EcoSmiles - By Kathrin Winkler

If sustainability is about creating shared value for our stakeholders and conducting business in a manner that promotes well-being, then doing something that makes people smile has got to count, don't you think? And I think we’re onto something.

So last week, we launched the first annual EMC EcoKids Drawing Contest. 

The contest itself is simple. Employees' children create drawings that depict why we need to be concerned about our environment or what we should do to protect it. Parents scan them into our internal social networking site with the artist's name, age, and location, and the title of the drawing.

We'll have four regional winners in each of three age groups (<6, 6-9, 10 and over) selected by an in-region panel of judges, and then one global winner in each age group. The winners will receive a token gift certificate and a poster of the artwork, but more importantly, the winning drawings will be published in our next Sustainability Report and displayed at HQ. Depending on how many we receive, we're also considering sending them on tour to offices around the world, or creating a book or calendar or greeting cards. (Other ideas are welcome, by the way!)

The plans for the contest were a collaboration by a few passionate employees on both ends of the globe.  But the inspiration was the umpteenth time that an employee who'd previously shown little interest in our environmental issues waylaid me in the hallway to tell the tale of his child chastising him for tossing out a recyclable.

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