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Going Green: Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

aanderson
Explorer A

Welcome to a special edition of Going Green in honor of St. Patrick’s Day!  What do Southwest and lucky leprechauns have in common? We both LUV the color GREEN! At Southwest, we operate with a green filter, and each of our amazing Employees contributes by making environmentally responsible decisions, which also make good business sense.  There are so many wonderful initiatives that have made Southwest a standout when it comes to conserving our natural resources.  In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we thought we would share some facts from the 2012 One Report. green1Our 2013 One Report is coming out in early May, so stay tuned for our report on the triple bottomline of Performance, People, and Planet.  You can find the Southwest Airlines One Report at southwestonereport.com. It’s the nature of the business—the airline industry uses a lot of energy.  It’s what keeps our planes in the air, but we also put a lot of effort into making sure we’re using energy efficiently.  In 2012, we had more than 1500 pieces of electric ground support equipment, which helps us save fuel and reduce emissions. green2In 2012, 77 million gallons of water were consumed based on 31 of our facilities.  That’s a lot of H20! We have water conservation efforts in place, including our landscape initiative at Headquarters, which uses native plants and grasses to save on water irrigation. green3We also have a Community Garden at HDQ where various Departments and Teams, including our DAL Inflight base, adopt planting boxes or contribute to the garden.  In addition to being a great way to get outdoors and interact with nature, our Community Garden gives back to the community!  The seasonal harvests throughout the year are donated to local area food banks.  In 2012, we made 14 donations to help area residents. green4Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!  We strive to recycle, and do by through collecting aluminum, plastic, cardboard, and paper onboard and in some of our facilities through our co-mingled recycling program. Green5Through our recycling program, we’ve diverted more than 9,800 tons of material from landfills since from 2008 through 2012!  That’s the equivalent to the weight of 233 Boeing 737-700 aircraft! We hope you have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day!  Thank you for helping create and preserve Southwest’s reputation as a Company that cares about being a good global citizen. What do you LUV about going Green?  Let us know by commenting below!