This week marks the 51st anniversary of Earth Day, a time to celebrate the environmental initiatives underway in our offices across the world, as well as a moment to build on our efforts in driving lasting change. Below are a few of the many creative sustainability efforts at Lam.
Employees working onsite in our Tualatin, Oregon campus may have noticed a few new hires – goats. Their visits are to help control the invasive blackberry thickets growing behind our parking lot, eliminating the use of mowers and pesticides. Given that blackberries are a favorite staple in a goat’s diet, they’re not baa-aa-ad at keeping the pernicious patch at bay.
Thanks to a great community relationship with a local artisan, the wood pruned from our hazel trees is being recycled for materials to make hand-crafted boats. The artisan uses our pruned hazel sticks to craft his unique canoes, kayaks, and replicas of Irish coracle and currach-style boats.
Earlier this spring, our employees released thousands of ladybugs at our Tualatin campus as a natural aphid control method to protect the Linden trees. Ladybugs, which are a natural predator to aphids, are eco-friendly solutions that sustainably address our environmental challenge without the need for harmful pesticides.
Last year, our offices in Korea partnered with the National Nature Trust, an organization established in accordance with the National Trust Act and supervised by the Ministry of Environment, to protect the habitat of fireflies in Okcheon-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do. Fireflies are a natural indicator of a region’s contamination level, as they only live in clean environments. In recent years, there has been a threat to firefly populations due to habitat loss and degradation. One of our first endeavors was to support the restoration and cleaning of firefly habitats in Anteo Village and the ecosystem of the Geumgang River which suffered damage during the rainy season.
In Villach, Austria, our employees have been buzzing over our bee garden. To support the biodiversity in the region and contribute to a thriving habitat, we planted flowers around the campus to provide a source of food for the bees.
In China, our employees organized a used clothing recycling program, collecting 167 kilograms of used clothes and textiles which have been donated to a national recycling platform for reuse. These recycled fabrics will be given to those in need or made into regenerated cotton.
Learn more about our sustainability programs in our Corporate Social Responsibility Report.