Environment official lauds 'shred2share' campaign

"The constant emission of greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide have contributed significantly to the rapid heating of the earth's atmosphere, which to date has already increased by up to 0.5 degrees Celsius. If we refuse to do something about it now, the effects of global warming may be beyond rectification. It's our duty to encourage everyone to 'think green' and together help preserve the environment," said TEI assistant president Qwanruedee Chotichanathawewong.

She said the participation of 18 organisations in the "Shred2Share" campaign was a good initiative in the right direction.

Initiated by InfoZafe, a subsidiary of SCG Paper, the campaign has been joined by Amarin Printing and Publishing, Amway (Thailand), Assumption University, Central Pattana, Central Retail Corporation, CP All, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the Kenan Institute Asia, KPMG Phoomchai Holdings, Matichon, the Nation Multimedia Group, SCG Paper, Siam Commercial Bank, the Stock Exchange of Thailand, the Thailand Environment Institute, Thai Toshiba Electric Industrial, Total Access Communication and Toyota Motor Thailand.

The campaign comprises two main parts - shredding and sharing. For the "shredding" part of the campaign, InfoZafe will collect expired or unused paper from the 18 partner organisations to shred at its state-of-the-art facility according to internationally accepted standards.

InfoZafe managing director Montri Mahaplerkpong said, "We see ourselves first as citizens, before an operating company, which means our business does not involve only what benefits we can bring to our clients, but also what value we can bring to the communities in which we serve. While we provide services and solutions that help answer our clients' privacy and confidentiality needs, we also make sure to care for the needs of other under-represented citizens across Thailand. This commitment is best reflected in our Shred2Share campaign, where we pool involvement from 18 partnering organisations who share in this same cause."

"It's a win-win partnership," said Kaisri Nuengsigkapian, CEO of KPMG Phoomchai. "We're not only receiving expert advice and information management solutions, but we're also offered the opportunity to partake in a worthy social cause. We were delighted that InfoZafe has approached us to join the campaign. It's a good initiative."

For the "sharing" part of the campaign, InfoZafe will donate Bt2,000 for every tonne of unused paper sent by the partnering companies for recycling. At the end of the programme, the proceeds will be used to buy 5,000 books and teaching materials for children in seven schools around the country.

It's estimated that up to 500 tonnes of unused paper will be recycled during the 6-month period of the programme, thereby saving the use of 25,000 cubic metres of water and 55 tonnes of coal, and preventing 130 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

"To create greater relevance for the campaign, we have also collaborated with our partners to launch internal campaigns among their employees where they will be educated on how to more efficiently manage information security as well as how to more effectively consume office resources in order to help lessen the impact on global warming. We're hoping that the lessons learnt from these campaigns will further be extended into homes and reach a wider group of audiences," Montri added.