‘Tis the Season
It’s that time of year around Intel - plan time. It’s time to set budgets and priorities for the upcoming year. Although I’d like to say that it brings back fond memories of childhood and Christmas wish lists, the reality is something more akin to finding out mom and dad are Santa Claus and that top of the line bicycle or motorized toy airplane is not quite within budget.
So, where do we start? In 2007, we established a new set of environmental goals. The goals set targets through 2010 in a few areas we believe are critical including:
- Reducing our carbon footprint
- Reducing our water usage
- Increasing our waste recycling rates
- Engaging our employee base
- Improving the environmental footprint of our products
As we begin our Plan 2008, these still feel like the right focus areas with maybe a few adjustments. For example, recycling is great, but reducing the waste in the first place is even better. Or maybe we should shoot for a more ambitious “zero waste” type goal? Some more work to do there… Likewise, the response by our employees to our “200 environmental projects” goal has been incredible. Over 100 projects have already been completed! How do we further tap into the energy of our 90,000+ employees to improve our environmental performance? Just one of the many questions I will pose to my team.
These few environmental focus areas are certainly not exhaustive, but hopefully help point us in the right direction. However, would like your thoughts from the outside looking in. What’s on your environmental wish list for 2008? Be sure to mail all responses to the North Pole :)
Todd Brady is the Director of Global Public Affairs and Sustainability for Intel Corporation. In this role he leads state and local government affairs, media and community relations, corporate volunteerism and sustainability at the company's major manufacturing and office locations around the globe. In addition to overseeing regulatory and community engagement strategies in the US, China, Southeast Asia, Israel, Ireland and Latin America, he directs Intel’s global initiatives to make Intel “smart & green” by leading corporate-wide sustainability programs such as climate, energy and water conservation, green design and the integration of internet of things (IoT) solutions to create smart and green offices, buildings and facilities of the future. During his 20+ years at Intel, Todd has represented the company publicly in numerous forums and led industry-wide initiatives in many national and international committees. He has authored more than 20 papers in scientific journals and conference proceedings on a variety of sustainability topics. In 2009, he was named by Scientific American as one of ten outstanding leaders involved in research, business or policy pursuits that have advanced science and technology. Todd holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University and a MS in Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.