OXFORD, Miss. – Toyota Motors’
efforts to “go green” are most obvious in its vehicles – most notably
the carmaker’s flagship hybrid car, the Prius. But behind it all is a culture
of environmental responsibility that stretches from the boardroom to the
factory line, said Kevin Butt, Toyota’s chief environmental officer.
Butt was the keynote speaker for Green
Week 2009 at the University of Mississippi, where he spoke to dozens of people
at Johnson Commons Ballroom Tuesday afternoon. He touted his company’s long
commitment to environmental responsibility – and may have given university
officials some ideas.
“Whether you believe in global climate change or not, conservation is a good practice,” Butt said. “Sustainability isn’t just about reducing waste; it’s also about economics. It’s about smarter manufacturing and being more energy-efficient. In the U.S., we’re very used to consuming. We should be smarter in how we do that.”
Chancellor Robert Khayat echoed Butt’s sentiments.
“Any great university has to be concerned about the issues society confronts, and our Green Initiative is no exception,” Khayat said. “What we can do is our part, and our part is making significant changes in the way we live on this campus, and how we use resources. I’m thrilled about the way our community embraced the decision to become a green community.”
Butt outlined a corporate culture at Toyota that pays more than lip service to environmental responsibility. Yes, they’ve made the manufacturing process less wasteful. Yes, the cars are more fuel-efficient. Yes, they require their vendors to meet certain standards.
But at Toyota’s home office, workers also started sorting cafeteria scraps into compostable waste. That provides fertile soil for a community garden, where they’ve distributed as much as $3,500 worth of food to the needy. They give empty plastic bottles to a local charity, which in turn sells them to a recycler to raise money. They partner with groups such as the Audubon Society, the 4-H Club and the World Wildlife Fund.
University officials are already planning to recycle some of Toyota’s ideas – among them, soliciting ideas for efficiency from university employees.
“That’s the beauty of having Toyota come into our area,” said UM Sustainability Coordinator Jim Morrison. “They’re trailblazers with these great ideas and we just want to learn from them to see how we can implement similar practices.”
One of Toyota’s simplest and most powerful policies is encouraging employees to be good stewards at home as well.
“That’s where the difference is,” Butt said. “It’s not just about being environmentally responsible at work, then doing things the way you’ve always done them at home. It’s got to be all of us. It’s common sense.”
For more information about UM efforts toward sustainability or for a full slate of Green Week 2009 events, go to http://green.olemiss.edu . For a blog about other Green Week activities, go to http://olemissgreen.blogspot.com/.