Promotion of Environmental Volunteer Activities  (Ricoh Group/Japan)
For the conservation of the global environment, it is important for each staff member to carry out activities spontaneously inside and outside the company, maintaining a sense of being a global citizen. Ricoh launched the Environmental Volunteer Leader Development Program in June 1999 as part of its staff training and expanded the program in fiscal 2001 to include staff members working at group companies as well as retired employees.
By the end of fiscal 2007, 412 environmental volunteer leaders, including directors, had been fostered. The programs consist of Nature Seminar Elementary Courses, Nature Seminar Intermediate Courses, Forest Seminars, and Ricoh Company Meetings for Environmental Volunteer Leaders.
Activities after the seminars are also followed up. After taking a Nature Seminar Elementary Course, each participant engages in volunteer activities involving his or her division or community. Environmental volunteer leaders have expanded their activities significantly. Although at first they worked only with their families and friends, they now participate in more extensive activities involving local children and communities.
Environmental Volunteer Leader Development Program
Number of Activities Sponsored by Environmental Volunteer Leaders
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Number of Participants in Activities Sponsored by Environmental Volunteer Leaders
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Ricoh Company Meeting for Environmental Volunteer Leaders
On February 28, 2007, the 22nd Ricoh Company Meeting for Environmental Volunteer Leaders was held at Ricoh Atsugi Plant. The meeting, designed for leaders to develop skills and exchange information, is held twice a year as part of the Environmental Volunteer Leader Development Program. The theme this time was "To Expand the Network of Natural Environment Conservation into the Community." About 90 people participated in the meeting –including not only environmental volunteer leaders, but also other Ricoh employees, as well as representatives from other companies in the Atsugi area, administrative bodies and NPOs. People from NPOs that have been working to expand the network of natural environment conservation through environmental education were invited to give lectures, and they talked about the purposes and methods of promotion as well as troubles they went through and their creative ideas.
In the panel discussion, Ricoh employees certified as environmental volunteer leaders joined the lecturers, and they had a lively discussion about the issues and the roles of companies and individuals that must be considered when expanding the network of natural environment conservation into the community through volunteer activities. |
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Trash Survey in Tanzawa
On May 12, 12 Ricoh Group employees participated in the survey of trash in Tanzawa, organized jointly by Tanzawa Gomi Chosa-Kai and Yokohama Miroku Sangaku-Kai. This project aims to help prevent careless discarding of trash by surveying and collecting trash left on mountain trails and identifying the reasons why such trash is thrown away. They collected 11 bags of burnable trash and 17 bags of unburnable trash on the day. |
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Community Forest Conservation on Mt. Satsuki (Mt. Sekku) in Ikeda City
On May 19, 10 Ricoh environmental volunteer leaders and Ricoh Group employees participated in the satoyama (community forests) conservation activities organized by Satsukiyama Green Echo on Mt. Satsuki (Mt. Sekku) in Ikeda City, Osaka Prefecture. They cut down withered bamboos and cleared the forest floor, and as a result, the bamboo forest that used to be thick with bamboos turned into a new bright forest. |
Thicket Conservation by Lake Shinsei
On June 12, 9 people, including members of the Hatano Thicket Conservation Group, one of Ricoh's environmental volunteer groups, and their families, carried out conservation activities in thickets by Lake Shinsei in the suburbs of Hadano City, Kanagawa Prefecture. They weeded and picked up small branches. They then made wood chips from the collected branches and spread them on footpaths, which was welcomed by local residents who said, "Now it's easier to walk." |
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Conservation of Afan Woodland
On September 23 and 24, 11 members of Ricoh Yadoriki Shinboku Group carried out conservation activities in Afan Woodland in Kurohime, Nagano Prefecture. To cooperate with the C.W. Nicol Afan Woodland Trust in forest conservation activities, they surveyed the vegetation of the trees in the woodland that the Trust planted 4 years ago, and weeded the new lot of land the Trust purchased. |
Replacement of Thatched Roofs of an Old Private House Designated as a Cultural Asset
On November 10, 10 members of Shishigaya Green Zone Conservation Group, a Ricoh environmental volunteer group, helped replace the thatched roof of the Yokomizo Residence, an old private house located in Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama City that is designated as a cultural asset. They carried away waste thatch and took care of other work, and the locals, including people related to the old house, were really thankful. |
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Conservation of Ricoh Chiba's Fureai-no-Mori
On November 17, 30 people, including members of Wakaba-Ku Shimoizumi Satoyama Conservation Group for Ricoh Chiba's Fureai-no-Mori, one of Ricoh's environmental volunteer groups, and their families, carried out forest conservation activities for the 34th time. Amid the chill of late autumn, they thinned Japanese cedars and repaired steps in the forest, aiming to create a mixed forest. |
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