Read about Gen's commitment to sustainability.

Sr. Manager, CR and Environment

Environment

Today, Gen™ received SEAL’s 2023 Environmental Initiatives Award for our Sustainable Home Improvement Program (SHIP). SEAL (Sustainability, Environmental Achievement &amp; Leadership) is a top environmental advocacy organization that honors leadership through its business sustainability and environmental journalism awards while funding research and pursuing environmental impact campaigns.&nbsp;

Our Sustainable Home Improvement Program (SHIP) is a benefit we began offering on Earth Day 2022 that provides our colleagues at Gen all over the world cash incentives for home improvement projects that help reduce environmental impacts.&nbsp;

SHIP was born out of the understanding that as our team members shifted to remote work, Gen’s environmental footprint was shifting too. We conceived the program to empower employees to bring home the culture of sustainability they’d helped create at work and to help address Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions.&nbsp;&nbsp;

We received more than 300 project proposals in its first three months since we started SHIP, and nearly 30% of our workforce participated by the first anniversary of the program. Projects range from energy-saving appliance replacements and heating/cooling upgrades to home garden installations, electric vehicle charging, composting, and installing energy-saving LED lightbulbs. We believe there truly is no project too small to have an impact on our collective future, and that is a core tenet of the program.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Our Social Impact team reviews each proposal and once projects are approved and complete, Gen reimburses costs up to $500. SHIP accepts applications on a rolling basis, and participants are eligible to take advantage of the benefit every calendar year.&nbsp;

SHIP is one example of how we <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/impact/environment/low-carbon-commitment">do our part to protect the planet</a>. In addition to programs that <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/impact/environment/earth-month-2023">inspire, engage, and educate our workforce</a> (including our environmental employee resource group TERRA), we focus on reducing GHG emissions and operating a low-carbon business, as well as amplifying our environmental impact through nonprofit partnerships.&nbsp;

We are honored by the recognition of our program and to be in such good company of our fellow award winners.&nbsp;

You can read more about this year’s awards, as well as SEAL Awards’ year-round efforts, <a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/esg_leaders_recognized_at_2023_seal_business_sustainability_awards/prweb19339574.htm">here</a>.

Sustainable Home Improvement Program receives Environmental Initiatives Award.

Gen Sustainable Home Improvement Program Wins Top Honors at 2023 SEAL Award

Each April, people, businesses, and governments around the world come together to celebrate Earth Month. While at Gen we work to advance our environmental stewardship year-round, Earth Month is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to protecting the planet and advocate for positive change around pressing environmental challenges.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Here are three ways Gen advances environmental progress through our business:&nbsp;

1. Engaging our employees&nbsp;

Empowering our employees to lead more sustainable lives is critical for our own sustainability success. Gen maintains an employee resource group (ERG) called Terra to engage our employees on environmental action. Terra is committed to protecting the planet by taking small actions every day — as we believe that, together, our individual acts can help save forests, conserve water, reduce air pollution, and tackle climate change.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Terra has grown to more than 60 members, who are interested in and passionate about the environment. The ERG has arranged educational events such as upcycling and growing your own food. To celebrate Earth Month, we’ve partnered with <a href="https://girlup.org/">Girl Up</a> and <a href="https://www.anthesisgroup.com/">Anthesis </a>to host a panel on climate activism, justice, and equality. Employees also have an opportunity to participate in themed Earth Month Missions and challenges on our Giving Hub each week!&nbsp;

Last Earth Month, we <a href="https://www.nortonlifelock.com/blogs/corporate-responsibility/earth-day-2022">announced</a> the Sustainable Home Improvement Program, which provides our employees with up to $500 per year to make sustainability improvements in their own homes. To-date, 780 employees participated in the program, completing sustainability improvements such as installing solar panels, rainwater harvesting systems, composting systems, upgrading to energy efficient home appliances, and more.&nbsp; With many of our employees working remotely, helping them to improve their home sustainability helps Gen lower our own Scope 3 emissions — our GHG emissions from upstream and downstream activities of the company.&nbsp;

