Route 2030: Do good and good will come to you!

B.I.G. is on course to achieve a zero environmental footprint by 2030. That’s right, zero. To make this journey more tangible, we’d like to offer you a passenger’s seat from which you’ll be able to really get up close and immerse yourself in our various sustainability projects. In this edition: supporting charity all over the world.

As globalized as the world may be, community life remains of great importance. By supporting a wide variety of local philanthropic initiatives and programs, we aim to play an active, constructive role in the communities that lie close to our facilities.

Giving back to the locals

“When we say that we want to shape sustainable living together, we want this to involve everyone”, says Corporate Communications Director Sara Geris. “ As well as including our employees, suppliers, customers and all other stakeholders, we are also keen to nurture and maintain good relations with the local communities in which we operate. After all, today’s local residents could well be tomorrow’s employees. Thus we try to give something back by supporting charities that have a direct positive impact on their lives.”

From planting trees to cleaning up the streets

Over the past year, we have lent our support to many different charities in every corner of the world. Here’s an overview of some of our most notable initiatives:

• In Comines (France), Ideal Fibres & Fabrics colleagues planted a large number of trees at their site to celebrate the launch of their circular EqoCycle yarn.
• A group of employees at Beaulieu Polska participated in a push-up event invented by volunteer firefighters in Gaszyn to raise funds for children suffering from spinal muscular atrophy 1.
• To encourage young people to stay and work in the Kameshkovo region, Juteks Slovenia regularly organizes guided tours to its grounds.
• The Pinnacle team (US) organized a cleanup event to pick up litter and other discarded items on the road leading to their site. They also donated school supplies to the Garyville Mt. Airy Magnet School, sent snacks, energy drinks and personal care items to Military Troops around the world, and, invoking the traditional spirit of Christmas as a time for giving, hosted a toy drive to donate to the Toys for Tots Program.
• Beaulieu Canada took part in an event hosted by Lowe’s to help build 358 beds for children who had no access to proper beds. On top of this, the Canadian team also undertook different initiatives to support their local community of Acton Vale, which included making donations to the Breast Cancer Foundation and the Centre Ressources-Femmes, as well the distribution of Christmas baskets to needy families.

Involving our people

“Our employees also have a say in choosing which good causes we support”, Sara continues. “One of our recent global initiatives is a perfect example. Last week, we launched the first edition of our internal ONE Magazine for all 4900 B.I.G. employees. One so-called “golden ticket” had been hidden in a copy of the magazine at each site.  The lucky employees who found them were each able to transform their golden ticket into a donation of 500 euros to an official charity of their choice.”