Ted Pratt, a spokesman for Honda Manufacturing of Alabama in Lincoln speaks to a group of board and staff members from The Nature Conservancy during a tour on Friday. Bob Crisp/The Daily Home
Board and staff members from the Alabama chapter of The Nature Conservancy held their quarterly board meeting at HMA and subsequently toured the facility.
Friday was the first time The Nature Conservancy group had ever convened at HMA after collaborations throughout the years on several green conservation initiatives.
“It’s such a key part of them doing business, it’s just a natural fit,” said Chris Oberholster, state director for The Nature Conservancy.
“We’re on the same page and we hope we could use Honda as a model for many of our corporations.”
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization that works around the world to protect ecologically significant lands and water for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres of land worldwide.
HMA’s environmentally-friendly approach can be found in many of its initiatives including becoming the first zero-waste-to-landfill auto plant in North America at the outset of production in 2001, setting off an industry-leading trend within the company.
HMA also annually recycles approximately 80 million pounds of scrap metal, five million pounds of cardboard, 500,000 pounds of plastic, and 20,000 pounds of aluminum cans.
Honda is also a leader in the development of leading-edge technologies to improve fuel efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, including vehicles powered by advanced gasoline engines and natural gas-powered engines, as well as gasoline-electric hybrid, battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell-electric vehicles.
“We’re driven to be a company that society wants to exist,” said Stephanie Alexander, community relations coordinator for HMA.
“We are so proud to have The Nature Conservancy group here. It’s such a natural fit for them to have their meeting here.”
HMA’s green endeavors align with The Nature Conservancy’s mission “to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends.”
In addition to collaborating on several green initiatives, Honda recently donated a Ridgeline pick-up truck to the group for its work in Alabama and has funded and participated in a number of activities including coastal cleanup in Mobile and Earth Day events.
About a dozen trustees and a half dozen staff members of The Nature Conservancy were able to see that alignment first-hand with the tour of the HMA facility.
Linda Montgomery, director of philanthropy with The Nature Conservancy said everyone aboard the tour was in awe of seeing HMA associates in action.
“It’s amazing,” Montgomery said. “The great thing about our partnership with Honda is that they are such good environmental citizens. I think we’re all like ‘whoa.’”
Contact Aziza Jackson at ajackson@dailyhome.com.
