Environmental Communication
As an integral part of our environmental management, we are engaged in a wide range of communication activities to enhance mutual understanding between the company and its stakeholders, including our customers and the communities where our factories and offices are located.Moreover, we provide a range of environmental information to the general public through various media and the Internet.
Establishment of a Liaison Section
Liaison sections are set up based on the environmental management system to coordinate communication at the local level, addressing opinions and requests from residents in the community.Dissemination of Environmental Information through the Media and Events
Honda discloses environmental information related to its corporate activities by the following means.| Brochures | • Honda Environmental Annual Report (Environmental annual report) • Publication of other booklets on environmental topics |
| Internet | • Honda Web site http://www.world.honda.com/environment/ (Disclosure of a full range of environment-related information, including the above brochures) |
| Facilities | • FAN FUN LAB http://www.honda.co.jp/fanfunlab/ (Environment-related exhibition at the Twin Link Motegi facility) • Hello Woods http://www.honda.co.jp/hellowoods/ (Field events letting participants experience nature through play in which nature at the Twin Link Motegi is a key element) |
| Events | • Cooperation with low emission vehicle fairs, etc. (Active participation in various events organized by national and local government authorities as well as companies) • Holding environmental exhibitions • Presentation events for the announcement of new vehicles and/or new technology |
| Advertising | • Corporate advertising (e-TECH) • Product advertising/product catalogs |
Web site introducing Honda’s commitment to the environment
Environmental Education Support Activities
• Hello Woods
Honda has a forest namedHello Woods in Motegi town, Tochigi Prefecture, which it uses as a living museum where children can discover and experience nature. The Company conducts activities that focus on providing children with the opportunity to actively play and learn in a forest. Targeting primarily children, who will be the driving force in tomorrow’s society, we have transformed the forest located near residences into teaching materials and classrooms where they can play as much as they want, discover the wonders and wisdoms of nature, and consider what they should do for a sustainable earth.
Hello Woods is a forest of broad-leaved deciduous trees that extends over 42 hectares and has a pathway approximately 3 kilometers long that is covered with wood chips (crushed lumber from thinning). Children become interested in nature by
playing in the forest, discovering a lot of interesting things, and increasing their exposure to the natural environment, all of which leave a lasting impression on them and helps them become
wiser. As people who support children in playing and learning in the forest, our staff members, called “cast” (forest storytellers), are always available for them.
Honda places importance on the possibilities of each individual. We will provide more places and opportunities to bring out the full potential of each individual.
“Hello Woods” (experience of playing in the forest)
Honda Green Conference
The Honda Green Conference is a major environmental event that has been held since 1999, to help further reduce the environmental impacts of the entire Honda Group. At the conference, excellent examples of environmental conservation activities conducted at Honda’s business sites are presented so that all participants can share this useful information.Honda believes that it is important for all its factories, research facilities, and suppliers to cooperate together to promote environmental activities and encourage all to participate in the conference. The presentations made at the conference for each domain have improved every year. Because presentations have become more technical and sophisticated, we decided in fiscal 2005 to hold a separate annual meeting in which reports on activities conducted under predefined themes in each domain are given and to hold the Honda Green Conference every three years. We thus made a fresh start in fiscal 2005, organizing departmental meetings to select themes for environmental conservation activities to be conducted in each domain.
Honda will further increase the number of participants in the Green Conference to promote future environmental activities.
Cooperative Activities with Local Communities
Every Honda business site has been implementing environmental exhibitions, clean-up activities, and taking part in local environmental events as a corporate commitment toward cooperating with local communities. In fiscal 2005, continuing from the previous fiscal year, we conducted various activities to attain the objectives of “cooperative activities in closer harmony with local communities” and “enhancement of the environmental morale of associates.” Honda associates joined in 47 local environmental events, in which a total of approximately 160,000 people participated.Promoting Communication on the Local Environment
Honda conducts local environmental communication activities (risk communication, factory tours, local round-table meetings, etc.) at its factories to deepen mutual understanding and trust with local residents regarding the factories’ environmental measures, including measures to reduce their environmental risks. In fiscal 2005, each factory organized factory tours and local round-table meetings. We will continue to promote communication with local residents at our factories.Example
• Community forests
Based on the idea of our founder—Soichiro Honda—that the Company should not build a concrete wall between its operations and the local community (the greenbelt concept), Honda promotes the activities to create community forests at all of its sites in Japan. Since 1976, when these activities first began, Honda associates at each site have long been engaged in planting trees and other greenery to create community forests. Instead of just planting grass for aesthetic purposes or exotic trees that do not match the local environment, we plant a variety of indigenous plants, including tall and short trees, grass, and moss to create a community forest. The community forest created through our activities over the past 30 years now extend over an area of approximately 500,000 m2 in total, which is 11 times the area of Tokyo Dome. The community forests surrounding Honda’s sites throughout Japan provide local residents with areas that have a relaxing atmosphere, something that concrete walls can never provide, and these forests bring about multiple benefits to Honda and local residents, including the recovery of local ecosystems to their original state.
Immediately after planting (1976)
Ten years after planting (1986)
Community forests planted throughout the country
Example
• Planting a new community forest (Suzuka Factory)
The Suzuka Factory started planting a “new” community forest in 2005 by improving the existing forest and building an environmental system that harmoniously links the forest and the production activities of the factory. Specifically, the factory created a brook in the forest to use water plants growing in the stream to purify treated water from the factory and built a “life tower” to turn fallen leaves and other sediments into mulch. In addition, the factory uses fertilizers produced from sludge and garbage at its sludge treatment facilities as potting and farming composts. In fiscal 2006, the new community forest will be included in factory tours. By being utilized as a new communication tool with local residents, this forest will become more useful and valuable.
Life tower
