Greenovation: P&G takes the lead in environmental sustainability

What do you do when human consumption begins to go beyond what nature can provide? When the possibility looms that what we take for granted today may no longer be there for our children tomorrow?

For consumer giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) Philippines, the answer is to take the responsibility or “R” for tomorrow with the launch of its new environment sustainability program — P&G Greenovation, which is all about innovation for a better, greener future.

The program is a commitment that begins with plenty of “Rs” – reducing, re-using and recycling, and finally, continually reiterating the need to sustain these practices. By developing internal systems and operations that would generate less material waste, save energy or emit less carbon so they become more earth-friendly, P&G is taking responsibility for tomorrow.

P&G Greenovation takes a three-pronged approach towards promoting a more environmentally sustainable workplace by introducing new technologies, internal systems and practices in its plant, product and people.

In plant, P&G showcases new technologies in the Cabuyao Plant in Laguna that will reduce its environmental footprint.

To help conserve energy, P&G has installed active and passive solar panels in the cafeteria and warehouse to take advantage of natural lighting, and are also using solar photovoltaic generators to power parking lamps. Together, these design innovations will reduce carbon emissions by more than 80 tons per year. 

In product, P&G invests in research and innovation to create products that help communities live in a more sustainable way. One recent example is the breakthrough Downy Isang Banlaw, a fabric conditioner that rinses and freshens in just a singe step, effectively reducing water usage during the rinse by around 60 percent. With Downy Isang Banlaw, households can save approximately 480 liters per month in water used for rinsing clothes.

In people, P&G aims to engage and equip all their employees to build environmentally sustainable thinking and practices into their everyday work.

To conserve energy, employees are urged to use the stairs instead of the elevators and to monitor the use of office equipment. Lights on will also be done an hour later in the morning, an effort that will result an approximate reduction of 20,000 kw/h of electricity consumption annually — enough to provide light to one P&G floor for almost five months!

All these efforts will surely contribute to the end goal of P&G’s global sustainability program, which is to reduce its environmental footprint by 10 percent by 2012, and ultimately to help improve the lives of millions of people worldwide not only now but for generations to come.