Alcoa employees on five continents are expressing their personal commitment to enriching the environment in a way that provides tangible, local benefits.
One Million Trees is a global initiative integrated with Alcoa's commitment to sustainable development and environmental initiatives. At its core it is a program for people, because at the end of the day it is people who make a difference in their own community. And people are responding: after only three years, they are more than halfway to their goal of planting one million trees within 10 years.
An Idea Taking Root
The project was launched in April 1998, on the Thursday that fell between Earth Day and Arbor Day, with the goal of encouraging Alcoa's then 100,000 employees to each plant one tree a year for 10 years, or one million trees by 2008.
Alcoa's family of employees has grown by about 40 percent since then and One Million Trees has now been embraced in more than 110 Alcoa locations in 20 countries.
In the first three years of the program almost 500,000 trees – Norwegian spruce, Austrian pine, sugar maple, red oak, Bradford pear, walnut, plum, Colorado blue spruce, willow, eucalypts, – have taken root. Employees, contractors and their families and communities planted 151,800 trees in 1998, 169,178 in 1999 and more than 180,000 in 2000.
This does not include the trees planted each year as part of mine rehabilitation programs.
Employee, Family and Community Involvement
The project is broken down into three main categories:
- Trees planted by employees and their family members
- Trees donated to schools, community groups and others for planting by employees or others
- Trees planted on Alcoa sites for beautification, special recognition or special ceremonies
As the trees grow and flourish, the One Million Trees program has promoted environmental awareness, provided ecological education, and engendered a spirit of volunteerism and community enthusiasm. At current rates the millionth tree should take root sometime in 2003, five years ahead of schedule.
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Millionth Alcoa Tree Planted
June 5, 2003 Alcoa Plants 1 Millionth Tree, Reaching Its Goal in Half the Planned Time; Launches New Goal to Plant 10 Million Trees by 2020
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