Caterpillar Employees Volunteer to Educate, Improve Environment

Caterpillar is committed to making sustainable progress possible and encourages our employees to get involved in sustainability efforts in their facilities and communities, which is what Caterpillar employees did in Texas and Illinois in April. Employees spent time volunteering to help educate others and improve the environment for Earth Day.

Caterpillar Global Mining employees in Denison, Texas, and Van Alstyne, Texas, spent time educating event goers at the sixth annual Earth Day Texoma Festival.  The festival is an educational and awareness event that focuses on efforts to protect and sustain the planet and engages the community.  Caterpillar volunteers greeted participants at the recycle area and handed out sustainability brochures, coloring books, book marks and other information on corporate sustainability efforts at the Caterpillar tent.

In Peoria, Illinois, more than 30 Caterpillar employees and family members planted trees with the environmental organization Living Lands & Waters (LL&W). The organization, invested in by the Caterpillar Foundation, aids in the protection, preservation and restoration of the environment, expands awareness of environmental issues and responsibility and creates volunteer opportunities. Through the MillionTrees project with LL&W, Caterpillar volunteers were able to plant about 600 trees in just a few hours outside of Peoria.

Several Caterpillar employees also volunteered their time to assist with the Keep Peoria Beautiful Great American Cleanup in April. This event had over 200 volunteers who helped keep Peoria, Illinois, clean, green and beautiful by collecting litter. Participants were volunteers from local neighborhood associations, schools, businesses, churches and other service groups.

The efforts of those involved helped make the 16th annual cleanup a true success. The slogan for the event was “Pride in Peoria is picking up. Put litter in its place.” Several of our Caterpillar team members whose efforts reflect this slogan were captured on tape for the local news. Click here to read the story and watch the video.

These examples are just a couple ways Caterpillar employees have embraced sustainability in their communities. Caterpillar is working to further embed sustainability into our culture and make it an integral part of our DNA, and making Sustainability a value at Caterpillar is a way to do just that. For more information on the value of Sustainability, please visit the 2013 Sustainability Report.