Unilever reports successful Earth Hour shutdown
Food giant Unilever switched off lights and electrical equipment in all its office sites across Australia and New Zealand in support of Earth Hour on Saturday, in addition to encouraging its employees to do the same at home.
“In line with our commitment to creating a more sustainable future, Unilever is once again proud to support Earth Hour in 2011” said Sebastian Lazell, Chairman Unilever Australia and New Zealand.
“We believe that small steps can make a big difference and we encourage all our customers and business partners to join us in participating in this initiative.”
Unilever said it will also be going ‘beyond the hour’ this year by taking further steps to reduce its carbon footprint within the workplace every day. The company announced a new recycling initiative at its head office in the Melbourne suburb of Epping, which it says will help improve recycling rates and reduce waste sent to landfill. Once established this will be rolled out to other Unilever sites across Australia and New Zealand.
“These steps are all part of Unilever’s overall goal to halve our environmental impact by 2020,” said Lazell.
Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million people switched off their lights to take a stand about climate change. Since then Earth Hour has made history as the largest voluntary action ever witnessed with participation across 128 countries and every continent, including some of the world’s most recognised landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, CN Tower in Toronto, Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Rome’s Colosseum.
