Bayer Hawaii Launches Sustainability Task Force
By definition, sustainability in agriculture is the quality of not harming the environment or depleting natural resources, thereby supporting long-term ecological balance.
At Bayer Hawaii, sustainability continues to be at the core of our strategy and operations. As we celebrate Earth Day, Bayer is unveiling what the company is doing to implement sustainability practices and initiatives across all of its farms on Oahu, Maui and Molokai to create a better future for Hawaii and the planet.
“From water automation to crop protection, there are so many sustainable practices that we already have in place on all of our Hawaii farms, but we can’t stop there,” said Holly McLaughlin, sustainability lead at Bayer Hawaii. “We need to look beyond the immediate future to the long-term on how to effectively maximize our efforts even more. That is why we recently created a Sustainability Task Force to serve as a forum for Bayer employees to share questions, best practices, and issue resolution as it relates to biodiversity and waste.”
Formed in 2021, the Sustainability Task Force is made up of 14 team members from Bayer’s farms on Oahu, Maui and Molokai, representing a diverse range of positions within the company. The team meets bi-monthly to establish clear understanding on how to best implement sustainability practices and initiatives across all of its Hawaii farms, to ultimately optimize procedures and reduce the company’s carbon, waste and water footprint.
From solar power integration to landfill diversion, the Sustainability Task Force has a number of projects currently in the works. Here are a few of those projects and the talented employees who are spearheading them:
Brianna Jones, Health Safety Environment Technician, Lower Kunia
Recycling
With a passion for stewardship of the earth and its resources, Brianna joined the Sustainability Task Force as a way to integrate her passion into her everyday work. For the last 2 years, Brianna has been spearheading the Lower Kunia recycling program, which helps reduce Bayer’s waste production while keeping the recyclable waste out of the landfill.
The team currently focuses on recycling new and used drip tape, cardboard, paper, select plastics, and HI-5 beverage containers. To date more than 35,000 pounds of waste have been diverted from the landfill with the task force initiatives. While recycling is great, this year, we will emphasize ways to prevent the production of waste. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
“I value the earth’s resources and understand they are finite. If we manage them properly, future generations can have the same quality of life we enjoy today. By educating our workforce on ways to recycle in the workplace, they can use this information at home too and have an even bigger impact,” said Brianna.
Tim Trudel, Agronomic Research Specialist, Maui
Native Plant Restoration
For more than five years, Tim Trudel has been a part of Bayer’s Land Strategy Team, primarily focusing on nursery mapping and supporting the planting team. Since joining the Sustainability Task Force in 2021, Tim has played an essential role in the conservation of Hawaii’s native species.
“It is hard to imagine that anyone could live in Hawaii and not be passionate about sustainability. It is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world and resources can be scarce. It’s really just about being good stewards of our land,” said Tim. Spearheaded by Tim, the Bayer Maui team recently partnered with other local organizations to help restore a gulch area to its native habitat, which would help prevent erosion and protect sea life downstream. Over the course of 8 months, the team was able to help place and connect 1,300 feet of irrigation, and in the final two days of the project, 55 Bayer employees on Maui helped plant a variety of Native Hawaiian species into the gulch area. From start to finish, more than 1,000 native plants were planted.
Jennifer Richie, Production Associate, Upper Kunia
Waste Management
As a production associate at Bayer’s Upper Kunia farm, Jennifer Richie assists seed technicians and field crew. She helps to implement continuous improvement on-site, including the review of internal and external compliance requirements.
A member of the Sustainability Task Force since 2021, Jennifer has been focusing her efforts on clearing out a collection site, also known as the “boneyard” at Bayer’s Upper Kunia farm. The boneyard is a designated area in the field where old machines and other large items were left to sit for an unknown amount of time. Jennifer has been working closely with Bayer’s Ag Park tenants and other small businesses and farmers to donate the equipment to. In addition, she has been coordinating donations of Bayer’s used t-tape rolls that still have usable feet on them, to small farmers on Oahu.
“These initiatives, though small, are an attempt to divert waste and donate to those who can repurpose something that otherwise would have been rubbish. I have a passion for sustainability and it’s been really rewarding seeing small changes around our sites,” said Jennifer.
Click here to learn more about Bayer’s sustainability efforts and what the company is doing today to preserve and protect Hawaii’s natural resources.