Plano, TX (October 23, 2017) – Problem solving is a skill that Toyota team members hone to a fine edge over the course of their careers.  So, when faced with the problem of difficult access to the Flint River at Hayes Nature Preserve, Toyota Alabama team members implemented a creative solution as part of their National Public Lands Day (NPLD) event on Saturday, September 23.
 
More than 60 team members from the Alabama plant, and their family and friends, installed two unique kayak access points in the park that included a large plastic drain pipe fashioned into a chute alongside wooden steps that were cut into the steep bank.  In this way, kayakers can simply place their kayak in the chute and let gravity do the work as they walk down the steps.  Team members also expanded a playground and improved landscapes throughout the preserve during their volunteer event.

The work at Hayes is just one example of projects at 34 different sites across 18 states that more than 1,800 Toyota team members undertook during National Public Lands Day.  From a manicured public space in the suburbs of Cincinnati, to a rugged marine park on the Columbia River in Oregon, they demonstrated their commitment to the environment in a very tangible way. 

Toyota team members joined nearly 170,000 other individuals and groups who participate in this annual event nationwide at more than 2,100 sites.  Toyota has been the National Corporate Sponsor of NPLD for 19 years and uses its resources annually to recruit volunteers and promote events for NPLD’s host organization, the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF).

“It’s no surprise to me that thousands of our team members support NPLD each year,” said Kevin Butt, general manager, Environmental Sustainability.  “They practice environmental stewardship in their daily work.  Whether it’s ensuring zero landfill compliance, managing energy use, or developing new conservation ideas.  It’s baked into our corporate DNA.”
 
NPLD is just one way that Toyota demonstrates its commitment to the environment. The company is the leader in the manufacture and sale of hybrid vehicles; the inventor of the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the Mirai; and an innovator of environmentally-friendly manufacturing processes.
 
In its Global Environmental Challenge 2050, issued in October 2015, Toyota announced an ambitious goal to reduce the CO² output from its vehicles, its manufacturing plants and the life cycle of its products to zero by 2050.  The global challenge lists six specific goals addressing vehicle emissions, plant emissions, vehicle life cycle, water conservation, recycling and renewable energy sources. More information about Toyota’s Environmental Challenge 2050 is available at http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/environment/challenge2050.