RETHINK GREEN WITH BRIDGESTONE
Did you know that widespread use of the term “sustainable” has been around since the 1970s? Or that the first “sustainable development” was dreamt up in the late 1980s? [1] Green, it seems, has been on our minds for quite a while.
Here at Bridgestone, we’re constantly looking for ways to do better by our environment, 40-some years into the age of sustainability. We’ve even dedicated the month of April (Earth Month, not coincidentally) to celebrating sustainable action. We call it Rethink Green, and it’s a fun part of our One Team, One Planet initiative, which works to help ensure a healthy environment for current and future generations.
BRIDGESTONE’S SUSTAINABLE COMMITMENT
What can a tire company do to help make the world be a better place? Well, here are four things big and small that we have underway, and a few more you can take part in to help us Rethink Green today, and all year long.
ECOPIA TIRES
Probably our most visible sustainable initiative, this is one you can bring home and put to use. Bridgestone Ecopia tires are made using recycled rubber and minimize wasted energy while in use. You save money (up to $450 over the tires’ lifetime in gas costs) as well as the environment, reducing fuel consumption and emissions.
GREEN FACILITIES
LEED certification is the qualification for sustainable building practices in the U.S. Bridgestone’s tire manufacturing facilities in Aiken, SC and Warren County, TN are certified LEED Silver, and our retail store in Smyrna, TN has achieved LEED Gold, which means they’ve met certain criteria for practical and measurable green building design practices.
CERTIFIED WILDLIFE HABITATS
We’ve donated thousands of acres of land near our manufacturing and operation facilities to local wildlife conservation groups, and in some cases, for use by the public for low-impact activities like fishing, hiking and canoeing. We’ve also been involved in the cleanup and rehabilitation of a number of landfill sites around the country, giving useful life back to previously contaminated spaces.
SUSTAINABLE CERTIFICATIONS
It sounds a little like a bunch of random numbers, but really it just means “green”. Fifty-two Bridgestone manufacturing facilities are currently certified ISO 14001, which designates an international standard of environmental management systems, policies and goals, and gives us a framework to stay green-friendly in all we do. Our plant in Wilson, NC is actually the very first tire plant in the world to achieve ISO 50001 certification as well, which is a designation that deals with efficient energy usage.
