Connecting Employees Through the Power of Reuse
At Akamai, we’re committed to harnessing the power of Akamai Connected Cloud and our team’s collective power to create a sustainable and equitable future for the world. That’s why we’ve partnered with Fill it Forward and One Tree Planted to invest in making a positive global environmental impact and building sustainable habits.
Fill it Forward provides an app that simplifies sustainable accountability and One Tree Planted is replenishing the world’s forests — both of which back Akamai’s goals to avoid emissions, reduce waste, and support a nature-positive world.
Results that impact generations
There’s power in numbers — at Akamai, we’ve witnessed this firsthand. Through the collective efforts of Akamai employees worldwide, we’ve come together to create long-term habits of always choosing to reuse and limiting single-use plastic.
These simple steps have made an enormous impact by saving more than 20,000 pounds of emissions. Each individual's participation also helped to support Akamai's US$20,000 contribution to One Tree Planted, resulting in 20,000 new trees.
It has been incredible to see participation from so many Akamai teams across the globe, committing to sustainable solutions in their everyday actions that will make a positive impact on our planet for generations to come. We are so thankful for this impactful partnership with Akamai and Fill it Forward.”
— Allan Babor, Director of Giving & Partnerships, Fill it Forward
Allan Babor, Director of Giving & Partnerships at Fill it Forward
Read on to learn more about our sustainability mission and our successful collaborations with Fill it Forward and One Tree Planted.
Tracking reuse with Fill it Forward
This year, on World Water Day, Akamai decided to challenge our employees to ditch single-use plastic and inspire the choice of reuse by partnering with Fill it Forward. Fill it Forward provides a simple yet sustainable solution with reusable products and an app that tracks the positive impact of reuse.
Using the app is as easy as opening your phone and scanning a QR code tag attached to your reusable cup or water bottle (Figure 1).
Fig.1: Akamai’s Fill it Forward QR code tags on employees’ reusable water bottles
Unified responsibility
Protecting our planet is an all-hands-on-deck effort. The Akamai team harnessed our collective strength to reduce single-use waste and give back, and we:
Learned about the connection between water and forests through informational webinars
Participated in a Fill it Forward hydration competition with our wellness team
Built the habit of reuse through scanning our Fill it Forward tags each time we refilled our water bottles
Our informational webinars catered to employees in every time zone, and Akamai Green Team leaders played an instrumental role in distributing tags and spreading awareness. We also introduced a plan to work with another sustainability partner: One Tree Planted.
One tree at a time
Every dollar that Akamai donated to One Tree Planted supported the planting of one tree. Since 2014, One Tree Planted has more than doubled the number of trees planted each year, working with partners across more than 80 countries — and we couldn’t be more excited to support their mission.
As our Fill it Forward Custom Giving Project, we chose the Madre de Dios One Tree Planted Project in Peru, working to restore forest and water systems and support local farmers (Figure 2). We chose this project because of the positive impact that it’s making on the livelihoods of indigenous and local communities, the promotion of sustainable agriculture and agroforestry systems in Peru, and the conservation of the region’s biodiversity.
Fig. 2: The One Tree Planted Madre de Dios project in Peru
Reducing waste to plant trees
Giving back to communities and making a positive environmental impact are principles embedded in our company values — which made Fill it Forward and One Tree Planted terrific partners. With our collective reuse scans through Fill it Forward, employees unlocked $20,000 from Akamai to plant 20,000 trees in the Madre de Dios region.
In addition to the ecological restoration and positive community impact of the trees, we have made a huge collective difference in reducing single-use plastic waste and avoiding emissions through Fill it Forward.
The stats: Fill it Forward20,786.13 lbs of emissions saved 642.87 lbs of waste diverted from landfills 12,128.81 kWh of power saved 128.57 lbs of ocean pollution prevented 20,000 total reuses |
The stats: One Tree PlantedMadre de Dios project 44,547 trees planted Over 70 acres restored 20 families benefited |
Committed to environmental stewardship
We’re excited to see the long-term impact of our $20,000 contribution to One Tree Planted, with each dollar supporting the restoration and preservation of Earth’s vital ecosystems. A greener future doesn’t happen overnight; rather, it requires a lifetime commitment from the collective.
At Akamai, we’re taking responsibility for our emissions and fostering a culture of environmental stewardship among our global workforce.
Next steps toward a sustainable future
Emissions and waste reduction are core pillars of Akamai's goals, and we’re thrilled to keep working with Fill it Forward to help empower our employees to cultivate lasting habits that reduce reliance on single-use plastics.
To continue our initiative with One Tree Planted, we’re using the Fill it Forward competition feature to encourage Akamai employees to continue to develop the habit of reuse and unlock the funds to plant more trees. We are challenging our employees to achieve 25,000 more scans by the end of the year in honor of Akamai’s 25th anniversary.
Once we reach this goal, we’ll again donate to One Tree Planted and have one tree planted for every day that Akamai has been in business for the last 25 years. Together, we can make a meaningful difference and inspire one another to build sustainable habits while giving back.
Dig deeper
Learn more about Akamai’s environmental commitments on our sustainability web page and read our success story on Fill it Forward’s webpage.
