CLC members champion Zero Emissions Day

21.09.2018

Climate change is one of the most urgent problems facing the world today. Everyday choices made by ordinary consumers hold the key to our efforts to reduce emissions and find more sustainable solutions. Zero Emissions Day on Friday, 21 September 2018 is designed to give the world a break from fossil fuels and to raise awareness about the harm caused by carbon emissions.

On Zero Emissions Day, CLC member organisations will be running a number of campaigns aimed at their customers, staff and other stakeholders. Many will also be delivering outreach initiatives with local schools. The following CLC members will be participating in Zero Emissions Day:

Events for customers:

  • Fortum will be joining forces with OP Bank to highlight the positive impact carbon-free electricity and electric vehicles have on air quality. Fortum’s company car policy is also designed to encourage staff to make sustainable transport choices. On the day, Fortum staff will be asked what they can do to reduce emissions at work and invited to share their best Zero Emissions Day ideas.
  • Gaia will be highlighting carbon offsetting that promotes systematic emissions monitoring and emissions reductions is an extremely effective and affordable way to mitigate climate change. The Gaia blog will make the case for why it is a good idea for everyone to find out more about the various UN approved and voluntary climate initiatives already available that will allow businesses and other organisations to take action in a way that suits them best. The blog posts will also provide real world examples about how climate action can help to bolster your brand and profile.
  • Gasum will be selling biogas at a special campaign discount, making it the most affordable fuel type in Finland. For the next month, Gasum will continue to disseminate facts about the environmental benefits offered by biogas and highlight the role individual consumers and the choices they make can play in reducing emissions.
  • Neste will be launching its Journey to Zero project that is designed to encourage innovative and ambitious action to mitigate climate change, to inspire people to consider their own carbon footprint and to take positive, results-focused action to reduce it. Neste’s own Nolla cabin on Vallisaari island close to Helsinki is an excellent example of the sort of collaboration that can take place between businesses and consumers.
  • OP will be promoting sustainable transport by offering drivers free registration and discounted hire rates on the DriveNow car share scheme. Special offers will also be available for the OP Kulku which is a leasing service for electric and hybrid vehicles that aims to promote emission free transport and make it easier for people to make the switch to electric vehicles. OP will also be sharing top tips on how to make the most of Zero Emissions Day and inviting staff to commit their own climate-friendly acts and share them on Twitter.
  • S Group – Big Deal for consumers. S Group’s Zero Emissions Day campaign will link in with their wider Big Deal consumer campaign. S Group will be posting content across all its communication channels designed to help people bring down their emissions.
  • Turku Energia will use Zero Emissions Day to raise awareness of the company’s new steam boiler plant. Powered by forest chips, the plant will help to cut CO2  emissions and reduce our reliance on oil as an energy source.

Public events:

  • Ii Municipality, the council will be serving climate friendly lunches in all local schools, nurseries and care homes and saving energy by switching off the central heating in the Micropolis building. Schools will be focusing on climate-related activities and the day will conclude with a free film screening for all residents:
    • Little Yellow Boots, Friday 21 September 2018, 6:00 pm–8:00 pm, Nättepori auditorium. What sort of legacy are we leaving behind for future generations? Do we all have the power to change the world? These are the questions posed by director John Webster’s film that stands as his testament to Dorit, his great-grandchild due to be born at some point in the 2060s. Webster weaves together the past, present and future to create a documentary that explores the ways in which each and every one of us can make a difference. In English with Finnish subtitles. Suitable for ages 13+.
  • The City of Porvoo, Zero Emissions Day has been declared car-free day. A section of street in the city centre will be closed to vehicle traffic, and the area will be used to deliver a public information campaign and other events. Residents will be encouraged to make more journeys by bike and can pick up a free saddle cover on the day. Travel on local buses will be free on 21 September from 9 am until 3 pm.
  • The City of Tampere will be marking Zero Emissions Day on its official Instagram account. The theme for the day will be “Mix and Go”, and residents will be encouraged to post photos of their own mix-and-go moments where they have used more than one eco-friendly mode of transport to complete a journey. All contributors will be entered into a draw and the winner will be provided with an electric bicycle on loan for the whole of November. The campaign is designed to encourage residents to adopt a more low emission approach for travel.
  • The City of Turku will be participating in Zero Emissions Day via social media. Throughout the day, the city’s social media platforms will be used to promote the Carbon Neutral Turku message, raise awareness of Zero Emissions Day and encourage residents to get involved.

