Environment

GM’s Top 10 Sustainability Stories of 2014

As 2014 comes to a close, we’re reflecting on the stories that made us especially proud to be a part of GM sustainability.
Dec 17, 2014 10:20 AM ET
Campaign: GM Energy Efficiency

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From wildlife habitat programs to cycling at work, these stories may cause you to rethink what an automaker is all about.

Here are our favorites:

  1. GM’s MacGyver Devises Unconventional Uses for Everyday Waste. It’s all about the people behind our progress and our value delivering innovative products and processes that benefit the environment.
  2. Detroit Grows Fruits and Vegetables in 1,200 GM Shipping Crates. Getting money for recycling our metal is good, but what’s even better? Creatively reusing that metal to benefit soup kitchens and neighborhoods surrounding our facilities. At times, our suppliers and employees volunteer to maintain the produce growing in these shipping-crates-turned-raised-urban-garden-beds.
  3. GM Facilities Answer Call of the Wildlife. Our industry-leading wildlife habitat certifications provide volunteer opportunities for our nature-loving employees and provide space for school and community groups to learn about the benefits of biodiversity.
  4. Bats, Batteries and Bowling Green: How Chevy Might Help #SavetheBats. We’re working with bat experts around the world to turn adhesive scrap from manufacturing the Stingray into stalactites in artificial caves…an innovative effort that may help slow the spread of a deadly bat disease.
  5. CDP Gives GM an “A” on Climate Change Action. As the only automaker to sign the Climate Declaration, we take pride in walking the talk. From ENERGY STAR® awards to perfect scores on climate disclosure and action, this post shows how this all makes us a better business.
  6. Colleges get Chevy support for Clean Energy Efforts. We’re all about cleaner air and this latest program in Chevrolet’s community-based carbon-reduction initiative helps colleges earn money for their greenhouse gas reduction efforts. We partnered with 60 climate experts to develop the methodology that’ll continue to leave an impact long after we meet our goal.
  7. GM Bike Share – Reducing Emissions, Increasing Productivity. Although an automaker promoting bicycles may seem counterintuitive, we see it as just another way to transform transportation. Our massive Tech Center now offers bike sharing for an emissions-free, healthy commute.
  8. GM CEO Mary Barra talks Sustainability with Chelsea Clinton during Climate Week. Sustainability leadership goes both top to bottom and bottom up here at GM. This post shows how our CEO views sustainability as a business priority because, among other reasons, “it’s what customers want.”
  9. Overcoming Hurdles to Use more Renewable Energy.  Progress takes time and collaboration helps move the needle. We joined 11 other companies, World Resources Institute and World Wildlife Fund to help utilities and renewable energy providers understand how they can help make renewable energy investments easier for companies and meet rising demand.
  10. Guest Post: Why the Chevrolet Volt is my Dream Car. Our focus is always on our customers and nothing is better than hearing how much they love our cars. We saw John Green—author of the book The Fault in our Stars— tell Redditers that he’s a big Volt fan. So we asked him to contribute a guest post.

We think these demonstrate a blend of quirky innovation, unlikely collaboration, and community engagement. We’ll continue to make progress next year, transforming transportation and reducing our environmental impact.