Five environmental projects of the John Keells Social Responsibility Foundation

The vast development taking place around us has undoubtedly taken its toll on our environment. Whilst a conscious collective effort is necessary to save our beloved planet, the role large corporates can play in this process is limitless.

The John Keells Group, which has a long history of good corporate citizenship, is one such organisation. Whilst the Sustainability Initiative of the Group drives efforts at minimising the impact of the Group’s operations on the environment, John Keells Social Responsibility Foundation spearheads the Group’s commitment to give back to the communities and environment that have been the backbone of the Group’s success.

"Environment is one of our six focus areas of CSR," says Carmeline Jayasuriya, Manager of John Keells Social Responsibility Foundation.

"We have so far initiated five environment-friendly projects with the support of various businesses of the Group towards promoting environmental awareness, conservation and promotion, both within and outside the Group. Going forward, we intend to sustain these and add on more projects. Also with 2010 being declared the International Year of Biodiversity by the United Nations, the Foundation is looking at making a positive contribution to Sri Lanka’s rich biodiversity," added Lallith Ramanayake, Head of CSR, John Keells Holdings PLC.

Here is a snapshot of the environmental projects initiated by the Foundation, and their progress.

Nature Field Centre at Rumassala, Galle

"The main objective of this project was to create a facility for school children to study the environment, and I feel that we have achieved our objectives to a great extent," said Mr. Chitral Jayathilake, Manager, Marketing Development, KHMS and project champion of the innovative Nature Field Centre at Rumassala. Built under the patronage of the Foundation and commissioned in July 2008, the Centre stands in an area rich in biodiversity including several species of endemic birds, marine life, coral reefs and a number of rare medicinal plants and conducts half-day programmes for school children and other interested groups to raise awareness on the rich biodiversity of the area, eco-friendly practices and the importance of co-existing in harmony with the environment.

The centre attracts an average of about 150-300 visitors per month, mostly school children. The total number of visitors to Rumassala since the project was launched is around 2,174.

"Though we did have to face quite a few challenges in getting the project off the ground, such as logistical and administration issues, we see lots of enthusiasm and excitement from the children who visit the center," explained Chitral, adding that the project has given him the opportunity to drive an educational program that focuses on the environment, providing him great personal satisfaction as well.

By promoting environmental awareness in the younger generation through experiential learning, the centre has given impetus to the conservation efforts of John Keells whilst also creating an opportunity for a successful public-private partnership with the CEA.

Butterfly Garden at Cinnamon Lodge, Habarana

Launched in 2008, the Butterfly Garden at Cinnamon Lodge, Habarana, is another environmental intiative of the Foundation in collaboration with Nature Odyssey (Pvt) Ltd. "Our main objective was to create an enhanced habitat for local butterflies, and we feel that we have achieved this objective to some extent," said Mr. Jayathilake, who is the project champion of the Butterfly Garden Project as well.

"We conduct at least 3 sessions per month at the facility for kids from village schools, thereby helping to build awareness on butterflies, and I feel that this project will also benefit the community in a sustainable way."

The Butterfly Garden attracts about 75-150 visitors per month (including guests of both Cinnamon Lodge and Chaaya Village), while the total number of visitors to the center since the project began has been about 1710. The project has helped visitors appreciate butterflies in a natural setting, while offering these beautiful insects one more plot to thrive in. The project also helps Cinnamon Lodge, Habarana, position itself as a green hotel.

Through such environmentally-friendly initiatives, the John Keells Group has demonstrated its commitment to the conservation and promotion of the environment for our future generations, while also consciously working towards minimising the impact of its operations on the environment.

Red Bag project

In 2007, Jaykay Marketing Services, which operates the Keells Super supermarkets was the pioneer retail chain to introduce reusable cloth bags, known as "Red Bags", as an alternative to polythene. Taking into consideration the project’s success in 2009, this initiative has seen an increase in the sales and reuse of Red Bags by 143% and 117%, respectively, from January to September, 2009.

Securing the commitment from the customer to continue using this product was the biggest challenge, according to Nalaka Umagiliya, Head of Business Systems, Consumer Foods and Retail Group, JKH PLC, and project champion of the Red Bag initiative. "In this exercise, customers also should change the way they look at the benefits of the reduced usage of polythene," said Umagiliya.

Compost project

The Compost Project is a simple yet original initiative by Cinnamon Lodge, Habarana supported by the Foundation to sell packs of compost to its guests as well as other interested buyers. Initiated in 2006, the compost is produced in-house using the garden waste collected from the two John Keells hotels in Habarana, along with farmyard manure, crop residue, dolomite and top soil, and is sold in attractive packaging at a relatively negligible cost.

According to project champion Sarath Wickremasinghe, General Manager, Cinnamon Lodge, Habarana, the project has educated visitors and motivated them to become more environmentally friendly. "It also created an opportunity for the recycling of garden and farm waste, while generating additional revenue," he said.

Seventy-five bags (5kg each) of compost are sold on average, per month, with about 2000 compost bags having being sold since the project began.

"The entire hotel staff, including the Management Team of Cinnamon Lodge, contributed to making this project a success. Personally, I too gained much knowledge regarding the environmental recycling system," he said.

Whilst the hotel itself uses the compost to produce organic herbs and vegetables, they have also started providing compost by tones and by tractor loads to certain buyers, thereby reducing the usage of inorganic fertilizers in gardens and farms.

Paper recycling project

The Paper Recycling Project has set in place a process for the collection of waste paper from the Group’s business locations for shredding and recycling. ‘The project’s main objectives were the saving of trees and reducing the amount of waste paper otherwise ending up as landfill," said Mr. Malaka Rodrigo, project champion of the Paper Recycling Project.

The project was launched in 2006 by the Foundation as part of a resource conservation initative encompassing paper, water and electricity. At the outset, a poster campaign was carried out to encourage staff to practice the 3 R principles, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

"The used paper generated from the John Keells business units is collected in bins provided by Neptune Papers (Pvt) Ltd, the contractor for the collection and recycling of the paper," Malaka explained.

The bins are placed in prominent places in all John Keells offices whilst regular collections are undertaken by Neptune.