Lafarge Celebrates Earth Day and the Environment with its Communities

West US sites hold open houses for neighboring communities

By Joëlle Lipski-Rockwood

Lafarge North America's sites in West US held open houses for its neighboring communities.

In recent weeks, many of Lafarge North America's sites in West US held festivities and open houses for its neighboring communities to celebrate Earth Day and Lafarge's commitment to the environment and to the communities in which it operates.

Lafarge's sites in Arizona, Louisiana, Colorado, Kansas and Missouri each held events ranging from river cleanups to tree plantings, as part of the company's sustainability commitments. Some event examples include:

Sun City, Arizona (April 2 - Sun City Aggregates Quarry) - the site hosted Girl Scout Troop 1556, where the scouts made water filters and completed an exercise about water pollution and the importance of protecting water resources;
Pearl River, Louisiana (April 19 - Honey Island Aggregates Site) - the facility planted 30 of iconic Live Oak trees, along with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, as part of the site's commitment to ecosystem rehabilitation and in support of native species;
Ft Collins, Colorado (April 22 - Taft Hill Site) - free, Colorado spruce trees were given out to neighbors and volunteers, and employees joined in to clean up the Poudre River by collecting trash long the trail and river banks;
Wichita, Kansas (April 27 - Wichita Sand, Asphalt and Ready Mix) - the facilities hosted the Earhart Environmental Charter School's 5th grade class to help build mallard tubes for the sites' Wildlife Habitat Council program, followed by plant tours and quality control demonstrations;
Sugar Creek, Missouri (April 25 - May 25 - Kansas City Operations and Office) participated in the Sugar Creek Cement e-waste recycling drive;
Independence, Missouri (April 28 - Kentucky Road Quarry) - stopped operations for one hour to conduct a site clean up and tree planting event with plant employees.

In addition to those events, Lafarge West US organized an event involving all employees, including office staff, who do not always have the chance to be out in the field. Lafarge hosted a shoe drive from April 25, 2011 through May 25, 2011, across five states, to benefit a nonprofit organization called Soles4Souls. They collect new and used shoes and then distribute around the world to people in need. This not only helps millions of individuals, but it also helps reduce the amount of shoe material that enters landfills. More information on Soles4Souls can be found at www.soles4souls.org.

"Lafarge understands the importance of environmental protection and enhancement," said Meghan McDonald, Environmental Director for West US Aggregates and Concrete. "Our employees have a great sense of pride and a history of giving back to the community. These events are just some examples of how we choose to demonstrate our commitment to both our environment and to our communities."