Since 2005, Bridgestone has maintained a forest in Nasushiobara City, Tochigi Prefecture in Japan to support efforts to manage the increasing number of unmanaged forests. Through the ECOPIA’s Forest program, the Company has expanded these forest conservation endeavors. In addition to maintaining forests across Japan, it also uses this program to educate the employees and local children on environment and sustainability.
Bridgestone has now been operating in Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture for over 40 years. In 2004 the Company launched an activity for protecting the water environment of Lake Biwa. It has also supported the efforts of various local groups with the same goal.
Recently the Company has been carrying out the following activities: a nature-observation gathering with local participants, a series of experiments to breed an endangered species of fish called the golden venus chubs (Hemigrammocypris rasborella). To date it has held 76 nature-observation gatherings for about 5,340 participants. “Biwa-tope,” the biotope on the plant premises, is not only the site for the research on golden venus chubs breeding, but also a place for environmental communication with the community. Kindergarteners and others are often invited to Biwa-tope for nature-observation gatherings and rice-planting and -harvesting activities. Additionally, the Company provides the golden venus chubs it has bred to nearby elementary schools, which they use in their environmental studies.
Each year since 2003, Bridgestone Corporation holds the Bridgestone Children’s Eco-Art Contest. This contest, which began with the desire to preserve our precious natural environment for the children of the future, emphasizes an appreciation for nature as seen through children’s drawings.
Going forward, the Bridgestone Group will continue to support the education of the next generation through these and other activities.
The Bridgestone Group works with local communities to help protect scarce water resources. In 2018, Bridgestone India initiated a three-year project with UNICEF to improve water conservation and drinking water in Maharashtra, India’s second most-populated state. Water scarcity is one of the key challenges affecting Maharashtra due to long periods of drought that result in crop failure. Bridgestone India is donating JPY 63.6 million/USD 577,900 in 2018 and JPY 21.5 million/USD 197,606 in 2019*1 to help ensure that 11 villages have access to a clean, safe water supply.
*1 Based on the average exchange rate used in the Bridgestone Group’s 2018 and 2019 Financial Report
In 2020, employees of P.T. Bridgestone Sumatra Rubber Estate (BSRE) built the educational park of flora and fauna while enjoying awareness-raising events with community members. Aiming to improve the natural ecosystem and air quality in the communities, they planted native trees in the forest around spring water area and released 1,000 NILA fish there. With bikers in the communities around BSRE, employees enjoyed carbon-free bike rides in the forest.
Working with a government agency, Bridgestone Natural Rubber (Thailand) conducted an environmental activity for restoring a natural watershed forest in Thung Nari, Phatthalung province. In 2019, 64 employees planted about 100 trees of indigenous species in the 6,400m2 forest together with 10 members of the Thung Nari protection unit.
Thai Bridgestone Co., Ltd. (TBSC) has been organizing the Green Young Investigator project to raise environmental conservation and biodiversity awareness among younger generations since 2009. To encourage them to specialize, students choose their activities from among four themes set by TBSC: Local Habitat, Biodiversity, Species, and Climate Change. The project’s goal is to help schools in Central Thailand develop an environmentally-aware culture and education system that will eventually shape the younger generation as future environmental citizens.
In Indonesia and Thailand, local Bridgestone Group employees have planted thousands of mangrove trees to restore mangrove forests that protect people and the environment in coastal villages. Bridgestone Indonesia has also been working with the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation since 2012 to help protect and reintroduce Bornean orangutans to their natural habitat. To help do so, the company has committed to planting one hectare of forest each year for eight years. It is also sponsoring two orphaned orangutans by paying for their care and rehabilitation until they can be released back into their natural habitat.
Bridgestone Americas (BSAM) celebrated 2018 World Environment Day by donating 2,332 hectares of the Bridgestone Nature Reserve at Chestnut Mountain to The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee (TNC). The land is adjacent to more than 6,000 hectares of the Bridgestone/Firestone Centennial Wilderness Area the BSAM gifted to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in 1998 and 2000.
The donation protects habitats for many endangered plant and animal species. TNC has conducted a forest carbon offset project to fund the reserve’s management and offset carbon emissions from the BSAM headquarters building in downtown Nashville, Tennessee for 25 years.
BSAM continues to remain dedicated and involved with the TNC and its neighbors, and in 2019, participated in the Bridgestone Nature Reserve at Chestnut Mountain inaugural Community Day celebration. In addition, they donated $50,000 for South Carolina forest carbon program from the Bridgestone Trust Fund in 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zHK9qbhkqA
Also, six of the Bridgestone Group manufacturing locations in the U.S. and Mexico are Certified Wildlife Habitats. The Group works with the Wildlife Habitat Council to help manage the more than 930 hectares in the program to foster habitat conservation and improve biodiversity.
To help inspire the next generation’s interest in the natural environment, Bridgestone Americas established the Bridgestone Environmental Education Classroom and Habitat (BEECH) at the Warren County facility in Tennessee. Students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade learn about wildlife habitats, water conservation and how to care for the environment. Since it was founded in 2008, over 22,000 students have visited the BEECH and the program has expanded to four counties in Tennessee and to include programs for homeschooled children. BEECH is a fully integrated part of the Warren County School curriculum.
longleaf pine planting
Bird nesting box made by employees
Bridgestone’s Aiken Off Road Radial Plant was built in Aiken County, South Carolina to produce large and ultra-large off-road radial tires for construction and mining vehicles. Bridgestone took steps to reconstruct the site’s original natural habitat by planting indigenous species of vegetation, such as the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), which plays a vital part in supporting the lifecycles of various local wildlife and other organisms. In southern United States, human activities have eroded this tree’s habitat over the past 150 years. To help replenish this precious tree stock, Bridgestone Americas (BSAM) has committed to planting 30,000 longleaf pine trees under the guidance of the Wildlife Habitat Council.
BSAM also uses the Aiken site as a place for employees and local residents to learn about biodiversity conservation. Onsite educational initiatives include installing bird nesting boxes and observing their inhabitants using fixed-point cameras, rainwater harvesting, and new employee orientation using onsite promenades and pavilions.
Employees of Stargard Plant and Stargard citizens have been attending events organized by the pro-European Ecological Center with the support of Stargard Center. In 2019, they released baby fish in Ina River and installed bird nest boxes. In 2020, an event was held to promote the bicycle as an everyday means of transport. Activities about safety on the road and first aid were also presented.
Bridgestone Poznan Plant is also located next to a river, and it is working to ensure proper wastewater management and raise awareness of biodiversity. In addition to traditional efforts to clean up the riverside, like the continuing program "To serve the river" in 2018, Poznan Plant organizes workshops titled "PLAY GREEN". This program, for the children of employees, teaches attendees about ecological living, including waste separation and environmental conservation.
Sustainability