2. Partnering with NGOs&nbsp;

Gen recognizes that we can do more for the planet by working with others. That’s why we partner with NGOs to amplify positive environmental impact, such as increasing access to renewable energy.&nbsp;&nbsp;

One way Gen does this is through <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/13iuU-7E5r1IyIYNX1syb8xBqcEdE34ru_UsVbWjnCSA/edit">our partnership</a> with GRID Alternatives National Tribal Program. GRID is a leading nonprofit helping low-income communities get clean, affordable, renewable energy, transportation, and jobs.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Since our partnership launched in April 2022, GRID has worked with 20 tribes in California, Colorado, Washington, and New Mexico to complete over 155 renewable energy projects. Some of the key results of our funding include:&nbsp;

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	Installing 720 kilowatts of solar power and 38 backup storage batteries that will prevent an estimated 13,000 tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the lifetime of the systems.&nbsp;&nbsp;
	</li>
</ol>

<ol start="2">
	<li>
	Benefiting 380 Tribal families from the completed projects.&nbsp;&nbsp;
	</li>
</ol>

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	<li>
	Generating $4 million in financial savings for Tribal leadership over the system's lifetime.&nbsp;&nbsp;
	</li>
</ol>

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	<li>
	Engaging 57 trainees to gain 2,700 hours of hands-on experience installing these projects, which exceeded our goal of 50 individuals.&nbsp;&nbsp;
	</li>
</ol>

Gen also supports international efforts to increase renewable energy. Our three-year partnership with Barefoot College International (BCI) supports their women-centered global network, dedicated to sustainable development in impoverished communities. BCI operates across more than 90 countries, and Gen’s financial support enables the organization’s Solar Mama initiative, which provides solar engineering and education programs.&nbsp;

3. Improving energy and operational efficiency&nbsp;

With 98% of our products offered digitally, emissions from data centers are a top priority for improving our environmental performance.&nbsp;&nbsp;

To address data center emissions, we decommissioned our Tucson data center and moved operations to more efficient co-located data centers that rely on less carbon intensive electricity grids. This contributed to our 39% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions between FY21 and FY22. We continue to look for ways to minimize our energy and operational footprint.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Earth Month is a time for all of us to pause and reflect on all that we’ve achieved — and the work yet to be done — to build a better and more sustainable world. For ideas on how to take action this month, visit <a href="https://www.earthday.org/take-action-now">https://www.earthday.org/take-action-now</a>.&nbsp;

Gen™ partners with NGOs, engages internal teams, and focuses on energy efficiency.

3 Ways We Cared for the Planet This Earth Month

Every year on March 22, <a href="https://www.worldwaterday.org/">World Water Day</a> serves as potent reminder of the need to safeguard global access to clean water, and for the third year in a row, Gen™ is taking up the call to action.&nbsp;

The company has once again partnered with <a href="https://planet-water.org/">Planet Water Foundation</a> to deliver clean drinking water to rural communities in India. For this year’s project, Gen volunteers will work alongside Planet Water Foundation representatives to construct a new AquaTower at the Arignar Anna Municipal School in Anumandputheri, Tamil Nadu, a village of 2,250 people.&nbsp;

“We are so glad Gen has returned as one of our World Water Day program partners for 2023,” said John Deotrakul, Director of Global Communications &amp; Development for Planet Water Foundation. “We have already seen the enormous impacts that our work together in past years has had on communities in <a href="https://www.nortonlifelock.com/blogs/corporate-responsibility/world-water-day-2022">Keerapakkam</a> and <a href="https://www.nortonlifelock.com/blogs/corporate-responsibility/worldwaterday2021">Vandavasi</a>, and we are thrilled to expand those efforts with this new AquaTower in Anumandputheri. The safe drinking water and hand-washing access that these projects provide revolutionize the overall health and wellness of these communities.”&nbsp;

