BTC spearheads green revolution

MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer | Thursday November 18, 2010 00:00

 

The telecoms giant printed 500 copies of its 2010 Annual Report or 90,000 pages becoming the first corporate to embrace the 'green revolution' or business activities that accommodate environmental impact imperatives.

According to officials, the 2010 Annual Report represents significant savings to the environment. By using recycled paper, BTC was able to save 14,211 litres of water, 2,584 kilowatts per hour of energy, 1,314 kilometres of travel, 768 kilogrammes of wood and other reductions. The report was produced from 472.1 kilogrammes of landfill or post-consumer waste, resulting in significant savings to the environment.

The electricity saved, BTC officials said, could power a 60-watt light-bulb for three years, while the water saving represented two and a half month in supplies for an average household. The kilometres saved represent the shorter distance travelled from source to product, while the kilogrammes of wood are those saved from the trees that would have been used to produce the report.

'The production of the 2010 BTC Annual Report is the first of its kind in Botswana. We saved hundreds of trees that could have been cut for its production,' said BTC Head of Marketing and Communications, Anno Tshipa.

'We reduced piles of waste that lay idle by using it for the production of this annual report. No harmful chemicals were used in production and scores of 96 percent on international environmental score cards were achieved.'

The BTC spokesperson said the corporation 'as a technological business,' needed to be at the forefront of technical breakthroughs. Tshipa called on other corporate entities to emulate the BTC example for the environment's sake.

Other officials said initiatives such as the green Annual Report could have a greater impact if all 21 local companies listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange would imitate the initiative.