Alcoa, Pew Sponsor 'Make an Impact' Program
In what is believed to be a first for corporate America, Alcoa and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change have launched a new program – Make an Impact -- to help find the answers.
The program provides the tools for Alcoa's employees and local communities to manage their individual carbon footprints, reduce their energy costs, and become part of the solution to global climate change.
The program includes:
• Interactive Web site with tools and resources on reducing energy bills and living more sustainably (www.alcoa.com/makeanimpact);
• Custom-built carbon calculator with individual "footprint" analysis and personalized action planning;
• Comprehensive outreach program of localized interactive workshops.
Pew Center President Eileen Claussen applauded the project, "We often think that solutions to climate change and energy costs can come only from business and government. But everyone needs to play their part -- and through our partnership with the Alcoa Foundation -- we are making that possible.
"We expect this program to serve as the benchmark on personal carbon accounting across business and the community, and we look forward to sharing it with our business partners in the near future," Claussen said.
"Climate change is the most critical sustainability issue of our time and to make a real difference, we all need to take action -- on all fronts and at all levels, individually and together," said Alcoa President and Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld.
"Our 97,000 employees are finding new ways to meet this challenge every day and our product is also playing a key role -- not only can aluminum be recycled endlessly - taking only 5 percent of the energy needed to make new metal -- but it is also reducing fuel use in transport by making lighter vehicles," he added.
The Make an Impact program builds on the success of the program developed in Australia in 2006 through an Alcoa Foundation partnership with Greening Australia.
The program initially will be introduced at nine Alcoa locations from Washington to Pittsburgh, with plans to take the program elsewhere to other U.S. locations and beyond.