The Mercedes-Benz Social Contribution Committee announced on the 20th that this year’s community project, “Mercedes-Benz Green Plus,” aimed at promoting carbon neutrality and climate protection, has been successfully completed with over 25,000 participants.
“Green Plus” is an extension of the social contribution activities initiated by the Mercedes-Benz Social Contribution Committee in 2014, in collaboration with the Child and Future Foundation. This initiative includes the existing four programs—traffic safety, industry-academic cooperation, community sharing, and donations through sports—and introduces a new fifth theme that started in September of last year. It comprises various activities such as education, employee participation, and fundraising, contributing to a sustainable future.
Through the Green Plus activities, the Mercedes-Benz Social Contribution Committee has laid the groundwork for encouraging carbon neutrality by collaborating with citizens, children, government agencies, and employees in education, fundraising, and forest creation, with an aim for these efforts to continue as sustainable activities.
Thomas Klein, Chairman of the Mercedes-Benz Social Contribution Committee, stated, “Mercedes-Benz is committed to promoting carbon neutrality and climate protection, aligning with our headquarters in Germany. We are leading efforts in the nation to reduce carbon emissions while spreading a culture of climate action.” He added, “Beginning with the Green Plus activities launched last year, we will expand our responsible corporate citizenship efforts to foster a healthier environment around us.”
Notably, the Mercedes-Benz Social Contribution Committee has provided experiential environmental education, “Green Plus Kids” aimed at lower-grade elementary school students, to over 20,000 children until the 8th of this month. The program began accepting applications in February, involving a total of 419 social welfare organizations and schools, with over 5,000 citizens participating in education across various regions nationwide.
Through the online and offline “Green Plus Kids” initiative, children understood the risks of climate change and learned about the importance of carbon neutrality. They were provided with various audiovisual materials such as creative kits, workbooks, plogging bags, and educational videos, resulting in a high learning effect.
Furthermore, the employee environmental cleanup activity, “Green Plus Plogging,” has been successfully conducted. This year’s plogging project saw the participation of over 600 employees from Mercedes-Benz Korea and 11 official dealers nationwide, who collected a total of 4,153 liters of discarded waste and pollutants while walking 162 km across major locations from April to December.
First initiated last year, the “Green Plus Plogging” is witnessing increasing participation from employees each time it is held, with plans to expand the scale by collaborating with local governments and volunteer centers nationwide. Banners and other collected materials from the plogging are being upcycled into new products.
In addition, Mercedes-Benz is collaborating with Seoul City to improve urban air quality and reduce the heat island effect by planting trees to create “urban forests,” completing the first project, “Cheongwang Neighborhood Park Urban Forest,” last October. Moreover, in March, they delivered emergency support funds for forest restoration in response to large-scale forest fire damages in Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gangwon-do. They also conducted a social media campaign that saw over 3,500 citizens participate in environmental protection activities.
Jang Lee daedusj@autodiary.kr