from Verizon about all the things we’re doing to become a greener company. Things like adding hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles to our fleet, requiring vendors to make new network equipment 20 percent more energy efficient, encouraging customers to switch to paperless billing and more. The idea behind it all is to reduce Verizon’s carbon footprint and enable our network of customers and suppliers to do the same.

Each day I’m inspired to see the results of dedicated employees making a difference.  And today, on Earth Day, we collectively celebrate and pledge anew to incorporate sustainability into our business and our lives.  Our diverse employees deserve diverse opportunities for involvement…here are just a few ways we are celebrating Earth Day at Verizon this year.

This week, Christopher Lloyd, Verizon's Executive Director for Public Policy Development and Corporate Responsibility, is our guest blogger.  He recently took part in the 5^th Annual Energy and Environment Conference at Babson College in Massachusetts.

In this entry, he writes about a keynote speech given by Kathy Brown, Verizon’s Sr. VP of Public Policy Development and Corporate Responsibility. You also can read or download the full speech.

Attachments:

Babson Speech - Kathryn C Brown.pdf ‏24 KB

Transportation accounts for more than 70 percent of America’s oil consumption.  It is also one of the biggest costs for many businesses and families.  That's why, last Friday, President Obama spoke to businesses and discussed ways to reduce our dependence on oil.

As Verizon’s Chief Sustainability Officer part of my charge is to spread the word about the many steps Verizon is taking to help the company and our customers reduce their carbon footprint.

To raise awareness among Verizon employees we started Vz Green TV, a periodically taped show in which I interview one of Verizon’s leaders about a particular initiative or highlight a specific effort or green product.

So far, it’s been very well received inside Verizon, so we’ve decided to share some of these videos externally.

This week, Graham Richard, a former Indiana state senator and business entrepreneur, is our guest blogger.  Graham is a board member of the Clean Economy Network (CEN) and recently presented CEN’s inaugural “Groundbreaker Award” to Kathryn Brown, Verizon’s senior vice president for public policy and corporate responsibility. Following is an excerpt from Graham’s introductory remarks describing how Verizon's focus on sustainability merited receipt of the award...

You probably do not think of Verizon as an energy company, but when you stop and think about how our broadband and wireless networks enable energy efficiency you will understand how we are at the heart of the clean economy.

Last week, Verizon was recognized for the work we’ve done on this score.  The recognition: the “Groundbreaker Award” from the Clean Economy Network for fostering the development and adoption of new technologies and business practices that advance the clean economy.

Here are a few quick examples of how our network investment is reducing the energy our customers use. . .

This week, Christopher Lloyd, Verizon's Executive Director for Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility, is our guest blogger.  He writes about a recent competition held between MBA students at Boston College.  See below. . .

This past semester marked the second year of collaboration between Verizon and Boston College to instill the importance of corporate responsibility among the MBA students of Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. Once again, Verizon partnered with the university to sponsor a corporate responsibility case competition to tap into the innovative ideas presented by the business leaders of tomorrow.

Last week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was the perfect place for Verizon to share more details about the new Connected Home solution.. 

This ‘smart’ service also packs a hefty ‘green’ punch.  Lighting, thermostats and appliances can all be controlled and monitored by using a smartphone, computer or through FiOS TV.

Gifts, galas and gladness – all great parts of the holiday season.  And no matter who you are or where you are it’s likely you will be celebrating this season.  So why not add another word to the holiday list?  Green!

There are many ways to make sure you are not a Green Grinch this holiday season.  So have some fun and go green with these ideas:

I recycle. Do you?  That is this year’s slogan for America Recycles Day. 

Since 1997, November 15^th has been the day that communities and businesses across the country come together to celebrate recycling, raise awareness and pledge to increase their recycling habits at home, at work and on the go.  At Verizon, we are working to do our part everyday.

 Last year alone Verizon recycled more than 22 thousand tons of paper and cardboard, over 37 thousand tons of telecommunications equipment and 182 tons of cell phone batteries.  

We’ve all heard how oranges provide lots of Vitamin C to keep us healthy but Verizon Wireless’ new CITRUS smartphone actually offers a dose of something new – Vitamin G, as in GREEN.

