Panasonic Employees Take Part In Global Environmental Campaign

Worldwide Effort Encompasses 342 Panasonic Offices and Factories in 39 Countries and Regions Around the World. [The following is a release from Panasonic]

October 16, 2008

Panasonic Corporation of North America announced today that employee volunteers at its headquarters in Secaucus have launched their initiative as part of Panasonic’s Global Eco Relay Campaign. The Eco Relay is intended to implement environmental sustainability in all aspects of Panasonic companies around the world by engaging employees to participate in community-focused eco friendly activities including beach and park clean-ups, tree planting and building natural habitats for local bird species. The program is part of Panasonic’s Eco Ideas Declaration, which is aimed at promoting eco-friendly practices in manufacturing processes, product development and through company sponsored employee initiatives. The worldwide Eco Relay campaign was inspired by a Panasonic employee’s suggestion. The North American arm of the Eco Relay event is part of a worldwide effort that encompasses 342 Panasonic offices and factories in 39 countries and regions around the world. The Eco Relay engages Panasonic employees, as well as their families, friends and neighbors, to support environmental initiatives that are tailored to local conditions. The Eco Relay began in Japan on October 4, and has traveled to Panasonic offices in Asia and Oceania, Europe, Latin America, China and northeast Asia. “The Eco Relay event calls upon the good spirit of each and every Panasonic employee around the world to help improve the environment and bring closer together the global community we live in,” said Joe Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Panasonic Corporation of North America. Birdhouse Nesting Program Panasonic employees (and their families) have partnered with the Meadowlands Environmental Commission to build and place 35 nest boxes for Tree Swallows, a bird species with a population concentrated in New Jersey’s Meadowlands. Six nest boxes were placed this week with the majority of the boxes to be placed in February and March in Mill Creek Marsh Park in Secaucus, NJ. Over-development and pollution in nearby areas has forced birds like the Tree Swallow to leave their natural habitat and nest in other regions. Panasonic provided the wood and materials used to build the nest boxes and volunteers cut the designs and then assembled the nest boxes. Panasonic Creative Design Scholarship Contest In the second part of the Eco Relay program, Panasonic kicked off the 2009 Panasonic Creative Design Contest which features an eco-friendly theme. The Creative Design Contest was established in 1991 by Panasonic, in partnership with the New Jersey Institute of Technology, to promote team learning and collective approaches to science, engineering and robotics for high school students in New Jersey. This year’s contest, “2009 Beach Sweeps,” was designed to promote Panasonic’s ongoing commitment to preserving the environment. More than $42,000 in scholarship money will be awarded. In this year’s Creative Design Contest, student teams from high schools throughout New Jersey will design and construct a robotic device and control that can clean up beaches and shore lines. The robotic devices will have to perform a number of tasks including picking up and sorting plastics and metals for recycling, powering a light house via solar panels, planting sea grass in sand dunes, plugging a sewage pipe that drains into the ocean and moving artificial coral reef into the ocean to protect shore lines. To further promote and encourage eco friendly building, students are requested to use environmentally sound items for their robotic designs. Teams will have six months to conceptualize and build their device. During that time, teams are required to maintain professional engineering log books to exhibit their full understanding of the engineering process and the importance of documenting their ideas, concepts and approaches used to develop the robotic device. Students will also be called upon to make oral presentations and provide written documentation of their work. The top four winning teams will receive scholarship support from Panasonic with each member from the first place team receiving $5,000. In addition to the scholarships, the winning teams will also be rewarded with classroom resources that will inspire teachers and students to become more conscious of the global environment and learn about eco initiatives that help make a difference. “Panasonic recognizes that a great need exists to cultivate the local engineering skills of aspiring youth,” said Taylor. ”Panasonic’s long-standing cooperation with local learning institutions like the New Jersey Institute of Technology to create the Panasonic Creative Design Challenge is evidence of the company’s commitment in this area.” The Creative Design Contest Finals competition will take place on March 26, 2009, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Last year’s Creative Design Contest was won by students from the Delbarton School in Morristown, N.J.

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