The Arignar Anna Municipal School, which serves 340 elementary and middle school students, sees absenteeism spike during the rainy season because of waterborne diseases. With no water filtration system in the village, students have no choice but to drink polluted water, and the resulting sicknesses cause them to miss school.&nbsp;

The AquaTower is a water filtration system capable of producing 1,000 liters (~265 gallons) of clean drinking water per hour and functions as a handwashing station for students, caregivers, and family members. The clean water this system provides will help keep these children well enough to attend school and prevent illnesses in the school community and beyond.&nbsp;

This project is one of 22 similar initiatives across six countries that Planet Water Foundation will undergo for this year’s World Water Day, all in support of progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) of achieving water and sanitation for all by 2030.&nbsp;

Gen supports SDG 6, as well as several other SDGs, described in more detail in our <a href="https://www.nortonlifelock.com/us/en/corporate-responsibility/esg-report/">2022 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report</a>.

The U.N. first announced World Water Day in 1993, and in recent years, this day has become a rallying cry for an urgent response to the global water crisis. Planet Water Foundation has worked since 2009 to meet these needs, delivering safe drinking water through the AquaTower, water-health and hygiene behaviors through its education programs, and surface disinfection systems through its AquaSan equipment. The organization has reached more than three million people in 26 countries.&nbsp;

Our partnership with Planet Water Foundation is one example of our commitment to environmental stewardship. You can read more about how we help protect the planet in our <a href="https://www.nortonlifelock.com/us/en/corporate-responsibility/esg-report/">2022 ESG Report</a>.&nbsp;

Gen helps bring clean drinking water to communities in rural India.

Providing Clean and Safe Water on World Water Day

Our corporate responsibility program supports our business mission to empower people to live their digital lives freely and safely. As we work towards a safe and sustainable future for our employees, consumers, and communities, it is important that we do our part to protect our planet.&nbsp;&nbsp;

As a software company, Gen’s business model does not have a large impact on the environment. Despite this, we will not bury our heads about what is happening across the globe with climate change. I believe that it is important that we remain committed to key elements driving the changes in our climate: GHG emissions reductions and operating a low-carbon business.&nbsp;

Between 2018 and 2019, before the pandemic hit we reduced our global GHG emissions by 18%. Over the last three years, we reduced our GHGs by 60%. While part of this was due to the pandemic, we also took significant steps to reduce our carbon footprint. We did this not by buying credits but by looking inside our house: achieving operational efficiencies, shifting to a flexible work environment, and collaborating with our employees, suppliers, and nonprofit partners.

To reduce future emissions, we will look at everything, but only make commitments that are underscored with action and impact. We will evaluate our offices, supply chain, and products to find more energy efficient solutions, use more renewable energy, and eliminate the use of high-emission refrigerants.

Addressing climate change requires help from everyone. It’s important that we cultivate a climate-conscious culture throughout the organization. Our newest employee resource group, <a>Terra</a>, does just that, inspiring, educating, and encouraging employees to act to protect the planet.&nbsp;

In 2022, we also launched a new employee benefit – the Sustainable Home Improvement Program – through which we provide financial incentives to employees who green their homes. We will continue to provide opportunities for awareness and education to help our employees choose sustainability every day.

Finally, we are looking at areas we can positively influence outside of our own operations. A large portion of our vendors have climate targets, and we continue to amplify our impact through partnerships with organizations like <a href="https://gridalternatives.org/">GRID Alternatives</a>, <a href="https://www.barefootcollege.org/">Barefoot College International</a>, and <a href="https://planet-water.org/">Planet Water Foundation</a>.

To learn more about our ongoing environmental sustainability efforts, <a href="https://www.nortonlifelock.com/us/en/corporate-responsibility/esg-report/">read our ESG Report</a>.&nbsp;

Environment

Gen Sustainable Home Improvement Program Wins Top Honors at 2023 SEAL Award

3 Ways We Cared for the Planet This Earth Month

Providing Clean and Safe Water on World Water Day

Doing Our Part to Protect the Planet