 

Events for CLC member organisation staff:

  • Castrén & Snellman will encourage all staff and clients to leave their cars at home and travel to work by public transport, bike or on foot or even work from home. They will be asking all participants to post photos of their office-away-from-office and their environmentally friendly commute on Instagram or Twitter using #NollaPäästöPäivä.
  • Caverion will be asking staff to consider the environmental impact of all their lifestyle decisions, both at home and in the office. Staff will be encouraged to bike to work or to opt for public transport. The company’s maintenance workers will be invited to use eco-friendly techniques while driving and any meetings scheduled for Zero Emissions Day should take place online. The company intranet will feature useful information on energy saving and helpful tips on how people can reduce their carbon footprint.
  • IBM Finland will be encouraging staff to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle:
    • On Zero Emissions Day 2018, IBM Finland will ban the use of plastic cups at its Helsinki headquarters!
    • IBM will invite all staff to make their commute greener – a free bike maintenance service will be available to all cyclists outside the office!
    • The day’s lunch menu will feature sustainable Finnish dishes and a minimal carbon footprint!
  • Raisio will be rolling out a Zero Emissions Day campaign aimed at staff. The campaign will focus on exercise and CO2 emissions. Raisio will raise awareness on distance working opportunities and providing information on company guidelines and policies. The canteen will be serving environmentally friendly food, including a dish featuring the Muru oat mince.
  • SEB’s canteen menu will be serving a choice of sustainably produced dishes on Zero Emissions Day. Every effort will made to reduce staff travel and SEB will offer to offset any emissions resulting from any unavoidable work-related travel. Staff will be encouraged to choose a sustainable form of commuting, such as cycling or public transport and to work from home. All staff will also have the opportunity to calculate their own personal carbon footprint. Information on climate change will be available throughout the day and staff who wish to do so can jointly offset their day’s carbon emissions. SEB will also be publicising its target of reducing its CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020.
  • Sitra will be releasing the first results of an experiment run jointly with the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland that aimed to motivate staff to take action on climate change.
  • Varma will invite all staff to make sustainable choices on Zero Emissions Day. Staff will be encouraged to bike to work with bike mechanics on hand to service bikes throughout the day. Vegetarian dishes will be on the menu at Fazer’s Amica restaurant. All Varma customers and other stakeholders will be given information on sustainable pension savings; last year the company was successful in significantly reducing the total carbon footprint of its investments.
  • VTT will be delivering a climate and information campaign aimed at staff, with a particular focus on the office canteen and commuting. The campaign is already well underway and participants are being encouraged to measure their own carbon footprint and to make environmentally friendly choices in their everyday lives, including choosing public transport and cycling, working from home, holding meetings online and opting for vegetarian food. Zero Emissions Day will be the campaign highlight but all the topics will continue to be promoted throughout the summer and early autumn. There are also plans to integrate the topic into other staff campaigns and projects in the future.

Events for schools:

  • Aalto University will participate in the Zero Emissions Day event for schools in Otaniemi.
  • Fazer will be serving its climate-friendly Sirkka bread rolls at the event. Large, tasty and high in protein, the Sirkka cricket rolls are large and tasty high protein bread rolls that contain flour made from dried crickets, Finnish wheat and rye, broad bean protein and seeds. Each roll contains around 20 crickets, with 40 crickets in each bag of rolls. They contain up to 70% protein, healthy fats and plenty of calcium, iron and Vitamin B12. Insects are an environmentally friendly choice, needing just a small fraction of the water and land needed for more traditional forms of food production. Raising crickets for food offers an alternative revenue stream for farmers and cricket farming may have the potential to revitalise rural economies in future.
  • Helen will be highlighting its collaboration with the Sakarinmäki school, where it has installed a renewable central heating system. Students and teachers have been involved in the project from the beginning, contributing their ideas for how the new energy solution can be used for learning. At the school, Zero Emissions Day will culminate in a competition where students will challenge each other and staff to cover more journeys to school on foot or by bike.
  • KONE will be organising a visit to its production site in Hyvinkää for the winners of the Me tehdään siistimmin climate competition for secondary school pupils. The ISO 14001 certified flagship site produces all of the company’s most sophisticated solutions for the global lift market. The Hyvinkää plant comprises a LEED Gold certified visitor centre showcasing KONE products and services. Transfers to and from the site and lunch will be included in the prize visit.
  • L&T will be organising a visit to its recycling facility in Kerava for winners of the Me tehdään siistimmin competition on Zero Emissions Day. The winners were chosen by popular vote on the L&T Facebook page. The visitors will have the opportunity to find out more about bottle recycling and the wood chip supplied to energy plants. L&T will be providing bus transfers and lunch for their young visitors.
  • S Group will be organising a visit to the Inex logistics hub in Sipoo for the Me tehdään siistimmin competition winners. At more than 30 times the size of the Finnish parliament building, the Sipoo facility is Finland’s largest and most state-of-the-art logistics hub, featuring the latest robotics, automated technologies and AI. Notably, the hub is close to achieving energy self-sufficiency and the heating and cooling systems are almost carbon neutral. S Group will be providing transport and lunch for the prize winners.
  • Stora Enso will treat the Me tehdään siistimmin pre-school and primary school prize winners to a forest visit. The visit can take place anywhere in Finland and is designed to teach the children about the role sustainable forestry plays in mitigating climate change. Stora Enso will provide transfers to the forest location and an outdoor lunch at a forest shelter. The Zero Emissions Day will be given a high profile across all Stora Enso social media channels and further initiatives will take place at the company’s Kanavaranta office.

 

For further information, please contact: Sari Siitonen, climate specialist and Zero Emissions Day Coordinator, tel: +358 (0)40 761 5221