For Ford, Environmental Conservation is Part of Being a Good Neighbor

By Gabby Bruno

At Ford, we care about being a good neighbor in the communities in which we operate, and this includes helping to protect vital natural resources. In our manufacturing facilities, we’re working hard to conserve water, cut waste and reduce carbon emissions with a goal of supporting all our manufacturing with 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035. These actions are central to Ford’s Road to Better sustainability strategy.

But what happens at our manufacturing plants is only part of our commitment to sustainability in the communities where we live and work. We’re also investing in grassroots collaborations that amplify the impact and reach of local conservation efforts. Whether it’s cleaning up a riverbed or planting trees in a local park, our efforts are much more successful when we work together with people and organizations who know a place well and understand local considerations. Three core steps are essential to our approach:

1.     Listen and Learn

Sustainability aspirations and environmental concerns vary depending on local conditions and priorities. Communities in flood-prone areas may care about stormwater management, for example, while those impacted by heat may want to plant more trees. This is why Ford focuses a great deal of time and attention on listening to and learning from key stakeholders in our manufacturing communities, including environmental groups and other local nonprofits, community leaders, business leaders and residents. We host town halls, conduct surveys, and convene roundtable discussions like our recent Blue Table Forum in Marshall, Michigan — all with the goal of gathering as much information as possible about what the community wants and needs.

2.     Build Partnerships

Next, we forge partnerships with local, grassroots organizations who are already working on relevant community and environmental issues — from air quality and water protection to education and youth programs, to neighborhood park beautification and more. Currently, Ford is partnering with a nonprofit in West Tennessee that sponsors activities to connect more kids with nature. We’re teaming up with Bridging the Gap, an organization in Kansas City, Missouri that helps people complete needed residential repairs, making their homes more water- and energy- efficient. We’re working with TreesLouisville to expand the local tree canopy in urban areas, and we’re supporting a school greenhouse in Marshall, Michigan that will have the potential to grow native grasses and plants that can be used in the community to help with stormwater runoff. These specific projects are only possible through local networks, which is why building relationships on the ground is so important.

3.     Support & Amplify  

Finally, Ford’s scale and resources help amplify the reach and impact of what the community is doing. We not only fund local partner initiatives and events, but we also support these efforts with volunteers and by convening other key stakeholders who can help. A great example of this approach in action is our collaboration with Living Lands & Waters, a nonprofit dedicated to the protection, preservation, and restoration of the nation’s major rivers and their watersheds. Living Lands & Waters hosts river cleanups, watershed conservation initiatives, workshops, tree plantings and more. Ford is partnering with them on projects in each of our manufacturing communities. One of the first took place recently in Louisville, Kentucky, where a team of Ford employees, and other local volunteers from Louisville’s Waterfront Park, TreesLouisville and the local Chamber of Commerce came together to collect thousands of pounds of trash from a nature preserve along the Ohio River.

Moving Forward, Together

Building a better world has been part of Ford’s DNA since the company’s founding. It’s what our customers and our neighbors expect from us, and it’s the standard that we hold ourselves to every day. But we can’t make the world a better place alone. When Ford works together with communities to improve the local environment, our impact is not just more powerful, but more personal and meaningful too.  

This is the road we’re on at Ford. The Road to Better.