Now, I can’t say this Vitamin will keep you healthy, but I do think you will feel good about taking a step to keep the earth healthy. 

See the CITRUS Smartphone by clicking here.

“The purpose creates the machine,” said Arthur Young, an American inventor, mathematician and philosopher of the 1900s.  

I can’t agree more…especially when it comes to green machines.  And what better day to share more details than today, National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day?

Verizon has established a specific purpose for 1,600 new vehicles, or green machines, that are being deployed coast-to-coast.  That purpose is fuel-savings and the related greenhouse gas reductions.  We’ve recently unveiled vehicles at three different events across the country…and more announcements are coming.

Let’s face it, in today’s electronic and green world the residential white pages are no longer the first place people go to find a phone number. For many it’s much more convenient to tap a few keys and use a search engine to find a person’s number.

 Gallup estimates usage of residential white pages had dropped to about 11 percent in 2008.  And the unfortunate side of that statistic is the voluminous amount of paper used to create something that many people do not use and might not even recycle.

But things are changing.

It’s a pretty cool concept.  Giving new life to old materials by turning them into something new.  Look around and you will see purses made from jeans, patio decks made from fruit crates or even jewelry made from plastic bottle material.  It’s an excellent and environmentally beneficial process that we can all support to reduce waste going into landfills.

Recently Verizon partnered with Relan on an upcycling initiative of our own. 

Relan is helping us find a new use for our used billboards.  Relan collects the vinyl from Verizon billboards and upcycles the material to create totes, bags, luggage tags, pad folios and other useful and unique sustainable products.  Each item is tagged with a bio-flex patch that identifies it as billboard material.

How’s this for return on investment.

 This summer the Environmental Defense Fund supplied specially-trained MBA students to Verizon and 46 other companies to help find opportunities to cut greenhouse gases and improve energy efficiency . The result, those students uncovered energy efficiency opportunities that represent net operating savings of more than $350 million and over 400,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. 

The Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) this week released the long-awaited follow-up to its landmark Smart2020 report. This effort outlines a workable methodology to gauge the environmental benefits of information technology. 

The groundbreaking study provides a means to measure the carbon reduction value that Information Communications Technology (ICT) systems make possible.  In one case study, the effects of telecommuting on one company are measured. The findings? Annual CO2 emissions were reduced the equivalent of conserving approximately 1.6 million gallons of gasoline.

When you go to your favorite restaurant all of the things you’ve come to expect and enjoy -- the bread, entrée, delicious desserts and perhaps the ambiance and conversation – are all baked into a good night out.

That’s also the case with the new Samsung Intensity II cell phone, which we just recently launched. 

This little gem has a lot on its plate!

The leader of our Corporate Responsibility group at Verizon, Kathy Brown, gave one of the important speeches of the year recently about the “value” of sustainability as a core attribute of good corporate citizenship and a means of creating long-term growth. She delivered the speech on June 17 at the Conference Board in New York.

Kathy makes the point that careful stewardship of natural resources by corporations can bring social and business value. 

Attachments:

2010-06-17 - Kathryn C Brown - Conference Board -final -TL.pdf ‏26 KB

Verizon’s Senior Vice President – Corporate Responsibility Kathy Brown recently talked about Verizon’s commitment to being a good corporate citizen.

We’ve captured Kathy’s thoughts on our approach to corporate responsibility in six short videos that I’ll be posting over the next few weeks. 

This week:  Why it matters to consumers. . .

I’m not asking folks to become Verizon customers; although, I’m obviously not opposed to that. I’m asking customers, employees, community members and our business and nonprofit partners to get involved in sustainability, share new ideas, and when possible to support our sustainability efforts.

Ms. Cohen gives us high marks for showing the consistency of Verizon’s commitment in our reporting and providing “strong demonstration of corporate responsibility and significant year on year progress.”

The challenge: To focus more on outcomes, adding data which would give greater scale and context to our performance.

We're finding that engaging people so they understand our corporate responsibility approach-including sharing our results and challenges with them-is having a positive impact on our reputation.

The latest indication is our being named for the third year in a row to the list of "100 Best Corporate Citizens" by Corporate Responsibility magazine this week.